Entered CNET Catalog: 02/24/2005
SKU: 0718908091500
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Manufacturer description
Everything you love about iPod just got tinier. iPod mini lets you bring along enough music for a three-day weekend getaway in a package so small you'll forget you're carrying it. Until people ask you about it, that is. Weighing in at just 3.6 ounces and showing off in three new shades, iPod mini fits your lifestyle and your bag, whether it be cocktail purse or messenger duffle. The chic, matte anodized aluminum case resists stains and scratches, all the while protecting your iPod mini - from, say, the jostle of overzealous paparazzi. Recessed in the case to keep its surface pristine, the 1.67-inch (diagonal) backlit screen displays full song and album titles, artists' names and more. And iPod mini lasts up to 18 hours on a single charge: enough for a transatlantic flight, the limo ride to your hotel and a few solid hours of boutique shopping. Of course, iPod mini works just as well for your everyday pursuits. With up to 25 minutes of skip protection, you can even walk the dog in style. Always striving for perfection, Apple engineers moved the iPod's buttons under the wheel. The iPod mini Click Wheel - complete with color-coordinated icons - takes best advantage of miniscule space and lets you scroll single-handedly through up to 1,500 songs from your iTunes music collection. You'll find such thoughtful construction only from Apple. Because, try as they might, the competition can't touch this.Product summary
The good: Best-of-breed design and interface; comes in four colors; excellent playlist features; clean sound; smooth syncing with iTunes; organizes contacts; includes games; functions as an external drive; large third-party support; improved battery life.
The bad: No FM radio or recording capabilities; battery not user-replaceable; FireWire cable and AC adapter not included.
The bottom line: In the iPod Mini redux, Apple offers two capacity options and a more competitive pricing scheme--welcome improvements in an already fantastic player.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: Yes
- Reviewed on: 03/17/2005
Editor's note: We have changed the rating in this review to reflect recent changes in our rating scale. Click here to find out more. Although it scarcely seems possible, we think the Apple iPod Mini's design surpasses even that of its photogenic older sibling. Its stylish, anodized-aluminum shell is so tough that we felt as if we could stand on the device without consequence. Apple constructs the body by hollowing out Mini-shaped aluminum blocks so that there are no seams in the construction, then applies the color during the anodization process so that it can't scratch off. The second-generation player is available in silver, as well as in deeper and more-vibrant shades of green, blue, and pink.
At 3.6 by 2.0 by 0.5 inches, the oblong iPod Mini is longer than the comparatively squat Creative Zen Micro, but it's still one of the thinnest players in the category (only the Rio Carbon is thinner but just at its tapered bottom edge). With a weight of 3.6 ounces, the iPod Mini sits just about dead center of its competitors (the Zen Micro weighs 3.8 ounces, and the Carbon weighs 3.2 ounces), and it's still quite light in any pocket. The player's 1.7-inch-diagonal screen is smaller than the white iPod's, but the crispness afforded by the Mini's tighter dot pitch compensates for the reduced viewing area, although in Browse mode, files display the song title and the artist but not album information.
But to our palate, the tastiest design treat is the spruced-up Click Wheel. Play, menu/back, fast-forward, and rewind functions take their positions at the four compass points of the circular control, and each option offers physical feedback when you press down--you get that satisfying "click" feeling and sound. As we mentioned earlier, the labels for each function on the iPod Mini also now correspond with the body color. The touch-sensitive Click Wheel still works perfectly for scrolling through lengthy song lists with speed and precision. As with the white iPod, the unlabeled button in the middle of the wheel is used to select the desired option. The only other control on the player is the sliding hold key on top, which locks all functions. To adjust the volume, you must use the Click Wheel while in Now Playing mode. If you prefer the convenience of dedicated volume buttons, you might want to buy a wired remote control.
An exposed slot, the dock connector on the bottom of the iPod Mini attaches to either the included USB 1.1/2.0 cable or an optional FireWire cable ($19). Alternatively, you can hook up via a cradle (sold separately for $39), which in turn connects to the FireWire or USB cable or directly to a stereo through the line-out jack. Unfortunately, Apple no longer includes the power adapter, but you can purchase one separately for $29 if you prefer not to charge up through your computer. The Mini snaps into an included white belt clip for on-the-go listening. Apple also offers an optional armband ($29) for exercise, which uses the same cool, snap-in design, but as with all hard drive-based MP3 players, the iPod Mini isn't the ideal choice for extreme physical activity.
Other than the Belkin voice recorder and flash adapter, most third-party accessories designed for the latest round of white iPods also work with the Mini.
