I'm looking for a small MP3 player in the USB stick form factor for listening to podcasts mainly. My criteria:

Must haves:
1) Plays MP3, 1GB+ storage
2) Auto-resumes from last played file and point after being turned off.
3) Has built-in USB plug (no searching for cables)
4) Easy file transfer by copying files to it (recognized by PC and Mac as USB mass storage) without using any media manager software
5) Display that allows you to browse by filename or ID3 tag (not just a track number)
6) Physical buttons and controls for tactile feedback usage without having to look at it
7) 3.5mm headphone jack

Would really, really like to have:
5) Internal rechargeable (from USB) battery. (But AAA use is ok if absolute nothing out there fits the above and has an internal battery

Nice to have:
6) Expandable memory via card

Here is an example of exactly what I'm looking for:
SanDisk Sansa Express
http://www.Amazon.com/gp/product/B000OV74CC/tag=cc

Almost perfect, but user reviews on sandisk forums & Amazon indicate serious reliability issues.

You wouldn't think this type of item would be so hard to find... any suggestions?

Thanks.

based on price, i think you can find several in the under 20 category, and based on your preferences with the interface go from there. I have a Sony giger that i really like.

You would be surprised at how hard #2 is the find in the cheaper players. I also added another must-have feature to the list: ability to speed up playback. This is essential to getting through spoken-work audio quickly.

I am now using an iVO 2GB player that has everything except the USB plug and the memory card slot. It works ok, but it displays the ID3 tags of the main thing I am listening to (The Economist weekly audio edition) as gibberish. I also have to copy files to it via windows not mac or the current position won't be remembered when it powers off. You can copy to it via mac but it won't remember the position for some reason.

Hence it does work, but it is just barely ok.