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"MP3 player for the masses."
on by sergioquirosPros Ease of use, intuitive OS, touch-sensitive scroll wheel, transparent integration with iTunes.
Cons Metal finish, while sturdier than plastic, is a bit slippery on the fingers. No extra features found on other MP3 players like voice recorder. Hard drive will seldom skip.
Summary I'll start with my biggest complaint: body material. The iPod Mini's metal finish, while attractive and sturdier than plastic, is quite slippery to your fingers; and the player having the characteristic fabulous-looking round edges rather than square, makes it much easier to lose your grip on it and drop the iPod. That's how I've dropped mine a few times and have dented the neat sharp finish on the corners. The most affordable solution: get a good case for the Mini. You'll completely stop enjoying its looks but it'll be protected.
Second complaint, which I'm not sure it's particular to my player or to a significant number of them: I'm listening to a song and while it's playing I hit fast-forward to the next song. Most of the time the player goes silent for a fraction of a second until it starts playing the next song. But I've seldom experienced this annoying situation where during that moving from one song to another the Mini will skip onto some part of the song and then come back to the beginning of the next one. You could picture it as a "hiccup".
Third complaint: It has also happened to me on very few occasions that I plug the remote control to my Mini, I hit the hold lock ON THE PLAYER, slip it in my pocket and take off. Then suddenly the player goes dead. It simply turns itself off, and I'm sure the lock button is activated on the player and no buttons on the remote control are being pressed. I end up having to take the Mini out of my pocket, unlocking it, unplugging the remote control, turning it on again (it's even given me the reset Apple logo a few times), and do the whole thing again. Why does it happen, I have no clue.
Besides these complaints, I have to say I like everything else about the Mini. It's small and it feels great in your hand - solid and sturdy. The OS (typical Apple) is easy to use and intuitive. Sound quality is great and the Mini comes with a good-quality set of headphones. The touch-sensitive scroll wheel is one of the best features to Apple's line of MP3 players. It makes going through the menus and through a song easy and quick.
Another great feature (of course) is its transparent integration with iTunes and the iTunes Music Store. Not that you can use any other music store to download music for your iPod, but at least Apple made sure they'd lock you to the best built online music store. Me? I don't care about only being able to use iTunes. I'm totally satisfied with them. -
"Respectable MP3 Player"
on by Scott SimontisPros Holds a fair ammount of music, works most of the time
Cons Poor battery life as time goes on, not very durable
Summary First off, I should note that I got this for free, and I would not have purchased it if I had the chance, I would have gone for something larger. Still, the mini gets the job done.
The unit is not very durable. A drop from about three feet will take it out of action, as I learned. My first mini failed without reason about a year after getting it. If you get an iPod, buy the extended warranty. It's worth it.
As time goes on, battery life begins to suffer considerably. It got to the point where I was only getting four hours of battery life before my first iPod failed, but mileage may vary.
Still, I believe that the mini is much better than the iPod nano. It may be bigger, but if you can find a six gig mini, it should be more economical than the nano. If you are a big audiophile, don't even bother with the mini, buy something bigger and cheaper. The iPod isn't the cheapest player, but it still is respectable. -
"Perfect combination of size and substance"
on by LouCapPros Small, great sound, easy to use, steel case
Cons None that I know of...
Summary The iPod Mini is THE iPod to get, if you can still find them. Unlike the new nano, the Mini has an all brushed metal case that feels substantial in your hands. It's not heavy, but it doesn't feel like a cheap piece of plastic. The controls are your typical iPod setup and the sound is just what you'd expect from Apple.
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"decent for the light user; research more if you want to use it a lot"
on by iconformPros pretty, easy to navigate, fairly small for its capacity in its time
Cons short battery life, not very durable
Summary They say it has a long battery life - it doesn't. After a few months, mine was lucky if it could last my going to class, going between classes, maybe an hour or two in lab, and returning from class.
I dropped mine twice from pretty low elevations - it seemed OK at first. A few months later, it started skipping, then it'd work sometimes and not othertimes, and then it just utterly stopped working. To this day, I'm not sure if the dropping it killed it or if it was just always going to die like that - it hadn't even been a year. Apple declared that the damage was not covered under the warrantly, and now I have quite a pretty, expensive paperweight.
Still, if you're lucky and very careful with your's, and not very obsessive about getting your playlists just so, the mini's easy update and use. Plus, it makes a great gift. If you want quality though, I suggest checking out some other brands - I later replaced my iPod with a Creative Zen, and love it a lot more than the iPod. -
"The best MP3 Player ever!"
on by schumi914Pros Lightweight, great battery life, small, easy to use, great sound quality, cheap, many accesories, an iPod, good amount of memory
Cons might fail after a couple of years
Summary This is the best MP3 player i have ever had. It is easy to use and is compatible with tons of 3rd party accessories. This is a must have for everyone who has the money to buy one and wants it!
Updated
I am sorry for saying that the iPod might fail after a couple of years. I couldn't put the word none so I had to fill it in with something. Sorry again
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