Fill your boots: Tesco debuts £18+ MP3 players

The day an MP3 player appears free on a box of Coco-Pops just came a step closer.

The company to thank? Tesco, which has gone one further than its previous MP3 dabblings – opening a music download store last year and flogging Creative Zens – by launching a seven-strong player troop of its own.

Branded and built by Technika, the collection’s unsurprisingly at the Shuffle end of the market rather than the land inhabitated by the iPod and iRiver U10.

The cheapest is the MP-806 Flintstones-style 128MB jobbie (above left) that’ll set you back a mere £18, while the MP-306 lux model is a 1GB effort (above right) costing £50.

We’ve been having a fondle of the range and are pleasantly surprised. Sure, the features won’t be setting any gadgeteer’s hairs on end, but the players are all solidly built and free of the sort of cryptic interfaces you get on some budget rivals.

According to the specs, they all support WMA files bought from download shops, although none of the models are on Microsoft’s official Plays For Sure website.

Tesco’s even thought of our penchant for England World cup tat [story here], bundling in a Union Jack-festooned 256MB player called the MP-606. It’s selling for a mighty cheap £25.

For now, you’ll need to shop for the range in Tesco Extra’s vast emporiums – it’s yet to appear on Tesco’s site.