Crap! I had a Sandisk 8 gig sansa all picked out on Amazon... brought the old MP3 player (2 gig sansa) into work to give it one last chance to charge... and it seems to be holding the charge now. (must have not had a good connection when trying to charge it with wifes laptop)
Rats... foiled again!!!
No new gadget for me
Thanks for all the replies!