Thanks guys. I do have MP3 players: iAudio G3 (love iAudio's quality of sound) and a Creative MuVu V100 which is a decent little player.
The reason I was asking was because I ran into an iPod fanboi and according to him the sun rises and falls on iPods -- all else is dirt. Since I just got into MP3s I didn't have enough experience and information to make a sound rebuttle (no, I'm not looking for a fight!). Again, I have nothing against iPods but the fanboism was blowing strong I tell ya.
By the way, a great site for any and every imaginable MP3 player out there is
www.Anythingbutipod.com -- except iPods.