SanDisk Sansa Clip MP3 player

Being the size it is the Clip has two obvious challengers for your hard earned - the iPod Shuffle and the Creative Zen Stone/Plus. The Clip has a couple of immediate advantages over the Shuffle.

Firstly it has a screen, in our opinion vital for any player with more than 512MB worth of music on board, and secondly you can get it with 4GB of storage as well as the more usual 1 & 2GB. Its a fair bit cheaper than the Shuffle too.

Kind to your pocket, both in expanse and expense

As for the Stone/Plus, well to be honest we have never really liked they way it looks or works. Of course neither the Shuffle nor the Stone support Ogg and Flac files.

As for pricing a lot will depend on how things shake out come September but by shopping around you should expect to pay about £25 for the 1GB model, £30 for the 2GB and £50 for the 4GB. Not bad when you consider that Apple will leave you light to the tune of 45 notes for a 2GB Shuffle.

Verdict

If absolute compactness of design is what you are after the Clip doesn't really put a foot wrong. Its small, light, easy to use and pumps out a decent enough sound while the clip provides a simple and secure way of attaching the player to your person without making you look too much of a boob.