jankp's Full Review: Apple iPod mini 1st Generation Silver (4 GB) MP3 P...
As a first prize winner of this sites monthly contest in August, I have been trying out this snazzy Apple iPod Mini for a week and having mixed feelings about it. I would never buy this, definitely a luxury item and for someone with Windows 2000, Windows XP (me) or Macintosh 05 X v10.1.5 or later, but I have a guy friend who bought his in March and uses it many hours each day as he walks or takes the bus everywhere. He has been helping me some with mine, but even he has been puzzled by a few things I have experienced.
The mini uses a web program called iTunes to enable you to get 1000 songs of near CD-quality onto it. Downloading it with the accompanying CD was no problem, but when I first tried downloading the iPod software with the included CD, it stalled on my T1840 emachines computer of 1.80 GHz, 40 GB and 128 MB. It took me a while to realize this and that there was an error message hiding behind the download screen. It said my virtual memory was very low, which was a common message for me, and my friend doubled my virtual memory so downloading worked the second time. I am not sure that was the problem because I have downloaded many other programs and not gotten that message, plus I still get the message randomly like a bad joke. Note that I downloaded an older version of iTunes because I wanted to import music already on my computer and not music bought for 99 cents off the largely-stocked iTunes Music Store. Beware that you may not be able to do this in the future.
Charging the rechargeable lithium-ion battery was done first, by the way. The Apple iPod Mini comes with a FireWire cable, USB 2.0 cable and AC adapter. My computer has a convenient USB port in front and the mini can either be charged by connecting it to the computer or to the power adapter that plugs into an electrical outlet. I must have done something wrong the first time because it only played three hours, but the next three times it charged from another electrical outlet for about four hours (no beep when done) and played for 10, 9 and almost 10 hours. Since the box claims it will only play up to 8 hours, and my friend only gets 8 hours, I cannot complain! Note that the battery will need to be replaced by Apple eventually and my friend says it should last with heavy use for a year and a half.
Next on the agenda was putting music on the mini. I imported over a hundred songs already on my computer and from a CD. Detailed instructions are in the booklet that comes with the Apple iPod Mini and a tutorial is on the included iPod mini CD. Unfortunately my friend and I imported his Best of U2 1980-1990 CD out of the right sequence and we could not find instructions to get it labeled on the mini. Another puzzle is that he set it up to repeat Breads Anthology CD, an hour long, and it only repeated a few times before reverting to random selections in the Now Playing list. Navigation is with arrows you push once or twice and volume control through sliding a finger around the click wheel. Organizing and playing music is pretty easy, but setting it up for a clock alarm (sleep with earbuds?!) and playing games seems rather silly.
Another complaint is that the earbuds are extremely difficult to put in (and keep in!) my little ears and are very uncomfortable. Other earphones can be bought, but I doubt my ears are that unusual and a better quality earphone (the box promises earphones) could have come with the mini. I have suffered for this review, hahaha. The mini comes in lots of metallic colors, like silver, gold, blue and pink (mine is blue and personalized with... congratulations jankp from epinions.com...). Usually they sell for around 249 dollars, but you can buy mine. Best offer. Other things I need more, plus I do not like drowning out other noises and am often annoyed when trying to catch my friends attention and he is using his mini. It may be entertaining if you must take long bus rides, but most people in that situation could not afford it!
It plays AAC, MP3, Apple Lossless, WAV, AIFF and Audible formats. It will play audiobooks as well and is easy to read with a high-resolution, backlit LCD display.
Final Thoughts
The Apple iPod Mini 4GB is a luxury item at only 3.6 inches tall (is that sexy, guys?) and 3.6 ounces that holds a lot of music that can entertain a tech geek in their own, little world with navigational ease for long trips. Yes, that must be why there are games and a clock timer so you do not sleep through a bus stop (hmm). If that is why you want to buy one, hopefully the price will come down. My very techy, shy friend loves his, but I do not enthusiastically recommend the mini at its current price.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): prize Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
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