With so much music player software freely available on the Internet, you may wonder why GMT would release a retail box product which is specifically designed for playing MP3 music.

While many of its functions are similar to popular players like Winamp and MusicMatch Jukebox, The J Box has a far broader appeal in its design brief. It only takes a few minutes with the program to see that it is altogether a different product to conventional players. Those already familiar with MP3 software will probably find The J Boxs controls a little disorienting as it doesnt generally apply well-used conventions, but first-timers will undoubtedly find the colourful jukebox-style interface less intimidating to use.

While products like Winamp and XingMP3 Player are geared towards giving you tools to play MP3 files already on your system or downloaded from the internet; neither make it easy for you to rip tracks off your CDs so you can listen to them on your system. In fact, encoding often requires a second dedicated program - not the least bit intuitive. Even the technically savvy can get bogged down in such software. Little wonder that MP3 still hasnt hit the mainstream in use.

The J Box falls into a category of all-in-one MP3 players along with the likes of MusicMatch Jukebox. Using a retro jukebox motif, the deliberate association with the most familiar of music players is thankfully more than skin deep. The controls, functions and design all mimic that of a real jukebox machine. The J Box is in fact divided into four utilities: Classic Player, Pocket Player, Organiser and Importer, each accessible from the main launcher screen. The central function of the suite is the Organiser which, despite its name, is the recorder for encoding or ripping the tracks from your CD.

Once started up, the Organiser analyses your CD drive for audio tracks and lists them in the window along with check boxes next to each track. All the tracks are selected by default and its a simple matter of unchecking the tracks you dont wish to record. You can double-click on the individual tracks to rename them or, if youre connected to the internet, you can click on the CDDB button to access an online repository of song titles which will automatically search for the track titles from your CD album and rename them accordingly.

The Organiser allows you to predefine up to four paths for saving the MP3 tracks which you can map to a local hard disk or network drive. It also prompts for the artist name and album title under which it creates a folder and subfolder respectively to store the tracks. Multiple categories can be assigned to the album for searching and The J Box supports the ID3 tag standard. Once youre satisfied with the settings, just hit the record button and the Organiser begins copying, then encoding the tracks from your CD in one hit.

The Classic Player is the jukebox-style controller previously mentioned. Presented in a split-screen layout bordered by arching green and yellow tubes, it displays two album lists at a time. Album covers can be scanned and placed into the corresponding folder which will be automatically picked up by The J Box and displayed above the list of tracks. The best quality is achieved if the picture is saved at the specified resolution of 100 x 100dpi. A control panel at the bottom lets the user browse through the selection via a row of alphabet letters, or simply by flipping through a page at a time. Tracks can be played by punching in the album and track number - familiar to jukebox users - or double-clicking on the track itself.

The Classic Player is ideal for entertaining as it allows your guests to easily make their own selection of music through a fun and familiar interface. And the output will be as good as your set of speakers allow.

The Pocket Player is more for personal use when youre sitting in front of the computer and want to listen to some music. This is a simple and unobtrusively small control bar with basic playback functions and a scrolling display for track information. The Importer tool scans your drive(s) for other MP3 files already present and converts them into The J Box format.

As far as all-in-one MP3 players go, The J Box is one of the friendlier versions to use. The ease with which it records from CDs will put MP3 music in the technical reach of the masses.