Customer Reviews

Apple iPod 4 GB mini M9802LL/A (Blue) OLD MODEL

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Trust me, I was the LAST person to buy an iPod. I was perfectly happy with my iRiver H140 (which I still love), and was sick to death of seeing those white headphones everywhere! But then I decided to get a tinier player for my walks to class and such. I tried out different smaller players and they all had some type of defect. An iPod Shuffle wasn't an option as the thing doesn't even have a screen. When these second-generation minis came out, I was blown away by the specs: supposedly 18 hours of battery life, price cut down fifty dollars, etc. So I went ahead and bought the blue version and yet to have any regrets. My review:

PROS:

// I did a battery test on this the afternoon I bought it. It wasn't even charged to full capacity, and on top of that, I played with it a lot, and it still ran continuously for about 23 hours. Amazing. One of the reasons I was hesitant about getting a first-generation mini was its battery life (about eight hours, I believe). Apple has definitely improved on this feature.

// iTunes, the software that you use to put music on your iPod, is great. You can make it automatically sync to your iPod or manually update. I choose the latter option as I have more music on my computer than will fit on a 4GB player. I thought having to use software would be annoying in comparison to hooking a player up like a regular hard drive and using the file tree method, but iTunes is simple and gets the job done. There are other programs you can use to manage your iPod, like MusicMatch, but iTunes seems to be the least clunky to me. Also, you DO NOT have to buy from the iTunes music store to work your iPod. You can even hide this option on the sidebar if you wish and make iTunes solely a music manager.

// So tiny! I have to admit that when I opened the box, I exclaimed, "It's SO cute!" It's basically the size of a credit card. A little slimmer, a little longer, but you get the idea. Even the package it comes in is very compact!

// Sound quality is absolutely superb. You'll listen to songs that you've heard on your computer or other MP3 player or whatever and hear nuances that you haven't heard before. Like I said, I have an iRiver, and while that has amazing quality too, you'll be surprised how crisp this little device sounds.

// Plenty of features. Notes, contacts, games (Music Quiz, Solitaire, Brick and Parachute), clock, alarm... I have yet to use any of these extras but I guess it's nice to know that they're there in case you do. I think more efficient features would be voice recording, FM tuner, etc.

// Scratch-resistant. All of my friends' iPods are scratched up like you wouldn't believe. The mini has a lot more resistance to scratches as it has an anodized aluminum case.

// Inuitive design. Everyone knows about the click wheel. I've handled lots of different players and Apple really wins in this area. The controls are underneath the wheel, so you don't have to worry about buttons bulging out on the exterior.

// Colors-- this is a pretty trivial point, but I was initially disappointed when these "new" colors came out. I thought the earlier model pastels were much prettier. However, now that I actually have one (photos don't do justice), I think my blue one has a gorgeous, rich hue, and I imagine this is the same for the green and pink. No complaints in the aesthetics department from my end.

CONS:

// No support for WMAs. iTunes will import these as their own format, which might result in a sound degradation. I had to rip a bunch of my CDs as MP3s just to retain original audio quality.

// Apple really skimped out on the accessories. I'm used to getting a bunch of add-ons with my player for free, like a case and adapter. The mini includes a clip-on holder, headphones, and your charging cord, but that's pretty much it. HOWEVER, to Apple's credit, you can charge your iPod without an adapter (right from USB, or Firewire). Plus, to get these 4GB models down cheaper than they were before, it makes sense that they cut out the superfluous items.

// This will be a minor issue for most people, but when you're in your menus (like listings under Songs or Albums or wherever), the titles don't scroll. So if you have a lot of songs that start with the same string of words, you're going to have try them all to see which one you're looking for. On the actual now-playing screen, they DO scroll, it's just that in the menus they don't. Like I said, this won't affect most people, but it did kind of annoy me when I first saw it as all other players I've worked with scroll titles in menus.

