an alternative to the "snobby" i-pod

As far as "better" goes, no because apple has proven to be the top. But if you dont want any apple products, there is this little company called Sansa and they make their mp3 players just like the Ipod (not like the replica...the same features such as a rolling screen and etc.) however I would not really suggest the e250 because that's what my brother has and they have had problems. He just got his sceond one a month ago and its screwd. But maybe he's tampering with it or something. You can get this from Best Buy or something (i dont recall seeing any at walmart....) But Sansa is the way to go.

P.S.
The e250 was only one of the 7 mp3 players Sansa has made so relax. Rest assure, these should satisfy your needs. And their at an affordable price!!!

When I subscribe to the Napster service they gave me an I-River H10 and it was snazzy enough for me. However, I am not one who really needs to take tunes around with me wherever I go. I guess my smart phone is a pretty good player, too, but I've never bothered to listen to it.

I did however buy some Aerodrome software years back that turned my tinny sounding Palm PDA into a really radical player. It was amazing what the software did to improve the quality and strength of the sound.