The Apple iPod Mini's playback features are all accessible and programmable from the main menu. You can browse by song, artist, album, genre, playlist, or composer. With the On The Go function, you can create a new playlist without a computer. When you sync the player to iTunes 4.2 or later, the new playlist uploads to your PC or Mac and can download back to the Mini automatically for later listening. Another cool utility: In Autosync mode, iTunes sizes up your iPod Mini's available storage space and creates a playlist that fits the capacity perfectly, consisting of songs you've rated highly or listened to more frequently. This is crucial since both the 4GB and 6GB capacities (which can each hold between two and four days' worth of nonstop music) are smaller than most serious digital music collections. It also means that if you've already used iTunes to listen to music on your PC or Mac, the first time you connect the iPod Mini, all of your favorite songs automatically transfer to the player until it's full.
A Playlist function lets you rate a song on a scale of one to five while it's playing; higher-rated songs play more frequently in Shuffle mode (you can also rate songs within the iTunes application). Library/device syncing is still as smart as ever. When you plug in the Mini or drop it in the optional cradle, iTunes launches and automatically syncs your music collection or selected playlists. With iTunes, you can also create MP3 and AAC files from your CDs. The iPod Mini handles AAC files as it would MP3 files, but AAC sounds better at the same bit rate. The player also supports WAV/AIFF and spoken-word Audible files, which can now be purchased from the iTunes Music Store. The software can also resample songs to a certain bit rate, apply volume leveling (a.k.a. normalization), and digitally enhance songs while transferring them.
Other notable extras include an alarm clock that can beep or play the song of your choice through a home stereo; three games (Brick, Parachute, and Solitaire); Music Quiz, which tests you on how quickly you can recognize songs from your collection; a contacts list and a calendar that sync with Outlook; an area where you can read text memos; and an ability to play tunes from the iPod's hard drive while it's connected to your computer.
You can use the iPod Mini to share music between multiple computers, but it's not easy as the player syncs to only one version of iTunes. But there's an alternative. We were able to copy MP3 files from the Mini to a second computer's hard drive in Windows by turning on "View hidden files and folders" and browsing the Mini's internal directories in My Computer until we found the music. Mac OS X users can do the same thing if they install TinkerTool.
The iPod Mini has no compatibility problems transporting data files between computers--Macs or PCs--when you activate the Enable Disk Use function. In this approach, the Mini mounts as a data drive, but it hides its music files unless you use the above-described workaround.
The electronics responsible for sound reproduction in the Apple iPod Mini are identical to those found on the iPod, so you get the same solid sound quality and loud maximum output (30mW per channel). The included earbuds sound good, but our Shure E3c test headphones made the sonics shine even more.
Apple claims the internal battery takes between 2 and 4 hours to rejuice and lasts 18 hours on a single charge--this is just about on a par with the Rio Carbon's battery life and significantly better than the iPod Mini's previously rated time of 12 hours. In our tests, the iPod Mini beat this time by a little more than 3 hours, eking out 21.1 hours of tunes. The battery is nonreplaceable, but if you're unhappy with its resiliency after a couple of years, Apple will swap in a new one for $99.
The Mini is compatible with both FireWire and USB 1.1/USB 2.0 connections. Over FireWire, our songs transferred at 2.5MB per second; over USB 2.0, they synced at a much brisker 6.3MB per second.
Apple claims an antiskip protection of 25 minutes, thanks to a 32MB flash buffer. We experienced no skipping during testing. But as with all hard drive-based MP3 players, the iPod Mini is not as well suited for serious physical activity as flash-based players, which have no moving parts. That said, it would certainly work (and look) fine at the gym, especially with the optional armband.
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User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34out of 34 user reviews
great for music lovers
Pros: clickwheel, storage, sound quality, battery life
Cons: no color screen, thick, plastic tips
out of 34 user reviews
A Great entry Level iPod
Pros: Good Size and Weight, Great Price
Cons: No Color Screen
out of 34 user reviews
Not bad at all
Pros: Easy to use, generous storage, durable
Cons: Tends to skip over tracks at times, battery issues
out of 34 user reviews
amoung many in 1 year the best
Pros: battery life,itunes ease of use, customizable
Cons: not any that i can see
out of 34 user reviews
Nice player but poor manufacturing quality......
Pros: A nice compact mp3 player, sounds good, 4GB is plenty of capacity for most people. I got one of those rubber covers for it and it's great - I definitely recommend them.
Cons: The mfg quality is very poor. iTunes is not the easiest piece of software you can imagine - I don't care for it. Also, the display is not that great.
out of 34 user reviews
With its great integration with iTunes and useful features, its definetly a one of the best!
Pros: Great Battery Life, Innovative Design and a Brand-Name you know YOU CAN DEPEND ON.
Cons: No Colour Screen, Less Features than other leading players.
out of 34 user reviews
Great small hard drive player
Pros: Good bat life, easy navigation
Cons: click wheel interface
out of 34 user reviews
OMG what a piece of crap!!!!
