Sleek little iPod offers mini delights
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
May 18, 2004 at 11:15pm
I went into Best Buy to buy the DVD boxed set of The X-Files, season 9, (despite the incredibly awful series finale) when I saw it. I tried to ignore it, but it captivated me with its come-hither look. “Look at me,” it said. “I am beautiful. You know you want me.”
“It” was an iPod mini made by (who else?) Apple. And it was right.
I took a second look, not believing my eyes. After all, iPod minis are rarer than Apple employees who have survived an elevator trip with Steve Jobs. But, no, my eyes weren’t deceiving me. There it was. And it was the very color (silver) I said I’d get IF I ever bought an iPod mini.
When Apple introduced the iPod’s little cousin in January, I was one of those who wasn’t impressed. After all, US$249 for a 4GB device that can hold a mere 1,000 songs when I can pay $50 more for a 15GB version that can hold 3,700 tunes?! It just didn’t add up.
From purely a cost perspective, it still doesn’t. However, I’ve certainly come to appreciate the iPod mini (yep, it’s now mine, though a Best Buy employee who was eyeing it for himself grudgingly handed it over to me) for its size and simplicity. Measuring 3.6×2.0×0.5 inches and weighing in at 3.6 ounces, the mini is noticeably smaller (half an inch shorter, almost half an inch narrower, two ounces lighter) than the “regular” iPod. However, it offers the same smooth menu interface, integration with iTunes and the iTunes Music Store.
I was surprised to find that I prefer the mini’s Click Wheel for navigation to the navigational implementation of the third generation iPods. The mini sports an Enter button in the middle of the wheel and is surrounded by the menu, fast forward, search, pause, play, etc., functions. The wheel itself operates like a touch wheel for scrolling; you click the individual functions to access them. On the full size iPod, the functions and wheel are separate items. The all-in-one approach akin to the design of the first generation of iPod—seems easier to use and more natural.
Unfortunately, the iPod mini doesn’t offer such niceties as voice recording and digital photo storage options. Though I personally could care less about the latter, as a reporter I love the ability to record notes and interviews on my iPod. Also, the minis come with the same white earbuds as other iPods; most folks I know aren’t crazy about them, so you may want to budget for a replacement.
The screen is, naturally, smaller than that on the regular iPod, which limits the text that can be viewed. For example, when playing tracks, you can see the track title and name of the artists, but not the album name. This is no big deal and a fair enough trade-off for the mini’s “slip it in your shirt pocket” portability.
Like the traditional iPod, the iPod mini offers 25 minutes of skip protection and promises eight hours of battery life. While running and walking, I never noticed a single missed note. However, battery life never exceeded 7.5 hours.
The top selling point of the iPod minis, beyond their enticingly small size, is their gorgeous appearance. You’ll have to see one up close to truly appreciate the gorgeous metallic luster; photos and ads don’t do them justice.
If you can live with “only” 1,000 songs in your pocket and don’t use your iPod for voice recording or as a backup device, the mini will suit you just fine. Otherwise and if you want to simply get the most bang for your buck go with the traditional iPod. Either way, you can’t go wrong. (Of course, Apple will be happy to sell you one of each or several of each.)
iPod minis come in a choice of a silver, gold, pink, blue or green and ship with a belt clip. All include earbud headphones, an Apple iPod mini power adapter, a 1.2m 30-pin to FireWire cable, a 1.2m 30-pin to USB 2.0 cable, and a CD with iTunes 4.2 for Mac and Windows computers. Optional accessories include the iPod Dock for $39 (US), in-ear headphones for $39 and armband for $29. The iPod mini can be charged with either the FireWire or USB 2.0 cable. iPod mini requires a Mac with a FireWire port and Mac OSX version 10.1.5 or later (Mac OS X v10.2 or later recommended); or a Windows PC with a FireWire or USB 2.0 port, or a Windows-certified FireWire or USB 2.0 card and Windows 2000, XP Home or Professional.
Macsimum rating: 9 out of 10.
Have a product you’d like us to review? Drop us an e-mail at dsellers@macsimumperspective
Article Information
Comment on this Article Print this Article Email this Article Digg This
Contributor
Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
Casinos Says:
Hey I really like your site.
Casinos
Posted on April 24, 2005