Looking to get the missus one but know very little about such technilogical gizmos.
Anyone have any ideas or types that are good value under the $200 mark?
Pat
I would spring the extra for ipods - say a 4 gig Nano. The 30gig is by far the best value.
Kids have a couple already and probably going to get the Mrs one as well for Christmas.
You can buy no name extras for peanuts and the quality and ease of use is brilliant.
Those that want "legal" itunes is cheap and easy
I like the Creative's (I have a muvo and a Zen). Biggest advantage over iPod is that you don't need iTunes to encode the mp3's. Any mp3 can just be copied directly from your PC.
Try ebay. Heaps of them for under $200
under $200... then look at an old season iriver or creative.
nano or muvo..., i sell heaps of these everyday. they been fine...
can get a 1 gig creative under $200... tis about 500 songs according to their specs... the models i have refered to take a single AAA battery, come
with earphones, USB cable, FM radio, personal voice recorder etc, and standard 12 month warranty.. (upon which u can extend up to 3 yrs in total for
about $20 to $35 in total). saves you paying another couple hundred in a yrs time...(in retrospec... its about $7 to $12 cheap insurance per
yr...)
Upside of ipod, is their product support. If you have trouble with it, you could be in hong kong, europe, philippines, US etc... and get product
support and help. Plus the availability of accessories for the ipod specifically is amazing. Mind you, ipods are expensive, and do less than that of
the creative. (the ones under $300 are just music players and some are photo viewers). Plus withing 18 months to 3 yrs, expect to pay another $90 for
parts and labour to get an apple professional to replace your battery. (tis the main issue with ipod, + the battery is classed as a consumable and not
covered by warranty).
mind you, in regards to creatives product support, its a little bit harder, BUT NOT impossible. as long as its within warranty, its easy, and all
parts and labour is covered in total for all MANUFACTURER FAULTS. otherwise,i ts a little harder and you might as well buy a new one. if u look after
it, it will live long and look after you. As for accessories, there are heaps of universal bits and pieces that do that same job as for ipods...
including fm transmitters and all that jazz... as for the AAA batteries, they don't come with rechargeables, but for around $25 you can get yourself
a cheap but good battery charger, with 2 AAA and 2 AA rechargable batteries that would suit ya for ages.... (cheaper than replacing an ipod battery
any day of the week).
ipod and mp3 players, in regards to their main purpose and objective, DO THE EXACT SAME THING. call around to any tandy or dick smith store, they
would be able to cut u a discount deal on the 2 (charger, batteries and MP3 player) if they aren't at any sale price... otherwise, if ur in QLD, i
could snab ya a hell good deal. the DSE beenleigh 2IC lurvs me 
Just Got the missus an Early Creative Zen 2 gig.....Awesome. Easy to use, tiny, and all for $195....
nectar
ive got an ipod mini 4gig you can have for $100