A portable music device designed for your needs (Apple iPod mini 4 GB)

Member Name: grown_up_girlie

Product:	Apple iPod mini 4 GB
Date:	27/06/05 (457 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy To Use, Outstanding Audio Quality, Large Storage

Disadvantages: Absolutely none

After hearing so much about MP3 players and with my birthday soon approaching I had been reviewing the market for a high spec, good sounding and reliable player and of course the price came into it as well. I needed one of average price that was affordable. I also wanted an MP3 player that could be personalised to my own taste.

I chose this little device - iPod Mini, 4GB in baby pink

With the infamous click wheel, which also sports 4 colour co-ordinated icons, it is very simple to navigate the menu of the 'iPod Mini' and to personalise it with the music of your choice. With the massive 4GB of disk space and holding up to 1000 songs (Ripped at 128Kbps) on it means I that I always have my favourite artists, songs and tunes at the end of my thumb. Another added bonus of this model (Not applicable to other iPod types such as the 'Shuffle, iPod Photo, iPod U2 and the standard iPod's) is the fact it comes in several different colours, baby pink, silver, baby blue and green which again offers you more of a selection to chose from.

You don't have to have used an MP3 player before to use this little device. It comes with a very in-depth "How to get started/instruction manual" and Apple also offers extensive online web/telephone support, so help is always at hand, if you are a newbie to the MP3 world.

You can buy an 'iPod Mini' from Internet retailers or on the high street. Prices vary so make sure you look around, I think they should start at around £139.00, and that is having come down in price. Use the DooYoo search facility to find a competitive price if you want to buy online or by using a search bot such as www.kelkoo.co.uk.

Features:

• Weighing in at a mini 3.6 ounces and being smaller than my mobile phone it is easily portable, especially with the belt clip they provide you with - meaning you can wear it on your belt/trousers, lanyard, backpack or even on your handbag! This is such a great little item that you will want to show it off!
• The dimensions of the 'iPod Mini' are a mere 9.1cm in length x 5.1cm in width x 1.3cm thick.
• I get anything up to about 18 hours playback from a full charge, I also know there is about 25 mins of skip protection as well so you never have the audio skipping as you are on the move. On average, a full charge takes around 4 hours to charge it fully. A 2 hour charge will give you about 12 hour's of playback.
• The sound quality is absolutely amazing -though, this can vary depending on many factors, the bit rate of the track, the headphone type you are using and also with the graphic equaliser that is pre programmed into the iPod Mini's memory.
• The screen is an amazing 4.2 cm (diagonal) greyscale LCD with LED backlight (Programmable to save battery power consumption), which displays the full song and album titles, artists' names and the date/time.
• There are also additional features on the iPod Mini - which are: a contacts list, several games, a calendar, graphic equaliser and an area to add notes.

• The 'Click wheel' gives both the joy of the famous 'Apple, Touch wheel' but with buttons underneath it. Only slight pressure is needed from underneath your thumb to access any or all of your 1000 songs stored on its memory.

• It is recessed in a matte anodized aluminium case which prevents any likely scratches or marks while it's being used, but still gives you full control and durability. I have accidentally dropped mine a few times and it still hasn't got a single mark or scratch!

• Also, the 'iPod Mini' doesn't just support a singular file type it supports several. These are AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Music Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, WAV and AIFF. You would need to read the extensive instruction manual for more information if you are not familiar with these formats.

• Complete with the iPod Mini also comes, the belt clip (already mentioned), earbud style headphones in Apple signature 'white', a USB 2.0 cable and a CD with the 'iTunes' application software which is obviously compatible for not only Apple Macintosh computers but Windows as well.

• You may be asking "This all may be fair enough, but how do I get my music on the iPod?" - The answer is easy!

You have several methods. Firstly you can subscribe to the Apple iTunes Music Store, of which is done through the iTunes software that is included on the CD you are provided with (Or any payable music download site such as Napster). There is obviously a cost involved to do this and again you would have to check the terms/conditions etc before subscribing to this, but, you do get to download all your favourite tunes straight to your PC/Mac.

The iTunes software will also help you organise/personalise every track to how you would like them to read, you can personalise playlists with iTunes and can also transfer them correctly to your iPod Mini.

Another method is, if you're like me - having a lot of CD albums, you can simply rip them to your PC/Mac through your CD Rom drive - iTunes again helps you with this (Or you can use another player such as version 10.0 in the 'Media Player' series) and then add them to your iTunes list so that you can again, rename/personalise them correctly to how you want them to read and to then transfer them to your iPod Mini.

I have mainly used these 2 methods myself but you can and will like every other 'iPod Mini' owner learn how to do things the way you want. Again this all adds to the joy of owning an iPod Mini.

iTunes also allows you do to perform additional tasks such as add calendar entries, add/delete notes, update/amend/create playlists and store your contacts to the iPod Mini.

This whole aspect of iTunes is just great; it offers real freedom in choice and gives you the product to work with to build a portable music device that is to your needs and taste.


• Connectivity can be made by one of two methods, FireWire 400 (with optional cable) through a dock connector or via USB 2.0. I myself use the latter - but I have heard it is worth in investing in a dock connector as this speeds up what is fast transfer rate anyway to be even faster.

• The 'iPod Mini' also has several port connectors on the bottom, which are: A dock connector, remote connector and stereo minijack port. All of which are compatible with the many accessories such as external portable speakers, USB power adaptor and of course the iPod Mini dock - which allows you to synchronise and charge your device and connect it up to your home audio system. Other accessories can be obtained such as silicone cases, armbands and different type headphones. You can buy any of these direct from Apple or from many website/high street stores to enhance your little handheld bundle of joy! Prices do vary - so look around for a good deal - try the Ciao search facility to return good results.

Don't forget that the iPod Mini now doesn't just come in the 4GB model as I have described but as a larger 6GB model - offering all the same features but will hold up to 1500 songs.

Oh, and also, you can get the back of the iPod Mini engraved - if it's for a gift, make it even more special, if thats possible with such a unique personal audio player!

More Information:

www.apple.com

To sum up this little baby - Spectacular!

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