Ok, I've owned a number of mp3 players, and iFP 195T 512mb version is simply elegant.

Perfect size for any activity. Sound quality second to none (less one comment below), screen navigation control is as good as it gets (it's a tiny screen after all folks...), clear display in any light, FM is a nice bonus though rarely use it.

Downsides for the purist:
1. Earbuds are worthless-- but then I've yet to meet someone who uses of the factory shipped headsets of any mp3 player (except for my ipod friends). Sony earbuds of any variety are awesome (nough said).
2. Armband for jogging is OK, though I've heard some folks complain about the fit (nitpicking to say the least).
3. Hey, it's a tiny screen folks! Navigation is not hard to figure out. Seen a lot worst on top rated mp3 players. Upside: Even big fingers can work this one.
4. Required software is a bit annoying, but the Mac and PC versions work adequately well.

Personal opinion - 512mb is the smallest space a person should consider for an mp3 player (period). 256mb is way to small for anything but a few decent CD's worth of music. I find even the 512mb is too small, given that 512mb only allows about 8 or so full CD's in my case. Almost wish I'd held out for the 1gb version instead.

Enjoy!
http://TVCNet.net

This is a very nice player. It's the first one that I've owned so I have nothing to compare to. However, I have used flash memory drives. In retrospect, I should have waited until they came out with USB 2.0 and the ability to PnP without having to install custom drivers (Like flash drive, digital camera etc.) Why they haven't adopted these technologies yet is beyond me.
Good: Usability, Sound, Battery life, Capacity.
Bad: USB 1.1. Packaged software did not work. Had to download latest version from vendor web site. Does not come up as PnP logical drive letter like a flash drive.

I did my homework before buying an MP3 Player, and I'm glad I did as the iRiver iFP-195T is great! No complaints. It fits approximately 75 songs and with just one little AA battery you get at least 20+ hours. Once you get the player I strongly recommend going to iriver.com to upgrade the music manager and firmware so you can "organize" the music files into folders on the player. Nice extra feature is the FM turner....never thought I'd use it, but guess what - I did. Overall, great product, small/compact and has a great user-friendly desktop application for transfer and organization of mp3s.

I purchased my iRiver iFP-195T unit over six months ago, and all I can say is...I love it! Small, sleek, easy to use...enough storage space for over 100 songs (seriously, who needs more unless they are traveling across country??) Requires one regular old double-A battery which lasts a long, long time. And the Sennheiser ear-bud headphones that come with it are incredible. You won't believe that that much bass can come out of two tiny little pieces of plastic.

If you are thinking about getting an iPod, think again. This little gem does the trick for a lot less money. But hey, if you need to impress your friends by carrying around your entire mp3 library, then look into the iRiver iHP 140 40GB Hard Drive MP3 player.

Pros:
Long battery life
High storage capacity
Easy to use software
Great sound
Never, ever, ever skips
Lots and lots of preferences and options
Very small and light
The USB connection is on the top, so you don't have to take off the cover to add music
The software is easy to use

Cons:
Reception on the tuner is just ok (only gets stations within 20 miles)
Programming presets on the tuner is difficult and switching from preset mode to tuner mode can be confusing
The symbols are not quite as intuitive as I'd like
File transfer is not fast (maybe 150K/sec)
The plastic cover can be hard to take off to change the battery

Even with all that, it does exactly what I wanted it to do and I would definitely buy this one again if I lost it (I shudder at the thought)