System info: Windows XP Home with Service Pack 2
Compaq Presario computer (2002)
What I can tell you from my computer information screen is this: 2 USB ports of 500mA per port, 1.2 GHz and 240 MB of RAM - although I don't know what half of that means!

I bought a digital camera (Panasonic DMC-FZ5) about 6 months ago. I have been fighting with it ever since. Now, I'd like to purchase an MP3 player but before I do I would like to make sure I'm not going to have the same problems I had with the camera. This is what happened with the camera (I still have it):

I plug the camera into my computer via USB and it registers that there is something there but it cannot upload the pictures to my computer. It does however work on my roommate's computer and on the computers on campus (all three - mine, roommate's and school's - computers have Windows XP). I spent many hours on the phone with Panasonic but all they could say was "It's nothing wrong with the camera, call your computer manufacturer."

So I spoke with Compaq. They ran me through a whole check of my system and drivers and tell me there is nothing wrong with my computer. The USB ports work fine with my mouse, sound card and printer. Assuming it was a USB port incompatibility I purchased a SanDisk card reader for the camera. I can't upload the pictures through the card reader either. As far as the camera goes, I have resorted to going to the library on campus to load pictures, then e-mail them to myself and save them on my home computer. Needless to say, it's a pain.

So, I would like to purchase a SanDisk MP3 player that is supposedly compatibile with my system (of course, the camera is also "compatible"...) but I want to make sure that it will work for me. Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

Since other devices work, but devices with a lot of information don't - could this be an issue with your RAM rather than your USB? (just sorta thinking out loud here).

240 mB of RAM (I presume the other 16 mB is being used for your video card) is sufficient to run an XP system as it comes out of the factory. But as time goes on, more items take up residence in your memory and 240 mB will be woefully inadequate.

Not too long ago it was recommended that you have at least 512 mB to be comfortable. And lately, it's seeming to me that that may not be enough for comfort (although you can live with it).

Now, don't go rushing out to buy more RAM (although that would be a good idea for your system). Check the RAM on the other computers to see if they have more than you. Try and eliminate any open/running programs on your system to see if the camera will work then.