The thumb drive works very well, but I proably need to give it "mixed"
reviews
vs. the iPod option (or learn to use it better).

Once fired up, the digital display on the stereo face shows the title
of the folder (album) selected. It also shows the track #, but only
shows the name of the track after it starts to play.

So I can skip past one album or another on the drive, or fiddle around
until the specific album desired appears in the window. Unless there
are some tricks I'm not using, the iPod would probably make it fster
and easier to find individual albums or tracks.

On the "up" side, there is no dangling wire to mess with and no need
to rig a seperate mount for an iPod. Cost is enormously different, as
a 4.0 GB thumb drive was $30 on sale and a 4.0 iPod isabout 5 times as
much.