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.