To date, I've always made cd/mp3s for stereos by just burning an ordinary data cd-rom with the files in it. I have an old portable cd/mp3 player (a Samsung MCD-SM55) which reads disks done in this way, but the antiskip doesn't work right. I can't listen to them with the player in my pocket, for example.
At first I thought it was the player malfunctioning, and sent it to be repaired twice under warranty, but they didn't encounter the problem. An ex-friend of mine whom I loaned it to for a while didn't have the problem either.
When I got it back I didn't much care about this, because I had gotten a hard disk player. After about three years, however, my hd player has crapped out. I'll replace it with a Rio Karma (hopefully), but it'll take a while, so I've gotten back to using the cd/mp3 player. And it still doesn't track right. Since I seem to be the only one having the problem, it's obviouslys me not burning the discs properly.

So, what settings do I need in order to make cdr/cdrws as palatable as possible to the player?
I've already tried many different speeds (including 4x). I leave the discs unfinalized, because if I finalize them the player takes much longer to read the TOC when turned on (and skips anyway).
The behaviour seems to be the same regardless of the type of media (different brands, rewritables, high capacity, whatever).
I'm using Nero 6.

I don't make mp3 discs , just Audio CDs & I don't use Nero.

Given that, I've had problems with my car stereo not playing Audio CDs I've made. I eventually solved my problem by using CD-R media of only 2 brands. The ones that work for me are Verbatim Pastels (a TY dye) & Super AZO.

I know you say you've used different media but there is a lot out there that just really isn't up to the job.

The other thing is the burner you use. Originally I tried a NEC 1100 & 2500 & a Liteon 851. All DVD burners. Even with good media it still wouldn't work so I switched to a Liteon CD burner & it works.

I now use my LG4163B DVD writer which seems to do just as good a job as the Cd writer.

Burn speed is not an issue for me. Anything from 24x to 40x works fine.

Hope this is helpful.

I've tried umpteen brands, both cheap and expensive, and four different burners, including a LG. Now I'm trying it on a Philips DVD burner.

Have you tried burning the disc as "MP3 disc" project ( Nero Express)? It is not _very_ different from Data CD burning, but it may be what it takes.
Also, what did people that borrowed the player record their discs with, and how?
Good luck!

I'm not sure I have nero express. I've never used it anyway, I'm allergic to dumbed-down interfaces.
What difference does it make? Can I get the same thing from standard Nero?

I think she used Nero too, but I have no idea about what settings she used. We have had a falling out since, so I'm not about to phone her to ask.

Yes but Express does make it so much easier. And you can feel assured that if you take the option for MP3 or Audio CD, for example, that's just what you'll get. In the Burning Rom I never know what to select so I keep it simple.

Ok, so I burned a cdr with Nero Express in cd/mp3 mode at the slowest speed my burner would go (12x). And it's still skipping.
I put it in my girlfriend's Philips Expanium, and it works flawlessly.
Now, the Samsung player is rather old (it's, oh, 3 to 4 years old), but it still puzzles me that whatever disc/burner/speed/voodoo ritual combination I've tried in it skips. I'd write it off to a defective player and replace it with one of those €25 cheapies instead (until I can get a good hard disk player), but there's gotta be something else I can do. I mean, I seem to be the only one who has trouble getting it to work