Rumz

Ah yes, but I remember 6 years ago or so when the least you could get a portable cd player for was probably $60-$70 for a no-name budget model. $100 for a basic NetMD unit is great, you have to take into consideration that those $20 cd players don't let you record (but then, you can't buy prerecorded music for MD either these days now can you). If you consider that even 3 years ago the most basic MD available in the US probably went for around $170 (if I'm correct), it's nice to see one down at the $100 mark, which is about what an above average cd player will cost I guess. Also if people want to use that MD as n MP3 player it's pretty cheap compared to many of the alternatives, as well...

The iRiver iHP-100 (similar to the iPod) is a 10gb player/recorder with optical line in for mp3 recording... yeah it's not Atrac but its a step in the direction of the versatility of MD. By no means does that mean it has reached the versatility of MD, but it is an improvement...

Neither of which boards gets nearly the level of activity as the T-board Be careful azt-- head-fi could get you spending even more money than the t-board

I can relate. I've been an avid fan and promoter of MD for the last 4 years now... and I still think MD is the most versatile portable format because I know many people who don't have their own computer to use. But who doesn't have access to a cd player or other source that can be recorded via line-in? It's perfect for these people. I have never been a big mp3 man but as of late I've found myself starting to want something like an iPod or the iRiver iHP-100... never cared to have all my music (or even a huge library of it) with me all the time, never liked mp3 much, but dang... the idea clicked and a light turned on and I'm wanting it now. It feels almost blasphemous and unfaithful to switch to another format when the one I have is still perfectly usable and one that I've put so much into over the years... agonizing is the perfect word to describe it, hehe. I'm sure I will use MD as much as possible, it'll just be interesting adding another format to the mix.

Hehe, it took the t-board going down for me to register for these forums, though I've browsed them before from time to time.