The Apple iPod mini is a must-have for music lovers on the go, especially athletes. This product is lighter, smaller, and has better sound quality than any other portable music device that I have used.
At only 3.6 ounces and 3.6 x 2.0 x 0.5 inches, the unit fits in your pocket comfortably and it is so light that jogging with it is easy. No pockets? No problem! Get the iPod mini arm band and strap it to your arm.
It comes in five colors; silver, gold, blue, pink, and green, so you can pick the color that best fits your personality and use it as an accessory. I was given a green one to review, which has been said to be the most popular color. Apple will engrave it for an additional $19. Put your name on it and you wont mix it up with someone else's at the gym!
As for durability, the iPod is made out of stain- and scratch-resistant anodized aluminum. This is perfect for a butter-fingered klutz like me with a track record of dropping and spilling things.
The 4GB hard drive that can hold either 1,000 songs or 70 hours of music with about 8 hours of battery life. In addition, it has a sleep timer, alarm clock, address book, calendar, four games and more.
$249 includes the iPod mini, earphones, a belt clip and an AC adapter, plus FireWire or USB 2.0 capacity to enable super fast transfers. It supports many audio file formats, such as MP3, WAV, AAC, MP3 VBR and AIFF.
The new version has the innovative Click Wheel, an upgraded version of the Touch Wheel. With the Click Wheel, you can still scroll through your music collections, but now the wheel also doubles as your "play/pause", "rewind", "forward" and "menu," with the use of click-buttons buried beneath the wheel.
The sound quality is amazing. The ear buds included produce the terrific sound quality, but they're not exactly comfortable to wear for any extended period of time. Fortunately, $39 buys you a set of high-quality replacements that are just as good and fit the ears perfectly.
In typical Apple-fashion, the set up process is a piece of cake. Even non-geeks can figure out the transfer process in less than 20 minutes, and there's a commendably straight-forward user's guide to answer any remaining questions you may have.
As with the full-size iPod, price is a bit of an issue. Apple consistently makes good, stylish stuff - and charges accordingly. The base unit is $249, but add on engraving ($19), arm band ($29), docking station ($39), and In-Ear headphones ($39), and you're looking at $375 before tax. For a fitness nut or frequent traveler, however, it is money well spent.
