you cant play mp3 cds on a normal cd player. if you could audio cd's would be useless! you need an mp3 compatable cd player. (most dvd players are) i bought one for my car... cost about £400 but i think you can get them a lot cheaper.

and yeah i use nero 6... definatly worth the £40 from pc world.
allows you to rip audio cds to mp3 and edit dvds with your own startup screen etc.