Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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340 of 354 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply THE best mp3 player!, March 14, 2005
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. 4GB hard drive (enough space for about 800 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!
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43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Now a part of the iPod craze!, March 21, 2005
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. :)
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42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Love My iPod mini! But it is right for YOU?, July 11, 2005
There are several mp3 players on the market right now for different people. Before I bought my iPod mini, I had a Rio Cali mp3 Player. I liked it, but very quickily I ran out of space. I downloaded about one song every other day, and after awhile, there was no space left!
For me, it was obvious that a larger mp3 player size was needed. I needed lots of space to store all of my CD's and old mp3 files.
Just to clear things up, one megabyte is about one minute. My old Cali had (i think) 126 megabytes. You can get the iPod mini in either 4 gigabytes (which is 4000 megabytes) or 6 gigabytes (which is 6000 megabytes).
So really the question is: What will you be doing with your mp3 player? Check out the chart below.
YOU SHOULD BUY AN IPOD MINI IF:
- You want to have a good amount of space to store songs.
- You want to have a very flashy mp3 player.
- You love to listen to music.
- You are willing to pay a somewhat large amount of money.
- You have around 10-20 CD's you want to change to mp3 files.
YOU SHOULD LOOK AT OTHER MP3 PLAYERS (such as the Rio Cali) IF:
- You want a good mp3 player that holds songs, but will not have too much unused space.
- You don't want to spend too much on an mp3 player.
- You will only download a song or two every two weeks.
- You have a few CD's you want to have on one mp3 player
YOU SHOULD BUY AN IPOD (regular iPod) IF:
- You are a HUGE hardcore listener of music.
- You are willing to pay around $300 on an mp3 player.
- You will download one or two songs a day.
- You have tons and tons of CD's that you want to have on one mp3 player.
The bottom line is that I love my iPod mini - it's perfect for me. But the question is, what mp3 Player is good for you?
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From Runway to Subway
Under Your Thumb
Behind the Click Wheel of your iPod mini await features that make it the world's best digital music player. Listen to your music as you fall asleep, and wake up with music or an alarm. Store a copy of your contacts, calendar and to-do lists on your iPod mini. Or keep anything from store restaurant reviews to nightlife guides, and news articles to exercise routines—right at your fingertips. 
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