I tell ya, the money is well spent on a dedicated hard drive for MP3s.In preparation for my Empeg, I just bought a 30 gig out the door for $198. I can't imagine prolonging the process of ripping selected tracks on 400+ CDs. I am simply ripping all of them, and will decide what to load, instead of rip to a 10 or 12 gig player.

Anyways, that's my take.