MP3 players and Playlist

My Creative Zen has finally died and I need a new MP3 player.  I have bought a few low priced units and found they do not do the single thing I need an MP3 player to do. 

I do not store my music on my PC or laptop. I store it on an external HDD and copy music onto my player via a computer. With the music transferred to the player (and not on the PC or laptop) I want to be able to use either an MP3 application or the players own interface to create a playlist on the player so that when I remove the player from the PC or laptop I can start to play the music on the player listed in the playlist. I was able to do this with my Zen and Creative's application Centrale.

So I am looking for a hardware and application solution.

Any advise appreciated

FWIW:  I don't know if any of this will be relevant...but I will state how I use my players.

I have 3...1 Philips and 2 Sansa players and I don't use the software which might pertain to each.  I do not create playlists per se...I combine various files into one file and give it a simple name (e.g., 357 Minutes).  I do this using my Cool Edit 2K app but I could use Audacity to do the same thing (I think).  I collect these creations and all other music on partition labeled Music and that partition is my primary means of storing those files.  I have files on my .mp3 players only because I listen to them when jogging, etc. and I am away from both my computer and my auto.

I've never used either playlists or vendor software for the players...neither is necessary to enjoy the benefits of each player.  You may want to look into the benefits of such when making your choice of player.

If my mood changes and I want to change the contents of any player...I just delete the contents and start over with a different array of music.  Since I have all individual music files stored on my Music partition...along with some compilations...I never am lacking the opportunity to put together a new compilation or even just a collection by artist name or filename.

I believe that using the software which comes with the Sansa players...would allow you to do what I understand you want to do.

Louis