The AVLabs MYTube is a great example of a device that is a jack of all trades and a master of none.

If you're after a portable iPod speaker solution then JBL's On Stage IIIp may be just the ticket. While it does have a few small sound quality issues there is no denying that its small size, carry bag and battery support make it ideal for road listening.

Another impressive portable media player, the Samsung YP-S3 suffers from a sluggish interface but is otherwise a good unit that offers a bevy of features in a slim package.

Harmon Kardon's Go + Play is a brilliant high-end iPod dock. Its audio is well balanced and almost flawless. The design has one niggling issue, but the large, sturdy handle certainly adds to the unit's portability

We liked the fact you can always see on-screen information about albums and songs on the Philips GoGear SA2845 — a crucial detail missing from some other makers’ micro MP3 players. We also enjoyed the ability to jump with such ease between successive tracks, but we were less taken with the way we were expected to navigate the rest of the music library. Relying on a very small hardware button jammed up against the headphone jack seemed rather a waste given the presence of the far easier and more intuitive pressure-based arrow navigation on the main player.

A fairly average iPod dock, the Edifier iF330 certainly has a small price tag but it produces fairly poor quality audio with no bass presence and no remote control is included.

At $US249, it costs more than we would want to spend on a speaker system (especially since it doesn't have a wide range of features), but the iK500 would be perfect for garden parties, barbecues, and house parties — provided that the local authorities are not too stringent on noise complaints.

Samsung's YP-S2 Pebble MP3 player is a unit for those after something basic. It does a good job with music playback and it looks stylish, but it lacks the features of its more expensive counterparts.

The DP392G is a great DVD player, with the additional advantage of functioning as a photo frame when needed. It has USB and memory card inputs, as well as a decent amount of picture adjustability. Quite frankly there's not much it does wrong.

The Creative ZEN X-Fi continues the tradition of past ZEN players, offering a compelling alternative to the iPod range. However, Wi-Fi and the X-Fi modes are poorly implemented and don't bring much to the table.

Teac's DVP904 DVD player has a smooth and vibrant 9in screen and decent stereo speakers. Its battery lasts long enough for two movies and it comes with everything you need for a long car trip. It's let down by a very poor set of headphone outputs and a noisy DVD drive.

The Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin is an impressive but extremely expensive iPod speaker system.