Creative labs were in the MP3 player business before the iPod even came on the market. I've used a number of their products and am very pleased with them. Creative and iRiver along with apple (who make the iPod) are probably the three main companies making MP3 players (or at least they were until Sony came on the scene with their MP3 walkman. Roland who make the Edirol are well known manufacturers of keyboards and sound equipment. So were not talking about unknown brands here.