Hmm. If there were a way to strap lame in there, I'd buy a bunch of 'em.

Actually, I get the impression that there is a way to substitute your own encoder with a little hacking. Dunno exactly how, but I seem to recall they said it could be done. You'd have to compile an ARM version of LAME with a cross-compiler.

1) Is it CDDB only, or can it also use freedb?

CDDB only. I don't think that one can be hacked in.

2) How easy is it to find the ethernet adapter (which is optional)?

Pretty easy.

Hey, I don't know if you noticed, but there's a whole separate BBS for the Central, via the link at the top of the page. That's the appropriate place to be asking all these questions. Do a search there to see about which ethernet adapters will work.