I've never had, nor felt the need for an Ipod.
My Creative Zen rocks louder, clearer and cheaper then the same sized ipod (any sized ipod at the time, actually). A few years ago the ipod really was the best player. Thats not so clear anymore. And with Apple pushing
this kind of junk (it amounts to a $30 usb cable), I have to take ipod accessories with a grain of salt.
I was also amused to see Apple was careful to hedge their bets on battery life, with
This page. I'm all for consumer education, so right on to Apple for making battery life issues clear. All the same, thats got to have a lot to do with that big fat law suit they just settled over some early gen ipods.
Still, My Creative has a replaceable battery. I'm on my second battery now, although the first one can still hold enough of a charge to last a few hours. I keep it in the glove box of my car in case the main one dies out on me. Why don't more players have that kind of niftyness?
-Andy A.