I agree with Tony in that the Empeg is in a completely different class than most other MP3 players hitting the market this year, but at the same time, its not that different to the average consumer. My view of the average ICE consumer really likes the concept of MP3 audio, believes it to be of less quality, but thinks it might be worth the upgrade anyway (10 albums on a CD? Cool!) I'm really glad the Empeg is not in this class of player. Compressed Digital Audio will be big in the audio (car & home) markets of the next couple of years, and while I'm glad that means Empeg Ltd. will be doing great business (touch, errr, knock on wood), it also means that there will be a lot of devices that the "average consumer" thinks are in the same class. That, coupled with the price difference, will mean that the Empeg player will remain the high-quality leader in quality of playback, upgradability, customer support, and everything else that's already been said on this thread. Bring on the "competition", because we all know that right now, there really isn't any.
Kudos again to Empeg Ltd. for jumping in so early in the market with a top-notch product!

_~= Dearing =~_
"WAY too happy about having #99."