For what it's worth, I've used only one portable player/recorder, the Sony MZ-R50. It has been a great piece of gear. That battery life is not the absolute longest, but it's very competitive (I've seen as long as 6hr recording on internal power alone for a lecture). It's not the absolute smallest, but again, it's very competitive, almost exactly the size of a Palm/Visor PDA (their cases are almost interchangeable). It's also built like a tank, much sturdier than the newer, smaller and sexier (and more fragile) Sony portables. The controls on the MZ-R50 are not a fiddly as those on the smaller units. Finally, if you look for an MZ-R50 on e-Bay, you'll find that they still command pretty high prices, IF you can find them because most people want to hold on to them. I had my first one stolen and I insisted on replacing it with another, even though they were alredy discontinued. It's THAT good, IMHO. . . Frank Sanchez Broke Med Student Class of 2002 U of IL - Chicago ----------------------------------------------------------------- To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]