Actually, there are a number of portable CD players on the market that will handle MP3's as well as standard music CD's. I just bought an RCA for $69 US, but I've seen other brands as low as $49. As for burning MP3 disks, they're created exactly the same as you'd make a data disk. I'm in the process of copying my entire CD collection to MP3 so I can take it all with me when we travel.