Fashionably CompactWeighing in at just 3.6 ounces and smaller than many cell phones, iPod mini fits your lifestyle and your bag, whether it be cocktail purse or messenger duffle. The chic, matte anodized aluminum case resists stains and scratches, all the while protecting your iPod mini. Recessed in the case to keep its surface pristine, the 1.67-inch (diagonal) backlit screen displays full song and album titles, artists’ names and more.
Under Your ThumbThe iPod mini Click Wheel featuring color-coordinated icons gives you the enhanced durability and sensitivity of the iPod Touch Wheel, with buttons underneath. The Click Wheel takes best advantage of miniscule space and lets you scroll single-handedly through up to 1,500 songs from your iTunes music collection.
Clip and saveYour iPod mini includes a convenient belt clip so you can attach it to your belt, purse or backpack. You can even clip your iPod mini to a lanyard around your neck for the ultimate fashion statement.
1 Outstanding MP3 player.
I began looking into an iPod purchase over a year ago, and was almost sold on the 4th generation iPod. I liked the colors of the mini and was okay with 4 GB of storage (though that was a tad on the small side), but the main thing that deterred me from the mini was the less-than-desirable 8-10 hour battery life.
Then the 2nd generation mini was released. Apple seemed to fix and improve every little thing I had held against the original. They made the colors brighter, increased the hard drive space to 6 gigs, and most importantly, at least to me, increased the battery life two-fold.
The 18 hours that Apple advertises is EXTREMELY conservative. If you're content listening to music and don't need the backlight for more than a minute or two every hour, the battery can run for about 24-25 hours. I can go a week and not have to worry about recharging my battery. I could listen every waking moment of my day and never have to stop and recharge before I went to bed. It's a wonderful thing.
The blue is very bright and pleasing to the eye--I've seen the pink and silver versions and they too are visually appeasing. 6 gigs is nothing to shake a stick at--on the contrary, I've found that 6 gigs is just about the perfect size for someone who has a vast number of interests musically but doesn't have thousands upon thousands of CD's to rip and upload. Unless you have literally hundreds of CD's in your collection that you plan on putting on your iPod, I'd recommend the mini, since you'd more than likely end up with half the space on your regular iPod sitting unused.
Despite the fact that the iPod scratches easily, there are several cases which work extremely well...I'm partial to the ones made by Power Support, though you have to import them from Japan. Uploading your songs is quick and easy. Navigating the menus takes about 15 minutes to master. There's really nothing more I can say that can do the iPod mini justice.
I will make a quick note and add that I'm not an Apple fanatic. I think that Apples are good computers, but I'm still attached to my PCs. However, when it comes to MP3 players, there's really no comparison; it's going to take many many years before Microsoft or any other competing company can put out any MP3 player nearly as nice as the 2nd generation iPod mini.
Also, if you have a friend that's a teacher in a school, look into the education discount on the Apple website. It ends up being 20 or 30 dollars off.
2 GREAT!! (after I survived setting it up)
I just got my 6 gb mini for my birthday. I also got most of the accessories as presents, too, so I don't have to worry about forking over the cost of the mini itself for them (seriously, mac). I AM IN ELECTRO LOVE! Wow, and I think this time it's for REALS. :-) I am coming fresh off the iRiver boat (funny how they use the "i" in front of their name, too), and have been extremely pleased with my little 256 mb player... and I do mean LITTLE. BUT, I am extatically (word invention there) adding album after album on my iPod as I type this. Yeah, it's kinda annoying to convert WMA files to AAC, but they do the work for you. I love the organization, I love the style, I love the size, I love the balance between form AND function. I do feel like I've just joined a cult of iPod users, however. Oh well, not as bad as Mormonism
3 Gotta Buy This!!
Let me start off by saying that I was amazed at how small this thing is. I bought the IPOD MINI. When I got it and opened it up I was amazed at how small it was. It was crazy small! Plus it holds around 1,000 songs. Right now I have about 500 and it's a little over half-full on the memory. I got a 4GB IPOD MINI. So, there is plenty of memory space for lots of songs. The software was easy to install. I thought it was tricky figuring out how to select songs and actually put them on the ipod. But after a while I figured it out. Also the volume on the ear phones is amazing. I almost blew out an eardrum by accidentally turning up the volume! The only problem i've had so far with the ear pieces is that the foam ear pads keep coming off the earbuds. NO biggie though. I would recommend getting some sort of case to protect this thing since you've already paid $200 bucks what is another $20 to make sure it's safe! There's plenty to choose from. Charging is it easy, you just plug it into the usb port and it automatically starts charging it. I have a computer so it's no biggie. If you don't have a computer with a usb port its gonna be tough finding a place to recharge it. I haven't tested the battery life yet, but it seems to be ok. Probably more than what i need. Lastly, I was a little worried that the songs would not transfer over to the itunes software. I have lots of songs that I got elsewhere :) I hoped they would transfer over to the other software and they did. They also sound great, the play fine. It's not a problem at all. Now i have over half of my music collection on this thing. It's a really great product. 5 stars!!
