[scatwell]

It is personal choice and there are pros and cons.

Apple Ipods are more reliable and have better build quality, and a nicer user interface theme. They also allow you to organise and access large numbers of MP3 music files much more easilty.

I personally like some of the features on the Chinese "clones" - for instance the ability to adjust the tempo of a song without altering the pitch. This is v useful if you're trying to learn to play a song on an instrument. Also A-B playback/repeat is good for this.

I personally like the Glacier and similar style players rather than "nano" style, especially those with replacable rechargable batteries.

Apart from the problems with reliability & the frustrations of finding firmware if the players "die", I think the Chinese players are better overall. If there was a better way of organising and accessing music and playlists etc, and getting a valid firmware file just in case, then I think there'd be a lot more happy MP4 owners around!