Firefly wrote:

Arny said (with a link to Amazon, showing a 20 GB iPod at $300):

...says you're about $100 high for a 20 GB iPod. Trust me, 20 GB is

LOTS!

So I am surmising that right now there really isn't a more
cost-effective route, like my previously mentioned possibility of
upgrading over time. He currently has about 10 GB of songs, and I have
another 6 GB. And he is downloading more every day (through a legal
source in case the RIAA is watching).

I also read something about the iPods only lasting a few years, and the
consumer not being able to change the batteries once they die. I don't
like that little marketing technique.

Any other possibilities? Or is this one of those things we're going to
have to wait a few years on? By then, we'll definitely need the 40 GB!

There are other options.

I myself hate hard drives in mobile equipment that is used while
moving - it's a bad combination. Solid-state is far better.
That said, you might look into a PDA type device with a CF or
memory stick slot - that way he can get email and maybe
use it as a phone or PDA and still play MP3s.

Secondly, use your hard drive in your PC. All you really need
is 1-4gig in the player at any one time.

Third, there is always the venerable, yet bulletproof CD-MP3
player. Burn a CD with your favorite tunes on it and enjoy
5-6 hours of music at once. I hear they are now planning
DVD MP3 players, for 4 gig at once. It's not as small and
sexy as an IPod, but it is far more serviceable.

Me? I'd get a MP3 Discman and use the leftover to get a MP3
CD player in the car - so that he can use one set of CDs
for both places.

http://www.mp3playerstore.com/stuff_.../dvd/DS701.htm
It also is a portable DVD player, but the goal here is
4 gig of MP3s for a dollar that you burn at home on your PC.
A small wallet would hold all of your combined music.

CD/MP3 Discmans are $50 or so last I checked. I've used
everything and I still like the ease of a CD/MP3 player
as I can fit about 50-75 songs on a CD and use any old
CD burner to make one. The last CDRs I bought were 20 cents
each. But DVD? That is interesting.

My favorite, though, is the mini-CD. It gives you enough
for about 2 CDs worth of MP3s and is the same size as an
IPod.
http://www.mp3shopping.com/english/EXP401.htm

Small and uses little CDs that are easy to fit in your
wallet or a small carrying case(which fits in your pocket
quite easily). Last I checked, the mini-CDs were about
40-50 cents each. There are smaller ones as well.