Dell DJ 30 (30GB)

Pros: Form factor, solid construction, price

Cons: Some initial challenges with syncing Rhapsody, but those were resolved quickly, battery life seems a bit weak

Summary: As a longtime (3 yrs) Rhapsody subscriber, I was excited when they recently began offering the "Rhapsody To Go" service, allowing offline usage of their 1M+ song catalog. At that point, it was just a matter of selecting a compatible device from their list. I chose the Dell DJ30 on the recommendation of a friend (who had recently sold his iPod on eBay so he could buy a DJ). I looked at a few of the other Rhapsody To-Go compatible devices, but found Dell's price point to be hard to beat. My deal involved a 2 year extended warranty, sport carrying case w/armband, shipping/tax for under $300.

The initial couple of days with the DJ were frustrating. I knew I was asking a lot of the device, as I was interfacing with a relatively new (< 3 mos.) service offering from Rhapsody. After two initial problems with synchronization (it froze up and had to be hard-booted, plus there were a few error messages after synching that required a re-sync), it has been performing like a champ and I've had no problems at all.

When I was having issues, I made two calls to Dell support, both of which resolved my issues and got me back to business quickly. I had to reboot the device and reinstall the firmware - both of which took less than 5 minutes total. Since then, I have synchronized over 3000 songs from Rhapsody and can now take my content offline with ease.

I have used/seen iPods and won't argue with their "cool" factor. However, I am extremely pleased with the DJ and don't feel that I am missing out on anything. Also, instead of paying $.99 per track on iTunes, with Rhapsody To Go and my new DJ, I pay $14.95/month and have access to more music than I could ever possibly listen to. Nice!!!