An interesting twist on MD and RIO. One guy reviewing the RIO somewhere on the Internet suggested that while it was a cool concept, a portable MD player was actually a better solution for listening to MP3 away from the computer. You just record them on the MD from the computer. If you can't go digital to digital you get a little added noise from the analogue to digital conversion, but probably nothing you couldn't live with through walkman headphones. The upside? Each MD holds 74 min music vs RIO's 30-60 min and you can bring more than one MD with you, so the capacity is actually even larger. I'm sure they'll solve this issue on the RIO side soon enough with ROM cards or something. But my guess is that MDs at $5 a piece will be cheaper for the foreseable future. In addition, a portable MD player/recorder is only $50-$75 more than RIO and much more flexible (especially if you're a musician like me). Don't think of it as replacing CDs. Think of it as replacing cassettes. If this is the comparison you make, you realize it's a pretty cool format. Jake L Jake London
