Info on MP3 players

[mooby]

Started this thread so I could get a little input into MP3 players. My last one recently crapped out and very shortly I'm going to be in the market to buy a new one, and as of now I figure I'm probably going to buy a classic Ipod, the bulky 160 gig that doesn't do anything besides play music/movies/pictures. Is there anyone here who's owned an Ipod and would like to talk about their experience with it?

In my lifetime I've owned a Sensa (2 gig, first one I ever bought), then I upgraded to a 30 gig Zune about 5 years ago (I believe I started a thread here when I was having issues with it way back in the day), and when that was stolen I eventually bought a Creative Zen 32 gig. Now the Zen won't even turn on anymore (I think the last drop broke it, because immediately after I dropped it it started having issues, first with being "on" yet the screen not functioning, and now I can't even get it to turn on anymore, so I think it's done). It was having multiple issues before that anyways, so it's not suprising.

I was planning on upgrading from the Zen soon anyways, because it was getting too small to hold all my music, so I'm not too upset that it won't work anymore. Anyways, my ideal needs in an mp3 player are size (I want it to be able to hold all my music, which will probably be about 10,000 songs when I'm done rebuilding my library), and able to withstand heavy use (I use it in the car everywhere I go, plus every day at work). I don't need an Ipod Touch or anything like that, just want something small enough I can fit in my pocket comfortably yet hold a lot of music/movies/pictures too. I figure the classic Ipod will be able to do that just fine, and I'd rather buy something like an Ipod because Apple's tech support will probably be better than a no-name mp3 player, just in case issues arise down the road.

I thought I'd hold out until the price dropped, since according to Mac Rumors: Apple Mac iOS Rumors and News You Care About the classic line hasn't been updated since Sep. 2009, but I don't think they're planning any updates on it in the future or a price drop either so there's no point in waiting, especially since using my iphone to play pandora constantly is f'ing up my battery charging routine.

Anyways, opinions/ideas welcome. Also, if anyone knows where to buy a new classic Ipod for under $250 bucks please do share. That seems to be the average going rate for one everywhere I look nowadays.