The Transcend T Sonic 530 is currently available from an online retailer for £6.99. The first thing you'll notice is that there are no batteries, using the supplied USB A to mini B connector the player recharges off your PC and is ready to go out of the box although the manual recommends an initial 12 hour recharge. Sound quality is excellent - once you've replaced the earbuds with a decent set of headphones. The interface is fairly intuitive and the player has all the standard features e.g. repeat, shuffle, record, five preset equaliser modes and a 30 speed fast forward which is especially useful for those of us who listen to podcasts.

The only drawback of course is the 512MB storage and if was being really picky the clip on the neck strap seems flimsy. I cannot comment on the reliability of the player having only used it for 3 days.