I'm looking to finally enter the portable music generation. I've been planning on buying an iPod sometime this summer, but now I'm hearing that they don't play WMA files, and I have about 8 gigs of those on my laptop. So that's a problem, I also have a fair number of MP3s, including about 50 purchased through the iTunes store. That's less of a problem, since in a pinch I can burn CDs and rip them as WMAs. But still a mild pain.

So what should I do? Is there an easy way to make buying the iPod work? If not, does anyone have any recommendations for or against any other brands or products? Having never had one, I have no preconceptions or features that I'm wedded to.