With the Circuit City chain in liquidation...?

If you're thinking small and inexpensive. . . then I'd totally vote for a Sansa Clip. Out of the box, the firmware doesn't necessarily handle podcasts wonderfully, but the more recent firmware (easy to upgrade to if you head over to their support site) has separate folders for podcasts, audiobooks, etc. and handles each differently when it comes to playback options. Audiobooks run forward, podcasts run (I think) oldest to newest. . . and you can delete the file directly from the player without a computer once you're done with it even on the old firmware. Oh, and did I mention it'll do simple drag-and-drop file additions? And it's still got the FM radio. . . .

It *is* slightly smaller than an iPod shuffle and so has somewhat small buttons and a tiny screen if those would annoy you. Currently, what's on the market seem to be mostly the 2 GB and 4GB models. . . so it's not like you can put your whole music collection on one, either. But I do love mine! It's been quite handy for stashing a book or two + a couple of playlists on.

I was just there yesterday. i was looking for a few xbox 360 games. But the games and ipod's are only 10% off. They did have all the ipods though. Touch, nano, shufle. You can find used nano's for a good price. Your best bet would probably be a used one with a music collection already on.

I hate to sound like a front runner, but the ipod is a sure shooter. it works great and mine has worked great for about 2 yrs now.

Everyone has their ipod horror stories about how theirs only worked for less than a yr, but most of those people abused the ipod.

Stop by your local circuit city every once in a while and just keep and eye on their inventory, that way you wait as long as you can to get the ipod and the prices will be as low as you can get it for. see what i mean?

ipod and zune are the only two worth buying. ipods are so expensive though unless you buy them refurbished online at apple's store. the ipod touch is good for games and applications and the ipod video is the best for massive amounts of music. zunes let you tune into the radio though...