MP3 Players (non-iPod)

[Grenouille]

I was thinking about getting some sort of music player for my kids, so they don't have a huge pile of scratched CDs all over their rooms, as they currently do. I do not want to buy them iPods. What are some other good options? Especially interested in options that have a docking thingy so they can listen to music in their rooms, but mostly want something portable so we can bring them when we travel. I've searched Amazon and have some ideas, but would love to hear real reviews.

Thanks!!

[kindermom]

Sansa makes a good mp3 player. The down sides are that a) if you already use iTunes, you have to convert files and b) ours had a shorter batterylife. For the price point, they were not much cheaper than a small iPod. Next time, we are going Apple to avoid the headaches. It was not worth saving about $30.

[Grenouille]

Well crap. I have both iTunes and Amazon mp3, and I'm trying to move away from iTunes. And I need 2 of whatever player I get, so I was hoping to spend less than what Apple charges. Maybe I'll just hand down my old iPod Mini to one kid and wait to get anything for the other one.

[laura]

Rumor has it there may be a new or updated iPod around sept so if you wait they may drop the price on the current ones. I mean, that's what I heard is possible.

[kindermom]

I hate Apple in general but they have really infiltrated my life. If you are already planning on getting away from apple then it may be worth the change over in files. There is software available to convert everything.