I've been very happy with the Sandisk Sansa series of mp3 players. They cost much less than iPODs, include an audiobook section that has the feature of restarting where one leaves or 'turns off'.

There are several lines of Sansas: My favorite is the cheapest, the Sandisk Clip which comes in an 8 GB size at Walmart for less than $80. It is all plastic, extremely light, and although I hate earbuds, the earbuds that come with it are high in quality. It charges off a USB port. If I'm at work and have to go to a meeting when Fresh Air comes on the radio, I can record it!

The down side of this brand: Is not as high quality as the iPOD. It will not play videos. The Clip is so light its battery has about an 8 hour life per charge in my experience.

There is an upmarket version called The Fuze. It has a longer battery life per charge and is more 'nano-like'.

They are PC machines and are marketed as being MAC compatible. That marketing is optimistic.
They are a WAY better value.