While the first batch of hard disk mp3 players was based on squeezing the highest capacity disks into a chassis, there's been a recent move towards smaller, more portable devices. Creative has just released the 4GB version of its Muvo2. Around half the size of a deck of cards, it's small enough to slip into even the slightest of pockets.

However, it's not exactly what we want from an mp3 player. It suffers from the inclusion of Creative's Mediasource Organiser, which isn't friendly and not worth the installation time. It's better to use the USB2 connection and manually drag and drop files to the player.

This method has its problems, too. Most noticeable is the Muvo2's complete disregard for ID3 tags. Instead, music is stored and played alphabetically. There's no option to search for a track by genre, artist, name or album. When you think that 4GB is enough storage for around 800 songs (recorded at 192Kbits/sec), this restriction can make it hard to find a given track.

The only answer is to create a rigid folder structure to house albums or create playlists, and use Creative's interface to browse through them. It's far from perfect and Creative should be using tags to spare us from worrying about file organisation.

The Muvo2 goes some way towards redeeming itself by its top-notch sound quality. There's also a choice of EQ settings to complement any genre of music. It's powered by a rechargeable AA battery, which gave us around 10 hours of playback. There's a jack for a remote, which has its own display, but this costs an extra £39.90 inc VAT.

It's a perfect size with plenty of room for music, but Creative must address file organisation to appeal to the mass market.

Contact: Creative
http://europe.creative.com

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