I've already signed up with one site for 1 year ($95+). I get 1 credit per month, no rollover, which is approximately one audiobook a month. Some books require 2 credits.

I found a series that I'm interested in, (by W. E. B. Griffin) but the site I signed up with only has the abridged version (approx 9hrs) of the book. It is half as long as the unabridged version(18+ hours)!!

Can anyone recommend a site where I can get audiobooks for a low price and provides the downloads in a standard (non proprietary) format?

You don't mention what website you are currently paying for, but I highly recommend:

audible.com

It is by far, the best site to get audiobooks. I pay $21.95/ month and get 2 credits per month. One credit= One book, except for a few rare cases. It's a bargain and I've been doing it for a few years now and have nearly 40GB of audio saved on my ipod.

You might want to check your community library website about what they offer. My library allows me to download a bunch of different audiobooks for free, with a 14 day limit, just like a regular book, then the software deletes it.

It won't get you a free range of books, but there might be some there that you enjoy.

i don't like audible.com because the files are only playable using their player, which I have to install.

i've looked into the library route and found some good ones. but as with most libraries, they only have but so much, and then its usually older books.

They're playable in iTunes as well.

If you want older books, there's Librivox, which offers free public domain audiobooks. They're read by volunteers, so the quality is variable, but most of them sound as good as stuff you pay for.

I'm one of the few remaining people without an iPod. Even if I had one, I'd still like the item I purchased to be playable in various outputs (my phone, mp3 player, etc).

Thanks for Librivox, Sean. Older titles, as you said, but worth a look.

If my library has it on CD, that's the free way to get audio books for my MP3 player. But the selection is pretty limited when it comes to my favorite genres.

I've been pleased with Audible.com. The trial membership is $7.49 a month for three months ($14.95 after that, but annual subscription plans are a bit cheaper). That gets one book a month. Audible is fully compatible with my Sansa MP3 players and they have told me I will continue to have access to the books I have purchased after I have canceled my membership. And they claim they have 50,000 titles in their catalog (although some things I would like have never been done in an audio book format).

Last month Audible had a sale on 71 titles for $5 each. Each was the first book in a series and the stated objective was to get one hooked on the series. I picked up eleven of the sale titles, some I have read and enjoyed, others blind buys. If I want to continue the series, I can always just get the regular print versions from my library.

I have an account at audible, and before I got an Ipod I use to download on to my MP3 player with no problems, you can play the files thru itunes and media player, also burn to CD. I would go to the web site and look at all of the compatible mp3 players, phones ect. And like lizard said you can still access your files if you cancel your account, I know because I have canceled my account and then started it back up.