Hunting for MP3 Player and Heaphones

I'm looking for a MP3 player with a quality microphone for audio recording in lectures. My current MP3 player is a Samsung 512MB with microphone, but I doubt the mic would pick any sound up well from more than 5 feet. The audio for lectures will be coming through speakers either overhead or at the front of the class.

Also, I'm looking for quality headphones at a reasonable price (nothing too high end - just for casually listening to music. I can order online either in Canada or the U.S. or pickup at certain stores in Canada. I wasn't sure of many stores in Canada that sell headphones - only Bestbuy, Futureshop, and 2001 Audio Video. I know Toronto has some stores but I won't be travelling there for a while (although I could get them shipped from T.O. or take a day to travel down and try some out).

Thanks for any information

Okay thanks for the reply gigman,

I know there are many opinions on preference between the Sandisk Sansa e280 and the Creative Zen 8GB. I've read that the e280 has some durability issues. Can anyone offer more advice? Perhaps on which has better sound quality...

Also I know I'll need to buy new headphones/earbuds if I want quality sound. How effective is the noise cancelling on ~$70 earbuds like the Sennheiser CX-300B or Ultimate Ears super.fi 3? I could use either headphones or earbuds, as long as the headphones aren't too stuffy - hot ears

Thank you

Thanks for the information about the Cowon D2 although it's ~$50 more than the e280 and creative zen when looking at the 8GB models.

Any other suggestions out there?