This is my first mp3 player. I bought this brand because I use their cf memory cards in my digital camera and I've been very happy with their performance. So far I am very pleased with this product's ease of use and sound quality. I took it out of the box, hooked it up to my computer and had 90 songs on it in less than 5 min. The controls took almost a second to figure out... but were pretty simple. The sound quality issues that a few reviewers mentioned have not come to my attention yet and I'm very picky. I believe it all depends on the bit rate you used when you ripped your songs. go for a higher bit rate, you won't get as many songs on your player but the quality difference is worth it. As for the build quality and longevity of the product, I guess I'll just have to wait and let time do it's thing before I can have a strong opinion about either. All in all I think this is a great product for the price. Ignore the nitpickers.