mp3 players vs mp3 cd players

Okay, since Christmas is coming up this year, I was thinking about what I might want to get. Then I realized that my portable CD player was old and crappy. So I was going to ask for a new one, until I thought of an mp3 player. Those seemed cool, so I asked for that. But then the other day I was at school, and my friend had headphones on, and we were talking and eventually he told me that he was using his new mp3 cd player. Up until this point, I had never heard of them before. He said that they played mp3 cds, which can apparently hold a lot more songs than a normal cd. Also, he said it loads the songs onto the player at the beginning, so the disk doesn't have to spin and it can't skip. It sounded cool, and I was thinking it was better than an mp3 player, because with cds I can more easily organize my music, and effectivly have unlimited songs (since I can always get more CDs.) So my question is, do you guys think I should ask for an mp3 player or an mp3 cd player? How do the prices compare? DO I neeed special cds for the mp3 cd player, or can I use CD-Rs and CD-RWs? And finally, can the mp3 cd players play cd-rws?

Thanks in advance for advice/help.

I'd go with an HD-based MP3 player if money isn't much of an issue.

>> Do I need special cds...
No, although I don't have one, I would suspect it would reed everything your computer would. But music cds are obsolete to begin with(purchased from fye music, wall-mart...) so why get something that will read .cda.

I would get/have a hardrive based mp3 player. Allthough it's hardrive based with 512 mgs of internal capasity, it has an expandible slot for compact flash memory cards. Their are several reasons for getting this instead of a cd based one.. First off it's smaller - and you don't need to carry around all those anoying cds. Secondly it has more features then all cd based ones. Thirdly...
>> ..., and effectivly have unlimited songs (since I can always get more CDs.)

You can allways buy more memory cards.. instead of expanding about 700 mgs, you can get 1gig+ with compact flash!!! As for cost: 20gigs of internal memory would cost you 200ish+ depending on the fetures. Your going to spend more on hardrive based - but like most things that cost more.. It's much better.

i like minidisc players, like the sony netmd

if you tend to carry DATA other than mp3/wma around, get a NOMAD MuVo NV. It can hold anything (USB flash drive/MP3 player).
Best of all it is only around 1.5oz (with 1 AAA batt.)

It is the exact reason why I ditched my MD player.

it is only $149 for 128 MB ($199 for 256MB).

http://www.nomadworld.com/products/MuVo_NX/

Trunk mounted PC with wi-fi ethernet: the poor man's mp3 player.