Apple iPod Nano (third generation, 8GB, red)

Pros: Easy to use.,more choices, easier integration

Cons: None so far

Summary: After owning a number of other players I finally gave up and purchased an iPod to replace my Sandisk e260.

My major complaint with every alternative player I've owned has been the darn DRM. I frequently found myself searching different music sites to find some of the music I wanted. Once purchased and downloaded, music purchased on Yahoo would not play on the Rhapsody player, etc... unless of course I put it all on a CD and converted it to the MP3 format. Otherwise, I was forced to use different players depending on where I purchased music. Windows Media Player was hit or miss at best. What a pain. The only really good music site (in my opinion) was Urge, but they sold out to Rhapsody and that killed it for me.

iTunes imported all my purchased music, and viola, it all plays in iTunes. iTunes also has the greatest selection of music, Podcasts, and a bunch of other stuff, too. The alternative players can be used for Podcasts, videos and other things too, but why bother with extra steps. The Nano integrates perfectly with iTunes and at least on my computer they both work flawlessly. I've yet to search iTunes for a particular song and had a negative result. I finally gave in to the fact that Apple has the market cornered and the music part of my life has been greatly simplified.

I could care less about no FM tuner. The FM tuner on the Sandisk didn't pick up radio stations that well anyway. The sound quality on the Nano is at least equal to or greater than the Sandisk e260. There is no problem with the Nano's battery life as long as you understand that it is significantly reduced by playing games or watching videos.