Ipods are great, but my policy is if there's a competing item that can do everything the ipod can, then get it. After that warranty is over, Apple's customer support couldn't care less what happens to your ipod, plus ipods are over-priced for their features. if it wasn't for the patent-protected click wheel and apple's outstanding advertisements, ipods wouldn't be at the top of the mp3 player market.

plus, lately there has been a rivalry between zen and ipod, and if you can get over all the hype of owning an ipod, zen wins.