ok, so after shopping around a bit more, the cheapest deal I could find on the 40G ipod was the HP version at buy.com. (The target 10% off deals are dead now.)

The 40G HP ipod is $359.99
There's a $20 off $300 coupon that was listed in the dealcatcher forum. It expires 11/8.

The total price is $339. You can get free shipping in the lower 48.

But I hate buy.com. Every time I use them, I'm sorry I do.

Even so, I guess it was karma when I tried to order it. Their ordering system must have been down (no response after a few tries, so I gave up on them and bought it at the Apple Store. I had a small company store discount there for $24 off.

So, if you're willing to set yourself up for disappointment, order it from buy.com for the cheapest price right now. Hopefully your experience with buy.com will be a lot better than mine has been over the years.

The HP has a bit of a better warranty than the Apple unit, BTW. You get 1 year service and support. The Apple unit has a 1 year warranty but only single service incident support during the first 90 days.

I'm also told that if you connect the Apple unit via USB (instead of firewire), it will format itself using the Fat file system, so apparently there really is zero difference except for the HP logo on the back of the unit.

-David