Glenn, my personal choice has been the iPod. IMHO, I think it's the best player on the market. Too bad MS dropped the ball with the Zune because the form factor is terrific. I also have a 1 gig flash memory mp3 player that I use at the gym, it's no comparison to the iPod.

Couple of thoughts on the iPod. As I recall you can move music downloaded from iTunes around, it's not limited to one computer or iPod. (you may want to check out http://ilounge.com) Once you download music you can burn them to CDs legally. iTunes uses the AAC format. There are inexpensive I think (I paid about $20) file conversion utilites that can convert the AAC to MP3.

Not only do I use the iPod for music, but I also download podcasts both video and audio. (itunes has thousands). Podcasts cover everything from news programs to learning jazz piano. There are even some video sessions of Wynton Marsalis rehearsing with his band. I have a 30 gig model and it's got every bit of music I own, plus the podcasts and I still have about 10 gigs of space left.

[This message has been edited by Stephenm52 (edited 02-07-2007).]