Pros: nice sound, user-friendly click wheel, games, and other features
Cons: battery life, headphones
out of 34 user reviews
Best iPod & Great Color Scheme!
Pros: Size, Weight, Color, Battery Life.
Cons: Touch pad scatches easier than I'd hope.
out of 34 user reviews
Could be better
Pros: Decent space for Mp3, batteries are OK
Cons: High price for no FM tuner or voice recorder
out of 34 user reviews
IF YOUR GUNA BUY IT BUY IT WITH WARRANTY!!!!!!
Pros: easy to use, itunes loads songs automatically easy to fit into pocket small but not to small like nano, nano's overheat after a while especially if you keep them in your pocket so buy the warranty
Cons: battery life only last a year, thats why they ask you if u want warranty if ur going to buy a ipod with out warranty then dont buy it at all. THIS IS THE ONLY CON!!!!
out of 34 user reviews
sturdiest mp3 player ive ever used
Pros: survived being submerged in water for a few seconds, color, size, never had to reset,
Cons: wish it had a larger hd
out of 34 user reviews
Worth it if bought on discount/used etc.
Pros: The clickwheel, no one else can offer something so wonderful!
Cons: Audio slightly needing/not color screen/batter life still too little
Navigation is a breeze with the clickwheel, you just have to use it to understand how wonderful it is.
OTOH, the iPod mini's sound quality is just slightly lacking. My iRiver iMP-50 CD-MP3 player has better sound, for example. Don't get me wrong, the sound is good, just not fantastic, and this player should be fantastic, after all, it *is* the iPod, right?
The screen is sharp and clean/clear, but monochrome, sadly. There is room on it for more info, but they only put the track number, repeat etc. symbol, battery life, song bar, time from start time to end, song and artist. They don't show genre, or anything else. There is a play/pause symbol too. When using illumination it is both bright and a light blue pleasing color.
Having to use iTunes is annoying, but there *are* alternatives, especially if you use Linux, as I do, which are better. iTunes doesn't let you move the music off the mini and back to the hard drive, a real dissapointment! Also, you MUST use special software that can access and work with the iTunes DB file system to handle loading/unloading/managing the files on the mini. Other players work like plain hard drives with a tree structure. Some people will prefer the iPod way, some will prefer the hard drive directory tree structure way. The Apple way is no file/directory tree structure, but by category using id3 tags of the files, so that music is found under categories such as artist, album, etc. This is an important distincion that most reviews fail to mention.
My music is all low compression, so battery life isn't too fantastic. I haven't fully tested, yet, but I use up the battery very quickly because all of my music averages around 260k bit rate, from 190 up. So I am going to guess that 10 hours is the best that I will get, and I have a 2nd gen player.
The aluminum case is beyond awesome. It is rugged, beautifully made, and scratch resistant. The Apple signature white theme is stupid IMHO, and is a prententious display of consumerism.
That the player does not come with a firewire cable and wall charger is a real bummer! That it takes firewire is fantastic, the new iPods don't, which angers me to no end, and the new ones scratch easily, but not these venerable iPod minis. I feel that the mini is the best product Apple has ever made, or likely ever while, they way that they are going.
There are a TON of add on items that will work with the iPod mini, though forget recording with it, which is stupid! It's size makes it DEMAND usuability for on the fly recording of lectures etc. It bums me that the best player that they made won't record, has no mic. Oh well.
This player is worth it, but be careful when you select it that you know that it really is the right one for you. I got mine for $130 in mint condition, so it was worth it.
I love my iPod, all in all...
out of 34 user reviews
This is the best mp3 player on the market for it's price!
Pros: Very durable and very good sound quality
Cons: Nothing much,just that it's a little too big.
out of 34 user reviews
Not durable
Pros: Easy to use
Cons: Breaks easily
out of 34 user reviews
I love my iPod mini
Pros: User interface, supports audiobooks, integration with iTunes, abundance of accessories.
Cons: Doesn't have all the features or pack-ins of other mp3 player's in this price range, monochrome display
out of 34 user reviews
Sweeto to the max
Pros: Awsome to the max
Cons: small hard drive
out of 34 user reviews
Simple, Everything I Need In a Player and then Some
Pros: Ease of use. Capabilities
Cons: Minor Glitches
out of 34 user reviews
great, but could use FM tuner
Pros: cool design, next-to-flawless software integration, easy navigation, quality sound and quality manufacturing
Cons: needs FM tuner, doesn't come with wall-outlet charger
out of 34 user reviews
Disastrous Audible player
Pros: Small, stylish, large capacity
Cons: Clumsy controls - their so-called 'innovative' click wheel is like trying to type with heavy winter gloves on your hands
out of 34 user reviews
Don't buy it waste of money
Pros: it will make you look cool, and it is small, long battary life
Cons: not user friendly, can't delete songs directly from iPod, does't back up your songs, iTunes
Archos xs100 which is smaller than the mini ipod and looks better. i u are buying the 20 gigs iPod, buy the Archos gmini 400, same price, also 20 gigs and plays video,
don't ever try to understand iTunes, iPods or anything tha starts with a small "i", it's all waste of money and a bg pile of S***
out of 34 user reviews
The best I have ever used
Pros: Excellent software, superb interface
Cons: No user serviceable battery
This is easily one of the most sophisticated mp3 players I have ever used.
