First of all I DON'T want an IPOD 
My Zen Micro died last night so I'm looking for a replacement - the Zen was ok ish and I had an Archos XS202 before that which again was ok ish -
so has anyone got any sugestions? Not bothered about MP4 or 80GB of storage, 4GB seems about adequate for what I use it for but I would prefer
something that's compatable with Napster to Go and the like.
Cowon iAudio
I've a Sony MP3 and an Ipod.
I hardly use the Ipod the MP3 is much better.
The controls on the Sony are superb, but the software is total shite. Be wary.
I still own a sony tape player. Lasted me 9 years now.
Same principles as use once and destroy cameras.
Doesnt skip, dont care if you break them and you really do stand out of the crowd!
I used to have an XS202s - nice and neat little player, fairly basic but plays music. Currently available on Amazon for £140 (though it used to be
about £129.99??):
and
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Archos-Gmini-202s-20GB-Player/dp/B000CFBU4I/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/203-1429866-7067945?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1193396685&a
mp;sr=8-1
It gave up the ghost a while back (hard disk kaput). I know you said you didn;lt want an iPod, but it might be worth a look. I resisted iPods before,
but I ended up buying an iPod. It's a bit bigger than the Archos, but the latest version is slimmer than the old one (you get 80GB the same size
as the previous 30GB one). It's got great battery life and though I haven;t used the video feature, I have dumped a load of photos on there -
useful as backup if nothing else. The other thing is that Apple have dropped the prices of iPods in the latest generation, so they are no longer huge
amounts more than the competition. Amazon price currently £152.73
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-iPod-classic-80GB-black/dp/B000UVS20Y/ref=sr_1_2/203-1429866-7067945?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1193396913&sr
=1-2
I also looked at the new iPod nano, which is very neat, but at 8GB vs 80GB and not an enormous amount more I decided to go bigger.
If you can get it duty free, it is a worthwhile extra discount, too.
i've got a sony 1gb mp3 with fm radio, it's the same ish size as a memory stick, and the battery life is amazing 40+ hours on one charge, 3
mins charge = 3 hours playback.
the newer sony software is much better than the old one i had for minidisk, but it's still a bit of a pain
Thanks for all the suggestions - I have to say that after Benzines short but sweet post 
I've been looking on the interweb at the Cowon iAudio
D2 and that looks a tidy little thing.....anyone got any experience of it?
Have a look at the Samsung YP-T9, im impressed with my 2GB version, 25-30 albums is enough for me, im downloading new music every week, so its no
hassle to swap a few albums over for a bit of variaty.
Paul
Got a couple of these for the kids and they seem fine. Can use bundled software or just drag and drop (can be used for data storage too). Shows album art. Zen V Plus 4Gb The Zen Stone is diddy.