OK - so while waiting for the mark2, I purchased the http://MP Trip Discman and well, I guess you get what you pay for.

This unit is available for only $115 from http://easybuy2000.com, or for only $89 at thinkgeek.com . It's worth every penny of it. [sarcasm]

The interface? It has the clumsiest interface that I've ever seen. Regular cd - player type controls are there as expected and work well enough, but unless you want to just start with track one and go to track 399, forget it. It's almost impossible to navigate directories on this thing, and definately a crash-waiting-to-happen to attempt changing directories while driving. About the only use I can see for it is placing a bunch of songs on it at a party, and sticking it in shuffle mode.

There's another problem too, once you get past actually getting to a playlist that you like (playlist' are designated in directoreis...) - it places a 1-2 second pause between tracks, a big no-no for most of the music I listen to (techno).

The unit has a line-out, which sounds clean enough, and a headset out, which is what's actually hooked up to my car amp right now (so that I can change the volume). The headset out is a cheap analog volume control, and produces alot of hiss. (the lineout is clean though...)

Another big problem I had with this unit, is that if you stop the playback and restart it (as in the case of turning it off to save batteries), it looses it's place on a cd. Currently, I have a burned cd in there that has about 7 cd's worth of music, but I don't think I've heard anything but the first cd, since it always starts over from the beginning when it's turned off/back on:(

The LCD screen is no help. it only displays numbers. No characters, so it's impossible to see what you're playing.

My overall impression - since it can play from a 700mb burned cd, it's definately a step up from the 32mb/64mb/96 mb units offered by everyone. The battery life on it is good, and it even has an internal charger. (It runs off two double A's, and they last about 7 hours...) The interface *sucks*, but the 50-second anti-shock on it is nice for exercising/etc. It's very well priced for someone that just wants an mp3 player, and you can buy mine second hand if you want:)
-mark

...proud to have owned one of the first Mark I units