4 Why?
I ordered this item on March 22, but not shipped until today(April 27), why?
5 Great, like it better than my 15gb...
I had a 15GB iPod and also sold it to get this (green version). I have to say, even though it holds less songs, that this is alot better. I erased ALOT of songs i dont listen too, but i dont regret it because they were there for no reason.
The new minis are darker than the older ones. The old mini green was lime green, this ones darker and looks alot better. The case is hard, and doesn't get scratched easy like the big ipod. The click wheel is great, and i like it alot better than the old one. When its in my pant pocket, I can just click the button inside of my pocket without taking it out,(I had the touch 15Gb iPod). The only problem is that the scroll whell isnt as sensative as the other iPod.
The sound seems to be improved alittle. I can turn the volume half way up and it will be as loud as my old iPod at three forths the volume. The battery is also great. I have the backlight on for 2 seconds, and use nice Sennheiser headphones, (Different headphones drain more battery), and listen to the volume at about three fourth, and the battery last about 12 hours. Not bad sinch the last ipod with light and better headphones lasted for about an hour and a half..
The iPod doesn't have that many extras. It has games, nots, clock, calander, and contacts. Other Mp3 players have voice recorders, fm radio, ect. Thats o.k though because they don't have the innovation.
All in all, I suggest you buy this. You won't regret it.
6 traded in my 15GB for this baby
If you read the dimensions, the iPod mini doesn't seem that much smaller than the iPod, but when you hold it in your hand, the mini rules! I always carried my big iPod in a case because it got scratched so easily, but the mini doesn't need one because the brushed finish doesn't pick up fingerprints. So big iPod + case >> iPod mini.
I killed my last iPod by dropping it and shattering the LCD screen (ironically on the headphone that had been wrapped around the iPod). To avoid that with my new mini, I take the included belt clip and clip it to the *front* of the mini, so the LCD is protected. Included protection!
The only thing that the new iPod mini's don't include is a separate power adapter.
7 na not good enugh
ipod mini dont have:
1. it doesn't have radio
2. u can't recored radio
3. u can't even recored ur own voice
4. u can't fill da memory to da fullest
ZEN MICRO IS BETTER CUZ:
just get da 6GB zen micro it lasts longer (battery life) u can fill da memory to da fullest has radio (fm only) u can record it and u can recored your own voice (voice memo)u can also use it as a memory card to store files
8 Uh...Some Suggestions....
I love my ipod mini. I have almost 700 songs on it, and I still have the other half of my cd collection to go thru. I carefully selected which songs to put on here, which saved me some space... Whats the point of putting on songs you wont play?
Also, its user friendly, and iTunes is a snap to use. Granted I had to convert all my wma to aac, it still sounds great! After I finished that, I ripped the remaining cd's straight to iTunes.
A few suggestions....
Dont bother with the EQ. I found it silly to even toy with it. I have a wide range of music on my iPod, so it would be pointless to change the EQ. I listen to my iPod in the car, so if push comes to shove, I'll change the EQ on my car stereo, but I dont find it necessary.
As much as Apple charges for a battery change, save yourself the trouble and go to a local electronics store (Best Buy, Circuit City). They offer extended warranties (mine is 3 year) and will change the battery for you, sometimes free of charge.
Have fun with it!
9 One more reason to buy the 6GB iPod Mini: Perfect Balance!
If you, like me, have tons of music in your iTunes, you may be wondering: "Is this iPod going to be enough to help me carry all the music I want?" The answer is "it depends". If you want to carry literally ALL your music, bear in mind this unit will hold on average about 1,500 tunes. So you may run out of space well before you get half your collection into it.
However, if you are objective about it, and look into how often you actually listen to ALL your music, you will realize (like I did), that this iPod Mini (Silver or not) will more than serve your purposes. With this said, everything about it is perfectly balanced. The sound is fine (not studio quality, but it's very good, anyway). The interface is impeccable: incredibly easy to learn and use. The design is... well, Apple at its best! And it's light and highly portable.
