My two-pennorth (spelling?) worth: I have never been an Apple fan and would have advised my Mother to buy and MP3 player but as she had already bought an Ipod and, of course, she then wanted me to load it for her. It was without a doubt the easiest system I have ever used and my Mother now happily rips her own CDs (for personal use only) with no problem at all. I think it is easy to use.