MP3 Player - Recommendations

Today marks my 33rd birthday and I'm going to celebrate by getting myself a long coveted hard drive mp3 player. Conventional wisdom and market share suggests the Apple Ipod (40 GB model) is the way to go. I have my reservations, mostly with the battery life. Can anyone comment on their experiences with the 40 GB Ipod, especially the 4th generation? Has anyone purchased alternative products from IRiver or Creative Zen? Good luck or bad, let me know your experience with any of these products (via comments or email)

Also, can anyone point me in the direction of some new or unique blogger templates? I've grown weary of this one but nothing else on blogger or noipo.org strikes my fancy.

thanks!

-- Eric