Apple iPod mini 2nd Generation Silver (4 GB) MP3 Player

Well good thing you are on eBay - because thats now the best and really the only place to buy iPod Minis. Now that Apple has forgone the iPod Mini series for the iPod Nano. Now that the Nano is getting all of the press attention for being the sexiest gadget ever - its hard to remember that just 12 - 18 months ago, the iPod Mini was in the same boat. And, for iPod Mini fans, thats good news because it means that the value of the Mini has decreased - effectively making them cheaper to buy on eBay as everyone else oogles at the Nano.

And I'm not 100% convinced that the Nano is better than the Mini. I believe it depends on what you are using it - the Mini is sturdier than the Nano - in fact, there are already blogs and reviews citing the Nano's lack of durability - something the Mini is great at. Of course, the give in that situation is that the Nano is lighter than the Mini... but remember - we are only talking ounces!

For the dollar, you get more music storage with the Mini than just about anything on the market - and all in a very light-wight MP3 player body. But again - it depends what you are looking for:

* If you want to a large music library - either for the office, the road or your home - the regular iPod is a better value and better idea

* If you are a gym-rat looking for the lightest MP3 player - perhaps you want a tiny flash player like the Rios, the Shuffle, or the Nano

But if you are looking for the perfect hybrid MP3 player - small enough to take a run with but spacious enough to play hours of unique music at the office - the iPod Mini really is the perfect solution. And of course it has the Apple interface and sexiness.

The minor points: with the second generation of the iPod Mini, Apple has improved the color scheme and really made them shinier and brighter. My preference is the Silver color - but beware that it will show scratches and nicks more so than the other colors. The Blue is bright, the pink quite girly, and the green look a little much like split pea soup for me =)

Introduced in 1994 and ceased marketing last year, the iPod Mini is Apple’s 2nd major model design. It is a perfectly proportioned, quality engineered, art deco designed digital music player. The 4 MB version is capable of holding up to 1,000 songs and the 6 MB version, up to 1,500 songs. The music quality is outstanding. The digital format means the music sounds is as good as the source from which the song was recorded.

MUSIC: Music can be purchased (99¢ per song) and downloaded from Apple’s iTunes music database of 3.5 millions songs. Music can also be purchased and downloaded from numerous other monthly and annual subscription based music download sites. Both the iPod Mini and iTunes work on Macintosh and MS Windows computers.

OPERATION: All functions are ingeniously controlled by a friction sensing click wheel, which works much like touchpads on laptop computers. Menu items appear in a hierarchical list which is scrolled through with a light circular touch motion on the click wheel. Browse/select/play and pause a song. Select music by album title, artist, song name, music genre. You can also select customized play lists you create in iTunes or that you create on-the-go with the iPod. You can play a given music selection randomly or repeatedly. You can fast forward and rewind to a particular point in the song or skip to another song with the click wheel. The album title, song title, artist, song length, and minutes played are all displayed in the LCD. You can easily adjust the volume with a circular motion of the click wheel. You can use equalizer presets to alter the iPod Mini acoustics to suit a particular music genre or style.

COUNTERFEITS: My iPod Mini purchase on eBay was actually my third attempt to buy an authentic one. With the first two tries I was the victim of fraud by people who illegally usurped another eBay member’s account and falsely advertised their offering an Apple iPod for sale. An Apple Store salesman showed me what I got was a fake. Ebay’s nondescript TKO e-mail warning I received just minutes after purchasing each “iPod” was no help. The nature of the fraud perpetrated upon me violates the Federal Trade Commission’s false advertising laws and infringes upon Apple’s patents, trademarks and copyrights on the iPod. I ultimately sent the counterfeit iPod to Apple Computer to enable them to find and halt this fraudulent trade.

