[Halcyon]

Most people who use Ipods use a free piece of software called ITunes that lets you put in a CD into your computer, choose the tracks you want, and then press a button and it converts them to mp3.
You then transfer them to the Ipod.

Any CD program / MP3 ripping program should let you do this.
There are many around on the web.

As for getting rid of that supermarket sound, you have to observe the compression settings that you set in the program you use to transfer your CD's to mp3's.

The bigger the storage capacity on the device itself, the less compression needed and the higher the bit rate you can select to encode your tracks to mp3.
These options will probably be in the programs settings screen.
I personally wouldnt encode any Mp3's under 160kbps, favouring more the 360kbps for a good sound quality.

You certainly dont have to go for Apple. There are many out there now.
Two things I'd consider when looking are 1) battery life, and 2) Portability / features.