Get an iPod. It is the best darned invention in the history of portable music since 76 trombones (and significantly lighter). Seriously, it never skips, and the sound quality is stunning - I'm actually using it as my source quite a bit these days plugged directly into the Zen (I'm too lazy to get up to change discs). I was glad to see that I am not the only one who does this - apparently the guy at Wilson Audio (maybe it is a Wilson thing) did a shootout with his speakers up against a more expensive set (more expensive than $16,000???) using an iPod as the source - and the "cheap" system blew away the "reference" system.