It's true that I have tremendous respect for Sony's audio quality but then Philips has always been synonymous with quality audio product. Nobody can deny that most us are "Apple" struck. But recently I have come across an amazingly easy to use MP3 player with awesome audio output at a very reasonable price.

The Philips Go Gear Raga will leave you nothing to complain. Stuffing it with music files could not have been easier. Most will say it's a basic one to which I agree also, but very effective. Simple things done simply, no advanced software is required to perform the job of transferring music files although Philips Go Gear Raga does come with additional software but one need not worry as long as the computer has an USB port and is reasonably updated. Just drag those favourite songs into the MP3 player, create folders the way it's done in the computer right click, new and folder. It's so bloody simple.

If you are finicky about trendy looks it has that too. Available in silver and black (looks sexy) but then the red one is equally attractive. The design is simple as its operations are with a very functional LCD screen. It's not really a poor man's alternative to the iPods, may be they are much more exciting but in terms of quality it matches its much more expensive peer step for step. I would go further and say that if you compare its performance with the default headphone and the iPods, well you have your money's worth.

One note of caution, the reproduction depends largely on the performance of the original file. If the quality of the mother file is dubious, it audio quality does fall far short of expectation. I realized this the hard way. I'm a Beatle diehard fan but to my utter dismay John Lenon or Paul McCartney didn't sound impressive as I had put "Imagine" and "Let it be" into Philips Go Gear Raga after a conversion to MP3 format from its original flv files. Limitations are of course there in this MP3 player but nothing really insurmountable. Although it comes with some, I would say, hardly functional audio options. The quality of the original file influences Philips Go Gear Raga's performance without question.

There are certain drawbacks which solves with use, like I landed up with sticky buttons but they smoothed out with use. Although navigation is very easy but I would advice new users to stay out of too many folders and sub folders when things might just become a bit dicey and require more time than you would like to manage and access them.

The recording quality of its built-in microphone is enviable as you get used to it, meaning as long as you learn the art of judging proper distance of the source, closer you get it's prone to distortion and heterodyne. I would have preferred a dampener but then never mind, keep using it there are so many things to learn in this wide world of ours. The recordings save automatically to the device recoverable for later play-back or transfer onto the computer.

Let's go into the technical information a little bit:
* Black, Silver, Red.
* LCD display.
* 1in screen.
* 8, 4, 2GB memory.
* 20 hours battery life.
* Stores up to 4000 (8 GB) songs.
* Compatible with Windows 2000, XP,Vista or Windows 7.
* MP3/WMA compatible.
* Repeat and shuffle functions.
* 2.0 USB port.
* Rechargeable.
* Portable solid state.
* USB cable supplied.
* Software included.
* Includes in ear headphones.

General information:
* Weight 35g.
* Size H4.7, W4.5, D1.5cm.
* Built-in battery.
* EAN/Barcode: 8712581534530.

As you can understand from the above info Philips Go Gear Raga is incredibly small and lightweight but it is just big enough to allow easy access to the tracks and the controls with a very neatly and cleverly designed LCD.

The battery life is the best plus of this Philip's gadget. It gives you unhindered 20 hours continuous playback. The Philips Go Gear Raga is chargeable via USM cable either through the computer's USB or mains USB adapter. In the mean time the LCD gives you most of the information as far as the charging process is concerned.

The player is charged via a USB cable, which jacks in directly to your computer's USB port or a mains USB adapter to charge. It doesn't take very long at all for the player to charge completely, and a helpful LCD display will inform you of charging progress and charging completion. Since you have the option let your track title be shown for, say, 20 seconds since it is one of the factor that decides the total play-back time on one full charge.

Priced at £36.5 (8GB) and £29 (4GB) what more one can expect