SOME THINGS TO KNOW:

// The iPod never actually shuts off. I know that when I first got this, I was like, "Where's the stop button?!" You can put it to sleep by holding the play/pause button down for a few seconds, but it will never actually be turned off. This is a smart move made by Apple because if you were to continually shut off and restart everytime you wanted to use it, not only would it take a long time to boot up, but it would wear down its interior.

// iPod doesn't give you a straightforward way to copy your music back onto your computer after putting it on, but there's a way to do so without using external programs if it's enabled to disk usage. 1) Click on the iPod icon in My Computer. 3) Click Tools > Folder Options > View > Show Hidden Files and Folders. 3) A folder called "iPod Control" should appear. Navigate into that folder and all your music should be in several different folders within. If you don't want to do it this way, there are also third-party programs like CopyPod.

// For iPod support, Google "iPodLounge." Their forums are really helpful, too.

// Ordering from Amazon is probably your best bet. I ordered this on March 17 and received it the very next day on March 18. That was with Super Saver Shipping deal where it's actually supposed to take up to two weeks to get to you! This could just be in my lucky case, but even so, you can also always return your iPod if something is wrong with it with zero hassle and for free. Like with those other players that gave me issues? Amazon sent a UPS guy to my house to pick it up, returned it, and I got ALL of my money back. Just my two cents on that.

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Overall, a great player. Besides a few flaws, Apple has found a new iPod-lover in me which I thought NEVER would happen! Sorry for the length of this review but I hope it helped potential buyers. Happy iPodding. :)

I've owned my iPod for about half a year now, and I half to say that I enjoy it. The sound quality is better than that of iTunes on my computer. It's pretty much the only mp3 player that integrates usability, simplicity, and convienence with style and sophistication. Plus the click wheel is simply ingenious.

However, I have several complaints. First of all, the metal outside is very easily damaged and dented. I dropped my iPod (in its case!) once on a non-concrete surface, and the corner dented a bit. Another thing is that the click wheel gets dirty. Another problem is the battery - it runs out relatively fast, and obviously, replacing it is inevitable (but IMO, only apple's scheme to get money).

I wrote the following for an ebay sale of my iPod mini. I thought it might be helpful for a lot of people.

iPod 4GB really only holds less than 3.7GB. Apple defined GB as something bigger than it actually is (like instead of 1024kb per mb they did 1000... or something like that). Plus there are already installed programs on iPod.
Charge - 2 (80% full) hours or 4 hours (100% full)
Battery life - Apple claims 18 hours, but in reality it's nowhere close.
Tips on the battery:
Don't use backlight unless needed; backlight kills battery.
Wait until your battery is out, and then charge overnight to full capacity (this is my own theory; I think it works because supposedly rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (ie the iPod one/rechargeable batteries in general) run longer this way.)
Use iPod regularly (helps the battery stay alive, the Li-ion works better)
Fast forward reduces battery.
iPod can be used as a USB (look for enable disk use in iTunes), so if you have an iPod you wont need a USB drive.
iPod can open and read text documents (see users manual), and this helps if I need something to read/have something that I need to refer to often.
Music file format - AAC, MP3, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, WAV
Using iTunes, you can convert almost any format (e.g. wma, midi) into AAC or another iPod-compatible format
iPod supposedly crashes easier when it has to deal with more than one format, so convert everything into one format
iPod can be used with regular computer speakers. Lots of people don't know this, so they go out and buy "iPod-specific" speakers which cost like $100+. So don't. Get a nice set of computer speakers, and you can listen to your iPod anywhere there's a power source.
iPod and hearing loss.
I play violin quite a bit, and as a result I'm going partially deaf in my left ear. Because of this, I take special care of my ears while listening to iPod.
Recording studios record everything, and this includes the extremely high pitches that the human ear can't hear. These high pitches make your ear drum vibrate extremely fast... which causes more damage than regular pitches. Luckily you can control this on your iPod in several ways. What I do is that in iTunes, I control the EQ settings so that any sounds 16kHz (the high ones) are reduced. You can also choose the "treble reducer" EQ setting on iPod, but this reduces battery a bit. I also recommend getting a set of noise-reducing headphones (NOT earbud headphones like the iPod ones). That way, you can listen to your iPod at a much lower volume in a loud environment.

