Sometimes, you just want to adhere to the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) standard. Panasonic’s latest foray into the huge MP3 player market is an interesting one, because the SV-SD300 lacks any kind of internal memory, instead being “totally dependent on SD cards.” In this way, you can “get it” in whatever capacity you’d like, provided you’re willing to fork out the bucks for bigger capacity SD cards.

They took the cheap route and only opted for a USB 1.1 connection for this portable music player. After all, if you’re rocking one of those USB 2.0 multi-card readers, you won’t need to connect your SV-SD300 directly to your computer anyways. In an effort to keep battery life up (23 hours of non-stop playback from the included NiMH battery), Panasonic has outfitted the DAP with a 4-line monochrome LCD. No flashy colourful graphics here.

No frills and no color do not necessarily mean this player is no fun. But at $150 (before the cost of an SD card), the Panasonic SV-SD300 isn’t all that cheap. Look for it around Europe and Japan this month.