Pros: Lots of space, relatively good software, looks very cool, intuitive interface, not an iPod.
Cons: Less than great battery life, slightly weak firmware, heavier than the competition, smudges easily.
The bottom line: It's good, it's intuitive, it's cool, it's worth it.
When I was shopping for mp3 players in the non-iPod bracket-- I loathe iTunes-- the 30gig gogear seemed to meet all my requirements, and also had relatively good reviews. The one thing I worried about was this one reoccurring complaint, found in the reviews on Epinions, that the player was prone to freezing up, and could only be reset once the battery had drained and charged again. I checked the philips website and noticed a firmware update had been posted literaly 2 days earlier. It seemed like an omen, so I purchased one at Circuit City.

My first impressions of the player, once I'd had it charged enough to run, were that it was very slick, even futuristic. The screen looked nice and crisp, considering its size, it's slightly smaller than an iPod's. The way the buttons only light up when they're applicable, and the scroll bar follows your finger, both struck me as being quite clever. I did notice it was a bit on the heavy side, and that the face does smudge VERY easily, as some other reviewers have noted, but these were minor qualms to me.

I've had the player for about a month now, and I'm still very happy with it, but like the iPod it seeks to emulate and exceed, it's not perfect. I'm kind of ticked that Philips didn't make the player show up as an external hard drive on your computer, and rather fell into the exclusive-software trap that limits the potential of so many mp3 players. In order to transfer files to the player you must use Windows Media Player's special device transfer system. Philips is nice enough to include the software with the player, for those of us who'd formerly removed the prgram from our computers. The software is, while showy and inneficient, fairly intuitive and feature filled. While it's not my favorite software, it is the best proprietary mp3 transfer software I've encountered yet.

My other complaint is the battery life. If you listen to your mp3 player for 8 or more hours a day, this might not be the one for you, unless you listen in a place where you can plug it in. I've noticed that, in addition to not lasting very long (especially when you're constantly adjusting the volume , and thus activating the backlight), the battery also seems to mysteriously drain while the player is turned off. Now, this is merely my speculation, but it seems that I've turned it on after using it and the battery meter is a good two or three rows of pixels lower than when I turned it off. I realise this may also be my imagination.

One really good thing I noticed about this player is that it genuinely SOUNDS better than my last player. For a long time I doubted that different mp3 players REALLY sounded any different, since they're simply decoding a digital code. This one definately sounds crisper and tighter, with more detectable transients in the signal. I think it must have a better heaphone amp circuit, or however these things amp the signal.

Also, it seems that the firmware update solved the freezing problem, although I may have just gotten a player that wasn't prone, because mine has never frozen. The one glitchy thing it did, was one day the backlight wouldn't turn off unless the player was turned off, but I just plugged it into my computer and the reset that occurs when you do that seemed to fix it.

One thing I really love, that might be minor to some, is that you can adjust the volume while the hold function is enabled. So I can store it away in it's included case and make volume adjustments without removing it or worrying about hitting other stuff. This is extremely useful on the crowded train where i barely have enough room to get my hand in my coat pocket, let alone take the player out and unsheath it.

I'm happy with this player, i don't feel like i got an iPod knock-off. The firmware is a little weak, but as long as Philips keeps updating it, I'm confident it will surpass the iPod (marketing success willing).