IMO, there's no reason to get an iPod over X, Y, or Z. All this talk - and not just on this thread - about how easy iPod's are to use. Maybe I just lucked out, by Jen's JB3 and my iAudio M3 are super-easy to use for playback. If you want to use iTunes, get the iPod. If you really, really like the iPod, get the iPod. Otherwise, there are other options just as good, IMO. For example, iAudio's M3, M5 and maybe the X5 and the new 6 (haven't used the latter two). I know others like the Rio Karma (or some such, too), though I've seen a few reports of QA issues.