Apple iPod 4 GB mini M9160LL/A (Silver) OLD MODEL
by Apple Computer
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Our Price: $304.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $1.00 (click here) Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Apple iPod 4 GB mini M9160LL/A (Silver) OLD MODEL
Customer Review: A near perfect MP3 player with a few minor flaws
Summary: 4 Stars
I recently perchased the ipod mini silver from BestBuy a week or two ago, and I loved it. Unfortunately I dropped a heavy charger on the screen and it cracked, so, just my luck I guess. But my dad bought me another one and sold the cracked one on ebay. I got my new one tonight, and it works pretty much the same, except I'm VERY careful with it now. I guess it's not really that the ipod is, well, flimsy, because it's really actually quite durable. Just dont drop anything on the screen, because it IS glass and the LCD will just flow together. It's my fault, but yeah, now to get on with my review, about the actual product.
I bought the ipod for the same general reason that everyone bought it. It's sexy, slim, and I certainly dont need any more than 4 GB of space. I've heard that it's actually 3.7 GB, but none of the less it'll still take a whikle to fill up that space. Right now I have about 900 MB, so yeah. Anyway the ipod mini is sturdy, perfectly designed, and beautiful, so no cons on the easthetics. My few minor nitpicks are the durability of the screen, and the clickwheel. I told you about the screen, how it can easily be broken. So be sure to get yourself a nice case to protect your investment. And the clickwheel is a bit unreliable at times too. Dont get me wrong, it's amazing technology, but I've had friends say that their clickwheel popped out or broke off or something... so be gentle with that too. But the rest is sound, minis are equipped with an anodized aluminium case that resists stains and scratches.. or so apple claims. I've seen them get scratched, but meh. Anyway, the interface/menus are really great, nothing to poke there, Apple's award winning menus and navigation are perfect, and all at the touch of your thumb. And the backlit LCD display isn't a horrid bright blue or green like so many earlier electronics, it has a beautiful extremely BRIGHT backlight that's a very pretty light blue color, very clear, very easy on the eyes, and very very bright. You can like use ipods to signal in airplanes.
And now for the software aspect. I have windows XP and it actually works pretty well. Itunes is a pretty good music program with very few flaws. The nitpicks I have are these: It's a little slow, and I have a decently fast computer, 1.8 ghz, and the reaction time for clicking on some things is a little prelonged, but that's just me being nurotic. Another downside is when you buy songs off the itunes built in music store, they're in a format called MPEG4, which is apparently some new kind of file that only plays on iPods. Windows Media player wont play them, my other RCA MP3 player wont play them, and they're protected so you can't convert them (to my knowledge) so Apple kinda screwed us windows users there. But I guess we can just use iTunes and our ipods to play music for the rest of our lives, so who cares. Plus, these new file types do sound great.. I only wish they would just let us download universal MP3 files. Oh and you dont have to have a credit card to download music. I just went up to Target and bought a 15 dollar itunes card, it let's you download 15 bucks worth of songs, however what is actually kindof misleading about these though is that you THINK that you're gonna get 15 songs, but you dont. They actually charge tax on their songs, so by the time you buy 13 or 14 songs, you're done. You'd have like 45 cents left or something. Not a big problem, but that is a bit tricky. Napster sells 11 dollar cards and you can get exactly 11 songs on theirs.
Anyway, onto the longterm issues. If you're going to buy an ipod, make sure that you're getting a warranty on it, because it really sucks to pay 250 bucks, have it break, and thats the end. Also word has it that the ipod battery gives up after a year or two, and you have to send it in and have it fixed for 100 bucks. So see if you can get a battery warranty protection plan also. That's what I got the first time, unfortunately, Bestbuy only replaces your battery, they dont give a rats ass about cracked screens. Be very wise when buying these, think about it.
And that's about it, except for one thing. A lot of people are liking this but there's one thing pushing them away, the price. And you're right, it is quite a bit overpriced. Most of what your paying for is the Apple brand. That's why the new Dell pocket DJ is a lot cheaper and of a lot better value. The Dell Pocket DJ is the same size, and same basic look as the apple ipod mini. It costs 50 bucks cheaper and it has 5 GB, not 4. So there you go. You can buy into the Apple craze, like I did, or you can go with the dell Jukebox, and be a bit smarter. The only reason I liked this one more is because I like how it looks more, because I'm just an aesthetics person. But you make the choice for you, style or storage.
Hope this helps!