The Ipod Mini, as well as the larger models, resembles a tragic hero: great design (scroll wheel kicks @ss), user friendly (menus are optimally designed), great iTunes software (i still use it to organize my music without the ipod), trendy, firewire capabilitiy, and small. But there's a dark secret that Apple doesn't want you to know--you're renting the MP3 player, not purchasing. These things break down so easily, freeze up constantly and battery life decreases dramatically (seemingly programed.) No conspiracy theories here, but what a compelling story line it makes. Create a great (actually just good) MP3 player, get consumers in love with the product, have the product break down and earn more money as repeat customers blinded by the trend waste another 300 bucks on another Ipod. Basically, if you're lucky enough not to experience what MANY others have experienced (just check other review sites--not the optimists who just purchased the ipod several weeks ago), then you'll have a fun little MP3 player. The problem is that the competitors are not as sleek (except Creative Zen-- but Zens are even less reliable) and are just as flimsy. In fact, many others are rated lower (expert & user) than the Ipods, which make the task of buying a DAP even more difficult. After much research, I've just purchased a Cowon Audio X5L 30 GB DAP--contains many features missing from the Ipod, 30 hours battery life (confirmed by DAPreviews experts), similar size, video & photo viewer, and excellent sound (Cowon is good for that). Some problems, like doesn't use ID3 tags so you can't browse by artist/album, but since i already wasted money on an iPOd and have iTunes, I can drag the music organized in folders. I'm excited about the Cowon. Hopefully, I won't be disappointed.
Summary: Tempting, trendy, easy to use but not reliable enough to warrant spending that much money. DO your research and you'll be able to find something else that will better suit your needs.

I've had my Mini for a year and a half, and it's still going strong, has great battery life, and is unblemished despite considerable abuse. I originally bought it for long plane rides, and my Mini has travelled around the world with nary a hiccough in performance.

I write this review knowing that many people will skip over this "old" iPod and purchase the sexier Nano. My plea is this: the Mini is a better value. Yes, the Nano is small... tiny, even, but if what you want is a solid and durable music player (that's also quite small), the Mini is just better. It lacks a color screen, but the razor-sharp, high-contrast screen guarantees that you'll never have trouble seeing clearly in bright sunlight like the Nano screen. Also, the Mini is more durable. The Mini's metal housing can take quite a lot of punishment and you'll never see a scratch... which can't be said for the Nano, to be sure. But also, the Mini is a better value. For almost $100 less, you can get a great iPod with the same storage capacity and comparable size as a Nano.

So before you shell out the big bucks for 4GB of iPod, consider the Mini over the Nano. It's not the newest iPod, but it's certainly a great value and good performer.

I got this a couple days ago from best buy for 199.99 and it is great. it plays the songs better than a cd. dont get this from best buy or anywhere else though. get it on the apple wedsite and if your are a student k-college lick on the student discount page. you get a 20$ discount, free shipping, and free laser engravtion

Forget all of the 1-star reviews, this mp3 player is top notch.

Pros:

Excellent design - easily fits in any pocket.
Great navigation system - The menu is very simple to use (unlike that of the Rio Carbon) and the click wheel is very handy and easy to use.
Great sound quality - No static issues, everything sounds near-CD quality.
iTunes is very simplistic, fast transfer speeds
Great build

Cons:

Subpar battery life - It doesn't last the whole 18 hours, and even then that's mediocre for a Microdrive player, and no replacable battery
Bad Apple Service - 50 bucks per call, the Apple support site is hard to navigate
The colors on the new generation are slightly gaudy, no big deal.

