I just want to say thank you for the information. It is very valuable for me..newbie here and encountering the same situation. Thanks and keep up the good work..
I have to say that going with quality is important when it comes to buying an MP3 player these days... Stick with what works best, which is the Mac brand. You can get a good iPod for your price range and you can count on the fact that it will work seamlessly for years, even the lower-priced types are excellent in quality.
There has not been a recent post for this topic, but...
I have the Sansa Fuze. Not the new one, but the original with the scroll wheel. The sound quality is excellent and the interface is quite intuitive and simple.
I have used an ipod before, but the sansa fuze has always had superior features with exception to capacity, but the expandable sd slot helps to partially negate that.
The newer/newest ipods have all of the same features as the Fuze I believe.