BizReport Reviews The iPod Mini

T he iPod Mini, available this month from Apple, has been the subject of some debate. The Mini is small, but some wonder if it could have been smaller. The storage capacity of the Mini, 4 gigabytes, is a good size in its own right, but when price per gigabyte is taken into account are compared to a low end iPod, which has 15 gigabytes of storage, some wonder what Apple was thinking.

Still, for many, the iPod Mini is a good choice; you get the famous iPod usability in a smaller, lighter package, and it comes in 5 colors to boot.

BizReport has posted its review of the iPod Mini, and the publication likes what it has seen. Hereis a bit of the article, Appleis iPod Mini Is a Big Deal in the MP3 World:

Finally, somebody has outdone the iPod. After years of unsuccessful attempts by Creative, Dell, Rio, Samsung and others to knock Appleis MP3 player off its pedestal, weive got a player that makes the iPod seem like the oversize, clunky relic it (now) is.

That player is Appleis iPod mini, a $249 gadget not much bigger than a cell phone. On sale starting Friday, it packs the old iPodis virtues into a smaller, lighter, sturdier, more elegant and cheaper design.

Just like its older sibling, the iPod mini stores daysi worth of music in the MP3 and AAC formats, including downloads from Appleis iTunes Music Store. It fits in any pocket and quickly connects to any moderately new PC or Mac.

But instead of 15, 20 or 40 gigabytes of disk space to store an entire music library, the miniis hard drive, measuring 3.7 gigabytes, can only hold a 950-song slice of your collection -- a scant 63 hours of nonstop listening.

In return, the mini rewards you with a breathtakingly small size and shape. It weighs just 37/8 ounces with its headphones and measures only 35/8 inches long by 2 inches wide by just over a half-inch thick. Beside the mini, the regular iPod looks like a Chevy Suburban parked next to a Honda Civic.

The review goes on to describe many of the Miniis features, including the new, but familiar Click Wheel. Stop by BizReport for the full review.