If you buy a non-Apple mp3 player (exactly the same as an ipod but not made by Apple) you can use Windows Media Player to Rip your cds to your hard drive.
When you connect your mp3 player to the usb port you open Media Player, and click Synch.
If you download music from the internet to your hard drive, these can be added to your Windows Media Player library and then on to the mp3 player.
If you do decide to use the Windows Media Player (it suits me!) be careful to choose the best format to rip the cds- there is a lot of choice.
The default is WMA, which plays fine on my Creative Zen, but you can choose mp3, WAV and audio. And you can choose the bit rate too - the higher the bit rate, the better quality.
It sounds complicated but is really very easy. I suggest you have a go at ripping a cd now, and you will see how quick and easy it is.