Info on MP3 Players

My son wants an MP3 player for Christmas and I need some expert guidance. I have looked at the reviews at cnet and it seems the top players are from Apple (ipod), Creative, Rio and Dell. I know you probably couldn't go wrong with the ipod, but it sure is pricey. What are the considerations I should use in selecting? Here are some I have picked up, but I also need recommendations.

Considerations:
Access to music stores online
Music format compatibility
Battery charge length
Battery replacement costs
Ease of use
Storage capacity - it will have to be at least 20GB
Size and shape
Sound quality

Etc. If you all could comment on what you would select and why, it would be most appreciated.

WakeShoe -

I am biased, as I work closely to this industry and see from an analysts view what seem to be the best situations. Apple I-Pod is currently the "must have" item among teens. It is more of a fashion statement than a functional tool. The player is good, and is fairly durable. They have had many issues surrounding battery life, and costs to replace those batteries. The other downside is I-Tunes and I-Pod are the only compatible machines for their proprietary format. This limits your choices and future applications. Apple did this in the 80's and lost the PC market.

I am buying my kids the Rio Carbon MP3 player. It is compatible with many more music download stores, and is flash programable. This is good for you as the technology gets better, your player is not out-dated. You just plug in new software updates. It is also using the new windows media player 10 coding. This is almost bullet proof, and works better than I-pod's drivers.

As for music stores, Napster has the investment community buzzing right now. They have announced a program called "Napster to go". This allows a user to go on a monthly subscription with Napster that allows the user to pay a flat 14.95/month. You pay this fee and for the next 30 days you can download all of the music on the Napster site (1M+ songs) into as many as 5 different portable machines. The license on those songs is good until your license needs to be renewed, which is when you plug in to the net and re-new the license for another 30 days. This in essence allows the user to have access to the largest available music library in their MP3/WMA player for the price of 1 CD per month. This large a selection would cost an I-tunes user the equivalent of 5600 months of rentals to equal the same amount of music you could have in the 1st month with Napster. This is a fairly significant shift in the music business.

I have to disagree about the iPod. It supports mp3 format as well as others, including the Apple AAC which is based on mpeg4. Since the iPod is just a small computer, you can upload software updates pretty easily as new features and accessories are released.

I bet if you ask your kid he'll want an iPod, it's much more than just an mp3 player right now. It's about being cool.

its about marketing...and apple knows a thing or two about that.

im perfectly happy with my rio nitrus. its smaller than an ipod mini, its lighter, and seriously lasts +14 hours between charges (ive verified this myself, and didnt change any settings to make it last longer like the manufacturer does). the interface on the player is as friendly as an ipod, and im sure the software is comparable as well. the only downside is that it holds 1.5 gigs. im fine with that though because i can deal with having only ~15 cds worth of music for my 20 minute walk to school each day. espcially for its small size. i kinda want a carbon though...haha

I want to thank everyone for the info. I just ordered the Rio Carbon from Digital1234. It is supposed to ship in 2 business days. Funny thing is, I decided to go with the Dell Pocket DJ and went online and ordered it. However, after you order it, the email confirmation from Dell said it was scheduled to ship on or before January 10th. After multiple tries, I was able to actually talk to a person at Dell and cancelled the order. They said their suppliers could not keep up with the demand. Hope the Rio works out.