AVOIDING FRAUD: Beware of generic iPod listings, those which are carbon copies of what Apple has on its web site. If the listing has no original photographs and no unique description of the seller’s particular iPod, this is a red flag. Beware of multiple generic listings by the same seller offering many listings of the same iPod for the same price and shipping fee. Before you purchase the iPod on eBay, save a complete copy (with graphics) of the seller’s iPod listing on eBay to your computer, rather than risk trying to save the listing after eBay cancels it when they find fraud. Also, save a copy of the seller’s recent feedback history. Purchase from seller’s using Paypal (insured) and save a copy of the reciept. The only sure way to know BEFORE purchasing the iPod whether it’s authentic is to request from the seller the serial number and to then contact Apple Computer to verify the serial number as valid.

I expect to get years of good musical entertainment from my iPod Mini. I hope this review is a help to you.

I bought this item for my wife's birthday. She wanted something else, but has really come to appreciate the gift. We spent a lot of time together selecting tunes to put on it(we converted our 824 cd's to mp3 months ago), shared some memories of the songs as we listen and selected. And, she enjoys listening to music that SHE picked out. I like the fact that I also pretty much like what she does. She generally complains about 50% of the music I have on my iPod (which is only a 4GB). The unit works great. She likes the compact size, easy use of the "spinnr" type controls, and the silver color (her fav) was a must. She'd have made me send it back if it wasn't silver. We travel alot. We recently went to our son's Air Force basic training graduation in San Antonio, TX. An almost 1000 mile trip for us from Arkansas. The iPod Mini battery lasted the entire trip one way. Nearly 10 hours without a recharge. We have one of those RF devices that plug into the car outlet so we can listen to the iPod, SD card, Flash-drive, DVD player, etc through the car stereo. It was a great buy also. A bit of advice though.... When loading your mp3's to your iPod, make sure you have a "Genre" selected for each song. This helps with your different moods. Sometimes we're in the mood for rock, other times, easy listening. The iPod will accept different bit rates of music. We converted all our CD's at the lowest rate because we wanted to get as much music on the iPod as possible, and using the RF device in the car, music quality was less important. I could write a ton more but niece is calling me to pet the goggie (doggie).

the ipod mini gives u a decent buy for youre buck comes in 4 and 6 gb sells on ebay anywhere from 50 to 130 bucks depending on the condition it is and how many gb it has usually you will find a bargain since the ipod mini arent in that much of a demand you can easily find a good 6 gb mini for around 70 bucks on ebay it comes in a wonderful array of colors and its very sturdy

the only flaw i found is that they are somewhat old and the used ones usually are gonna need a new battery they sell on ebay for like 10 bucks or less

i hope this review helped you

This 2nd generation iPod mini has up to 16 hours of continuous playtime and the batteries don't need to be replaced as often. The design is ultra-compact, and a bit more durable than the newer cousin, the iPod 'nano'.

The 4GB holds 1000 songs, which is the same as the higher-end nano and you can get the mini for a lot less cash.

The only downside, they don't have color screens for photos and such, but that's not too important for me anyway.

But it's not just about looks - the iPod Mini sounds fantastic. After comparing it with my third-generation iPod, tracks definitely sounded clearer on the iPod Mini, as if it were capable of better frequency response. By comparison the 3G iPod sounded positively muffled. A sign of PortalPlayer's enhanced audio chip, perhaps.

The Mini's packaging is as lovely as ever. The box lid slides off to reveal the mini wrapped in plastic. The box underneath is split in two halves - one for the install discs and one for the headphones, USB cable and a belt holster. As with all the new iPods there's no Firewire cable, no dock, no remote - but they are available as optional extras. There's no AC adaptor either, so you can only charge when connected to the PC.

There are other missing features that might give pause for thought, such as a radio, recording function and microphone. But if it's just a player you want these absences won't be noticed. For me the only reason I wouldn't want one is that I do want to carry my entire music collection around with me. Or at least more of it than I could fit on a 6GB drive.

