I know they came out a few months ago, but I just played around with a friend’s old 4gb mini, and I’m falling for it. Hard.
I heard that the lack of the ac adapter, firewire adapter, and poor dollars:gigabytes ratio make this not as desirable as its 20gb brethren.
On the other hand, it’s small and sexy. And I like the colours.
So, who here has tried them… and what are your impressions?
Also, if I do get an iPod (I feel like this is the most expensive impulse purchase I’d partake in), I think I’ll probably go with the 20gb one. But it’s a big investment. Has anyone heard any reason I should wait, in case they pull a similar “same but cheaper” move with the 20gb version?
Curse you Apple for making such a sexy, and expensive, product.
They’ll definitely drop in price within the next six months, but they just updated last month, so you’re on the front side of the cycle right now.
I think the 20GB is the best deal, but it’s obviously not as svelte as the mini. You might look on the Apple store, as well, in the ‘Sale Tag’ section. Often they have older models for a discounted price.
As for the accessories, the lack of bundling in the newer iPods is sort of lame, but if you’re like me, you end up plugging your iPod in with the FireWire/USB cable and setting it right down next to the dock.
I love my iPod, but I’d encourage you to look at its competitors as well. There are a lot of threads on this board that give great leads.
If you ARE going to go with an iPod, I’d go with the 20 GB one as well. The minis are small and nifty, but you get more storage for your dollar with the regular ones. And the regular ones are still small enough.
I would go the other way, and say, that if you are going with the iPod, then pick the Mini.
It depends on how much it matters to you to have your entire collection with you - to be having 4-6 GB of music is more than enough for weeks without changing anything and I like the looks and smaller size of the mini.
(it’s also useable for running… as the only harddiskcbased player out there).
I have the 6GB mini, and I’m very happy with it. Yes, the price-per-gig ratio is off much more on the mini, but I really don’t have more than 3GB of music that I listen to, anyway. And the mini just feels so right.
Many brands, such as my Creative Xen, actually say you shouldn’t do high-impact running or activity while using a HDD-based player because it could potentially jostle the mechanical parts.
Which, I imagine, was why Apple decided to release the Shuffle with solid-state memory.
Running with hard drives is sub-optimal, at best. If you do heavy impact whatever, get a flash-based player. I’m not saying it can’t be done, I’m just saying it might affect the life of your player.
The mini is smaller and FEELS a little smaller, but for what I use it for (treadmill/stairmaster, riding in the car, sitting at my desk at work), the regular is still small enough. It’s not big by any stretch.
Best thing to do would be to go to a store and actually hold one of each in your hands.