I have owned the Creative Zen Jukebox (Large, software is absolutely horrible... Creative is notorious for awful software engineering), Rio Karma (better than creative, though has hardware flaws, I found annoying bugs in the software too), Rio Riot (Large clunky, slow, again software very limited).
I updated the firmware without a hitch from the apple website.
Itunes is a superior product. It quickly and easily updates the ipod mini (it loaded mine up with the song library that I created (3gigs) in about 10 minutes maybe less over firewire - I was very impressed). Playlist creation easy and awesome. Search feature rocks and is up there with the Winamp "jump" feature which we all love so much.
This ipod mini interface is simply amazing. It is more intuitive and intelligent than any mp3 player I have ever seen. Playlist creation is soooooo easy on the mini. And this touch wheel is really amazing, it makes it easy to do everything from change the volume to scroll through hundreds of artists or thousands of songs. Why did I waste my time with all those others?
The harware is strong and durable. It is so small too, the perfect size. I am impressed with the firewire cable and how clips into the mini with tiny metal hooks (you have to squeeze the plug to release it... what haven't they thought of?). It charges from the computer on the firewire cable which is awesome... and the firewire cable itself doubles as the wall charger as it plugs in the transformer box as well (so smart, you only take one cable with you on trips).
Also the sound on this puppy is the best I have heard. I was struck by how the low to mid frequencies are very distinguishable.
Itunes : A
Ipod mini: A+
out of 34 user reviews
good player
Pros: good design,games
Cons: battery not user replacable,not many features
all pidods suck they are over priced
out of 34 user reviews
This thing is awful!
Pros: Its exterior is pretty
Cons: Expensive, a waste of money
out of 34 user reviews
Perfect for any music listener
Pros: Easy to Use (Yes it is, despite what other people have been saying), quality sound, games!
Cons: the ear phones hurt my ears, sometimes the wheel doesnt work very well
out of 34 user reviews
The ipod is not really as easy to use as you think it is
Pros: click wheel, different colors, good music quality
Cons: complicated to use itunes, cant use anything but itunes to run it
out of 34 user reviews
Ugh, this thing sucks!
Pros: onboard user interface
Cons: just about everything, the sound
out of 34 user reviews
Perfect for listening to your music on the go!
Pros: Nice design, click wheel is nice, fast tranfers
Cons: small screen could have been bigger, not that small it is close to size of a regular ipod, price
Price is kind of high.
out of 34 user reviews
not that great
Pros: nothing exept that it can play stuff
Cons: a lot of things
out of 34 user reviews
simply the best
Pros: long battery life, sleek , more accssories than you can think of.
Cons: no charger,firewire and really bad headphones
out of 34 user reviews
overall a good device
Pros: the audio kick ass
Cons: device is a we bit expensive
out of 34 user reviews
pretty dang cool
Pros: price, ease of menus, sound
Cons: capacity, supplied headphones
out of 34 user reviews
Probably the best of the rechargeables
Pros: Capacity, playlists ease, a clip that holds
Cons: Battery life, battery, size, volume control, off switch, conversion from WMA
So, how does it still get an "8"? The capacity is great, the euqalizer actually works, and the way the playlists work and the ease in setting and playing them, is the easiest of any MP3 player. Since I don't use the extras (I got it to listen to music, not to find out what date it is), this is a jukebox in a pocket. It's overpriced, and Apple doesn't make things easy ... though I use my own CDs primarily. Still, although I'll use my Rios for travel and activity, the I-pod is great for just relaxing and shutting out the rest of the world.
The battery life of 4 hours with low volume and contrast has gotten to be a hassle. As one who travels quite a bit, the iPod is terrible for any travel requiring waiting in a terminal and then taking a 4 hour flight or train trip. No one wants to mete out the time they have an MP3 player on so that it will last. That's too much like keeping track of minutes on a cell phone.
I've found I'm using my Rio Forge more and more and exclusively when I travel. After each trip, I just change the playlists.
out of 34 user reviews
Up there with the best.
Pros: The size, you can carry it in your pocket and you will barely feel it.
Cons: Doesn't hold many songs.
