I belive the differences can be summed up as: the vision M supports more types of video (DivX, XVid, wmv) than the iPod, and has a battery for video that's about 2x longer, its about the same as the iPod for audio though, and less for .wma's however it's twice as thick and heavier than the iPod, its also about £15 more expensive than the iPod but includes a power adapter. I'm not sure about ease of use/software, though I'd guess the iPod is better. The battery comparisons are with the 30GB iPod not the 60GB version.