Player for photos?

So far I have not owned a player though I bought a Nano for my daughter. Guess I have been a bit of a snob as far as compressed music goes. However, I am warming to the idea of getting one for myself for times when I cannot access my hi-fi. Several criteria are important. I would like to find a player which records with as little compression as possible, even if it reduces the number of songs, but which hopefully would ensure higher quality playback. Secondly, I would like one with a radio built in - I listen to classical and jazz stations a lot.

Finally, and perhaps the most important criteria, I will be travelling in Europe next year and don't want to be lumbered with a laptop. What player would be good for downloading to and storing photographs for later transfer to a computer? I own a Canon camera which uses an SD memory card.

I will be most grateful for any suggestions, as I am a complete novice in this area.

Simple enough, just purchase an iPod Video, and set the import to use Apple Lossless Encoder (as opposed to the default AAC Encoder with 128 kbps bitrate). Keep in mind that a 3 minute track may result in a 20MB or larger file (as opposed to a normal 3MB sized mp3).

Another alternative would be to set the AAC Encoder to import using 320 kbps bitrate, which is more than enough for most people (including myself).

However, I'm not aware of any MP3 players with the capability of transferring photos directly from your camera. You may want to consider purchasing a PDA?

I'll second the iPod video choice. Get the latest generation iPod - gen 5.5. For transferring pictures, there are a few options. Belkin and Griffin sell adapters that will allow for the transfer of pictures from an camera or card to the ipod.

Good suggestions. I'll visit the dealer I bought the Nano from and check out the adapters you mentioned while I'm at it. I know there has been a lot of talk about poor quality and reliability with regards to the iPods and Nanos, but I bought the very first Nano to come out for my daughter and it has performed faultlessly. I'm actually quite impressed with it and I think I'll be pleased to own a high capacity unit myself. Is it the hard disk 80gb version that you referred to?

By the way, are there radio adapters for these units?

OOO, OOO, YES!!! there is a radio adapter! Apple makes an in-house one that also acts as an inline remote, i own its and its VERY nice! i think griffin also makes one, but not as integrated, apple one uses iPod screen for tuning (and its got a lapel clip, it kind of looks like the new iPod Shuffle...)

Sounds like a very enticing device. I'll be checking it out.

np! i've used it with my 5G iPod for a few months now, great little gadget, it was a little pricey, but worth every penny, seamless radio integration too!