Does your mp3 player require much dexterity to use?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I want to buy my dad an mp3 player. He has MS, so his manual dexterity isn’t great, and I’m at a loss as to what to buy him. What I’m looking for:

  1. Flash memory-based, so he can drop it.
  2. At least 1 gig, preferably a bit more.
  3. Most importantly, easy to control by someone with limited dexterity.

The last constraint rules out the iPod nano (which if it wasn’t for the control wheel would otherwise be perfect, I think), and I’m having a terrible time figuring out how easy other players would be to control without actually using one. Ideally, the controls would just be simple arrow keys to navigate menus and a play/pause button to start/stop recordings.

Any and all suggestions are welcome.

2

The creative zen isn’t too small, and it’s basically an ipod, except the touch-wheel is replaced by a vertical touchpad.

http://www.overstock.com/?page=proframe&prod_id=1969351

There is a Dell player with a scroll wheel, like on a mouse. It’s called the DJ, digital jukebox. On the front there are back, play/pause, and forward buttons. I’m not sure if they’re still in production, though.

3

I like my Sansa, although I have a different model than what I’m about to recommend. I think the Sandisk e260 / 250 / 270 series would be perfect. It’s about the same size as the nano, but uses buttons rather than the scroll wheel. Plus, it’s compatible with Rhapsody-To-Go, which is a huge plus for me. Here’s a link.