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But it's not that new, because Asus has been using SSDs of this form factor in the EEEPC for some time, now. Here is an example and I think OCZ are even making some properly fast drives.

It looks like a real PCIe mini card from the picture, the article is probably just confused. This isn't all that new, though. Asus has been using SSDs of this form factor in the EEEPC for some time, now. Here is an example.

I just pre-ordered my NEX ia a few days ago (it doesn't ship for a few more days; $130 + s/h for a NEX ia + 128MB CF) - my NEX II served me well for two years and just recently died. One neat feature is that it does do 64kbps MP3 recording w/ an internal mic. I was originally looking for a decent MP3 recorder, but unfortunately, one doesn't exist (the only ones that have level meters for example are $1000+ bulky pro units).

Anyway, I posted some research on my blog which might be of interest:

My old NEX II MP3 player just recently died on me. I started taking it apart, and it looks like I might be able to do some soldering to possibly get it working, but chances are slim (approximately corresponding to my soldering skills). It looks like the new NEX ia is coming out though, with voice/FM recording, better firmware, and possible Ogg Vorbis support, among other things. I sent an email to see what the recording quality is (hopefully with line-in capabilities), and to see if some slightly annoying NEX II bugs have been fixed.

From correspondence w/ Frontier Labs:

• improvements: multiple folder support, alphabetical song listing, more buffering, improved shuffle (but no m3u support, so you'll want to keep your CopyNex handy - see also: FATSort, PlaylistExpander)
• Ogg Vorbis is actually being worked on, for the NEX II's as well as the NEX ia and will be released as a firmware upgrade
• 64Kbps recording (can record at higher bitrates, but no selection mechanism in the firmware right now)
• No (recording) level-meter
• No line-in, the only external input is the built-in voice recording microphone
• Can play back MP3 files at the same time as recording

Perception Digital has a PD-095-01 Portable MP3 player which has a can record from an internal mic, FM, or a line-in at 13Kbps voice or 48-320kbps MP3 (!). That's pretty frickin' awesome. It's a little bit on the chunkier side, and only accepts SmartMedia, no Compact Flash though. Still, tempting, if I could find some user reviews...

The e.Digital Odyssey 300 (SmartMedia) looks interesting, although it also looks like it's no longer available. [the Mpio DMB+ looks like the same thing]

Also, PoGo! Products has their RipFlash line of Recordable Digital Audio Players (the TRIO is one w/ mic and line in, but is not memory expandable). Uses SD/MMC... (CNet RipFlash DX review)

See Also: minidisc.org's Portable Recorders with Uploading Facilities list.

Places to buy: e.Digital Odyseey 300, PoGo! RipFlash Trio, Perception Digital Hercules (PD-095-01),

this place has somereally nice compact flash to ata connectors that mount in normal brackets

and this place has adaptors that fit in floppy bays, his prices on ebay usually end up better than those on his web site though

DOC is DiskOnChip, from M-Systems. It's a flash memory chip that can replace the BIOS chip and provide some amount of nonvolatile storage.

Their magic is in their BIOS "enhancement" code that makes the flash memory appear as a bootable disk drive. In DOS, it shows up as C:, and they have boot code for several operating systems, including Linux. Linux drivers for mounting/writing the filesystem are also available.

Second, you don't need a PCMCIA slot to use CompactFlash as a boot device. CompactFlash is already IDE-compliant and can be directly plugged into the IDE controller with the right adapter. They run about $20 from places like this.

The CompactFlash solution would give you a removable boot device that could be easily mounted/read on any other system. The DOC is smaller, but more convenient since it's already integrated.

I bought the same NexII MP3 player a couple months ago from mydigitaldiscount.com. They sell the player with various sizes of RiData 20x CF memory cards. Player+256MB was $199, with Free Shipping.

www.mydigitaldiscount.com Nex II prices.

I mostly got the package for the RiData CF card, since it's seriously fast and works great in the digital camera.

I own a Diva player, which is an excellent unit. It even acts as a voice recorder too!!, besides it is the smallest player that takes CompactFlash. The only problem is that is does not accept CFII, therefore, no Microdrive compatibility, but at $69.99
(with 32megs built-in) this is a hell of a deal.

NO OTHER MP3 PLAYER WILL DO THIS.

Apart from this other CF-based one, you mean? It's not as featureful as the Nex-II, but it's cheaper too. I have one, and it's OK. I prefer the sound of my MD walkman, but that wasn't $75.

The other downside of the iPod is the hard disk, which is (relatively speaking) a fragile medium. The CF-based players are completely solid-state.

I bought a DivaPlayerjust before christmas, partly because it was cheap ($70 with 32Mb built-in, and a CF slot), and partly because it was pretty much the only device I could find that took CF - I already have a few 64Mb CF cards for my camera and my PDA.

It takes a FAT-formatted CF card, and also acts as a USB-connected drive - no special software at all! It also will record voice notes as 8Khz WAVs onto the same media.

The sound quality is... OK, but a bit noisy. It's probably about the same as a good cassette walkman, but not as good as my MD walkman. I think that's noise in the output stages, because the same files sound MD/CD quality on my PC through the same headphones.

[the site linked above also has the NEX-II that someone else recommended for OK prices]