Reviewed!

The Apacer Audio Steno BP300 (yeah, its a mouthful) is an Mp3 player packed in a stylish little plastic case. The models come in different colours, ranging from ipod-ish zen white to metallic black. FYI, i got the white version. It features some good WMA support and is a real plug and play device. Just plug and ........ er, play!

Design is very good, with buttons placed where it should be and marked so you don't mix them up (try playing a song, nothing starts, and you start cursing. Then you take it out of your pocket and you realise you've just recorded your voice - not very nice) . The only downside is the menu slider, which feels a little flimsy. They're also good for fingering without looking at your player. The buttons have distinctive notches and placement so that you can operate it, even if your hand's in your pocket.

The body, on the other hand, is anything but flimsy. You can drop it down the stairs and it'll still continue spewing songs as if it were made of sponge. No, Patrick Star not included. No, stay away from me! GO AWAY! Aaaaargh! The placement of the battery is pretty weird, though. They put it at the back of the device, so there's no way to sit the thing properly, as there's a huge bulge behind. No, i'm not going to talk about the hunchback of Notre Dame this time.

The one thing that i can say in the upmost praise is the earphones. They're amazing!! When at full volume, your ears crack, and they clear enough for you to hear every guitar strum (if, of course, you're like me, who listens to Avril Lavigne and Hanson all the time) and every bass thump. Audio heaven. The best thing about them is that they're NEVER uncomforatable, and talking about earphones, which ususally are, that's something to sing praises about. The only downside is that they look weird (in some circles - subjective view there), but functionality over design.

The display is pretty good, no kidding. Its clear and well marked out, with one line for song title, one for duration and the last for device modes - like presets, battery life and such. Talking about battery life, the player manages nicely to squeeze out at least 9 hours of audio on one AAA battery. Not bad compared to its peers. Just don't go out and buy some stupid, obscure China brand.

It's not without its perks, though. The player freezes once in the while, for no apparent reason, but all you have to do is to take out the batteries. And it only comes with USB 1.1 support, so file transfer isn't as fast as it could've been.

Overall score? 4/5
Recommended? Uhuh.
Pros: Good button design, magnificent headphones, decent
WMA support, good battery life, plug and play
Cons: Freezes once in awhile, USB 1.1