Matsunichi MF326

the sound on the Matsunichi MF326 is good and the battery life is quite long although there is not enough memory mine can only fit 108 songs on it. Overall i am quite happy with it..and would recommend it to anyone..it would be better with a bigger memory though

It's good, if it won't work when you switch it on, try the firmware upgrade. Not quite sure why mine just stopped working.

Currently trying to get it working again to use as a bootable USB device, put linux or FreeBSD on it to free up my 1gb usb memory stick.

I have a Matsunichi MF326 MP3 player, and the sound quality is just amazing; even when the volume is turned up there is no distortion or lack of sound performance! It is the best digital media player I have ever come across, and it does not try to be something it is not.

OK...... Personal casette player..... sooo 90's

Personal CD Player........ how big!!

iPod... Mug me!

Matsunich MP3 Player... Suits you sir.

I opted for the 512Mb unit, and very nice it is to. I listen to a lot of talking books being optically challenged, and I got sick of carrying four or five cases of CD's every where. I popped into PC World and there it was. Genius. Small, compact. It doesnt scream MUG Me and gives suprisingly good quality sound for such a cheap little unit.

I would recommend purchasing a better set of headphones as the ones supplied simply do not do this diminutive little unit the justice it deserves.

The blue backlight is amazing and makes the display easy to see, even for me.

Don't get me wrong now, its not the badger's nadgers, the dog's danglies or the bee's knees of MP3 players, but at this money(£34.99) it beats many other lower specced but higher priced units.

Buy one tomorrow and tell me I'm wrong if you honestly can.

You won't regret it.

The Matsunichi MF326 128MB MP3 player is a bargain bucket MP3 player, and doesn't try to be anything else. Sure, there's the iPod and Creative Zen with their swish functions and enormous storage capability, but if you don't have a spare £300 to spend on a glorified Walkman, and don't actually need to carry 60 billion songs in your pocket, you could do much worse than this.

I'd never heard of Matsunichi before buying this MP3 player, but a quick look at their website told me that they must be the Far Eastern version of Goodman's - not top of the range, but not too shabby either.

So what do you get with the MF326? Well, first off, unlike Apple's white brick of fun, this player only costs £20. In the packet you get the player, some headphones, an energiser battery, a USB cable, a driver CD Rom and a neck/carry strap. The first thing you'll probably notice is how small the thing is - it's about the same size as a 20 pack of Wrigley's chewing gum. The LCD display is quite small, but is very clear, and features some lovely scrolling text.

I went for the 128MB version simply because it was the cheapest, and because I only intended to use it whilst I was commuting to work on my bike. I was told by the guy in the shop that I'd only get about 20 songs on it, but was impressed when that number was nearer 60. Obviously, there are larger models available for slightly more dinero, but for me this is more than enough, and I don't mind switching tracks around on my PC.

Also, the MF326 plays both MP3 and WMA tracks, but I'd go with WMA every time, just because you get more on it.

The headphones are of very reasonable quality, and there are a number of pre-set sound modes (Classical, Rock, Jazz etc..), which is impressive for a £20 player. It can also belt out quite a high level of volume as well.

The player is also very easy to use, and you can simply drag and drop tracks from it onto your PC's desktop, as windows XP recognises it as an external hard drive.

As an added bonus, you also get a voice recorder that utilises the tiny built in microphone.

Altogether, this is an excellent package for those who want music on the go, at a budget price. Forget spending silly money on an iPod and those ridiculous white headphones that scream "mug me now!" at any street urchin.