I don't have an IPod, but from what I understand, the quality of sound is supposed to be better than any of the competitors, however I can't vouch for that personally obviously. If you don't have the money for an IPod, you can always go with a Nomad from Creative Labs, and for your comparison pleasure:

http://us.creative.com/products/wel...sp?category=213

http://www.apple.com/ipod/specs.html

I would say go to your nearest electronics store and try them both out and see which one you prefer. I wish I could upgrade my dinky MP3 player but I just don't have the money, all I can say is 64 MB really doesn't cut it :P

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"And as we all play parts of tomorrow, some ways will work and other ways we'll play. And I know we can't all stay here forever, so I'll write, my words on the face of today...and then they'll paint it" - Shannon Hoon