Itunes or Cds, the smartest purchase?

For all the reasons stated, CDs hands down. I also like having something tangible.

My teenaged kids, on the other hand, would never ever buy a CD. I don't think they've ever bought one and look at CDs the way I view 8 tracks.

..and soon enough our kids kids will look at their ways as old school, and so it goes.

According to the new audio Advisor catalog " Two years ago Apple began to offer "lossless" digital music files on its iTunes store"

They're wrong.

We all (for the most part) agree that CDs sound better than iTunes downloads. We also all (for the most part) want something physical to hold. Their in lies the rub...

The OP is overseas and it seems he doesn't want to amass a collection that he'll have to take with him when he comes back.

I don't know the laws where you are (nor where you are), so if what I'm suggesting is illegal, don't do it ;)

You could buy used CDs, rip them onto a hard drive, then sell them. If libraries have music, you could borrow them and rip them. If need be due to legal issues, delete the hard drive's contents when you get home, and buy the CDs when you're here.

Alternatively, if Spotify or a comparable service is available where you are, you could subscribe to that. Not full CD resolution, but there's minimal cost and no lugging around a huge collection involved.