Greetings!

... Now I can be your friend! ...

HAHAHAHA! See The Rev's thread for that one...

... if I lost or broke mine, I don't know WHAT I would do ...

I know exactly what you mean. Given my natural inability to be graceful with delicate things (soldering irons, empegs not bolted down, heavy objects, drive tray screws, etc.), I need to have a spare in case I do something stupid and drop the player. It has happened before. This latest wasn't completely my fault - it was an accident where the player slipped out of the dock I was demonstrating.

I have gotten so spoiled by having all of my music in the car that I could not go back to any CDR based solutions. Even when I use the S50, stacked with as much memory as possible, it still is not enough. Greed, I guess. Or perhaps merely obsession...

... There would *NOT* be a 'sutiable' replacement ...

Agreed. I know that the folks @ empeg are working very hard on the next generation player, but I fear that it is at least a few years away. Even then, with the level of acceptance in the industry, would it be a stock item in a newly purchased car? I don't know.