Like the writers of other Zune guides, I'm a convert from iPods.  I firstly had a 30Gb iPod Video, which, like most folks, made me swoon when I first got my hands on it !  'Oh just look at the lovely chrome backplate !', 'Oh, the satisfying clicking of the jogwheel !'.  Unfortunately, this was before I had the iTunes experience... what a nightmare that software is !  Have you ever tried to get your stuff back off your iPod if it's been deleted from your computer ?  I won't spoil your fun by telling you how much you'll love that particular experience... and your lovely chrome backplate will no doubt be scratched to hell by now too... And as for the joys of watching video in teenyweenyeyestrain-o-vision... well, nuff said.  I also own a 4Gb 2nd gen nano, which I loved until it had juice spilled on it and now the jog wheel has seizures when you touch it... ho hum, that'll be £50 to fix thanks...

So, I bought a Zune II 80Gb from eBay as you still can't buy them officially in the UK and what a difference !  3.2" screen now makes videos a pleasure, not to mention 720p HD output to your TV if you so choose.  The Zune software piddles all over the resource hogging and clumsy iTunes, making podcast subscription and anything else you need it to do really easy.  The 'squircle' touchpad is much nicer and better designed than the iPod jogwheel, built in FM radio is nice if you like that sort of thing and the fact that it's WiFi enabled allows you to sync it to your PC from your driveway should you so wish !  Firmware updates from Microsoft make it perfectly updateable (seems unlike Apple, they don't mind if you keep your device more than a year....) and the supplied premium headphones make a mockery of the trash you get free with your iPod.... but then, maybe your just an Apple fanboy who still thinks the only way to be cool is to have white wires dangling from your ears ?  Only if you want people in the know to be able to tell you know sod all about what makes a good piece of technology :o)

Take my advice, buy a Zune, you won't look back !