Customer Review: Ipod Mini is at the front of the digital music revolution
Summary: 5 Stars
I love MP3 players, and I have practically traveled across the entire industry to find one the perfect one. I think I may have finally found it. The Ipod Mini (Silver) seems to be everything I could have ever wanted in a music player. It's compact; it has an intuitive design for navigating the player (the revolutionary `click-wheel' technology); it's light (which makes it perfect for workout); it has an amazing capacity for songs (4GB; approx 1000 songs) for a player so small; and, it just plain looks cool.
My Ipod Mini was a birthday gift, and certainly one of the best I've ever gotten. The sound quality that this player provides is nothing short of amazing. While listening to my Ipod Mini, I've listened to songs that have been favorites of mine for years and I have heard hundreds (maybe thousands) of times. Yet, when I hear them on this player, there are layers of sound that are new to me, and the songs all have a richness to them that I have never experienced before. The sound quality alone is reason enough to get an Ipod Mini (or any Ipod for that matter).
Its capacity of 4GB (approx 1000 songs) may seem low in comparison with its larger (in actually size and song capacity) cousins: the 20GB and 40 GB Ipods. Yet, unless your goal is to put your entire CD collection on the player, the 4GB size is more than enough. You must also consider the fact that this player is smaller in overall size, meaning the technology inside is miniaturized and there are fewer moving parts (a definite plus when working out). I've had this player for over three months and between songs I have downloaded, select songs from CDs that I want, and complete albums that I've put on the player, I've barely exceeded 500 songs. Thus, I have nearly half the player's capacity left. Since the Ipod Mini can also act like a portable hard drive and hold text documents and contact information, I will have plenty of space to put those files, too.
The navigation of the Ipod Mini is pretty impressive. Its `click-wheel' technology lets you scroll through your entire library of songs with just the lightest touch of the device. While on a song, you can use the middle button to scroll through play/volume mode, play/song length mode, and `rate the song' mode, using the `click-wheel' scroll to adjust the volume, advance or rewind the song, or give it a rating based on a 5-star scale. The actually click icons on the wheel allow you pause/play a song, advance to a new song or return to a previous track, or go back to the previous menu.
The menu structure is very consumer-friendly. It starts at the very top with access to the Ipod Mini's different features and then moves down to different ways of navigating those features. The music menu allows you to access your songs by album, artist, song title, genres, composers, and playlists. The Playlist is an ingenious feature that allows you organize your songs in any manner you see fit. You could create one playlist of, say, 50 songs to listen to while working, while having another playlist of 100 completely different songs that you like to listen to on the job. There's even an `on-the-go' playlist feature that lets you just add songs to the on-the-go playlist as you listen.
The only aspect that I find less than stellar is the iTunes software interface. This is not a problem with the player. It is just that the iTunes software, which enables the upload of songs from the computer to the player, is not nearly as intuitive to work with as the Ipod Mini is. This is a minor concern, however. You adapt quickly to using iTunes and then it's just another extension of this great player.
Other than that, the battery life is pretty solid and the built-in battery recharges fairly fast. Plus, there are also a plethora of accessories to enhance the Ipod Mini experience. This player comes in 5 separate colors (Gold, Pink, Blue, and Green, in addition to Silver), and each one has its own personality to match that of its owner.
This is a fantastic MP3 player and is at the very topic of the digital music food chain. For anyone looking for a top of the line music player, look no further. Your journey has ended.
Customer Review: Oh Mini iPod Hums
Summary: 5 Stars
It's a little embarassing to admit given that I am a 1) guitar player 2) an Apple computer devoteee for over 20 years 3) a programmer 4) have over 500 CDs and 5) am generally a technogeek who spends on average 6 hours a day in front of a computer - but I had completely ignored iTunes and iPod and all that stuff. My car has a CD player and I had always listened to CDs that I wanted on the way to and from work. And I have a pretty decent 6.1 surround system at home for watching my rock and roll DVDs et al.
So when my wife gave me a sliver mini-iPod for my birthday, along with an FM transmitter so that I could charge it and play it in the car, I smiled and said thank you and was less than thrilled.
But then I looked at iTunes and thought, "Wow, this is a pretty cool program." I liked the playlist idea and started encoding my CDs and making playlists. 7.8 Gigs later (only about 1/4 of my CD collection) I am ecstatic.
