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iPod Mini Hits The 'Sweet Spot'?

Tooky writes "The BBC is reporting on a survey carried out by Jupiter Research which found that most consumers were only storing about 1000 songs on their portable MP3 players, claiming that ' The finding seems to be borne out by the demand for Apple's Mini iPod'." According to the piece: "Jupiter said digital music players with capacities of 5,000 songs will provide too much space for most people. It added that consumers rate other features as highly as the ability to store all the songs held on their PC."

6 of 481 comments (clear)

  1. Re:they can send them to me then by Elwood+P+Dowd · · Score: 5, Informative

    Set up a few automatic playlists:

    One with all your highly rated songs.
    One with all your unplayed songs, in random order, limited to fit on your iPod.
    One with your least recently played songs, in random order, limited to fit on your ipod.

    Then throw some albums you want to listen to on a fourth playlist.

    Consider the "my rating" to be the "I want to hear this again" marker. If you're listening to a new song, and it's rad and you don't want it to leave your iPod, mark it, and it'll go to your highly rated songs playlist.

    Do the "these playlists only" synch. Now, everytime you synch, you get fresh songs. Just keep those less-listened to songs in iTunes. If someone ever wants to hear them (happens whenever I have a party) it's still on your computer.

    I've got a 40 GB iPod, and I still need to do this, just so I have some way of managing the 25 _days_ of music on my iPod.

    --

    There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
  2. Re:Shouldn't be suprising by DAldredge · · Score: 4, Informative

    According to apple it has a 1 year limited warranty.

    "Documentation and support Electronic documentation, getting started guide and one-year limited warranty"

  3. Umm.. have you heard if the Rio Nitrus? by rtilghman · · Score: 4, Informative


    "the breakthrough was to have a audio player that a capacity beyond ~500 megs that was also suitable for running/jogging--the mini is the first to break that barrier."

    The Rio Nitrus was the first player to use a 1" drive. It:

    - has a capacity of 1.2gb
    - plays WMA or MP3 files
    - has a battery life double the iPod or the iPod mini (15-16 hours vs. the iPod's 8hr max)
    - doesn't come with a defective headphone jack

    Oh, and you can pick one up immediately at any local electronics store. :)

    Best,
    rt

  4. Re:Dynamic playlists don't sync songs! by Elwood+P+Dowd · · Score: 5, Informative

    You're out of your damn mind. I do this. It does work.

    When I plug my iPod into my Mac, it updates the rating on the relevant song. The highly-rated playlist on the mac then grows to accommodate the song. The Mac then synchronizes that longer playlist to the iPod.

    Similarly, if my random unplayed playlist is limited to 2GB, when I plug in my ipod, it marks those songs as played, which takes them out of the unplayed playlist, which means they are replaced with other songs so that the playlist remains 2GB. The modified playlist is then synched with my iPod, which includes the new unplayed songs.

    --

    There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
  5. Perfect for running by fisgreen · · Score: 5, Informative
    How much do you run? Is the mini holding up well? If it can take an hour-long run without a head crash or an explosion from the salt getting into it, I just may have to grab one.

    I've had my mini for three weeks now. Not, a super hard-core runner, but I average 25-30 miles a week, pace no slower than 7:30. I've found it to be absolutely amazing. The longest run I've used it on is about 45min and had absolutely no problems. Battery life is very good, the interface is absolutely perfect. Recommend buying the neoprene armband--very inobtrusive.

  6. Re:Let's collect data... by andy55 · · Score: 4, Informative

    How much do you run? Is the mini holding up well?

    I run about once a week for about 60-90 min per run at about a 7 minute mile pace, and i often run shirtless. I just assumed that'd I have to buy the mareware sport suit thing for an added $30, but the clip that comes with it (from Apple) is superb! It's a really tight clip-grip and has a very narrow profile, causing minimal bounce (a huge contrast to a normal iPod in a mareware sportsuit clipped onto your shorts). I slide my mini about 1" downward on the clip, protecting the top from any sweat, etc--a simple solution, but effective.