iPod Mini (4GB, Blue, 2nd generation)
MP3 players Buying Guide
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July 9, 2005 10:59
5.0/5
Ok people... I just got my used 4 gig ipod mini in the mail and I am compelled to share my experience with you...
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+ -
February 1, 2006 08:38
Terrible
0.5/5
Hey guys, if you are reading this listen to me. Dont buy any ipod, they are a waste of money. My ipod mini blue 4gb 2nd generation was my love when i first got it in june of 2005. But when the battery started only lasting like 6hrs. i got really angry when Apple advertised 18hrs. that is such bull. I took it to the Apple store a couple days ago for a battery test and they said nothing was wrong with it. I was like what? what do u mean there is nothing wrong with it it only last 6 hrs when supposed to be 18!!! They said so...if I wanted a repalcement they said to pay 30 dollars and buy applecare for 60 bucks. I was like no way mine as well buy another mp3 player for 50-60 dollars more. All in all, I think the ipod mini is more for kids, it has good features but if ur a teenager and loves music like me then you would like a much longer battery life. If you are looking for a good mp3 player dont look at ipods get another brand. Right now im looking for the new Sony NW-E507 with 50 hrs of battery life that is rechargeable!! 3 min. of charge is 3hrs of playback!!Oh and the headphones for the ipod are herrendous they dont fit my airs and are staticy and cheap. So if you are looking for an mp3 player look at other brands than apple ipods. Hope this helps. -
October 22, 2005 02:00
3.5/5
I recently bought a very nice, perfect condition two month used Blue iPod mini. I love it, admittedly, and it is getting a LOT of use from me, such as right now. The clickwheel is awesome, no other company can offer anything that compares. One example is the way the volume is controlled: when in the screen that is showing what is playing, you can feather touch-rotate-slide you finger along the clickwheel and the volume is adjusted effortlessly. I don't have to use both hands. It is like a light caress.
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... -
April 9, 2005 05:06
5.0/5
I had a rio carbon and it broke on me so I got a ipod mini and it is a thousand times better than the rio carbon this mp3 player is the right choise and price -
July 1, 2005 07:47
Mediocre
1.0/5
The list of reasons why this Mp3 player is a waste of money can go on. Itunes is a poor excuse for a music saving site. I put my songs on here and it skips, and makes the worst static and fizzing you can imagine. It also doesn't save half of my songs on here I tell it to. I paid 199.99 + 39.99 for the Itrip by Griffin(or ith) and don't even get me started on the Itrip. Don't waste your money on this thing, I'm seriously thinking of taking it back and getting my 250.00 back. (I had a 5.00 gift card for Best Buy). I never wanted an Ipod, I thought the mini was pretty cool. My Sony 250.00 cd player I just got in New Orleans 2 years ago was going out (the latch was sticking) And I got this. I wish I hadn't. The man at the other Best Buy told me "don't but an Ipod" and I didnt listen, my mom talked me into buying it. -
May 29, 2005 03:18
Excellent
2.0/5
I bought my ipod mini beliving that it would be easy to configure and operate. Also i have noticed that over time my batteries seem to not be lasting as long as they did when i first got it. The itunes is a nice set up but hard to understand and the ipods are too much money for what they do. Dont belive people when they say u can move things on and off you ipod mini with ease becasue say you lose you library on your PC or MAC and you have music on your ipod you can't transfer it back to the computer or atleast i havn't found an easy way to do that yet it is a very complicated toucheyt process becasue if you click one wrong thing in the preferences you can loose all of your music in your library! So make shure you make a copy of your music on a disc so you will always have a back up. -
February 24, 2008 07:47
4.0/5
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July 18, 2007 05:43
4.0/5
This is my second iPod (My first being a 1G Blue iPod Mini) and I absolutly love it. It is such a great music player, and it really gives you the most bang for your buck. I would highly recommend this iPod to anyone. -
October 26, 2006 08:06
4.5/5
I bought my blue 4 gig iPod mini in August of last year as my first iPod. It's been a pretty good player so far, though the battery is a bit strange (as with a number of iPods I've seen). It's also gone through bouts of randomly shutting off, though that doesn't seem to be a problem anymore. I'm also pretty surprised at how durable this thing is. I've dropped it countless times, and it only has a few nicks around the top. Otherwise, it looks almost brand new and functions almost perfectly. However, my iTunes library has become too large for my mini, so I'll be replacing it with an 80 gig iPod for Christmas. -
October 3, 2006 06:32
4.5/5
I bought a new 6gb silver mini a few months before the nanos came out,and was totally pleased with it,then I caught the "bug" and swithed to a 2gb nano the battery life sucked and the small color screen was taxing on my eyes so I sold it and the went though amazing number of mp3 players in a short period of time,there was An Iriver h10 dead in 2 days,a iriver u10 dead in 3 days a sony nw507 file errors after 2weeks,a creative zen sleek photo it locked up my computer and died in 2 weeks,iriver clix 2 weeks dead, a creative zen v windows mediea transfer problems,2 samsungs harly wotrh the mention and a sansa c140 that locked up the day i bought it. I returned that one today. A bought a refurb 4gb 2nd gen Ipod mini for 99.00 from apples website. and for the price and quality it is simply the best deal you will ever find,and buy the way movies on a 2 inch screen put me to sleep inside of 20 mintues if you want music and 1000 songs in your pocket plus some great extras for a 100 bucks this is the way to go.Also the durabitly of these players is the best, I did lawn work with my first one with no skipping and then cleaned it with glass cleaner and was good to go no problem. my advice would be forget about the fads any get a good durable music player that just works get one of these minis you won't regret it.
