At first glance the BenQ Joybee 150 model seems relatively large for a Flash memory player thanks to its boxy shape. In fact it isn't particularly large, as it is slightly smaller than the Creative Muvo² which has 4GB of storage, yet the BenQ has only 256MB.

Well we say 'only' 256MB, but that's enough space for four CDs in MP3 format or eight CDs in WMA, so as long as you're prepared to update your playlist every so often it's not as bad as it sounds.

On the down side this player connects to your PC using a USB 1.1 connection and that can be a real bore as it takes nearly ten minutes to fill the player using the supplied Qmusic2 software. This is a similar application to Musicmatch or iTunes, allowing you to rip MP3s, pool your music files, create playlists and then transfer them to the player.

BenQ includes an FM radio with 30 presets and a microphone so you can record verbal notes or your mates' indiscretions down the pub, but those are welcome additional features rather than a reason to buy the Joybee 150 in the first place.

It's a fairly complicated player to operate as BenQ has squeezed plenty of buttons into the available space, but the large screen helps you to work out what is going on. Compared to, say, the iPod it is far more complicated than it needs to be.

Audio quality is good, but we find that most MP3 players sound very similar even with decent headphones. There are eight EQ settings for MP3 and three for WMA which are fun if you like to tinker around.

This is an attractive player that has all the features that you need and while we were unimpressed by the data transfer speed our biggest problem was the price. For the same amount of money you can have a Philips HDD070, and that's not a tough choice to make at all.