Well i have had a sony Md walkman for about 3 years (I used it to record my mixes) but the FF button dosent work anymore and the closing clip is broken.

I am planning on purchasing a new hard-drive/micro drive based media player in 1 month and i wanted to hear some suggestions on what i should get. I had read reviews on the ipod, iriver, and zen players but i would rather hear opinions from those who have actually purchased and used these players before i make my final descision.

Here are my requirements:
- max amount to spend is $250 Not a single penny more.
- No less than 20GB of memory
- Backlit LCD screen (I use it alot in all conditions)
- Built in recorder (Line In - Necessary) NECESSARY for recording mixes !!!.
- AM/FM tuner is a plus
- Decent battery life (I dont wanna be recharging this thing every day)


Thanks in advance for your help people

Thanks, Damien

uhh maybe another md player.

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two players fit the bill

iriver H120 ...has optical in/out, plus line in.. fm recorder, etc. Very clean recordings. only problem is u can't change the input level (at least when i had the unit).. maybe newer firmware fixed this.

Option option is their newer H320. . . has a color screen and line in but i dont know about optical features.

Both are little bigger than an Ipod. If only apple would incorporate a line-in and perhaps a longer lasting battery, then i would say to screw the iriver due to firmware issues, but for how, go with the iriver ...