I was just at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas and the Creative labs player was a big hit. It got some pretty good reviews from the users, though I think you will need to play with the interfaces yourself and see which you like better. You'll also want to make sure the formats you use are supported in whatever you buy.
I think you should remember that the real pathfinder in mp3 players was NOT apple but Creative, introducing the Rio several YEARS before the iPod. I had a six gig Creative mp3 player in 2000 when iPods were still on the drawing board. Apple just made it cool to have an iPod, and definitely kicked on the interface.
I'm a big Apple fan, but credit where credit is due...