There are a lot of choices available when buying an mp3 player, and personally, I find Apple's products to be the easiest to use and the least prone to breaking due to accidental drops. 

What's available right now?

1. Apple iPod Video 30 GB and 60 GB ($300 and $400)
2. Apple iPod Nano 2GB and 4 GB ($200 and $250)
3. Apple iPod Shuffle (512 MB and 1 GB)

OK, so you're the digital music enthusiast. You want lots of storage, and you're attracted to the big, crisp, color screen. Is the iPod video for you?

Apple iPod Video:
The Good:

1. It plays movies! You can put your home videos on your iPod, buy TV episodes and music videos, and watch them on the go.
2. Huge hard drive! Room to store all your music, videos, and you can even use it as a back up for your computer data.

The Bad:

1. Battery life is bad when playing video (only a few hours).

The Ugly:

1. Music Videos and TV episodes are expensive.  You can put your music on it

My advice? It's expensive, sure, but with that $300 price tag you get a warranty, BRAND SPANKING NEW iPOD, headphones, and a USB cable.  If you really don't want to shell out for it, get a used iPod Photo on eBay.  From $200 to $250, you get a color screen, 30 or 40 GB, and accessories to come with.  Do a quick eBay search for iPod Photo!

You want something that will play your music and won't intrude on your pocket space too much, or you've never done the iPod thing before and you see them everywhere.  What about the iPod Nano?

The Good:

1. It's tiny! You won't believe it the first time you pick one up.  It's a little bigger than the iPod shuffle!
2. It's cheaper than the iPod Video.
3. Color screen is incredibly bright.

The Bad:

1. Small size is not appealing to some users. However, 4 GB is more than two days of music, if you played straight through it all.  You could listen for a week or more and never hear the same song twice.

My advice? Go buy a Nano! These things rock! Sure, they're small, but I find that that's a good thing.  Do an eBay search for iPod Nano NIB.

Are you an athlete, or just ride your bike a lot? The iPod Shuffle is for anyone who wants music on the go without lugging around a big mp3 player.

The Good:

1. This iPod is smaller than you would believe.  You can copy on about four albums, and listen to them in order (not having a screen doesn't totally disable you) or play songs in Shuffle mode.
2. It acts as a portable USB drive for moving your Word documents from computer to computer, even cross-platform. (Mac to PC)

The Bad:

1. No Screen. You can't see what's playing, or change ratings on the go.
   

 
None of the above? You want big storage for a small price? The 20 GB 4th Gen iPod (monochrome screen) is the most popular iPod on eBay.  Try this eBay search to see these items: iPod 20 GB 4G . You can find one for less than $200, with 10 times the storage of the iPod Nano.