i have the 3rd gen ipod, but the 10 gig version they dont sell anymore and i love it. ive always been a windows user and have always hated apple and mac and so forth, but mine works great, its easy to use, the sound quality is fine (i'm no audiophile but i could tell that the 3rd gen does sound much better than a 2nd gen and it does sound just fine). also, ive found that the whole battery issue can be resolved by just not using the backlight or built in equilizers that you dont need. i think people are more critical of ipod than is probably justified because lots of people hate apple to begin with, but people also tend to be critical of the top dog far more than the underdog in virtually every situation. its just easier to justify bashing the ipod because it sells so well and at a high price than its less sucessful competitors. the only thing i have ever had a problem with is scratching the screen, which is insanely easy to do, but i solved that by keeping my ipod in my palm pilot case. havent scratched it at all since i started doing that. also, like eveyrone else said, the dock is useless so dont bother, just keep it plugged in while your computer is on and it will charge before you leave again. i think its definatly a worthy purchase if you dont mind not being cheap for once (theres a first time for everything!)