Cirago WeWa Stanchion WMP-6606FM (256MB, Silver/Black)

Cirago and WeWa continue their collaboration in the MP3 player market with the 256MB Stanchion WMP-6606FM. The player ($170) packs plenty of features into its lipsticklike case, but it's uninspiring overall. You're better off checking out the iRiver iFP-790 instead.

The Stanchion's silver casing isn't eye-popping, and the futuristic tube-shaped design makes it a little thick around the middle, but it's small and light enough (0.94 inches by 2.76 inches and 0.92 ounce) to slip into a shirt pocket. One thing that's striking is how few buttons there are on the unit. You get keys for EQ/Rec and the menu, as well as a four-way joystick that controls playback, volume, and menu functions. For some puzzling reason, you press the EQ/Rec button to turn on the unit and the Play button on the joystick to turn it off. The other two keys feel sturdy enough, but the joystick is tiny and rather flimsy.

While we're all for streamlined design, the limited number of controls makes for some confusing menu options. In Stop mode, you press and hold the EQ/Rec button to move through the different EQ settings. An equalizer icon graphically displayed the choices, but we had no idea which icon translated to Normal, Jazz, Classical, and so forth. Also, it doesn't do much good to make EQ selections in Stop mode since you can't hear what they sound like. It's best to make your EQ selections manually through the menu so that you can hear the changes on the fly. You won't find a dedicated Hold button on the Stanchion either. Instead, you have to press the EQ/Rec and Menu buttons simultaneously to activate this feature. Annoying as this is, you'll want to set the device to Hold often, given the ease with which you can inadvertently hit the joystick during playback.

Fortunately, the WeWa Stanchion's confusing functions don't apply to file transfers. MP3 and unprotected WMA files are transferred simply through Windows Explorer. (Windows 98 users will need to install drivers from the included CD-ROM; sorry, there's no Mac support here.) Another plus is the Stanchion's chameleon-like LCD backlight, which can be changed to one of seven visually appealing colors--a nice extra for those who find it difficult to read displays.

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