Editor's note: Watch the Compaq iPaq Music Center gather CD album information and art 6/17 at 5 p.m. Eastern or 6/18 at 3 a.m. and 2 p.m. Eastern on "Call for Help."

It's safe to say the masses have caught on to the MP3 revolution, isn't it? Compaq, one of an elite few computer manufacturers who develop their own digital audio devices, now offers consumers a brand new type of audio device that, on the surface, satisfies those looking for a computer-less window to the world of MP3s. Dig below the surface of the iPaq Music Center, however, and you'll find a slow and expensive device that will best be suited for only a handful of consumers.

A cousin to the PDA, integrated PCs, and countless other devices stylized to fit the iPaq brand name, the $1,000 Music Center is, at heart, a dedicated digital audio jukebox. It looks like a fancy CD player -- and indeed it is -- but the stereo component-like device is much more capable. First, it can store 20GB worth of freshly ripped audio CDs as anywhere from 96-320 Kbps MP3s.

Next, it organizes your entire music collection, including Internet radio streams based on your preferences. Finally, it opens the door to buying CDs over the Web using an e-commerce platform called OpenGlobe. All of this gives MP3 a familiar and intuitive face -- minus a PC.

The unit lacks an amplifier and must be connected to one, just like a CD player. Ideally, you also would hook up the Music Center to a television so you could navigate through graphical interface-driven menus more efficiently. Without a television, you'll need to deal with the small, two-line LED display on the unit itself. Although you can operate the player using the onboard buttons, you're going to need the bundled remote control to configure the software or customize playlists. Don't lose track of your remote.

Connects to everything but the kitchen sink

Connectivity options abound. There are both digital and analog outputs to hook up to your amplifier and digital and analog inputs so you can import music. In theory, you'll be able to encode music from outside sources, but this feature isn't built-in yet. There also is a composite video-out to hook up to a television as well as a 56K modem and HomePNA port for those inclined to network the device. Unfortunately, there is no Ethernet port, so you'll need to hook up a USB Ethernet adapter (the Belkin model works) to one of the three USB ports if you want the benefits of a fast, "always on" connection.

Although broadband isn't required, especially when the device simply needs to connect to the Web to download CDDB/Gracenote track info and album art, the lack of a high-speed connection is a pain when you want to stream music. Most of the radio stations stream at around 20 Kbps but there is regular buffering due to net congestion. We can get past the fact that low-bandwidth radio streams sound like AM radio, but the start and stop of a program is annoying. Plus, the connection to the Internet (your own ISP) isn't constant, so the device will need to reconnect depending on what you're doing.