About the people who give this 1 star:

Here's how you find the maximum battery life: Put the volume in the middle, plug the headphones on, and start from the first song (not on shuffle) and don't touch it. I have a first generation mini which is supposed to last 8 hours, and the tests got 8 hours and 25 minutes. The backlight, EQ's, fidgeting with the controls all the time, not using the hold switch will deplete your battery.

If it freezes, reset it by holding down Menu and the select button for about 2 seconds.

If you are away from your computer, you can still plug it into a PC or Mac and it will charge, and you can unplug it when it says do not disconnect because no files are being affected. If you aren't near a computer, just buy the 1st gen (if you can live without 10 extra hours of battery) so you can get the AC adapter and the Firewire cord.

About people who copmplain about the earbuds: They're crappy stock earbuds, what do you expect? Apple included them because they're cheap, and if you really care about your iPod listening experience, get something nicer like Sony Fontopias. Don't judge the iPod on the earbuds. And the sad thing is, they're one of the better stock earbuds out there.

If you want to hold a small music collection, this is the perfect mp3 player. If you can't live with FM radio, color screen, or photos, consider the iRiver instead, but if you just want a thousand songs in a tiny device about the size of a business card, look no further.

When I first got my ipod mini, I had it for about 3 months until the click wheel stopped working. I sent it in to Apple and they sent me a new one in about a week or so. I had been using that one for about 4 months when the battery stopped working properly. I hooked it up to my computer to try to "restore" it, but that only made the problem worse. Now it was completely frozen. I was going to send it back in to apple until I realized that after 90 days you have to pay a shipping and handling fee to get service, which didn't make sense to me. Luckily, I bought the product from Best Buy and bought a 2 year replacement plan, so I send the ipod in and got a voucher, went to Best Buy and bought a Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra. The ipod isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's cute and stylish and itunes is a very simple, well organized program for arranging your music, but other than that, it's not all that great. It breaks down very, very, easily. And if you're like me and like to listen to your music just about every day, your battery is going to be done before you know it. And once the battery's done you either pay a whole bunch of money for a new one or buy a new ipod. And neither of those options make sense. If you have a lot of money that you don't mind losing then definetly buy this product, but if you don't then do some research on all the other mp3 players before shelling out money for the ipod just because it's "in" right now.

I don't know if this is the same with every Ipod Mini, but...I bought mine a year and a half ago. It was working great up until last month. I have always run the battery down as Apple has suggested and then fully re-charge the unit before next use.
Unfortunately the battery won't hold a charge for more tham 15 Minutes. Oh well.

Having owned a turquoise 4GB iPod mini for a significant period of time - several months. I believe it to be the best-buy of all the iPods available, at this point in time. It is very rugged though compact, and beautiful at the same time. Even though the smaller design of the nano is tempting, the mini is much more robust and manufactured with a higher quality of materials. I find the colors, form and style of this older model <grin> (lately the term "older model" has been used to refer to a mater of months), not to mention quality, superior to all of the existing versions. In general, The iPod can be used for listening to books (my normal usage), or a thousand of your favorite songs. The iPod mini is compact and versatile & as previously mentioned: a joy to own.

Oh man, this is the greatest electronic device I have ever bought. The only downside is that I wish I would have bought the 60GB model. I did not realize how much the iPod and iTunes would completely change the way I would buy music. CD's are dead to me. Seriously, with FM modulators, car adapters (including power chords), AC adapters (so you don't have to just plug it into the computer) and every new home and car stereo system of any quality coming equipped with iPod interfaces, you really don't need CD's. Albums are cheaper to download than buying a CD. Plus, all the problems I have read about people having are quite easy to fix and are either covered in the manual or at Apple's site. Except the battery issue. I would recommend buying a service plane that will cover battery replacement for a couple of years as the batteries tend to only last a year and are a $100 to replace. Of course, if you carried around a portable CD player and listened to it the same amount I listen to my iPod, you'd spend more than $100 in batteries for the year. Anyway, great product.