I like Rock and Roll. I hate the radio. I remember when DJs played what they wanted, and made segues and miniconcerts and albums that sounded great. Nowadays, it seems like there are on the order of 3 or 4 "approved" songs for each artist. Like the Rolling Stones? Well, you can hear "Can't always get what you want", or "Satisfaction" or "Miss You", but you'll never hear "Sweet Virginia" or ""Fingerprint Files". Themes? Forget about it. Like live music? Forget about it. Radio is dead.
Then came iPod. Oh Joy. I make playlists of genres and moods, or artists or, hell, anything I want. Copying these (and the associated songs) to the 3.7 GB iPod hard disk is quick and easy, and automatic. Want to use your iPod to transfer huge libraries from computer to computer? No problem. Apple's software won't let you because of possible copyright infringement issues, but plenty of third party software lets you do it quickly and easily. I can also keep my calendar on the iPod and download MapQuest directions and Swedish cookie recipes.
Yes, you can use the iPod alone. The earplugs that come with it are OK, but I don't use them. I had a set of Sennenheiser noise cancelling headphones and the iPod drives them just fine and the sound is outstanding. I also hook the iPod up to my home sound system for parties. Totally outstanding. I have been using the high level headphone out (got to keep the iPod volume at about half or so for best results) but things are fine. I have a minidock upstairs that would probably be better (it has a low level line out) but I don't want to buy another and it needs a computer.
I never have any problem with power. Between my Monster FM car adapter (which charges) and my minidock, the thing never runs out. I estimate that I would get at least 6 hours between recharges using my Sennenheisers and that's fine with me. I've used it at home and in the car and at work for over a month and never had a single glitch.
I started encoding with Apple's AAC at the default 128 kpbs and although I could not hear the difference with any headphones, I could when I connected it to my home system. So I upped it to 192 kbps and now cannot hear the difference (at least with rock and roll and my old, guitar-damaged ears).
So, yahoo. What a totally cool thing. It's a hobby in and of itself. Great software, great hardware and tons of fun. Highly recommended.
Addendum February 4, 2005
I have been reading about a minority of folks who have had trouble, usually repeatedly, with various iPods. The repeated trouble is a clue that points towards user error. The iPod is a hard disk drive - relative to other hard disks it is very hardy and durable but if you throw it around, bang it against hard objects while running, let it freeze outside in your car etc., I am pretty sure that it will malfunction. Think about hitting your desktop with a hammer. Meanwhile, with a bit of common sense care, I expect mine to last for quite a while. Also, the battery complaint is a strange piece of fiction. If you look on the internet, you will readily find a number of replacement batteries (should the need arise) at less than $40.
Customer Review: don't be decieved my children
Summary: 3 Stars
i was the first in line to buy this from apple.comprobably one of the first people to receive it as well
the first day was great. i was ecstatic that it arrived intact, and in a cutesy little box that ought to make teenagers giggle.
but after a week, those giggles turned into runts of frustration.
let me tell you what happened... (and this has happened to many of my friends as well.. i doubt i'm the only victim of such a tragedy)
1. the earbuds are the worst quality ever. they were probably manufactured by one armed blind children. the wiring casing fell apart, the painted logos on the earbuds scratched off, the interior wiring got all stretched out and is vulnerable to damage.
2. the laser engraved apple isignia on the case can be scratched quite easily, contrary to popular opinion (in apple's opinion that is) although the case puts up pretty well, the logo on the back has been nearly scratched off. i keep my ipod mini in my pocket constantly, but this shouldn't warrant scratches on an anodized aluminum case.
3. the touch sensitive wheel is a piece of shiet. this may be a personal preference, but since i am the king of touch, and a have very agile fingers like a puma, i think this "touch screen technique" will prove obnoxious for the less-gifted. in some cases the touch roll crap function is nice, but when trying to use the star-rating function and finding a song through "song browse" its a huge pain in the buttcheek.
4. last but not least, since i'm wasting too much time writing this review in my pissed off manner (i'm calling apple support right now to return this DAMNED piece of disfunctional mayhem!), the biggest thing that makes me want to murder squirrels, is the damn function of the product itself! TO PLAY MUSIC!!!! over the past 4 months, since i haven't had the time to bother myself with this warranty business until today, the ipod mini has crashed repeatedly! nearly 20 times! what i mean is, i'll be sitting listening to a good old playlist, when voila! the ipod will freeze for no apparent reason. the backlight stays lit, the screen data is stuck on display, and worst of all, YOU CAN'T TURN OFF THE DAMNED MACHINE! there is no reset button! sooooo... you have to leave the damn ipod on for the remaining 8 hours of battery life until the frozen backlight sucks out the last drop of juice! talk about marketing a crappy product!
ok, now i hope you realize some of the setbacks that has plagued my ipod mini experience.
however, to show that i am not biased in any way (all i care about is a good product!) i will give a cliffnotes version of my experience.
