Transcend has just introduced its latest portable media player: the MP850. Compact in size (81.5mm long x 41.5mm wide x 12.7mm deep) and weighing just around 48h, the MP850 is the perfect companion when you're hiking or running and just want to listen to some music.

It's got a 1.8-inch TFT LCD display, an integrated FM tuner, voice recorder for when you want to record your thoughts and supports MP3, WMA, WAV and WMA-DRM-10 audio formats. Don't worry about it leaving you in the middle of your hike because it has a 22-hour battery life. It is equipped with seven equalizer effects, as well as the possibility for the user to save his/her custom configuration.

It charges using a built-in Hi-Speed USB 2.0 connector also used for transferring data. You may view photos (jpg and bmp support) and even read e-books (txt support). Pretty standard yet cool but I don't know about the idea of calling this music player a portable media player. Portable media players are usually able to play videos and although this one can too, its 1.8-inch display is a little too small for the user to view his/her movies in a proper manner.

It comes in two colors and each represents its storage capacity, with Ivory boasting 4GB and Onyx Black, 8GB. This device will never compete as a real portable media player but it's definitely a good mp3 player. Coming at a price of around 71 Eur (Ivory) and about 85.10 EU (Onyx Black), I don't know whether I would buy it just for listening to music.


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