I just recently ordered a Nationite S-Flo from mp4nation.net and have been amazed at the cost to coolness/usefulness ration. Costing $109 and change when I ordered it and has been much better, in my opinion, than any iPod on the market.
First, it has a touch screen. A great touch screen at that. Picture a player the size of the iPod nano that instead of having a tiny little micro screen, you have a screen that covers most of the front of the player that has the "ooh-aaah" of a touch screen, right on par with the accuracy of the iPhone/touch, and has a better resolution than the Nano. Capacitive touch screen, multi touch, good resolution, high color , need I say more?
Secondly, the player has the very popular Wolfson audio chip, the wm8987, and produces one of the best audio playback experiences in a portable media player (since most will play videos now, it is kind of getting useless to call them "mp3 players). Also, the player comes with some decent earbuds as well (but I recommend the Vmoda Bass Freqs if you can find them, best factory buds ever) that are surprisingly comfortable and produce a better sound than the iPod "standard" buds.
Third, this player also has a built in fm radio/fm transmitter. Yep, play radio, RECORD radio, and transmit your music via fm frequencies. Can you get that on an iPod without buying another accessory? Also has a document/ebook reader built in. Nice.
Fourth, this player also has a large amount of customization abilities as well, as far as themes go. As far as I know, the only way to customize anything about the touch is to jailbreak it and possibly void your warranty.
Fifth, NO MORE ITUNES REQUIRED TO PUT YOUR MUSIC ON YOUR PLAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!! Files are easily added by hooking it up to you computer (Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD) and dragging and dropping any and all music and video files you could want (supported files are listed on the site, many to choose from).
Finally, 8GB of storage goodness, a case, screen protector, earbuds, and more is included in the xmas package. And before any of you nay-sayers start saying "awwwhhhh, it's made in China, it must suck...." check and see where your iPods/iPhones are manufactured. The S-Flo specs and review are listed here: http://mp4nation.net/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_36&products_id=151
Simply put, I'd take this, or any Nationite (Teclast) player over any iPod, any day. My two cents.
James.