I've started to spend alot of time away on business and I'm bored of watching the 5 terestrial tv channels (its a real treat if the hotel has freeview). My thought is to buy a portage media player and watch movies when I'm away. I have several options that I need help with

1) A portable media player with built in screen (something like and Archos 7 for around £200)

2) A portable media player without a screen but with a s-video or video outputs to connect to the tv in the hotel room

3) A netbook with a 10" screen that I can use to play movies (will a £200 netbook play mkv media?)

I want to steer away from bulky laptops as I already have to carry my work laptop (cant be used for media playback), overnight bag and Suit bag. The though of having to carry another laptop is too much to bear.

Thoughts and suggestions of make/model are welcome and my budget is a maximum of £200 although £150 is preferable. Memory size would need to be 8gb and be able to play all media formats

What about something like this and then just a cheap 8gb flash drive?

It's very cheap, but it means relying on the TV in your hotel room.

A friend of mine bought a 5" Ainol back from Hong Kong earlier in the year and I've been very impressed by it. Unfortunately don't seem to be any official channels to get one in the UK but as always there's ebay

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m570.l1313&_nkw=ainol&_sacat=See-All-Categories

The best thing is that their advertising tagline is everyone loves Ainol

If it helps, I have a netbook (think it's this one http://h40059.www4.hp.com/uk/homelaptops/product.php?id=VY477EA&experience=direct), and it can play .vob's in VLC fine (ripped DVDs's, doesn't have a DVD drive), but it struggles with 720p+ on youtube.

Although I guess that's a bit above your price range.

I've got an EeePc 701 which I use. Granted, it struggles a bit with some MKV files, but the majority are OK. And, you're only limited by the number of 8gb SDHC cards you have as to how much media you take with you.

Sound isn't the best over the speakers, but over headphones it's more than adequate.

That's a proper budget solution, they can be picked up for as little as £50 now!