The only downside are the covers for the earbuds, which I lost within a couple of days of starting to use it, but in all honesty the plain earbuds with no cover don't bother me. I may get myself a new pair of earbuds in the future, but for now, not even this I find to be a problem with the unit. So, if you are still wondering what do I recommend you to do: get yourself one of these, and you will be able to take your music with you all day long wherever you go, and be happy with your investment.
10 nice player, but sound quality is bit of a let down
i got this to replace my iriver, which got stepped on and is now awaiting parts. heres a basic list of pros and cons:
Pros:
1) iTunes is a breeze to work with. fantastic piece of software
2) Its tiny, it holds 6gb in a tiny tiny space
3) it takes only seconds to transferr songs over via iTunes
4) It is so easy to use. the click wheel interface is fantastic
5) battery life is now rated by apple at 18 hours but actually reaches 22 in good conditions!! brilliant!
Cons:
1) sound quality, sound quality and again sound quality.compared to my old iriver it pales in comparison, but its not terrible, just a lot less than i was expecting.
2) built in equalizers are useless and do more harm than good. to be avoided at all costs.
3)cant copy music off the ipod( you can actually, but you have to do a bit of research and downloading of 3rd party software to do this.)
3) it doesnt like bit rates lower than 160kbps, which i know is a minium nowdays, but i have a lot of 128 kbps from years ago that sound way better in the iriver than the ipod.
4)no wall charger included. you have to charge via powered usb, which meant i had to buy a powered usb hub as my laptop has no powered usb port.this is a bad way to cut costs.also means your pc will have to be on when charging and this is bad if you charge at nite, when your pc is off.
5) easily scratched and you will need a case to keep it looking good.
thats a short list of pros and cons. id definately recommend it but you really need to buy new headphones to make the most of it.
11 Over estimated it!
I just bought one not too long ago, but was not satisfy with it, although the design is by far the best among all the mp3 players out there, but in term of function wise, it is a totally different story. Had to return it and bought the creative zen micro which allows me to put music files into the gadget through windows explorer or windows media player. In addition, it allows data storage as well which ipod mini lacks, and data storage has a maximum of 4gb which I am very impressed. It also came with an extra removable battery and best of all, I can update the firmware myself w/o having to goto Apple personally to update the gadget.
12 Perfection
I love my little Ipod
With all the love I have
Its absolutely wonderful
Its something you gotta have
13 THE COOLEST THING EVER
This thing is the coolest thing ever because even though it's 500 more songs than the first mini, it still makes a diffrence! It might be bit heavier and a bit bigger than the first, but it's still, well, mini! This is the second best thing I own.
14 Thoroughly impressed!
I must say that I am thoroughly impressed with the iPod mini. This is coming from a person who owned a 3rd gen iPod (The regular-sized one). One of the bad points of the 3rd gen iPods was its short battery life (only about 3-4 hours max). I thought it would be the same case with the iPod mini, I was proven wrong. I was able to get 20+ hours of continous play before having to recharge which totally amazed me since it was more than the advertised 18 hours. All of my mp3s are 192k bitrate encoded! I don't even have to worry about it running out of power if I'm taking a long international flight! Not to mention it sounds great and has 6GB of storage which is more than enough for me. Installing iTunes and transferring mp3s with it was a breeze. There are other choices such as Xplay, EphPOD, and iPod Agent if you don't want to use iTunes. I also love the fact that it's recognized as a usb mass storage device in Windows XP. That means you can use it as an external hard drive if you wanted to. Apple's dominance in the mp3 player market is not surprising with a quality product like this. Who cares if it doesn't have a radio tuner or color screen? At least it can perform without a ton of bugs or hassles.
15 gAdZiLLiOn sTaRs :-)
I got this six days ago... it rocks!!! It takes like 10-15 seconds to import a 5 min. song!!! WOW!!! iTunes is so hi-tech. it enables you to do so many things so easily with just a click of a button. It is certaintly the 21st century version of a gReAt downloading site thingy.
Don't listen to all those people saying "the sound quality sucks." Unless you want to BLAST your eardrums out and become deaf go get the "iRiver" or "Rio." YUCK!!!!
Whatever! C'mon it is your choice!!! :-)
16 The truth about
Don't fall for the free iPod scams in the fake "reviews" posted here. It's spammers harvesting email addresses for their ridiculous products.
