I need to know what types of mp3 files Real Player for Palm v. 1.6.0 will play.

For example, I need to know if that software will play files at
certain bitrates, certain sample rates and if VBR/CBR matters.

Here are the version numbers of the libraries running within Real
Player for Palm 1.6

Reallib 1.1.0.13
Real Mp3 Codec 1.1.0.11
Real mp3ff 1.1.0.9

Extra bonus question: SD card format?:  WinXP v. Palm OS...

Using Windows XP, if I merely copy some Windows folders that contain
mp3s to the SD card(using Windows Explorer drag-n-drop), will Palm OS
(and Real Player) be able to read the mp3 files?

FEATURE LIST
	
- 	Local playback of audio files from SD cards. Large cards (>128MB) are supported
	
- 	Supported Audio formats:

   1. RealAudio (.RM, .RMJ) -All G2 audio and higher bitrate RealAudio
8 (Atrac 3). Older content based on RealAudio 3.0 or Sipro Voice
codecs are not supported
   2. MP3 (.Mp3) - Mp3 files 64kbps and higher are supported including
VBR (variable-bit-rate) and CBR (constant-bit-rate) files

	
- 	Transfer of files - A plug-in for the Real desktop allows easy and
seamless transfer from within the RealPlayer (Windows OS only)

More infor here:

http://www.realnetworks.com/industries/serviceproviders/mobile/products/player/palm/install.html

Does this not answer your question? about bit rates and vbr/cbr?

As for 'dragging and dropping'

-  	If you have an SD card reader, or a Palm application which allows
direct access to the SD Card, you can transfer files manually to the
device. Files are detected in the following directories only:

    * Root directory (\)
    * Subdirectories supported: SD_Audio, RN_Audio, AUDIO

Good Luck!