What you unfortunately cannot do is shuffle through the drive one tune at a time. You can't fast forward within a song and you can't bookmark a spot in a progressive rock epic, classical symphony, audiobook or opera.

You do have the ability to use four-point sound and connect up to four speakers and turn it into your home stereo. You can use Creative's EAX tricks to fake concert hall or sewer acoustics. The unit also comes with an inconvenient leather case (you can't do anything while the unit is in the case), two sets of rechargeable batteries and a docking station for easy up and downloading. And lastly there is an in-line jack. Put a powered microphone in there and you can record just about anything in high fidelity. Transferring these from the Jukebox to the PC is simple using USB and makes the MiniDisc process look archaic.

The last drawback is that the Nomad Jukebox isn't quite stable enough for jogging, but it's perfect for using with the available car-kit for long commutes without disc swapping. It doubles as a great mini home stereo and a place to store your MP3s if you're running low on Hard Disc space. At $500 it's something you should consider seriously before buying but, really, it's only a couple hundred more than those smaller players, isn't it? Not bad, if you ask me.

Andrew Bub
Contributing Editor

Memory: 6GB
Connectors: USB
Power Source: (4) AA Alkaline/NiMH Battery
Transfer Rate: 500 Kbps
Software: PlayCenter 2, SoundJam MP
Dimensions: 5 x 5 x 1.5 inches