My parents are going to buy a graduation present for a friend. They are thinking of getting an mp3 player for jogging, taking to the gym etc. They dont want to spend more than $100. I dont know very much about portable mp3 players other than the empeg and karma because I have no use for one. What is a good, less than $100, mp3 player that is small, lightweight, and easy to use?

I've been very pleased with this.
It's minidisc, so the media is very cheap, reuseable, durable, and small. Unlike the flash players, I can carry around as many discs as I like. The ONLY drawback is the software. It blows, but it's useable. Just takes some getting used to. Oh, and battery life is phenomenal.

Personally I'd probably go for a Rio S10 or maybe an S30 (which comes with an armband for gym use). Small, light, 35 hours from 1xAA on the S10 (15h from 1xAAA on the S30 which also has a tuner), SD card expandable, nice UI, etc.

Ok, so I'm biased, but you can still find S10's about $66 new and $49 refurb (froogle) which means they're a bit of a bargain.

Hugo

The S10's ARE wonderful. My sister loves hers. (Thanks Hugo!) The ONLY drawback is the cost of expandable media.

Needless to say the software and support for the rio products rocks.