I found the best way to organize podcasts on CD is to create a top level MMDDYYYY directory (this corresponds to the download date) with a subdirectory for each podcast. Most players allow to play tracks in alphabetical order or by using a .m3u playlist. the playlist is a simple listing of mp3 files which are played in the specified sequence. Usually m3u is placed in the root directory.

I’ll second the Neuros. I have one. It includes a plug that powers it from the cigarrette lighter and I use a cassette audio adapter into the headset plug on the Neuros. You can queue up many hours worth of music on the 40GB disk drive. The user interface is reasonably clear (enough buttons) and having control from Linux is a plus.

A Palm Lifedrive – 4 GB hard drive, WiFi, Bluetooth and an SD slot. It is a wonderful car audio jukebox. I’ve been using one for 2 months now. What I like is the reasonable interface, the fact that it also doubles as my GPS system and it fits in a pocket.

Check out the Neuros http://www.neurosaudio.com – extremely linux-friendly, usable as a 30Gb USB HDD, open source sync software, firmware AND hardware! Unbeatable!

>Mostly empty cds take so little time to burn, what’s the hesitation?

You don’t want to throw the CDs away mostly empty for the sake of the environment. What you should do is burn multisession cds. When you burn the next session you can either mask the privious content if you already listened to it or append to it. Most MP3 players will not have a problem reading them. Keep adding podcasts to the cd until it gets full. *then* throw it away. I used to do just that (until I got sick of podcasts) with a little perl script and everything was automated, with the exception of carrying the CD to and from car.

Oh, and you might as well burn CDs if you want quick and cheap — if your Alpine reads MP3 discs on CDR, you could keep adding until it overflows.

And damn all of you that have aux inputs on your radio — I spent $60 and a couple of hours adding the capability to my factory car stereo, and now the inputs only work about half the time.

The UI is much better on the latest generation of iPods in that it now has buttons you physically have to push (under the click-wheel) rather than just touch or brush past. The new design is much less prone to accidentally hitting a button you didn’t mean to. So if that was an issue, you might want to take another look.

And the term you’re looking for is “metrosexual” — it means you’re hetero, yet have unusually good taste and design sense.

I use a Pocket PC. Lets lets me not only output the audio into the stereo, but I can also pickup wifi connections and check email, IM, etc.

I use a Creative Zen because my ipod refused to talk to my new computer despite spending hours on it. It talks to my awful Pioneer car radio via a Belkin TuneMasterII which only works well enough when it’s powered off the cigarette adapter. Otherwise the signal is too puny (it’s barely strong enough with the DC supply) and there is more QRM, QRN. But the thing is, it’s a stupid setup, because:
1) I never ever listen to the radio (I live in singapore — radio sucks here)
2) I never use my zen except in the car

So what would be ideal for me is to rip out the radio entirely and then have a small computer that plays mp3s and that talks to my home pc network via 802.1b wireless, so I can push music and podcasts easily to/from it.

Of course that doesn’t exist, and I don’t have enough time, and not quite enough motivation to bother to build it myself. It SHOULD exist though…

I was using a Creative Zen NX with an aux input in a VW Golf. It sounded great but was a bit of a pain to control while driving. Recently I picked up a PhatBox  www.phatnoise.com) and really like it because it interfaces with the car radio buttons/display and has voice prompts so you can control it without having to take your eyes off the road. You can get the VW version for $120 (maybe it’s being discontinued). The versions for other cars are horrendously expensive ($799) but maybe some other company offers a similar product that interfaces with your existing stereo.