Personally, I think for the $50 difference it is silly to get a device that is only 4GB. The regular iPod isn't all that big. Of course this is from a guy that has a minidisc player and is looking at the new Hi-MD's that are coming out soon (1GB per minidisc). But my wife does have a 40GB iPod.
I was at the Apple Store yesterday looking at the mini-ipod's and the $50's is not as clear as it seems.
The Mini-ipod comes with ~$100 worth of accessories (i.e. USB and firewire cables, and cases). THe mini-ipod also will work with USB lower the 2.0.
The 15GB ipod comes with really nothing just cable and standard headphones. the 20GB give you the case and the inline remote headphones.
Are you sure that you can use it with USB lower than 2.0? and are you sure that's $100 in accessories? I can only get a few places to verify any extra items and that would have to be the USB 2.0 cable for windows. And Apple's site kind of mentions this really cheesy looking case, but I wouldn't ever use it for fear it would break. And as far as the 15gb and 20gb go....you might as well get the 20 because it comes with:
the dock - $39
inline remote - $39
case, and the case isn't so bad - $39
plus 5 more gb of music. And for the record, the usb 2.0 cable is $20 and you'd be crazy not to go find a firewire card for that kind of money.
I finally got my iPod. I spent the big money and got a 40 GB model. I can't say I'm entirely happy with it though. I found out after I got the iPod that it is not compatable with Mac OS 9. I figured that by saying Mac OS X on the package, it ment that the software (like iTunes) that came with it was only for OS X and the iPod itself would work with older versions of Mac operating systems as well as the newer ones. All that happens when I attach the iPod to the computer is that I get an iPod icon on my desktop, and I could put files in it. The problem with this is that even though you could store the files on the iPod as a very expensive hard drive, I can't figure out a way to listen to these files. I could use it with my windows computer, but I'm not too happy about that since most of my music is saved on my mac. I've been looking all over the internet to see if I could find some way to get my iPod to work with my mac without updateing my operating system, but I've been unsuccessful so far. Any suggestions?
I realize you just said, without updating your OS...but why not? As well, when it says OS X...I don't see how you could perceive that any other way. As far as working with OS 9, if there is a way...it's out there somewhere. Why not transfer all your music to your PC? I've heard many people say that iTunes doesn't work very good with windows but that just isn't the case. My iPod, nor any of the other ones I've owned, have had any problems with windows XP. I've owned a 1g and my current 30gb, 3g obviously.
How long do you think it will take for the Mini to come out w/more capacity?! That's what I'd like to wait for! (but I have a feeling it will be a long wait!)
There's a link somewhere on these forums about possible new hard drives for ipods, i'm sure the capacity of the mini ipod could be increased. I'm still in two minds what to get, but right i'm leaning toward a mini ipod due to the size of it, plus i dont mind rotating songs on it every now and then, and 8 times out of 10 i'll have my powerbook on me so maybe the mini ipod. Should be out here properly in the UK around July but hopefully my wife's friend will be coming over from the US for a holiday here in the Uk so i can cheaper.
No offense to anyone, but i think the mini colors look sort of "gay",litererally gay, as in brightly rainbowish colors...and that doesnt seem to appealing to me or most mac users. The silver is fine though, but if they have a mini in white or black, i would buy it right away.
I guess I'm in the minority that prefer iPod mini over classic iPod.
Which one you want is based on what you need. I own around 300 CDs. My typical music selection is from a pool of maybe 30 CDs. I occasionally go back to the rack and pick out my old favorites from maybe a set of 100. The rest of them I rarely listen to them. Perhaps I should sell them on eBay.
My point is, 4GB storage looks small, but it will still hold more than 100 CDs in 128kbps AAC. I am ripping my CDs right now at 192kbps AAC while waiting for my iPod mini to arrive. I went through about 20 CDs, and they take up about 1GB. At this rate it will comfortably hold all my recent favorites, plus most of my old favorites as well. Eventually I will archive all my CDs and store them on my computer. But I never intend to carry ALL of them around in the iPod. That would be silly.
iPod mini is much more portable than the classic iPod. Yes, classic iPod is still very portable, but my pockets are already full with a cell phone, a wallet, and a PDA, leaving very little room for the iPod.
