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I recently had to sell my previous mp3 player (a 30gb zune) and wanted a duruble, nice quality mp3 player for under 30.00; who would of known it was a apple product. the 4gb ipod mini is a stylish, yet durable player with a metalic casing and a well encased sceen. it takes a while to get used to the monocrome screen, but after a while it gets really easy on the eyes. Once Again(which is why i hate apple), you have to use itunes. this can be easily avoided by installing a 3rd party os on the mini, but it has questionable effects. as for the interface of the mini, i am a bit puzzled. I was kinda disappointed that it freezes occasionally, and that is is a little buggy. the sound quality is really good for a old mp3 player. overall, if you need a cheap mp3 player, get a ipod mini, if you have money to blow, get a classic zune or a creative zen.Read full review
Battery life is poor only if the battery is old so if you buy a used unit, (and they all are) make sure it has a new battery or you need to be willing to send it off to be replaced or do it yourself. Other than that it's a fine if your and ole fogey and don't like touch screens. I bought it for my technology hating wife and she likes it because it's easy to useand sounds great thru speakers or ear buds. I ordered a new battery for less than 10 bucks and will install it myself when it arrives.
I was lucky enough to get one of these literally 5 minutes before the store sold out. I have the 6gb version, which is identical to this one except for the capacity (and the price - it was $50 more than this 4gb version). 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.Read full review
But it's not just about looks - the iPod Mini sounds fantastic. After comparing it with my third-generation iPod, tracks definitely sounded clearer on the iPod Mini, as if it were capable of better frequency response. By comparison the 3G iPod sounded positively muffled. A sign of PortalPlayer's enhanced audio chip, perhaps. The Mini's packaging is as lovely as ever. The box lid slides off to reveal the mini wrapped in plastic. The box underneath is split in two halves - one for the install discs and one for the headphones, USB cable and a belt holster. As with all the new iPods there's no Firewire cable, no dock, no remote - but they are available as optional extras. There's no AC adaptor either, so you can only charge when connected to the PC. There are other missing features that might give pause for thought, such as a radio, recording function and microphone. But if it's just a player you want these absences won't be noticed. For me the only reason I wouldn't want one is that I do want to carry my entire music collection around with me. Or at least more of it than I could fit on a 6GB drive. One day of course, a 20GB iPod will be this size, but for now six gigs is your limit. At this capacity it no longer loses out to the Zen Micro and H10, but while Creative and iRiver have both worked hard on improving the look and usability of their players, the Mini is still miles ahead. With its rounded sides and neat click-wheel interface, it feels right in you hand and is easy to control and use too. Verdict With the new iPod Mini, Apple has increased its capacity by a 50 per cent, battery-life by one-and-a-quarter times and improved sound quality. It's a pretty impressive triple whammy and as long as its capacity is large enough for you, the iPod Mini would be our recommended digital audio player. jamieday83Read full review
This 2nd generation iPod mini has up to 16 hours of continuous playtime and the batteries don't need to be replaced as often. The design is ultra-compact, and a bit more durable than the newer cousin, the iPod 'nano'. The 4GB holds 1000 songs, which is the same as the higher-end nano and you can get the mini for a lot less cash. The only downside, they don't have color screens for photos and such, but that's not too important for me anyway.
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