You dont listen to music and your 17, i think you might need to see some doctors, i think the priority should not be getting your brother an mp3 player but finding you some music.

I know its bad. My friends wonder how I manage to live

The thing is a believe there is encoders out there to make CD's that have already been purchased playable on the ipod, so i don't think that's going to be a problem.
Buying the music is the one thing that i'm worried about with him, because i'm not sure if my parents feel safe about having thier credit card numbers over the internet, hopefully can get over this because i'm going to be buying parts for a computer via the internet (although i'm sure it won't be a problem, however better clarify with the parents). Also i had to drag my brother away from P2P's and their illegal network, so i kinda want to stick away from going back to that route. I'm kinda wanting to stick to players that have their own music distributor, such as Itunes and Microsoft's new one.
The thing is, my brother is aimed at getting the ipod because thats what everyone has, but honestly i'm not really convinced that its the best bang for the buck, or best mp3 player out there. Samsung had one come out that had speakers, and was like a miniature boom box which looked cool.
Also he's going to be using it for every general use such as when he's walking home from school snow boarding and such. Long battery life is pretty well essential, which is why i'm kinda leaning to the mini.
As for the Wi-fi network with the zune, i think you can listen to the song 3 times, and not only ahve it one your MP3 players for 3 days. Could be wrong however, but i'm sure thats what i read.
James