Creative Muvo TX

With Apple's Ipod being splashed about on television and billboard adverts all over the country, mp3 players with anything less than 4GB of storage are being a little neglected. However, the fact is that Flash media players, such as the Creative Muvo TX, have their advantages over hard disk models.

Most importantly, Flash memory isn't affected by sudden jolts and will operate perfectly even if you're sprinting for a bus or running on a treadmill.

Flash memory sticks are far smaller than hard disks and therefore take up less space in your pocket, while also consuming less power. Running off a single AAA battery, the Muvo TX will happily play tracks for over 10 hours.

This is the third installment in the Flash memory Muvo series and Creative has doubled the memory to 256MB, which is good for around 60 mp3s or 120 wma tracks. Thanks to its USB2 interface, downloading tracks is now fast as well as easy. Simply plug it into a spare USB port and you're away.

Apart from these two new features, the Muvo TX really hasn't changed much from the two-piece design of the Muvo NX (www.pcw.co.uk/products/1147524). This means that the player still doesn't recognise track orders in ID3 tags, so if you transfer an album to it you'll either have to number the tracks or listen to them in alphabetical order. In reality, this is only a problem with larger players storing many different albums.

We expected a few extra features than the previous version, but with USB2 and a 256MB memory, the Muvo TX serves its purpose well and comes at a good price.

Contact: Creative
www.europe.creative.com

Specifications:

• 256MB
• USB2
• Built-in mic
• 5-band equaliser
• 1 AAA battery
• 43g
• 75 x 37 x 16mm (w x h x d)
• 1yr warranty