iPod is easily one of the best inventions... nothing can compair to it personaly
*ahem*
You obviously haven't looked around for something better
![Wink ;)](http://forum.nessaholics.com/Smileys/default/wink.gif)
I have a Cowon iAudio X5L and this thing is the bomb! Sound quality is far superior than the iPod's and it is full UMS (= meaning it's recognized as a hard drive by your OS and you can just drag and drop your music in it).
I would suggest you try one but they're pretty hard to find, sadly.
I think iTunes + iPod is teh l00se personally: too restricting and sound quality is okay but not that good.
But it's me, I'm very picky when it comes to audio quality.
![Tongue :P](http://forum.nessaholics.com/Smileys/default/tongue.gif)
Ooops, sorry, didn't mean to turn this in an mp3 players' comparison.