The battery life thing is totally overblown by some people with their fingers in their ears refusing to listen to reason.

Apple released a firmware update a while ago that basically fixed the problem for older players (I have a first generation iPod and it fixed mine) and in the even that your battery really does die, apple will fix it or you can buy a relatively inexpensive kit to do it yourself.

But iPods *are* still really expensive. I'd love to get a shiny new 10 or 20 gig one, as I've outgrown my 5 gig model, but they're just too far out of my price range.

You might want to check out the Neuros (www.neurosaudio.com). $200 bucks for 20Gb, it has the built in FM transmitter and open source software (very good linux support, rawk!). Oh yeah, it also has a pimp orange backlit screen. =)

When I say battery life I was refering to the amount of time it can play music for with out having to be charged not how long until the first battery need to be replaced because it won't carry a charge. Current'y Dell is offering twice as many hours of music with out recharging and Apple needs to fix this for the next generation of iPods.

It's not an issue for me. My first generation iPod has about half the battery life of the newer ones, and it's never been a problem. I have FireWire ports at both home and office, so I can charge it at either one. It's never died on me when I wanted to use it.

Jake, you may want to wait until January for the MP3 player purchase. Rumours are swirling that Apple will release a 'mini-ipod' in sizes of 2-5 gigs starting at $100. (check out http://www.macrumors.com/)

Yes, it is just a rumour at this point but it makes sense.

I still love my 10gig 2nd gen ipod (with 10 hour battery life) and believe me, it's worth every overpriced penny I spent as it gets used every day and 'just works'.

I can even install (and run) any Apple OS on it from my ibook if desired.

Let's see the Dell or others do that!

Perhaps you might consider getting a car stereo with aux input? Last year I picked up a JVC KDSX990 which plays regular CDs as well as MP3 and WMA formats... plus, it has the aux in so I can plug my iPod in when I travel (thus, not having to worry about shitty FM reception in cities with many, many radio stations). Plus, it has a detachable face so I can pop that in my bag when I leave the car...

...just a thought.

As a former mac user I know never to bank on Apple Rumors. I am still waiting for my BeOS powered Mac Clone that will be under $500

Yeah Tara I might do just that.

I agree with Jason. I have a first-generation 5GB iPod too, and charging/losing life has never been an issue for me since Apple released the firmware update almost a year ago.

It is still expensive, and I would not have bought it for myself (it was a company Christmas present two years ago).

I forgot a couple of things in response to other comments.

The Neuros has had both good and bad things said about it, and it includes a built-in microphone (which Jake said is a no-no where he works).

And Tara, that JVC receiver is the exact model I'm considering purchasing. Have you been happy with it since you bought it?

Jake, I too am tired of listening to junk radio (Clearchannel) programing. I choose to listen to mp3's and my choices of music. So I went to Crutchfield yesterday and bought a cd/mp3 player for my car. It comes with a detachable face and is running me 160.00 shipped to my door. The reason I went to Crutchfield is they ask about your car and send you all the required items to install that little gem. Hardware and instructions for your individual car.
I did this before for my sister. The instructions said it would take 1-2 hours. It took me two hours even. (SWEET) My sister still thanks me to this day. I did hers over a year ago.
Something to think about there jake.

I couldn't be happier with that JVC receiver. It never skips, gets great FM reception, etc etc etc. Picked up a cheap cable to connect my iPod to it, and everything works great :) I purchased it on recommendation of a friend who had the KDSX880, and loved it... Circuit City had been out of the 880, but the 990 was fine for my purposes.

Might I recommend you browsing over to a site I'm a mod on: http://www.digitalmusicsite.com.

Also, you don't have to use Musicmatch with the Dell DJ. There is a 3rd party program called Dudebox Explorer (http://www.redchairsoftware.com/dudebox/) use can use. All it's users say it's the greatest thing in the world. I'm waiting to get a DJ next month, so I can't vouch for it yet, but I've heard it's excellent.

Oh yeah, the DJ has 16+ hours of batter life.

I'm happy with George -http://dansdata.com/usbmp3.htm

Even though it's 128meg. I leant it to my friend and he's put more use out of it in a week than I had in the 6months or so I've had it for.

Well I checked out my options and I think a car CD player that can play MP3 CDs would be gear.

I just checked out that Neuros site, looked pretty cool. Do you have one?/Have you used one?

I picked up the AIWA car CD player that plays CDRs and MP3 a few years ago for under 300. It's pretty cheap now if you search around. ( http://www.dealtime.com/dt-app/SE/KW-aiwa%20cdcmp3/FD-0/linkin_id-3032000/NS-1/GS.html ) It's a very decent unit with a lot of features. It's been the best piece of audio electronics that I've bought in years. I highly suggest it if you go that route.

I listen to music mostly just when I'm driving (I hate talk radio) and when I'm at work so a small case of CDRs full of MP3s comes along with me to work in the car and I'm set.

Although if you're the sort of person that likes to wear a walkman then maybe the portable route is better and just get a car stereo with an aux in like Tara mentioned.

I hope I get an iPod for Christmas. I love iTunes. On my G3, it is fantastic. Works great with my Rio500. Wish I had an iPod, though.

Merry Christmas, everyone!!

Seth

I was just looking at the Dell DJ because I got one as a gift, even though I have an iPod. It looks like, per the specs, the DJ gets more battery life ... but in small print, that rating is for 64 kbps WMA files. By the same logic, it appears that the iPod would get its rated battery life for 128 kbps MP3 or AAC files (depending on which generation you have gotten ... my iPod predates their current use of AAC/MPEG-4). So that could explain some of the difference.

I dunno.