Toshiba's Gigabeat T400 MP3 player offers a lot for its low price. This device is sleek and small -- it's just a touch larger than a credit card -- and sports color-coordinated accents and earbuds, good screen resolution and high-quality audio playback.

The T400 is a flash-based player with 4GB of storage, which is slightly on the low side given its multimedia capabilities. The 2.4-inch screen boasts crisp resolution for still and moving images. Controls scroll smoothly through video clips, and the screen size makes viewing fairly easy on the eyes.

The T400 works with Windows Media Center on Window XP SP2 or higher. Syncing is a breeze with the right programs, but beware -- like most Windows-based product, the Gigabeat's compatibility is fickle and prone to glitches.

The 4GB of space holds up to 1,000 songs. The estimated battery life is just 16 hours per charge for music, which is not much when compared to the 30 hours that comparable players from other brands are now sporting. The T400 includes no recorder and lacks an FM tuner, which many find an important feature.

The shiny black casing is comes with blue, pink or orange accents, and even the earbud cords are color coordinated. Toshiba's 4-way PlusPad controls volume, skips through content and scrolls through lists. The sound quality produced by the T400 is also impressive. The T400 packs a lot of audio power for its price, and does it in style.


Pros: Attractive design, quality ear buds, easy controls
Cons: No FM tuner, no voice recorder, small storage space, short battery charge

Warranty
1 year