1. Introduction

Even before the updated iPod Nano came out, 8 GB was the best compromise size to balance having a small players and large storage capacity. This is especially if you're looking for something to play videos as well as music. The Nano still doesn't do that, but two players that do are MSI's 8 GB P640 and the higher spec version of the Creative player that we recently reviewed: the Zen V Plus. These small, lightweight players are bigger than the Nano but their screens are still small. So what can you pack into a little black case?

MSI P640

MSI usually makes motherboards rather than gadgets, and neither the packaging nor the case of the P640 player are anything to get excited about; of course, neither are why you buy a media player. The matte black case is about half again as thick and heavy as an iPod Nano, and the controls are easy to understand rather than particularly stylish; this is a workhorse player with features rather than frills.

The basic black earbuds are better than those you get with many players; they're comfortable and provide sound that's surprisingly pleasant to listen to, though bass and midtones lack "oomph". The right-angle connector is also sturdy. These headphones have no frills but they're perfectly serviceable; replace them with something better and the P640 will show off its really rather excellent sound quality.

The unit also has plenty of volume; with good headphones you'll seldom move off the minimum volume, which gives you the best battery life. Don't bother turning on any of the EQ settings; they do nothing to improve the music. You may find the SRS WOW effect improves some music, but as long as you have good quality audio files, the P640 playback will do perfectly well on its own.

Side by side with an iPod Nano, the P640 seems just as good; the sound is a little richer and fuller, especially in the mid range, although that means details in the music can be less distinct. You will occasionally hear the hard drive spin up between tracks, and we did find that distracting.

The graphic equalizer display is pretty but pointless; more useful is that fact that you can see all of the following on screen at a glance: artist, album, track name, clock, track time, battery status, EQ/SRS and shuffle/repeat settings. The only thing you don't get is the track length, but there's a progress bar. The display is not fancy or particularly colorful, but it is useful.

The interface is much the same; the usual sequence of menus lets you pick music, video, photo, notes or radio; use the browser to explore what's on the player; or choose settings for the full set of options. Press and hold the menu button to get a context menu that lets you delete files in the browser, change EQ/SRS and shuffle/repeat settings, or add tracks, artists or albums to one of five playlists. You can remove tracks from a playlist without deleting the playlist, and delete a track without waiting to connect to your PC. With play/pause, fast forward and rewind, volume buttons that double as scroll buttons and OK all on the control pad, you're never fumbling for the right button. The buttons have positive action, so you get tactile feedback when you've pressed one.

The FM radio is optional. It uses the headphone cable as an antenna, so you need to leave it hanging free, but you can get a perfectly good signal with it. Use the context menu to tune in the strongest signals, or scroll to a particular frequency and save the station. You can record from the radio - the record button is the same as the A-B repeat button - but even at high quality setting and saving as WAV, the recordings are noisy with a lot of hiss. Voice recordings from the microphone aren't a great deal better either. Worse, recordings also chew power; record five or ten minutes of music and audio playback drops to a little under 12 hours.

The photo viewer has the usual features, such as the ability to browse thumbnails and run slideshows, as well as some unusual ones - you can rotate an image or turn it into a jigsaw puzzle! Unfortunately, the screen doesn't show photos off well, and there's an annoying hourglass when you click to the next image. Video is better; you can play 320x240 resolution .MOV and .AVI M-JPEG files without any jumping or skipping of frames. You can also use the P640 to read text files like e-books, a feature that also lets it scroll lyrics on screen when you play music.

The P640 comes with a full set of cables: mini USB for sync, audio cables and a power supply, plus a drawstring bag to keep it all in. You can treat it as a removable drive and copy files across directly, or use Windows Media Player 10.

Apart from occasional hard drive seek noise and the unimpressive photo viewing there's nothing to complain about with the P640 and a great deal to appreciate. It's a capable player with good sound at an excellent price.

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