For over the past year now I've been using my Jukebox 3 and have so far been really pleased with it. I decided on getting it rather than an iPod at the time for the fact it was cheaper and many reviews said it had the best sound quality (i.e. it has 2 line outs rated at 98db).

Recently I've gotten into listening to audio books and unfortunately Creative Labs and Audible.com (so far the best place to buy audio books online I've found) have not budged on making either of their services friendly with the other. IPod on the otherhand does offer support for audobooks online and thus it has spurred me to investigate further into whether I should just hold off until the next technology comes along or go ahead and invest in an iPod.

Any thoughts on 'Pros' / 'Cons' comparing these two? Or any other suggestions as to mp3 players that are audiobook friendly and WILL have support for new formats in the future?

I purchased a 40gig iPod in the late fall of 2003 and love it. I've used the 40gig Lyria Player and a couple others at Best Buy. I found that iPods navigation controls are by far the easiest to use. The scroll wheel is the best part. Its works seemlessly with iTunes.

Pros:
1. lots of space
2. extremely light
3. easy navigation
4. install mini-script (ie: day timer, quick notes, alarm clocks, sleep timer -- that can be done on a win machine)
5. itunes works the best with this program.
6. decent battery life
7. easily loading dockstationing.
8. can charge battery and upload music

cons:
1. battery life is sometimes frustrating (8 hours)


Most of time I listen to my ipod is a night prior to sleeping. To preserve the battery life from playing music until its dead. I turn the Sleep Timer for 15 or 30 minutes and it will turn itself off.

For more specific iPod Questions check here: www.ipodlounge.com Its the largest forum beside apple.com that can answer questions about pros and cons.

i used to own a creative njb 1 modded to 40 gig. i dont regret getting rid of it. now i have an ipod 10 gig, it s far better and reliable.
i can see only pros for the ipod (incl. better navigation, better FW stability, better design and assembling, better portability...)

The only serious drawback from my I-pod is its lack of gapless playing. If you don't really mind about it...

Thank you all for your input. As far as gapless play, I don't like the way Jukebox 3 line does not allow you to adjust the gapping; it sucks to listen to live or music that was written to flow to the next track and have your listening enjoyment interrupted by a few seconds of delay . So far it seems like iPod 3, Jukebox3 0 . I think I will hold off a bit because of the new formats that are coming out and try to get a player that will support a surround sound format - most likely it will be an iPod though unless someone comes and manages to steal their spotlight.