I would 'recommend' the RCA 2768i 300W total. Sells at Walmart for $137.00 5CD changer, Ipod dock and charger; digital Stereo Radio... I own one, and have been using it since slightly before Aug 1st /09 virtually 24x7 - and have experienced no problems whatsoever. (the first unit we purchased was BROKE, and did NOT function - at all.) Returned, and next works just fine thank you... Has two 'large' speakers attached with wire. If wire is to short - you can easily add some... Since this is a 'compact' stereo - the unit does not include any type of Balance control (left/right) for the speakers. Also - if it was on 'radio' when you turned it off - when you turn it on - it will be on FM radio... doesn't matter if you were listening to an AM station... If you mute it - and change source (radio to cd) - the mute will auto cancel out... All radio presets are just one continuous... so you can change quickly from AM to FM as you flip up your Radio presets. 32 presets total. Separate Aux input; Ipod input, etc. You can control your Ipod selection from the Remote (remote doesn't include batteries (2AAA)) (I don't own an ipod). The cd changer can hold 5 cds. You can play all at once, or only tell it to play 1,3 & 5; or tell it to play only cd4 Or tell it to play only 1 cd. Or only have 1 cd in it... You can tell it to play a bunch of titles all divided up between cd's... You can have it repeat 1 track or 1 cd; or all cd's... When the CD player changes track - there is a slight quick chirp. Laser moving or something. Doesn't bother me... it did bother someone else quite a lot - who returned it to Walmart. (She reviewed it.) The volume goes quite high, but I'm not one to overload or clip audio. Has RCA input plugs, headphone out... And has a 1 year warranty - parts and labor. Some people have panned it, saying RCA customer service is junk. Don't know about that. I listen to scripture a lot, and I have literally had it on for almost 24x7 since purchased just before August. No problems. I left a review on it after a week - at Walmart. For the price - I find this unit hard to beat. Keeps your presets if power goes out... Also has a sleep timer - for if you want to listen to some stuff - but have it shut off automatically later on... Some of the spec's at Walmart are messed. This is not a 500W unit;; and it does not play DVD's etc. It is a stereo... not a movie or picture player Hope this helps. Here is a link that might be useful: RCA unit at Walmart RS2768I

The big differences are: - what formats the player can play. Only the iPod will play music from the iTunes Music Store -- which does about 80% of the industry's business in legal music downloads. In addition, the iPod will play MP3s. Many iPods also can play video in specific formats (including TV show episodes, music videos, etc.). - what accessories are available: cases, add-ons like FM transmitters and cables for car use, clock radios which can play music from an iPod, etc. The iPod is by far the most popular MP3 player out there, so there is a much larger accessory market. I dare say there's next to nothing out there for the RCA now and there will be absolutely nothing in a couple of years when that particular model is out of production. MP3s can come from numerous sources. Millions of people download MP3s illegally. Many download from digital-music services like Rhapsody (but be careful: on many sites like that you only subscribe to the music and never own it -- quit paying for the subscription or watch the company pull the plug on it and your music library goes *poof*). Some Web sites (like NPR's and those of popular bands) offer MP3 files you can download and listen to. You also can play your own CDs/cassettes/LPs into your computer and send them to your MP3 player. There are some other nice MP3 players out there. Creative's Zen is fairly nice. But many big companies, like Sony, Microsoft, and Wal-Mart, have tried to kill the iPod and have failed utterly. You may save some money by buying something other than an iPod, but you're gambling on the player being fixable when the battery dies or needs service. As far as I know, there are no other MP3 players which can play video. Frankly, considering the capabilities of most iPods relative to the competition, they are fairly priced and they work very well, with Apple's usual attention to how you interact with the device. I don't see much point in buying anything else. Something else will be cheaper, but you'll be reminded of that in a dozen ways. Besides, iPods have that essential element of "cool" that RCA and other brands just don't have. There's someone else posting in this thread who bought Dell's player (another company which could not compete with Apple) last year and ended up buying an iPod this year anyway. Good luck!

The short answer is yes you can. Look for a stereo a/v receiver. You will want a seperate system so that you have enough connections. Recommend looking at Harmon Kardon for around $500 you can buy a decent one. Harmon Kardon sells an IPOD dock that will integrate with the receiver and in some cases allow viewing of music on a connected video monitor/tv. All laptops can be connected via the line out/headphone jack using a mini to RCA connector. In addition you can also buy a USB device to allow digital connection via optical cable to the receiver. Depending on your XM radio you will likely need to get a dock, most all of the portable radios have a home dock option that will easily allow connection to the receiver. Most XM radio channels are broadcast in 2 -channel meaning you only get left/right sound, that being said all modern receivers will have a built in sound setting to give a simulated surround sound effect coming out of 5 to 7 speakers.

OK, I'm about to share my top secret approach to doing things easily, Just between me and you, don't let anyone else know. I refuse to go hunting for downloads, so I designate where they go so I can find them immediately. This is done in the browser (if you're using that for downloads, better to use itunes but that will be next month). The following only needs to be done once-- have your son do it if necessary First we create a new folder (aka "directory") for downloads. Left Click on Start, then Left Click on Computer`. A Windows Explorer (not internet explorer) window will open. In the lefthand column, it will say Local Disk (C:). Right click on that, then left click on the choice New, then Folder. "New Folder" will appear in the column, but it's highlighted and it will change as you type. Type .....Download folder. We've now created a new folder at the location C:\Download folder Halfway done Open your browser, we need to redirect where downloads go. Firefox, click on Tools, Options, General, look for Downloads, Save Files to...type in C:\Download folder Or with Chrome - Click on Menu (Upper right 3 horizontal lines), Setting, Advanced Settings, Look for where it says Downloads, then for Download Location type in the same thing C:\Download folder Or with Internet Explorer - Click on Gear symbol (upper right) then View Downloads, then Options, then where it says Default Download Location, type in C:\Download folder Now, when in a browser and you click "Download" for anything, a photo or otherwise, it will go to C:\Download folder. Everything, not just podcast files. Done with onetime folder creation and browser setting change __________________________________________ OK, now that we know where they go, need to move them to the SD card. These two steps will be done every time you want to put something on the SD card Put in the SD card when the PC is running. A windows explorer window should open, the SD card should appear as another drive. Like E:\ or F:\ If WIndows Explorer doesn't open, left click as above on Start and then Computer. Step 1 - Find sound files in C and select ones to move In the lefthand column, Click on Local Disk (C:\), then the plus sign next to it, and then one click on Download Folder. In the righthand column will appear the files that have been downloaded. Highlight as many as you want (Hold down Ctrl key and then left click) to accumulate highlighted files. Then right click and choose "Copy" Step 2 - Copy to SD card Go back to the lefthand column, choose the SD card (E:\ or F:\ or G:\) and give it one left click to highlight it. Then right click, choose Copy. The files you chose in Step 1 are now copied to the SD card. Turn off the PC before removing the SD card (there's another way, but I want to keep it simple).