With the cap on, the whole player is about 4 inches (10cm) long, one inch (2.5cm) thick at the thickest point and about one inch (2.5cm) wide at the widest point. I really dislike the shape of the player. Why can't the designer go with the usual rectangular shape? The odd cigar shape of the player makes it difficult to stay stable for recording purposes.
I would much rather the designer make it wider (put the AAA battery compartment on the side) but thinner.
This odd shape also makes it necessary to use the extension cable. It is nearly impossible to plug the unit in directly to an USB port if you have other devices already connected. If your computer/hub has nothing connected, you can probably connect the player directly. Personally, I always prefer to use a cable so I don't have to fuss behind the computer or at the hub. Given that the player needs to connect via a cable anyway, the designer could have used a miniature USB connector on the unit and save some more space.
On the plus side, this player/recorder is quite easy to operate. To play music, just press the play button once to turn on the unit, then press the button one more time to play music. Volumn control is obvious and easy to get to. There is also a ``lock'' latch to prevent accidental button activations. The display isn't big, but it displays the name of the song, sequence number of the song, time, playing mode, equalizer settings. Not as flexible and informative as my iRiver SlimX, but it is quite enough for most people.
Getting to the set up menu is also easy. A jog/button combo allows a user to navigate the menuing system with one finger (thumb). The preset equalizer settings are okay, but with my Grado Labs headphones, the default setting is fine. You can change other settings, such as repeat, shuffle, backlight on duration, auto-off and etc. via the menuing system. You can even delete files through the menuing system. This is helpful for voice files.