I'd seriously hold out until the Archos 43 Internet Tablet becomes more widely available, if only to give one a whirl and compare it to the iPod. I had an iPod for about 24 hours but couldn't stand the iTunes lock-in and returned it (thought the hardware was nice, though. Didn't keep it long enough to form much of an opinion about the GUI/Software). Now that I think about it, isn't the ZuneHD available where you are? Or the X series of Sony Walkmans?-Darwin
nice as the archos device looks, it's way more than I'm looking for (or am likely to use - it's also a bit more than I was looking to spend, but that's to be expected with the extra functionality).
Likewise the Zune, but that's irrelevant as it doesn't appear to be available here
Your feelings on the ipod pretty much reflect how I feel about the things - the hardware is probably nice, but the lock-in factor has had me looking elsewhere straightaway...
Renegade
Somehow I can't help feeling that you might not be as objective on the subject as some others here

)
Money is a consideration - face it, this is never going to be a hifi experience so I don't see the value in a big dollar multimedia or audiophile device (if there is even such a thing - I commute by bus and use the player to ease my boredom which may give you some idea of my requirements)
I'm not averse to other brands (my current player is an IRiver, and it's been excellent), I was just trying to get an alternative viewpoint on iPods seeing as our retailers don't seem to stock anything else. Ideally I'm looking for a device that is in no way proprietry, ie one that doesn't require special software or drivers to charge or manage (effectively it would be USB key with a music player built in...), but that wasn't actually the point of this thread