Conundrums. Plural.

I have a bit of a conundrum. First, the spelling of the actual word conundrum baffles me a bit. The spelling doesn't seem correct, but Microsoft assures me of its accuracy. Hmmm...

Second, I am about to make a major audio purchase. Yes. For those that know me well, this is a HUGE step for me. I have a real problem parting with large chunks of money for one item.

Now, I will spend 300 dollars on clothes, shoes, CD's and/or various things for the house without a thought. I mean, a hundred dollars on round one of grocery shopping? No big deal. But to spend 150 dollars on a single item freaks me out a little. I can't get past the thought of how many chocolate martinis and sexy shoes I could buy with that wad o' cash. So, instead of actually sucking it up and buying a new stereo w/ an actual CD player for my car, I will buy a DiscMan or something. Problem is, CD players don't have a long life span around me. Just last summer, I went through 4. No kidding. Sometimes, admittedly, they were cheapo pieces of shit. But other times, I actually invested a chunk of money in them. So, for what I spent on 4 CD players that summer, I could have had one kick ass stereo in my car. But I just couldn't do it.

But, now the time has come when I think I need one. I am sick of the wires. I am sick of the skipping. I want a real CD player in my car. Mind you, I know NOTHING about car stereos. I don't understand the obsession with speakers and amps and subwoofers and tweeters and bass and all that other crap. It just seems loud to me, something I don't particularly enjoy. I prefer my music to be at a nice volume where other things like my passengers and cell phone can be heard. So fancy schmancy speakers and such are lost on me. So I want something simple that will play my CD's and keep me in music. I would like a remote if possible, but that is not a requirement. I went to Circuit City today and checked out the selection. I was shown a nice Pioneer stereo. It seemed nice and has MP3 playback. That really intrigued me. I could put all of my random songs on a few CD's instead of the myriad of mix CD's that currently litter my car. But being that I have a stupidly shaped car or something, I would have to pay for all of these extra parts to make things fit. Bringing my total to close to 200 dollars.

Then I saw it. Right below the stereo in question. An iPod mini. All pretty and silver, beckoning me with its similar sticker price. Is the Mini what I really need? I could have all of my CD's and random song in one centralized location. I could take the Mini with me everywhere I went. It could come to the gym. It could come on road trips. It could go to the beach. It could hang out in my apartment. It could come to work. It could go anywhere I wanted it to. Without a case of discs. This is very intriguing. No CD's. Just music.

But what about my CD's. Won't they be sad to be banished to the closet? I can just pop a single CD in and get all of those songs whereas the iPod would require a bit of searching. And searching while driving is probably about as dangerous as checking my email while driving (shut up, I am a nerd who needs to be in touch at all times). Also, if I don't have a stereo, my passengers can not share their music with me unless they had an iPod with them. They could share the new Weezer with me.

So I am torn: a new car stereo or an iPod Mini? Advice?