For the last few years I have been teaching tennis to some very technologically savvy kids, all of which have iPods, and none of which pay for their music. I have always been jealous of their iPods, but never thought I would use one if I had it. Well as my birthday rolled around in early summer I thought, "what the heck, if I get Mom and Dad to flip the bill, it might be worth it to find out." So I did, and boy am I glad I did.

Since I didn't want to break Mom and Pops bank I went for the mini 4gb. I decided on this after interviewing many of my students. Some had the shuffle, some had the mini, and most of them had the big mamma jamma 30gb! After my research I decided that I liked the mini, mostly because it was like the larger iPods only smaller. I figured that 4gb (1,000 songs) would be enough storage space for me.

Today I have 695 songs on my player, and that is just about enough for me. I had to be a little selective about which songs I ripped onto the player, but I have not gone without yet. I chose my favorite CDs and put all of the songs on the iPod from those, but for most of the CDs I picked my favorites. This is fine with me, and maybe in the future I'll get a larger iPod and store the entire collection on it, but we'll see...I do have to say that I do have iPod envy for people who have the 20 and 30 gb versions, but that is a personal weakness and we'll leave it at that.

As far as the question I had about would I use it? The answer is a resounding yes! The first week I had the mini I was a sentimental fool. I listned to all of the songs I loved from high school and college. I would sit on the couch listening and remembering back to the mid 90's. It was great. And I didn't even have to get up to change the CD! This is what I like best, all of my favorite songs at my fingertips.

The other thing I love about the mini is that I can take it anywhere. Mostly I use the iPod around the house, or with the iTrip (FM Transmitter) in my car, but I also take it to the gym, and of course with me when I travel. In addition to music you can also put audio books on the iPod, I haven't tried it yet but I bet it is easy. I have downloaded several sermons and other messages, and they run just as simple as songs.

Now I'll talk about the actual product.

Ease of use

I am not the most techno savvy guy on the planet, so I was a little worried that the iPod might be too much for me. That fear was unfounded. Using the player is very simple. The touch wheel is very intuitive, and the menus are easy to navigate, but the more songs you put on it the more searching you'll be doing. Categorizing your songs will make your life much easier. The iTunes software is amazing! Finding music is very simple and they have just about anything you would look for, but there are some exceptions (but if you are such a big fan of AC/DC you probably already have their CDs right?). Putting MP3's that you have downloaded off the internet is easy to add to iTunes and your iPod as well. If I can do it you can do it! Using this thing is a breeze.

Product Quality

From the time you see the box you have a feeling that this is something special. The packaging is simple and elegant much like the player itself. Openingthe package gives you the feeling of Christmas no matter what time of year. You slide out the box the player is in and it opens like a book to expose the player in one side, and the software, headphones, and USB cord in the other. You've seen the white headphones before, they used to look like a new hip thing, but now they are everywhere. They do work well though, but not exceptional. I eventually will get some better ones, but they work just fine for now. As for the player itself, it has worked perfect since I started using it. And it has shown no wear either.

Last Thoughts

The only thing I have noticed about the iPod mini in how it functions that isn't perfect is the interaction with the iTrip FM Modulator. I have had to "reset" the player on several occasions while it is hooked to the iTrip. It has never happened without the iTrip, so I can assume that it is because of it. Sometimes it just freezes up. Reseting the player is no problem, no data is ever lost, but it does frighten you the first time it happens. Other than this small glitch I have seen nothing else wrong. The other thing is with iTunes. You can only sync from iTunes to your iPod, not the other way. If you are on somebody elses computer and you want to add music to your iPod you can not do it unless you erase all of the songs that you have on yours to be replaced by what is on the other. I am sure this is to prevent unauthorized music sharing, but there must be another way. Ok I'm done with negative stuff. Now for the big finish!

I can't recommend the iPod mini enough. I know that it is no longer being produced by Apple (replaced by the Nano), but if you can get your hands on one do it. And if you can't I'm sure that the Nano is just as good if not better, so go for it. But it is more expensive!

Recommended:
Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 190
Recommended for: Beginners - Easy Enough for Tech Newbies