I used a couple of different players that all broke after two weeks, or right after I dropped them. Updating music on them was a pain in the ass, navigation sucked, couldn't read them in either bright light or darkness, etc.
Got an iPod. Haven't looked back. iTunes is the only music player I use now, with the advantage of being able to listen to any song on any computer in the house (that is to say, 4) no matter what computer it's on or which one I'm using at the moment. The music store is a hundred times easier than trying to find illegal mp3's, and I gladly pay a dollar for that convinence.
Plus the podcast support is amazing. Every morning, if I remembered to plug it in, I've got a crop of fresh broadcasts to listen to so I don't have to waste my time listening to Glenn Beck.
Anyway i basically wanna know what other brands are of comparable or better quality than the IPod.
In my experience the iPods represent top quality. Nothing I've seen appears to come close. The iPods are polished; the competition seems cheap. They fit better into a pocket than other players. The scroll wheel is easy to use without even pulling the player out of your pocket.
If you're just looking for a way to take some music with you, get an iPod. There's a reason that they're the "Dixie cup" of mp3 players - that is, the brand that has become synonymous with the product.
I guess if you've got some bizzare audio need, though, like having to play Ogg Vorbis files or whatever, you need to get something else. But for the purposes of playing songs they're the best out there, when you combine all the factors.