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Having an MP3 player that is nice and small makes a lot of sense. A tiny little device like the iPod Shuffle — which is shaped like a large clip and is about the size of a small matchbook — is great if you want to go to the gym or go running and take a lot of music with you. But if you want to watch videos on a portable device, buying the smallest one probably isn't the best way to go.

In fact, a large player is necessary for a couple of reasons. The first is obvious: movies and TV shows look better on a larger screen. The second is that video files — even those that have been compressed using XviD or DivX, or any of the other methods out there — take up a lot more room that photos or music files, and therefore you need a larger hard drive to hold them all.

A good portable video player, then, has to balance two competing interests: the desire for lots of storage space and a nice big screen, and the desire for a portable device that isn't too big and heavy. The three units chosen for this review -- the Toshiba Gigabeat, the Archos 604 Wi-Fi and the Creative Zen Vision W -- have taken different approaches to solving that problem.

When it comes to storage, the Creative Zen Vision W and the Gigabeat are tied with up to 60 gigabytes of disk space (the Archos has a maximum of 30 GB). That gives Creative or Toshiba users enough for about 100 movies, depending on the format they are saved in. Both can handle many different formats, including Windows Media, MPEG-4 and DivX -- although the Creative gets the nod for being able to handle XviD files as well. All three come with software that converts different formats.

When it comes to viewability, the screen on the Archos 604 wins by a nose. Although it is almost exactly the same size as the screen on the Vision -- both are 11 cm in size, with a resolution of 480 by 272 pixels -- the Archos screen seems brighter and sharper even when watching the same videos. One factor that might explain the difference is that the Archos supports up to six million colours, while the Vision only supports 262,000.

The screen on the Toshiba is sharp enough and clear enough for watching videos, but it is substantially smaller than either the Archos or the Creative, at just 5.6 cm. And yet, at a list price of $469 for the 60 GB model, the Toshiba is about the same as the Creative Zen Vision W, which is $450 for the 60 GB unit. The Archos sells for $399, even though it only comes in a 30 GB model. When it comes to price for value, Creative wins.

While it has the nicest screen, the Archos sn't quite as good on the video-format support issue as its competitors. While the 604 will play MPEG-4 and Windows Media formatted files, it doesn't support DivX or the H.264 format that is used by Apple and some others (although there are reports that Archos will offer downloadable plugins to support these other formats). In terms of sheer physical bulk, the Creative and the Archos weigh almost the same (300 grams) and are about the same dimensions (13.5 cm by 7.6 by 2.5), while the Toshiba is 10 cm by 5.8 by 1.5 and weighs just 134 grams.

If what you want to do is record video onto your device rather than just play it, the Archos is your only choice, since neither the Creative nor the Toshiba support video recording. And even the Archos doesn't support it out of the box. Users have to buy a separate unit -- either the DVR Station, which is designed to be part of a home-theatre setup, or the Travel Adapter, which snaps onto the bottom of the Archos using an adapter port.

Although it has a smaller screen than the other two players, the Toshiba Gigabeat is also the smallest overall of the three units, and therefore is probably the one that will appeal most to users concerned about size and weight. The Gigabeat is almost exactly the same size as the iPod video player, although it is a bit thicker. The screen is almost exactly the same size as the iPod, but instead of Apple's scroll wheel there is a cross-shaped unit with buttons at the end of the four bars and another one in the middle.

In terms of other features that make one player or another stand out, the Creative is unusual in that it has an external card slot -- a Compact Flash slot at one end of the unit, which is useful for anyone whose camera uses CF cards. Unfortunately for Creative, most newer digital cameras use SD or smaller format storage cards (the company sells an adapter for these as well). And the Archos model tested supports Wi-Fi, so you can surf the Web via the built-in browser or transfer files wirelessly from other computers. The Archos also has a touch screen and comes with a stylus, although you can also use your finger in a pinch.

One nice thing about all three units is that you can power them using just a USB cord (provided your computer supports that sort of thing -- some older PCs and laptops don't), which means you don't have to carry around a separate AC power brick. The Archos takes a proprietary USB cable, but the other two units have a standard small USB port so a USB cable from any digital camera or other portable device should be useable.

The Archos and the Creative both are rated for about 14 hours of audio use and about 4 hours of video, while the Toshiba (somewhat surprisingly) only provides about 2.5 hours of video. The battery life for the Archos decreases even faster when the Wi-Fi is in use, however, which is something to keep in mind if you buy that model.

So which player is the best? The bottom line is going to be different depending on your needs. If quality of screen and ability to store more content is what you're interested in, the Archos is probably your best bet. But if you'd rather have something smaller that still does a nice job, the Toshiba is a good choice. And if you'd like a mix of both with a CF card to boot, then you'll probably be interested in the Creative Zen Vision.