Another Contender

Thanks to Ben for pointing out the iRiver IHP-120/140. This is a nice unit. It supports MP3, WMA and ogg files. It can be mounted as a USB mass storage device, and therefore used for file storage in addition to media. It also has a built in voice recorder and FM receiver. The only downside to it is that it does not have an FM transmitter. My primary use for this will be listening to podcasts in the car, so an FM transmitter is essential. I should note that I spend about 3 hours a week driving back and forth to a class at the U of Iowa in Iowa City.

In addition I have found some more information on the neuros unit. Neuros Audio has open sourced the firmware, synchronization software and electrical schematics for the neuros. Neuros Audio is commited to providing the open source development crowd with the information required to innovate for their product. To me, that is just icing on the cake. Kudos to Neuros Audio. I would have bought the unit anyway, but now I am excited about buying it.

It only makes sense to open your products up. As a company you only stand to gain by providing hobbyists/developers/hackers with information about your product. Motivated and talented customers will innovate for you, for free, in ways that your engineering staff did not have the time or resources to do. How can free engineering be a bad thing?