With MP3 players becoming the must-have gadget for music fans, it's not surprising that the big manufacturers are wooing us with their take on the device.

However, where some portable MP3 players ooze style and creativity, others seem to have been designed with no thought other than to milk the public for their hard-earned readies.

The Packard Bell Audio Key falls into the latter category and, while doing an average job, looks like something from the Ark compared to other MP3 devices on the market today.

Bearing a close likeness to the Creative MuVo, the Audio Key plugs straight into a USB port rather than using a connecting cable.

If you've got Windows XP, the Audio Key will be instantly recognised as a removeable drive, allowing you to drag and drop MP3 files (or any other file, in fact) straight into the player's stingy 32Mb internal memory.

Users of older operating systems will still be able to benefit from this, but will need to install the supplied drivers first.

Once MP3 files are on the Audio Key, it then needs to be plugged into a docking station that houses the headphone socket and AAA battery.

Unfortunately, this also doubles its size and, other than the measly memory, illustrates its primary weakness: a cumbersome build compared to portable MP3 players of a similar specification.

Working on the assumption that 1MB is equivalent to about one minute of near-CD quality audio (encoded at 128Kbit/s), the Audio Key can store about half an hour of music.

Of course, encoding at lower quality will decrease the file size, allowing for more music. The memory can also be upgraded to 544MB with SD memory cards.

The plastic casing promotes its awkward design and the lack of an LCD display makes it impossible to identify one track from the next. Sound quality is only average, although the headphones are better than you might expect.

However, the price tag, lack of memory and clumsy design make this difficult to recommend.

Price: £80 (incl. VAT)
Contact: 01628 512400
www.packardbell.co.uk

ALSO CONSIDER:
Creative MuVo. Not much memory but super portable. £100 - Worth it.