Zune HD (16GB, black)

Pros: Attractive, nice and sturdy (not cheap plastic like Sansa), amazing sound, even more amazing video, apps are fun, controls are easy to learn even though I wasn't used to a touch screen, apps are fun.

Cons: Really disappointing availability of music with Zune Pass.

Summary: So I had an aging Creative Zen player (starting to freeze all the time) and a Rhapsody To Go subscription. Coincidentally, my teenage son had a careless incident that sent his Creative Zen player to MP3 Heaven. I looked at the list of players Rhapsody To Go supports now and found it had shrunk to almost nothing, and Napster wasn't much better, so I figured it was time to transition to something that wouldn't break me financially like Itunes would.

The player itself is very attractive, seems sturdy, I love having the home key right in front. It took a while to get used to the touch screen but not as long as I thought. The apps are fun (yeah, I know they don't have as much as Ipods, but this is the first player I've had with any apps, so I'm happy). Sound +is amazing, I'm hearing things in my music I've never heard before, but these earbuds must have been designed by a sadist. After two hours my ear canals are throbbing.

So I got home on Sunday afternoon with my new player, whip out my Visa to start the Zune pass, and settle down for an afternoon of happy downloading. This is where my spirits were crushed. More than half of the albums I subscribed to on Rhapsody (actually probably more like 75%) were either not available at all or only available for purchase with the Zune pass, and my tastes aren't that obscure, mostly just Broadway and classical stuff. Frankly, if I hadn't accidentally discovered how to stream the MP3s for free from the Marketplace, this thing would've gone back to Best Buy on Monday.