THE Creative Nomad Jukebox - a portable MP3 player capable of holding your entire record collection - is a fantastic way of taking your favourite tunes on holiday without the need for a second suitcase.

But I have found something even more amazing.

The Napa DAV309 is an MP3 portable that also has the ability to play video CDs so you can hook it up to your telly and enjoy the latest movies.

The machine comes with its own built-in a 3.6V lithium battery so it can be used on the move and a DC 6V power supply connector for playing movies at home.

As well as the obligatory earphones, there's also a nifty infra-red remote control and all the video and audio cables you need to get wired up.

Using this portable you can record your favourite tunes onto CD and take them on the road. The average CDR will hold more than 150 tracks which can be split into directories - one for each album - or re-ordered according to personal preference.

Generally, the player can handle any MP3 file you care to throw at it - although songs recorded at variable bit-rates (quality level) can confuse the elapsed time display.

It also tends to play your albums in alphabetical order.

The player itself has a forward and back skip button that will only let you skip track by track. All very well but there's a danger of repetitive strain injury if you want to listen to track number 155. At least the remote allows you to skip ten tracks at once or directly choose a track number using the numerical keypad.

The DAV309 can also read conventional CDs and there's a three stage bass boost which tends to overpower the sounds at its highest setting.

But the really cool feature of this player is the ability to connect it to your TV.

Slip in a VCD and the player turns into a full-featured movie player. The only downside is the difficulty of obtaining VCDs in this country.

The movie on a CD format never really took off in Europe where it has always played second fiddle to VHS. In the Asia-Pacific countries however, VCDs are massively popular and all the latest films are available (albeit not always officially) sometimes before they are released in cinemas over here.

The quality isn't as good as DVD but a well produced VCD should be able to match the very best video cassette and it won't deteriorate in the same way.

Of course, a portable DVD player is still the ultimate mobile movie machine but no one has yet produced a DVD that also plays MP3 tracks. And don't expect much change from £1,000 if you buy a DVD player.

The DAV309, on the other hand, can be had for less than £100 if you shop around. Now that's what I call a gadget bargain!