I'm trying to decide whether I want to put an iPod on my Christmas wish list. What are some pros and cons of the things?

I'm a long time lover of the ipod. I've had the very first released edition, the nano, and the video ipod. And am getting the Ipod Touch soon.

The pros is just about everything. The size, the screen, the sound quality. It's a compact and sleek looking object. So it's very easy on the eyes and very easy to carry around without being so small that you fear losing it. The sound quality is amazing with the headphones it's literally 10X better than that of a cd player. The ease of use and function is pretty much amazing. Its also got a great battery life.

The cons are basically having to pay so much for it, and having to pay a dollar for each song off of Itunes that you may want to buy. It's very sleek but it also gets dirty pretty quickly. I mean smudges and fingerprints show up a lot on it, so you'll need a carrying case.

Those are really the only cons. The price, and easily to get dirty. But I wouldn't change my ipod for the world, I love it.

If you're looking into getting an iPod with video, the con that I ran into when trying to choose a video-capable mp3 player is that (at least at the time -- I don't know if they have any plans to remedy this) iPod only plays its own proprietary video format. My brother has a video iPod and was telling me that, while he generally likes it, converting videos to the right format to play on it is a right pain in the butt.

In the end, I went with the Creative Zen Vision:M -- even though I know I risk them going out of business (as have all the other mp3 player-makers I've had before I went with iPod) and general lack of support (when I broke the screen on my Nano, I had a lot of third-party companies to choose from to repair it) -- because it plays a number of common video formats. Plus it was on sale. :P

But you're probably not going to find prettier devices than the iPod, and I don't think you have to worry about the current versions being as fragile as my first-gen Nano (man, I think I breathed on it wrong and the front got all scratched up).

I have a vid ipod! When i first bought it... i never knew it was a video ipod... xDD

Yeah.. ipods get scratched easily...on the back even though i have a pouch.. my dad says white ones are less easier to get scratched than black but i don't believe that..

I think it's really convienent! you can have a buttload of stuff in one... without carrying so much technology!

I don't spend much on songs...on itunes.. you don't have to.. all you need is a mp3 of that song, and go to file, and click add to library and yeah.. even though the ipod says it can't find it, it still works..

Well, when uploading vids onto the ipod you can go short or long way. right now the long way doesn't work for me for some weird reason, but i think its more worth doing it that way.. since the short way is quicker but less quality.

Also, you can get less scratches if you leave the clear taping thing on when you get in the package! i still have mine and thank god i didn't take it off!

I can't think much of a con.. once you get to know how to use everything and all the tricks for not spending much on ipod, which i learn after awhile, there isn't much of a con after that...

Ohh wait, there is a con, the battery is awfully short and doesnt last long at least not for me. so i recommend you to buy an apple ipod adapter, they sure do come in handy!

Another pro is that, you can have a ton of songs, more than what a CD could hold! Its also better to travel with, but be careful when traveling with it and leaving your bag behind...

Hmmm... can't think of much right now!

sorry for all the blabbering, and all the scattered thoughts...