You have a point but... when mp3 1st came out to replace mp2, how many mp3 players were around at that time. m4a is quite a new format & whilst marketing has made mp3 the one to go for, m4a still has benefits. And for quality, well it depends (it can encode up to 320.) m4a uses a better algorithm to encode than mp3. It is able to compress at lower bit rates for the equivalent quality. The question is what bit rate do most people choose. The same as mp3's! m4a 128 kbps is supposed to be roughly equivalent to an mp3 encoded at 192. *** (I need to re-check my mpeg facts before making the latter comment.) I'll re-word that. m4a is able to encode at the same bit rate with a smaller file size without any less quality. The higher the mpeg format no. the better the algorithm for encoding. There's mpeg 1-4, 8, 13 & 21 I think which have or are still being developed. For m4a/mp4/aac see: http://www.m4a.com/

As for m4a/aac players, yes they're limited at present. Here's a quick list: Winamp 5.02, Apple iTunes, Compaact! , Roxio Toast & dvd creator, Nero 6, dBpowerAMP, Foobar2000, MP4 Input Plugin for WinAmp, for some quick ones. Oh & of course iTunes for mac or Windows is FREE!: http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
iTunes Tutorial: http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/...ial/index.html

Portables:

http://www.nextdaypc.com/main/search...aspx?grpid=807

http://www.globalsources.com/manufac...P4-Player.html