[pmlnr]

I was using this around 2001:

Freecom Beatman Mini CD MP3 Player ( https://www.semox.de/23-06-2008/verspateter-fruhjahrsputz-is..., scroll )

MP3 players in 2001 were either expensive or had tiny capacity, eg a single album, which was never enough.

[rchaud]

Yup, I had a Memorex MP3-CD player around then. Gave me the flexibility to play both regular CDs and 700MB of MP3s on a CD-R, at a much cheaper price than what iPods were going for at the time.