They are about 5 bucks cheaper a sams club than elsewhere. Micro center in aurora has refurbs normally. Sorry haven't been in retail for a long time.
The Hobo
pricewatch.com is a good site for finding equipment (new) at the lowest online price
http://www.pricewatch.com/browse/mp3.../ipod_nano_8gb
Yep Apple still does the refurbs that is where I got mine all new box warranty everything good stuff. You can also try refurb products depot .com or something like that they usually have good deals too.
Does it have to be an ipod?
I find Apple's MP3 service to be poor at best. The wife and I each bought our own MP3 players and subscribed to Rhapsody. Its like $15 a month and you can put as many songs on your MP3 player as you want - the downside being that once you quit paying your songs will stop playing in 30 days. But I find that a lot better than paying $1/song.
I'm pretty sure you CAN use rhapsody with an iPod you do not have to buy music from iTunes if you choose not to ... I personally prefer to own rather then rent but that's an apple's oranges personally preference type thing.
Also do not forget you can "rip" ( and COMPLETELY Legal I might add) any or all of the CD's you already own iTunes does this for you quite easily .
I find alot of people do not realize the being able to rip their own CD's thing.
Apple still has refurbs up ( apple.com click on store then in the bottom right hand of the store page you can find the link to the refurbs ) apple gives FULL warranties on all refurbs you can even get the extended warranty ( aka applecare) for one.
One suggestion tho ... applecare and apples general warranty do NOT cover physical damage ( dropped and broken .. gotten wet so on and so on ) I dunno how old your kids are or how responsible they are but if they are younger and/or likely to break the darn thing get them from Best Buy and get their extended coverage they will replace them even if dropped in a bucket of water.
There is an eBay seller who sells refurbs and I've always got them much cheaper than in any store. I'll post a link to his page so you can check him out. I've bought 3 through through him and they have all been perfect. Best thing is since they are auctions you decide what when the price gets to high. I just bought my kid an iPod touch for $150 so I saved $50 plus the tax.
http://shop.ebay.com/luckydogbargain...&_trksid=p3686
"An armed society is a polite society when a man may have to back his last words with gunplay."
My Feedback
Apple Refurbs from apple, you get everything except the plastic box.
My daughter wanted an iPod Touch, so she used her money and bought one, she actually listened to dad and bought a refurb, and saved $50
Be careful with Craigslist, there are a bunch of close copies coming out of China, pretty much exact copies, you can't tell the difference by looking at it, but they will not work with iTunes and they are crap.
I have friends that buy bulk and sell at good deals. PM me and I'll get you in touch.
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