-pros-
*be considered "trendy" and "cool" for all you vain folks
*very lightweight design
*awesome white backlight
*has games function, although they are for the most part useless and very difficult to play
*itunes software is great
*the case is very durable, and the silver finish is attractive to the eyes
-cons-
*small storage space, my ipod is maxed out with only 851 mp3's. it's actually 3.8 gigs not 4.0 as advertised if you check the player status.
*the emblems, apple logos and such scratch off very quickly
*the included headphones are of the worst build quality i've ever seen. airline headphones hold up better.
*the freakin' touch sensitive wheel is way TOO sensitive! if you keep the ipod in your pocket, and it rubs against the side of the fabric, you are prone to deafness as the volume control will be altered dramatically.
*battery life is pretty weak, lasts around 7-8 hours
*the music player function is fatally flawed in that it crashes for no reason nearly everytime i use it whether i'm at school, working out, or sleeping. its absolutely retarded.
yeah so be aware, consumer, and do what your heart tells you to do. hahahhah. god i hate this thing.
Customer Review: Wow. Gorgeous and it Works
Summary: 4 Stars
Let me start off with the 'iPod experience'. I got it in the mail, took it upstairs, and looked at it. I carefully opened the box and there was a perfect cube. No plastic to hack at, it just slid right off. The box unfolds, and there resting is the iPod mini. Nothing short of GORGEOUS. It has a silky feel, very sturdy. Check out the pictures on [website] before you buy. Simple and effective design. It might as well be designed by Porsche--on the oustide and the inside.iTunes is undoubtedly the best music management software out there. Its included on the CD with the iPod mini, but also a free download from Apple. I've tried them all. Windows Media Player (which is good), MusicMatch (Which is awful), and Real (Which has too many ads). ITunes is ad-less, and is intuitive, like the iPod.
When you finish charging your iPod, there are 3 fun games (one more later once you load your music). Parachute is a shooting game, theres solitaire, and brick too.
Once you get your music into iTunes (a few minutes per CD), you plug in your iPod, and the thing will update at less than 1 SECOND PER SONG! That's fast. I loaded about 20 CDs in a few minutes.
The headphones are incredible. They don't feel weird, have great sound, and you can have the music up loud and no one will hear, even a foot away from you!
The Mini comes with Firewire and USB cables, but only supports USB 2. MAKE SURE YOU DON'T HAVE USB 1!! I had that problem, and I needed to buy a USB 2 card ([price]).
The belt clip is ok, but it won't fit all belts (namely, mine!). One time the belt clip slid off my belt and landed on a hard tile floor---hardly a scratch, but unnerving nonetheless.
You can store contacts and calendar files on the MINI too, but it works best if you have a mac. You can do it with Outlook, but you have to sync it manually.
You can store text files as notes to yourself on the MINI with NotePad (PC) or (MAC).
The coolest part about the mini is the navigation. The ClickWheel is awesome. See if you can try it in a store or try a friends. You ahve to see it to believe it! Its super easy to find songs, and to pick right up where you left off. You can even play some games while the music is playing. Shut the iPod off, and you will come right back to where you were. just hit play again!
It does not have a radio tuner or voice recorder. Sorry.
The battery life has a little to be desired. It seems like the thing drinks power. Its not that bad. Perfect for the gym, and as long as you don't have it on for a whole 8-hour plane ride, you'll be ok. I don't think the indicator works right either. It says i'm about half way when I just finished charging. ah well.
Cons-
Funny belt clip
No USB 1.
Poor battery life
No radio tuner or voice recorder
Pros-
EVERYTHING ELSE
The pros outweight the cons, unless you had your heart on that radio tuner. hehe
Get this electronic wonder if you can live without!
Some people may debate whether this is a smart buy. After all, you can get a 15GB iPod (regular) for only $[price]. Well, this has several advantages.
-Cool colors
-Smaller--About the size of a business card!
-$[price] in the wallet
-Cooler styling
-Less easy to scratch. The aluminum finish makes the mini like a tank. The regular ipod scratches easily.
-Most people don't have 15 gig of music
-Much cooler ClickWheel
-Includes belt clip (a holder for the ipod costs $[price] more if you get the 15gb one)
Again, unless you have hundreds of albums, go MINI!