New Music Player (and why i weaned myself from apple)

I finally picked up a new portable media player. I needed three things for my player:

-I run, so I need a media player that is small and doesn't get in the way.
-I don't care about storage space because I usually don't wander that far away from my computer, and rarely do i listen to my mp3 player longer than 5 hours on the NYC-DC bus ride.
-It has to be cheap. I had an ipod shuffle 2.0 up until about two weeks ago, a nice little shuffle I got for 70 bucks back in my senior year of college. While it does hurt to have lost it, I've had a good run with it, and I know others have lost their ipods that cost much more and much frequently ::cough:: cleetus ::cough::

I was about to buy another ipod shuffle since I liked it so much, but then I found this little gem for almost half the price, and more features:

Let me list why I went with this:

1. Size: They are both very small, but this one has a tighter clip on the back that doesn't feel like it'll fall off my sleeve/pocket/backpack.
2. Storage Space: For its comparative price, the 2gb Sansa is a better deal than the 1gb Shuffle.
3. Features: In addition to playing stored music, Sansa has FM Radio, Voice Recorder, a Screen, Equalizer for sound, mini-usb for charging/loading, and I can interface with any computer's Windows Media app or Windows Explorer drag and drop for more music. Shuffle, on the other hand, does not have radio, voice, screen, or equalizer and requires itunes and will only work with my own machine. Also, it requires the use of that little cradle thing, which is small, but a pain in the ass when I lose it.
4. Price: A 2gb Sansa goes for 40 bucks at Best Buy (I've seen it online for as low as 30), while a 2gb Shuffle is 69 at apple.com (as low as 59 elsewhere.)

The few things that the Shuffle has over the Sansa?
-Bright colors: I don't give a damn
-itunes support: This is arguably a benefit, but I don't see it that way.

What's wrong with itunes? Among other things, I hate DRM. If I had a different player that I use, can I load itunes songs on it? No. I can't use any of my music in anything but apple supported products. And even then, it's not unlimited and I can't share songs. And while people say it's to protect your music, it only protects it from being used by you in the way you want it to. This is why I would rather buy mp3s from Amazon.com. At least, I can use those songs on both my ipod AND my sansa/zune/whatever else I want.

If I lose this player again, oh well. I can always grab another. At 40 bucks, it's not as painful in the long run. Especially if I can beat the crap out of it.

I picked up a new copy of Grand Turismo Prologue for 30 bucks. Not bad for an extended demo, but oh well. I like racing games. I'll go more into games and travel in my next few posts. Till then, stay cheap.