mp3 or MD?

well it depends. do you have large MP3 collection? or just CDs? i've archived all my music (CDs and downloads) to MP3, so I purchased an MP3 player. i can transfer 50-60 songs onto my player (Rio 600) in less than 5 minutes and be gone. for MD, you have to record a MD every time you want to listen to something on it. and if you have an older analog MD player, recording is similar to dubbing to a tape. newer ones are all digital though (for more than the past year i believe). I find MD annoying, it's a format that never really took off but still has some support. MP3 is nearly universal now in support for it, and will be the trendy thing for years to come (unless Vorbis takes over....which isn't likely, the public doesn't enjoy new formats like that). I would purhcase an MP3 player, and use it. make sure it's flash upgradable though, so that new compression formats can be added and/or upgraded.

The ipod should be pretty cool - fast file transfers due to its firewire interface and you can store pretty much anything on it (not just mp3 files) - at least that's how it works on a mac (it is basically an external HDD plus mp3 functionality). Apart from that, I would prefer an mp3 player anytime - it is a universal format and sound quality is just as excellent as MD if you use a decent bitrate.

I used to own a MD player and will never buy another one. I could definately hear a difference in the quality over a cd. I can't hear that much difference in a good MP3 (say 192KB or above) over a CD. Mark

I own a portable CD player with MP3 support. You can exchange the media (regular CD-Rs or CD-RWs with MP3 files) like MDs. If you' like to get a smaller device: there are mini-CD MP3 players available as well. bb

i own a mp3 cd player but i find it's too big. as for mini mp3 cd players, i don't think they hold much. i've decided that becuase, according to you, MD 's are fading away and aren't great, i'll wait unitl the mp3 hard drvie players get smaller. then i'll buy it. as for now, i'll stick to my walkman. yes TAPE> the cd player is too big to fit in my pocket. thanks .