Well I've concluded that even I wouldn't be able to handle super long distance rail journeys without some music. Especially since I'm planning a 3 day round trip from Liverpool to Birmingham (2 hours) to Penzance (6 hours) with a 9 hour wait, then to Dundee (12 hours) to Edinburgh to Glasgow (3 hours) with a 6 hour wait, then to Bournemouth (9 hours) to Manchester (6 hours) to Liverpool (1 hour).

On top of which a 16 hour round trip from Liverpool - Manchester - Newquay - Manchester - Liverpool and Liverpool - Stafford - Exeter - Paignton - Exeter - Stafford - Liverpool which is 14 hours. Even I couldn't manage that without entertainment

So here's the target. Under £30 (preferably £10-£20) not really much more than 1GB and uses AA/AAA batteries instead of charged ones, ok I could still use one as I'll be on Virgins nearly all the time, but still! and preferably a reputable make!

Any ideas/reccomendations etc would be appreciated

Try: Argos, Amazon, dabs.com, Comet, Currys, Dixons

Decent rechargables, ie Ni-MH, may last longer than alkaline batteries... you may find, if your player takes AA/AAA batteries, that you can invest in some good rechargables and save yourself some cash long term, plsu having the advantage of being able to buy cheapo AAs if the charge runs out on you.

Erm... are you bragging or complaining?

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I've been recommending these little beauties to everyone, they really are the biz. One goes every 10 minutes.

Ouch on the postage. I geuss the total is still pretty good for an MP3 player. Do you own one?

I've had 4, not so cheap mp3 players since christmas coz they keep reformatting themselves, not plying the vocal track... if you want music, I'd stick with the good old walkman!

They do look good but having been ripped off big time by someone selling from hong kong took 6 mths to sort out - faulty item etc be wary.

Yes I do and it is very good. There is always a risk when buying from abroad but the 98.5% positive feedback (as at the time) was good enough for me. My sister bought one too and they both arrived safely.

Umm...neither?

I am always a little concerned when it's claimed things are located in the UK but they're not. Hmm.

Well I will keep an eye on this chap's items anyway!

how many songs can u put on them?

Doesn't that depend on how big the songs are?

I saw these in China. Wannabe iPods or what? Some of the shops in China had the cheek of actually labelling it an iPod!!

well on most mp3 players' advertising it says an average number of songs - i think they use 3minutes as an average or something... x

For flash memory (USB memory stick) MP3 players, here's a tip to avoid problems: try to avoid doing things like downloading songs when the batteries are a bit low. That's a sure way to stuff up the driver which controls the unit. You can reformat the thing using the driver that came with it, or a generic one off the Internet, but you lose all your files, of course. Better to keep the batteries well charged!

the seller of this item has really bad reviews...and my mum is worried bout its reliability... boo radley what would you say? thanks x

Hi Lucie, there are several bad reviews but there also many many good reviews. It's all about probability, they are a genuine seller but things will sometimes go astray when sent from abroad. One lunatic posted loads of bad feedback for no apparent reason. The chances that it will arrive intact are approximately 66 to 1 from the feedback, please don't blame me if it doesn't arrive though. They are very very good I think. I've been using mine all afternoon.

thankyou very much. I am in the process of deciding between black and white. thanks so much xxx

oh and also...how many songs do you have on yours? thanks x

You can fit 180 on, or you can put audio books, photos, videos or games.