I am in the market for a new MP3 player, and have been doing a fair amount of research on cnet and other sites. Obviously the iPod is the favorite. I have never downloaded music before, and would like to, plus I would like to rip the cds I own now to a mp3 player. I realize that the format is compressed and the sound quality is not as good. However, I also realize that I rarely get to listen to my own music anymore (2 young kids, not enough time, etc) and that the time I spend walking/driving could be better used spent listening to music. Plus I find that I rarely buy new music lately, and using a service like musicmatch or itunes would help me expand my offerings.

So choices at the moment are the 4th generation ipod (20gig hard drive) at about $299 or the Creative Zen Touch, same size hard drive, about $229 at J&R Music World. Both get real good reviews at Cnet.

I will be using the mp3 player with a new Windows based Pentium4 computer (need to buy that too) so one consideration, is that if I buy an ipod, I basically have to use itunes, correct? Whereas if I buy the Creative, I can't use itunes (or can I?) but I can use all of the other music service available.

The ipod seems to have a ton of accessories, not sure if the Creative does or not. Which mp3 player would you buy? And why? Budget is about $300 for this purchase. Quality of sound, ease of use and dependability are important factors to me. Any owners of mp3 players, I would appreciate your comments. Thanks.