I'd just like to vouch for apple and say that their products are very durable despite that my ipod video is in its dying stretch.  I've had an ipod video for two years.  It was purchased with insurance money when my friend dropped my last mp3 player on a carpeted floor and it cracked the screen. 

 

Anyway, when I got my ipod video, I was extremely broke, and wouldn't save up enough to get a cheap case, because I wanted the most expensive one.  In the meantime, I would try and be careful with my ipod avoiding scratches, and definitely drops.  Well, the time came when it got a little scratch, then more, then a ton more, and I just decided to not care anymore.

 

Since then it's been exposed to harsh Michigan weather, dropped more times than songs it has played, and provided me with thousands of hours of listening.  Its worse falls were off my fire escape onto the concrete sidewalk 12 feet below, and then off my bike at 25 mph.  It still worked just fine, and there are no significant cosmetic or hardware damages, just quite a few scratches which can be polished off.

 

Lately, the weather and use has taken it's toll, the hard drive inside freezes and stalls alot.  To unfreeze it, I'd hit it against the center console of my car, which worked just fine until the 300th hit, where it just didn't want to play any more songs.  I did a little reading on the internet,and then consulted my intelligent housemates for an answer.  Both sources turned up the same info: Place it flat in your palm, and slam it against a table. 

 

The table slam worked, and it's stopped skipping for about 3 months, but it recently started again.  It seemed totalad at this point giving me the sadface.  My housemate was being loud and obnoxious while I was trying to study for my last exam, so I threw the ipod at him, missed and it slammed into the wall pretty hard.  Again, it now works and has been playing for a week without skipping.  Despite these minor mechanical problems, it's interesting how durable these devices are.

 

BTW, hayward is not normally destructive with his electronic devices, but is a little careless when using the ipod.

There's a website where you guess the day of Amy Winehouse's death; if you're right you win an Ipod.

i left my ipod shuffle in my jeans and it got destroyed in the wash.

I've washed two mp3 players in the wash and they both still work.