Think about it for a moment. How can somebody afford to give away $250+ gadgets just for signing up for some trial offers? Answer: they can't!
17 Simply THE best mp3 player!
iPod mini was the hottest gadget last year & the best mp3 player around. Looks like this will be true even in 2005. There is absolutely no competition for the iPod's, no other player is even half as good as iPod.
Pro's,
1. Very good audio quality. Support for normal mp3's (unlike Sony).
2. Small size (smaller than most cell phones like much-talked-about-Motorola-Razr)
3. Extremely well desgined (let's hope Apple makes a cell phone and PDA in near future)
4. Very intuitive interface (award winning touch wheel and minimal buttons)
5. 6GB hard drive (enough space for about 1200 mp3 songs)
6. Available in many colors (hopefully Apple will come up with Nokia style faceplates for future Mini's)
7. iTunes is one of the best music software around (rate songs, keep playcount, easy-sync with the iPod)
8. Excellent screen for such small size
9. Recharges from a standard USB port with the same cable as used for the upload of songs. No need to carry around a charger now.
10. Tons of innovative accessories in the market (from Bose speakers to colorful socks!)
11. Good battery life, about 10-14 hrs depneding on how much you surf around on it. ofcourse we all want more and there is no end to that demand :)
12. Everything about the iPod Mini is designed to perfection (no other company has put this much time & effort into their mp3 players even in 4 yrs since iPod hit the streets)
Con's,
1. The battery is internal with no easy replacement chances
2. Colors on the new Mini, except Silver, IMHO, are all gaudy. Last generation of Mini's had much pleasing colors. Check out for yourself at a local store before buying.
3. Gold version has been dropped now, its become a collector's item? Instead of adding more colors they have dropped one!
4. Doesn't come with a wall charger any more and takes longer to charge from USB port. You always need to be around a computer or pay extra for the charger.
Its simply fabulous and I am running out of superlatives to describe it. Thanks Apple for the new iPod Mini!
18 iPod Mini is teh greatest thing evah!
Apple is the greatest. The iPod Mini is so awesome, it rocks my socks off! I have almost 100 songs on it and I've had it for like 2 days. I especially love the Equalizer in the settings. I'm a big rock fan (AC/DC, Led Zepplin, etc.) so I have to have Bass Boost. Luckily, I found it under the equalizer, and the earphones sound great (and are fairly comfortable). This is my first mp3 player (I considered the Shuffle, but it had no screen). If you are a first mp3er, BUY THIS NOW! The iTunes software is totally easy to use. I strongly recommend it.
19 Great but could have been a little better
The Good
1.The new Ipod mini has made one major improvement over its predecessor i.e. a battery life of 18 hrs or more. My 4GB lasted for 22 hrs on the first go.
2.The looks are the best coz of the sleek anodized case.
3.Easy to use,Click wheel Navigation features are unbeatable.
4.Easy to use iTunes software and music downloads.
5.For students you can get this on the apple store for $179 and the 6gb for $229.
6.Good Customer Service
7.Anti-Shock memory good for those of us who drop things :D
The Bad
1. The sound quality is not the best, PC World compared it to headphones quality while comparing the iRiver and Creative products to listening room quality. However for normal listeners this should not be a reason to say no to ipod.
2. It cannot play WMA tracks so it can store only half the number of songs that a wma player can for the same capacity.
3.Doesn't come with the wall charger now that the price is reduced
The Ugly
1. The ipods have to be returned to Apple to replace the battery which normally will run out in 6-12 months depending on use, that costs $99 besides shipping not to mention the waiting...it would have made more sense to produce them with replacable LiOn batteries.
My suggestion
I would suggest getting creative's zen micro..
The zen micros also have better sound quality as compared to the pods and around the same price and come with replaceable batteries and can play wmas.
But if want great looks and not bothered by less than perfect sound quality stick to the ipod mini.
20 I got 25 hours battery life on one charge!!
I traded in my older player for this amazing 6gb model.
I did 3 tests and it is true: the battery life is the best of all players by far! My second test ran for 26.4 hours! The sound seems better than any other player Ive owned and Ive been through a lot of them. This is simply the most advanced player ever to hit the market. If youre sick of charging the battery, BUY THIS NOW! Of course its an iPod as well, so you know youll be in style!
I give this 6 stars but they only let me put in 5
** the little dell dj gets 10 hrs and the zen 12 ( if youre very lucky more like 9 or 10 hrs. has been my experience)
With at least 18 hrs on this new super mini, I dont see how anyone would waste money and actually buy the "old" technology used in lesser players like zen and dell dj.
