I faced the same dilema you are right now. The solution is easy.
Zen Touch! It is made by Creative, which is also experienced in computer sound cards. They may seem a little big and heavy, but they are not easily busted, and have a battery life of 24 hours. I read a story of some guy who kicked this player off of his bike, made it fly through the air, and crashed into the asphault. It left a "scar" on the corner of the player, but worked perfectly fine.
If you prefer small, but still high quality and durable, then check out the other Zen's. You can find them at the following link:
http://www.creative.com/products/mp3/I bought mine off of Buy.com for $200, which is about $50 less then any other site I saw.
I hope this helped you.