Small, light and extremely thin, the nano is an excellent unit but is perhaps a little expensive for the storage capacity offered.

The Creative's extra capacity, great styling and price tag make it an attractive option.

If you're after a small music player, the H10 is hard to beat. A rich list of bundled accessories and great audio quality set a new standard, but the battery life is a bit short.

A device packed full of features, the LDP-600 is highly recommended if you can get past the tricky controls.

The T8Z has everything you are looking for in an MP3 player and a whole lot more.

The NW-E107 is a winner in the size and looks categories, and also features outstanding battery life.

With a plethora of features packed into an ultra-compact case, the Toplux is an astute purchase for the fashion conscious.

Supporting FM radio, voice recording, image viewing and open file transfer capabilities, the Samsung is packed with features. It's not as light nor as stylish as the Sony Walkman or Apple iPod, however.

Besides issues with the software, the Sony Walkman is a fine entry into the populated MP3 market and comes highly recommended as an alternative to the iPod.

This is the closest you'll get to an iPod killer. Its features are well implemented and designed and the end result is a fantastic MP3 player that perhaps just falls short due to the moody controls. A definite winner in our books.

Good value MP3 player only let down by Sony's SonicStage software.

The improvements are not groundbreaking, but the nano still remains an excellent portable music player and should keep iPod fans pleased.