One thing that really bothers me about the iPod is the lack of recording ability. I want to get an MP3 player but I want one that has a line in recording capability. I have looked all over the internet but I can seem to find a good one. Or one that would do what I want it to.

I am looking into the Archos 500 as it seems that it may be the only thing that seems to record audio. I don't need the vide feature...but it's a nice addition.

So what is todays equivelent of the MiniDisc?

Get yourself an iRiver H120/H140. No longer in production but plenty on ebay. Has gapless playback of mp3, ogg, flac, wav and records in uncompressed wav thru either mic in or line in. Load it up with Rockbox firmware and it is absolutley fantastic. I just bought one and it really is as good as it sounds - it's about the size of the first gen ipods, and the batteries from that model will fit the iriver so no worries about usability diminishing.