The 3gb Nike PSA610 is certainly a looker but it's disc shape is a deliberate part of the design to add strength and help with the shock proofing ensuring your music doesn't stop due to the odd jolt. This combines with one of the main selling points that Nike put forward, their shock Lock technology.

Shock lock is a kind of buffer which will hold around 30 seconds of music allowing continuous play while the hard disk can lock itself down in the event of a bump, we wonder why Philips who are behind this device didn't just use 3gb of flash memory? However this technology does pave the way for them to increase storage using inexpensive hard disk and the buffer system while still being bump proof.

In practice we found that giving the PSA610 a real good shake didn't stop the music but if we kept going like a whirling dervish for over 30 seconds we could cause some interruptions to the replay. It's hardly a likely situation but you do need to know that there is a limit to shock lock!

The Nike MP3 player ships with a sports armband so you can strap it to your bulging biceps and keep all those cables tidily out of the way during a workout, or at least ensure maximum pose value. Driving the PSA610 is a nice experience, the rocking lens allows you to move from track to track and the blue/white text with black background not only looks cool but is easy to read. The menu system while basic does allow you to browse by Artist, genre and track / album name but most users will probably opt for accessing pre stored play lists created and pushed to the player over the fast USB 2.0 connection.

Battery life is an OK 12 hours (we managed nearer 10) which isn't much for a small player but the 3gb hard drive must take a fair bit of juice compared to a wholly flash based player. We tested both MP3 files at varied bit rates and WMA files both worked fine and sounded pretty good thought the supplied headphones, sure we'd have liked a smidgen more bass but at this price point headphones are rarely up to the job.

There are a few little extras like an inbuilt stopwatch probably for you to time your workout or more likely time how long it takes to have that drink in the bar afterwards, but overall Nike have added a dose of style and credibility to this Philips MP3 player.

Prices at £119 it's not over the top when you consider you are getting a slice of the Nike brand and the PSA610 is a pretty good MP3 player anyway, it sounds good, is easy to operate and is nice to touch all key factors in this fashion / sports area of the MP3 market.

Published - 23/10/2005

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