I don't know what it is but I have never been able to wear those little earbuds correctly. They never completely stay in my ear, falling out when I'm in the middle of a good song or video game, or they stay in when I cram them in there, which of course, hurts.

Hmm, what to do, what to do... I consulted YouTube to see if I could find some assistance and found some kid channeling James Dean telling people how -bleeping- stupid and lame they are because they don't know how to wear earbuds, and other clips selling earbud covers - HELLO, how is adding more girth to my earbuds going to help?

I finally figured out the best way (in this case, least uncomfortable), is to place the earbud just inside the ear with the cable poiting straight down and directly aligned with the very bottom of the ear canal. They seem to stay in more securely and don't hurt at all when they are wedged in this way.

Now that I got that solved, I am able to listen to my little mp3 player in relative comfort.

I have to say my mp3 player is hands-down the best one I have ever tried, and I have had two generations of iPods, which are really expensive, and I like my little cheapie the best. My chief complaint with iPods was the horribly short battery life, although the sound quality was also iffy, especially when hooked up to my car radio. The last time I had charged up my iPod I waited a couple of days and when I fired it up, my iPod informed me its battery needed charging, and i hadn't even played it! Err...so i decided to buy a new battery. I got the battery and installed it, which instantly rendered my iPod inoperable. Rather than fuss with it any further, I shopped around for a new MP3 player and found a KILLER ONE:

The Sansa Clip MP3 player. Granted, it is only 1GB, but that is more than enough for all of my songs, and tons more, and it even has some features my iPods didn't:

Here is what it comes with:

• FM radio
• cool equalizer display
• 15 hours of playtime
• voice recording w/built-in mic
• plays MP3, WMA, and audible files
• cool headphones
• USB cable
  
  
  
  

(It may also have an alarm on it - I will have to check.)

BEST OF ALL, you don't need to buy special Sansa cables, like you do with iPod---it works with any cable, including iPod, which means it works with my existing (and expensive) iPod cables, and my iDog, and i can even charge it with my cell phone charger.

All for, are you ready for this: $33

Yep.

33 bucks. and change.

It clips onto your pocket or shirt and almost fits in a Tic Tac box (!) and is a very attractive little player, with its black casing and bright blue backlighting. The sound quality is as good (or better, even) as the iPod. Plus, when you want to turn it off, you don't have to press and press and press......just slide that little button on the side and -poof- off it goes.

If you are looking for a fun gift for someone special, I heartily recommend this great, fun little music player!