Nike ACT400 MP3 CD Player

For a start, the sound on this is fantastic, (and this is through my rubbishy little pc speakers) and the eq is easy to use too. The battery life is great on mp3s (just don't forget to turn on powersave!), lasting about 20 hours at a time, and it comes with a mains adaptor too.

It is also very robust, with the remote connections protected by rubber guard covers, so you can't knock them about at all, very handy on the move.

The software supplied (Musicmatch) is pretty good, and you can do just about anything you can with MP3s using it, though if you are a beginner it may leave you a little lost for a while (I prefer Audiograbber/Ahead Nero burner, but hey this is free!)As ever, Philips excellent customer services (no sarcasm, they are great!) is also a plus.

But my personal favourite is the remote. Oh, you could use this thing in your sleep! It's so easy. It's the most easy to use personal stereo remote I've ever seen. Once you get over your initial fears that the magnet won't hold it onto your person (it will), you don't need to look at it, though there is an id3 LCD display (as there also is on the player itself), if you do.

There is one real bone of contention with this product... the headphones. What were they thinking?! According to Philips, they are "sculpted to the contours of your skull". Either everyone who tried this on has a deformed head, or it was tested on the descendants of John "Elephant man" Merrick. They will NOT stay in your ears! It is hard to see how you are supposed to have a workout (this is a sports walkman) whilst having to slouch like the victim of some cruel prank involving a very short piece of elastic and your ear. And they look like a toy stethoscope. Don't bother, just buy some new ones.

Oh yeah, and the hand holder is a mugger's dream.

But apart from these minor gripes, I have to say this is an excellent product and it's surprisingly cheap too, considering just how good it is.

The best personal audio player I have ever had.

My boyfriend uses it while jogging and has experienced no skipping at all. He finds the hand holder perfect and the headphones pretty comfortable. (They fit around the back of your head and balance in your ears.) The only slight complaint is that the magnets have to be exactly in the right place or else they pull the headphones off.

The display is excellent - the song name marquees across the screen and then stops after a couple repeats. The only thing missing is a light for reading titles in the dark.

If you're looking for an MP3 cd player, you really should get this one - it's just so stylish.

The player offers fantastic sound quality and rivals products some 3x the price. The amount of kit that comes with the player itself is impressive. The headphone fit my head fine and the remote is excellent, this cd player really is my jogging companion. Fantastic product Period-