21 Very Well Improved
In my older review for the first generation iPod mini I really didn't like it at all. But now ever since the 6 gigabyte second generation came out but perspective has totally changed. They have four colors now: Blue, Lime Green, Pink, and Silver. They discontinued the Gold version because it wasn't selling. It's $249.99 for 6 gigabytes and $199.99 for the normal 4 gigabyte version. This holds 1,500 songs which is pretty good. Last time the battery life for the mini was around 8 hours but now they have improved it so it lasts 18 hours! A thing I wish Apple did with the new second generation mini was add a color screen. A lot of people were anticipating a color screen and when they came out with the old black/white screen we were all disappointed. Another thing I wish Apple continued doing was adding the Firewire cable. I like plugging the iPod in IEEE port more than the USB 2.0. That's why they lowered the price. A popular accessory got even better with this new iPod. The iPod Armband has five new colors: Orange, Yellow, Blue, Pink, and Gray in addition to the previous Black color. I still think this still isn't as mini as it used to be. The 20 GB iPod is .57 inches in depth while this is .50 inches in depth. The iPod is steadily catching up to the mini. I would look into this and I would purchase this if you haven't bought an iPod or if you are looking into a new MP3 player!
22 The 6gb iPod Mini Rocks My Socks Off!
I was going to get the 4gb, but I waited until the 6gb came out and it was definitely worth the wait!! I love my ipod mini so much and I can not imagine life without it!
As the previous reviewer suggested, you will want to buy another pair of earphones because the ones that come with the mini suck and they always fall out of your ears!
The itunes software is really easy to install and if you have any problems you can call the apple customer service and they are really good about helping you out...once you get past the 15 minute holding time!
I have about 900 songs on mine right now and it has only taken up 3.8gb! Overall, I am really pleased with it and I know I will get a lot of use out of it when I am on spring break and laying out this summer!
Oh...by the way, if you are a college student...buy it directly from the apple website...they offer education discounts...the 6gb is just $229 and they give you free shipping and free laser engraving on the back if you want it!
23 Apple raises the bar again with the new iPod mini!
I was lucky enough to get one of these literally 5 minutes before the store sold out. I also have a 40gb 4th generation iPod, an iPod shuffle, and I have owned and used MP3 players by Creative and iRiver.
The new "2nd generation" iPod mini builds on the strengths that made the original mini a blockbuster best-seller: easy to learn, easy to use, elegant user interface, immensely usable "click-wheel," and outstanding sound quality. Since the original mini was introduced a year ago, some competitors appeared that offered higher capacity, better battery life, and lower price. This new iPod mini answers the competition with some important improvements which make it a compelling choice over the competition:
1) Battery life is now 18 hours instead of 8 hours for the first generation mini.
2) The 2nd generation mini is cheaper: the original mini was $250 for 4 gigabytes of storage, which holds up to 1000 songs. The new mini is $200 for 4 gigabytes, or you can pay $250 for 6 gigabytes (up to 1500 songs). To achieve this price drop, though, Apple no longer includes a dock or charger - these are available separately, but you can live without them just fine. For example, the battery charges whenever the mini is plugged into your computer's USB port.
In addition to these improvements, there is a minor cosmetic difference, concerning the color choices: gold is no longer an option (it was the worst seller in the original mini), and the other colors are now a bit brighter.
The iPod mini comes with iTunes software to help you organize the music on your iPod, and to transfer music from your CD collection to your player. If you wish, you can use the iTunes software to purchase music from Apple's online store and download them directly to your iPod, but the software absolutely does not push you to do so.
The mini also comes with the same earbuds that accompany every other iPod. They are better than the headphones that come with most MP3 players, but you'll probably want to consider replacing them with something a bit nicer.
Like its predecessor, the build quality of the new iPod mini is excellent, very sturdy, just like all iPods. My 40gb iPod has taken a lot of abuse and has held up extremely well. Plus, I did a fair amount of research on the original mini and it has held up well since it was introduced. So I fully expect that my new iPod mini will last a long time.
I also considered the Creative Zen Micro, the Dell Pocket DJ and the Rio Carbon, which seem to be the closest competitors to the mini. They have more features than the iPod mini, but are not as elegantly designed and their build quality feels a little cheaper than the mini. Plus, as a previous owner of other iPods, I already have a lot of music in Apple's AAC format, which these other players cannot deal with.
