AnalPhilosopher

If you are looking for an alternative to Apple then look at the Cowon iAUDIO X5. I've heard many people praise them. It is similar to what you want: 20 gigs, .56 inches flat, 5.11 oz. Here is the product detail page.

I can't say much about the Zune other than I don't trust Microsoft to hand digital rights management well and this website seems to confirm that.

Thanks for the feedback, Stephen and C. L. I like Creative stuff. I have Creative Soundblaster Extigy on my computer. The Zen looks good, especially the 60-gigabyte model, although it's a little thicker and longer than the Zune. (Size matters, for reasons I gave in my post.) As for digital rights management, I assume you (Stephen) are referring to the Zune's ability to transfer songs from one Zune to another. It grates on me that Microsoft would set it up that way, but I don't plan to use that feature. I have my music collection on my computer, in WMA and MP3 format, so as long as the Zune plays these formats, which it does, I'm happy. I don't buy music from the Internet, in other words. I rip my CDs to the computer and then load them onto my portable device. Again, I appreciate the feedback. I'm at the research and thinking stage.