One day of course, a 20GB iPod will be this size, but for now six gigs is your limit. At this capacity it no longer loses out to the Zen Micro and H10, but while Creative and iRiver have both worked hard on improving the look and usability of their players, the Mini is still miles ahead. With its rounded sides and neat click-wheel interface, it feels right in you hand and is easy to control and use too.

Verdict
With the new iPod Mini, Apple has increased its capacity by a 50 per cent, battery-life by one-and-a-quarter times and improved sound quality. It's a pretty impressive triple whammy and as long as its capacity is large enough for you, the iPod Mini would be our recommended digital audio player.

jamieday83

With the Ipod Mini officially retired, the only way you are going to find one is online or on the clearance shelf. That actually works in your favor as this is probably the best MP3 player on the market for the dollar.

Everyone knows Apple has a stranglehold on the MP3 market and the Mini did nothing to reduce that theory. It was small, had the infamous click-wheel as well as an assortment of colors that appeal to just about everyone. It has a wealth of accessories available at cheap prices as well as great technical support (though you won't need it most likely).

The menu system is intuitive and easy to navigate. The display is clear and bright and has a nice bluish shade that fades out from non-use. It's durable too though it's hard-drive based so you'd be smart not to use it while jogging or otherwise moving constantly. It also includes ITunes which is pretty much the software to use for MP3 maintenance.

It's unfortunate that Apple didn't incorporate FM radio into any of it's MP3 players like Rio did. Of course, people snatched them up anyway because it's Apple. The battery itself has some issues as well and often will die before the 500 charge/recharge cycle as arrived. If it's not under warranty, you may as well buy a new Ipod since battery replacement costs nearly as much as buy one.

New Ipod Mini's can be had for $150 on eBay so it's a great time to buy one. Though the Ipod Nano replaced it, it's a stellar MP3 player to own provided you don't need mega-storage.

All went well. Unit had more cosmetic wear than anticipated. Unit performs well. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Guys, if you plan to buy a good quality IPOD please do not use this. I got one yesterday and totally not satisfied. Lots of scratches in the screen and the IPOD is heavily used. The Posting in the website says opened for checking, but really not. I will surely consider other options in future. Good Luck.

-V

I was looking for something that held alot of songs but yet small enough to fit comfortably in ones pocket or clip around the waist for my daughter without spending to much for she is still somewhat young and can be careless at times still. This is the perfect size and has enough room to hold all of her songs and even enough space to add 600 more! It sure beats having to carry around a cd player AND many different cd's. She is extremely loving it and therefore I'm extremely happy! Perfect for preteens and teenagers!

The iPod Mini is the best ipod when it comes to durability. The 4GB is plenty for my standards due to I don't have that much songs. I don't really need 30GB worth of room!. The ipod mini is also good because it is the only ipod that has the full metal casing for protection. It will be fantastic with a color screen but I can live without it.

I am saying this because the nano may be small, cool, and sleek. It does have the ability to hold pictures. But I owned 2 of them before I went back to the Mini!!! They are so easy to brake and they are too expensive. You can get a 4GB or 6GB mini for the same about or even less than the price of a 2GB nano here on ebay.

My vote is get the mini and you will be glad you have gotten it.

I don't know why I didn't buy this sooner! I was concerned 1000 capacity wouldn't be enough, but I've loaded tons of songs and still have plenty of room. Heard that I might have loading problems if I didn't use a MAC - but it's been a breeze. Only down side is that since it's not made anymore, hard to find accessories. Highly recommended for anyone looking for music on the go - anytime, anyplace - it's there!

Large music download,unique quality,works with all other ipod accessories, I love the ease in operation and sound

I bought this for my husband for father's day. He works away from home alot and alway wants to take all of his music but since he flys space was at a premium. This solves the problem it is small but hold about 1000 songs. The only down side is he has more music then it holds. I thought 1000 songs would be enough, I did not realize how much music we have. I am thinking about buying a larger one for him and take this one for me. Its a win win situation. The sale was flawless, fast shipping and item was just as advertised.

