Absent falling coal

Number is still the same, but, ooooohhh... It is shiny and pretty and all hi-tech.

Best of all, it works.

Or, er, will do, when I've worked out how to use it.

Technology in general I have no problem with, but phones are alien to me, I have no intuition on how they work at all. Generally a capable young woman (well, mostly, anyway), when I go into a phone shop I am reduced to the most feeble blithering fool you ever had the misfortune to meet.

"Um, one that works? And isn't too flashy or fancy, I just need calls and messages..." seems to be my usual line. Beyond looking at what band they work on, whether it has bluetooth if it has a camera, and looking at battery life, I am completely clueless.

This, then, is the reason why I am so delighted when I jump all the hurdles to getting a new phone.

I freely admit that I know nothing about MP3 players. Usually for technological things I don't understand I'd turn to my father, but given he's just bought himself a new record player, he knows less than I do.

Here's the situation:

I currently own a 64MB player, which will take around 15 tracks, or one album. It's a dear little thing, but pretty feeble really.

I would like to own a larger one that actually carries sensible amounts of music. I have 7.3GB on my computer; the question of how much I want to carry round is probably semi-answered by... What sizes of memory do these things come in? And for how much?

Also, which makes are good/bad/realiable/hold battery charge/anything else I ought to be asking?

You are all wise people, and if you can offer any advice, or point me towards any website offering advice, I would be very very grateful.