Communications regulator Ofcom's decision to review laws against transmission over an FM band without a licence has prompted iTrip users to relax slightly. It's also prompted rival manufacturer Netac to include an FM transmitter in its new 1GB A200. The sleek, full colour media player is about the same size, but half as thick, as a box of matches, and comes with an impressively large screen and a whole host of features.

We're pleased to say, after seeing Apple's iTrip receive mixed reports, that Netac's FM transmitter does a pretty consistent job. Aided by the use of attached headphones as an aerial we were impressed by the clarity of the signal in each of a number of test environments.

Enabling the feature is a single button press from the music player menu, at which point you simply tune your radio to the same frequency you've specified on the player. Volume is then controlled by the radio, so the tiny device's power is limited only by your audio system, which is good news for anyone with a decent pair of speakers.

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Aside from the impressive transmission technology it's nice to see that Netac didn't think this new function would sell the player by itself, and the A200 is refreshingly flush on features.

The MP3 player is very easy to use thanks to the large, full colour screen, making audio setting adjustment and scrolling through your tracks and folders a breeze. However, audio file playback is just one of a host of features available. You'll find a sound recorder, image viewer, FM radio, video player, eBook viewer and file browser built in and accessible through a very clear, Nokia-style, iconic interface.

Music quality is excellent and battery life impressive; the device charges via your USB port but Netac has generously bundled an in-car charger with the device so you won't need to worry about issues with charging on the move.

The faults we found with the A200 are all minor. Although you can browse around other features while music is playing, if you choose to read an eBook or view photos the sound stops, which is a little frustrating considering you might well want to do both at the same time.

Having the headphones plugged in to act as an aerial isn't a big concern but does add a little extra clutter to your car and could possibly have been avoided. Finally, the quality of the signal over the FM band is good, but not faultless. Quality can be affected occasionally by the design of certain cars and proximity to the aerial, but overall it's well worth using for this feature.

There are a few similarly sized 1GB players that you can pick up for less money but none of them offers as much as the A200, even without the FM transmitter. We're keeping our fingers crossed that Netac will release a 2GB or 4GB player in the near future; we would happily pay more for a little extra capacity.

The Netac A200 leaves the majority of competitors in this field in its very generous wake, and comes thoroughly recommended even if you don't use the FM transmitter.