Ta for the input so far - informative and useful. Reps will follow as usual.
I'm debating whether to go with Creative or Sony
I'm pretty certain there's a conspiracy. You want a pod thing, but no - need USB 2. So you have to buy a upgrade. Or, as in my case, you have to buy a whole new PC. It doesn't seem that long ago that things lasted and just worked - no complex compatability issues.