I bought one a couple of months ago and I love it. I got a Zen bottom-of-the-line (about $60) and I love it. Tiny and easy to use, and it has plenty of storage space for my purposes. I had to get better earpieces because I have small ears and the ones that came with it were uncomfortable, but otherwise I have no complaints.
If you want to use ITunes, you have to have an IPod, but if you just want to download MP3 files, a good clone will do.
Really, you don't have to have an iPod to use iTunes, you can either use it to play music on your computer, or burn the music onto CDs that can be used anywhere.