I was lucky enough to get one of these literally 5 minutes before the store sold out. I have the 6gb version, which is identical to this one except for the capacity (and the price - it was $50 more than this 4gb version). I also have a 40gb 4th generation iPod, an iPod shuffle, and I have owned and used MP3 players by Creative and iRiver.

The new "2nd generation" iPod mini builds on the strengths that made the original mini a blockbuster best-seller: easy to learn, easy to use, elegant user interface, immensely usable "click-wheel," and outstanding sound quality. Since the original mini was introduced a year ago, some competitors appeared that offered higher capacity, better battery life, and lower price. This new iPod mini answers the competition with some important improvements which make it a compelling choice over the competition:

1) Battery life is now 18 hours instead of 8 hours for the first generation mini.

2) The 2nd generation mini is cheaper: the original mini was $250 for 4 gigabytes of storage, which holds up to 1000 songs. The new mini is $200 for 4 gigabytes, or you can pay $250 for 6 gigabytes (up to 1500 songs). To achieve this price drop, though, Apple no longer includes a dock or charger - these are available separately, but you can live without them just fine. For example, the battery charges whenever the mini is plugged into your computer's USB port.

In addition to these improvements, there is a minor cosmetic difference, concerning the color choices: gold is no longer an option (it was the worst seller in the original mini), and the other colors are now a bit brighter.

The iPod mini comes with iTunes software to help you organize the music on your iPod, and to transfer music from your CD collection to your player. If you wish, you can use the iTunes software to purchase music from Apple's online store and download them directly to your iPod, but the software absolutely does not push you to do so.

The mini also comes with the same earbuds that accompany every other iPod. They are better than the headphones that come with most MP3 players, but you'll probably want to consider replacing them with something a bit nicer.

Like its predecessor, the build quality of the new iPod mini is excellent, very sturdy, just like all iPods. My 40gb iPod has taken a lot of abuse and has held up extremely well. Plus, I did a fair amount of research on the original mini and it has held up well since it was introduced. So I fully expect that my new iPod mini will last a long time.

I also considered the Creative Zen Micro, the Dell Pocket DJ and the Rio Carbon, which seem to be the closest competitors to the mini. They have more features than the iPod mini, but are not as elegantly designed and their build quality feels a little cheaper than the mini. Plus, as a previous owner of other iPods, I already have a lot of music in Apple's AAC format, which these other players cannot deal with.

The iPod mini is very easy to use, holds as much music as I will ever need. Good sound quality. Great value !

Good unit for loading up lots of portable music. Good battery life, easy to use..recommended product!

Very Good, iPod works flawless without any problems just as described in ad, I would purchase again from this seller.

THE IPOD IS A NICE MACHINE THAT IS COMPACT I ONLY WISH IT HAD A FM TUNER OTHER THAN THAT IT IS PERFECT. I ALSO WISH THE MADE MORE ACCESSORIES FOR THE MINI

Great IPOD! Love this little thing...works great & appears brand new :-)>>>>>>>;>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>;>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>;>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>;>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>;>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>;>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>;>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>;>

It wasnt near as good as the description said it was. The ipod also had a problem where it would freeze and i have to wait for the battery to die so i can recharge it. That has happened about 10 times and i got it about 2 months ago.

I purchased this item and have not yet been dissapointed with it. it is east to use and simple to put music in. I definetly recommend this item.

I emailed the seller during the auction and asked her if there were games on the ipod.(I did not want games on the ipod)-she replied "NO"--however there were games on the ipod (the 2 I remember were brick and parachute)also the songs on the ipod would not delete following the directions.I found her to be very rude and difficult to work with.She did not want to give me a refund....this matter is in dispute now.I WOULD NOT BUY ANY ITEM THAT SHE IS SELLING ON EBAY...BUYER BEWARE.