Which MP3? ZEN, ZUNE, or IPOD

[ruderacer]

Looking to get one of these for my daughter for Christmas. Anyone have any advise of which is the best of the three. I leaning towards the ZEN 30GB W. But you know how kids are. The craze is the IPOD, but I think the ZEN gives a bit more compatability. I've seen the ZUNE, but it looks huge, not that the ZEN doesn't. With the IPOD, I guess you get stuck with getting stuff from ITUNES. Any comments are will be extremely helpful. TIA.

[CowboySlim]

I just bought the SanDisk Sensa player, e230, or something.
But it was the e series 512MB.

I am very happy with it.
It has no DRM, so you can download any mp3 or unprotected wma file.

I don't use it with earbuds.
I plug it into my boombox which has LINE IN.

I'll be getting my wife another one for Christmas.

I would get any iPod or anything that plays only DRM'd or protected songs.

[Ian]

I'm seeing Sandisk's players all over. I like that you can add more storage to them using an SD card.

I have an iPod and love it. iTunes isn't bad either.

[JamieW]

IPod isn't just a craze. It is extremely friendly to use and they come nicely together at cost, feature, and capacity. I've been hearing nothing but woes regarding the Zune. Microsoft was going to do some craziness where you couldn't directly buy a song, you had to buy Microsoft points, and then exchange the points for songs, leaving remaining points with your account until you used them up. I wasn't really too keen on the idea of having to give MS loans every time my points ran out when other services just let me buy songs on a direct dollar basis. I don't know if they ever changed that, but it is worth looking into.

The Samsungs and the iRivers are considerations for where cost, ease of use, and capacity meet, too.

[Justin42]

In my experience, iRiver and Creative Labs units sound far and away better than any other MP3 players on the market.

I have a 1st gen Toshiba Gigabeat, as well, which went on to become the Zune, and it sounds pretty good (right up there with iRiver and CL). It's got a fairly quirky UI unfortunately, although I love it. (The unit, not the UI)

(huh? he's talking about sound quality with regard to MP3 players? Does anyone even CARE? )

[Bhairav]

iRiver h140 + Rockbox! Have one, love it.
Pity they don't make them anymore.

[Ian]

I got to try out a 6GB Sandisk player at Thanksgiving. The interface is nice but the scroll wheel and buttons aren't nearly a smooth as the iPod's. My wife's cousin's wife hasn't been able to upload any DRM'd music either (that's why I looked at it) as it was using the wrong USB mode.

Having to use the Napster software or WMP sucks too. Neither are as nice as iTunes.

[LoneWolf]

I have a 30GB iPod 3G (touch-wheel model) that I got as a perk from work.

I have nothing against other models of player out there, but the most useful feature for me is that a lot of car stereos can interface with the iPod through an adapter kit. My Pioneer DEH-P680MP controls the iPod so I don't have to futz with it while driving. USA Spec and Harman Kardon also make kits that will interface the iPod with stock car stereos, provided they have CD changer inputs.

I don't use iTunes. Instead, I use WinAmp with the mlPod plugin. It does what I want fairly well.