Terry, that's an approach I don't get.

I avoided getting MP3 players early because they didn't do what I wanted (record voice and line-in), and/or they didn't have enough capacity for a reasonable amount of stuff (several hours of music), and/or they were too expensive, and/or they were too clunky.

These days though, you can pretty much get whatever you want to fit any of those niches. OK, you can guarantee that it'll have more capacity or be cheaper this time next year, but you'll still have it. Unless you change how you use it (if you want to store files as well, or if you decide that actually you *do* want to rip every CD in your collection to your MP3 player), then your decision will still be valid, and your player should still keep working for you. I guess my point is that unless you've had to make some big compromise in the player you're buying today, you shouldn't *need* another until your first one breaks.

And that's where Apple can go swivel on a splintery stick, as far as I'm concerned (and all the others with built-in batteries). No way am I spending all that on an iPod, just to have the damn thing die because it was badly designed in the first place. That's also why I'd rather not have a hard-drive one, because they just aren't as durable as Flash ones.

Graham.