?What's the best alt. to iPod?

[roster19]

Yo,
I'm the new guy here! I was wondering if anyone knew a good alternative to the 20g+ipod. I found a creative zen xtra w/t 30g, but I have no idea if it's good or not.
So if you know a good alternative the great Apple iPod, please do reply,
Roster19

[eisforelectronic]

40 gb ipod w/click wheel

The Sony would be cool if you don't mind converting everything to ATRAC

[roster19]

40g iPod's gotta be over the roof expensive. I'm looking for something maybe under 300 bucks.

[ericl]

http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/iriver_e.html

[plextor guy]

Both are worthy alternatives with more bells and whistles than the iPod. The iPod's hard to beat as far as the form factor is concerned though. No one manufactures anything that's as easy to use in my experience. I have a 2nd gen iPod that's still going strong. All are a little bulky for truly portable use. And who really needs 20 or more GB's of storage in a portable player? If you don't, consider the Rio Carbon. It is in my opinion the best all around player on the market at the moment. It has a form factor that is perfect for portable use, 5 GB's of storage, at least 14 hours of playback (an advertised 20), bookmarking, excellent sound quality, no drivers required, Audible compatible, easy one handed operation, and a high quality fit and finish. The new Creative Zen Micro is available now too, also with a 5GB hard drive. I haven't tried one but the reviews are uniformly good, , raves about sound quality and calling it a real iPod killer. If you don't need a player right now, there are going to be a lot of new players introduced in the next couple of months in time for the holidays. The new ipod is rumored to be on the way too. The rumor mill has it that there will be a color screen for viewing pictures and a card slot for off loading pictures from your camera. The Rio Karma replacement should be pretty spectacular as well. If I were you I'd wait. The good news is that you'll have a lot of choices.

[roster19]

I'm not really wanting to get an Ipod cause you have to pay Apple to replace batteries with is about 50$ I think. I'm not picky about bulkyness unless it's bigger than a cd player which I firmly doubt. The #1 thing I am very picky with is that the battery is not intergrated. I'm not in a rush so I'll look into these other mp3 players.
If you want to add a comment, I urge you to,
roster19

[eisforelectronic]

I thought apple wouldn't replace batteries or would charge like almost the cost of a new Ipod.

[plextor guy]

Chances are an ipod will go three, four or more years before you need to replace the battery. By then you'll probably want to replace it with something else.

[eisforelectronic]

anyone ever see this?

http://www.ipodsdirtysecret.com/

[plextor guy]

http://www.ipodbattery.com/
http://www.ipodbattery.com/ipod2k4install.htm