Sony NW-728 (or A828)
I looked into buying a Cowon, Samsung, Apple and Sony. I like you am only concerned about music. And if i could show pictures to friends that would be cool too...
* Samsung Dont really offer any cool non touch MP3 players.
* Cowon make nice players, but the D2 is expensive and the bundled headphones arnt nice. Also they are all a little bulky.
* Iriver is nice - find a Clix 2 8gb - nice sound, but then again you have the crappy bundled headphones.
So I checked out Amazon and managed to find a NW-728 (8gb) with 2.4" screen.
Comes bundled with some pretty decent phones and only set me back $130 including shipping. Pretty happy!
It arrived yesterday - Put together very nice - Not a creak in the chasis, buttons are excellent, and its hugely responsive. Plus sony has ditched the sonic stage so you can just use your your preferred media player.
You could also try the series down. NW-628? And dont worry about the noice cancelling cans. The EX cans cancel enough sound with their semi-canal style...
Hope it helped