May 9, 2008 12:46 PM PDT

An MP3 player that instills the fear of God

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(Credit: IceTech)

Lord knows I love getting boxes full of goodies, especially when they contain a hodgepodge of MP3 players and speakers. Apparently, the Almighty One also believes that Crave readers need a little more God-fearing in their lives, because my latest shipment included an MP3 player in the shape of a cross...that you wear around your neck. There's even a a little silver (read: plastic that's painted silver) cross charm at the end of the lanyard ribbon. Sadly, the Keo MP-301 (1GB) does not come preloaded with Christian rock and gospel music, because that might actually make it worth its $48 price tag. As it stands, it's one of the cheapest-feeling MP3 players I've had my hands on.

On the plus side, the chunky electronic cross, which brings to mind the boxy wooden variety, packs plenty of features, such as a voice recorder, an FM radio, and a built-in speaker. However, good luck figuring out how to use all of them through the convoluted interface--it's one of those players that has a dedicated volume button--singular--so you have to press that and then use two other buttons to actually adjust the levels. (Is it just me, or does that make no sense?) The quirky (and tiny), two-tone split screen leaves something to be desired as well. But--hey--it looks pretty rockin' when worn and could be quite useful for fending off vampires and other evil beings. Better yet, if you have a teenager who's been begging for a new MP3 player, the MP-301 could be just the ticket to remind them that "God is always watching."

The cross actually looks kinda rock-and-roll when worn--not bad!

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For more than five years, Jasmine France has covered a variety of tech products for CNET--from scanners to keyboards to GPS devices--but she's happiest where she is now: sitting atop a pile of MP3 players, "testing" every music service known to man, and jamming a variety of earbuds in every shape and color into her absurdly small ears. E-mail Jasmine.