Not so "mini" after all...a review after 3 years using the iPod mini

With the smaller and smaller mp3 players out there, I feel like my iPod “mini” is actually gargantuan. But with that one feature out of the way, here’s my review of the mini, from the time I got it until today (which has been about 3 years).

I got the mini for Christmas in 2005. Initially, I had some issues setting it up with my Windows XP PC. When I would plug in the mini, the PC wouldn’t recognize it. It took uninstalling and reinstalling it several times before eventually it caught on. Even then, and to this day iTunes will not launch when I plug in the iPod. I do have the settings set to start iTunes, but it just doesn’t work. I’ve recently upgraded to Microsoft Vista, and I’m happy to report that the iPod still works, but this problem persists (also despite upgrading the iPod software twice). This really is not a huge deal, since it only takes a couple clicks to start iTunes – and the iPod DOES charge without iTunes started, but if I was moving files all the time, I could see how this could become cumbersome. As I use the iPod though, it doesn’t bother me at all.

By the time I got the mini, the iPod shuffle was out, but I chose the mini because it had more storage capacity, and it had the screen with which I could choose the song or artist I wanted to listen to. However, having had this system now for a while, I can say that neither of these features are really that useful for me. The extra storage capacity might be useful for people who actually have 2,000 songs that they listen to all the time. But that’s not me. I actually had to take most of my songs off the iPod mini, so that the songs that are left on it are those that I want to regularly listen to – particularly at the gym. The screen is ultimately useful, but I leave the iPod on shuffle all the time. Once in a rare while I’ll navigate to a particular song, but for the most part, I don’t use the screen, and the iPod Shuffle would work just fine.

The actual function of the iPod mini is similar to the other iPods with a screen. The click-wheel makes navigating the interface really easy, and as with other Apple products I’ve used, it is very intuitive and functions flawlessly. The sensitivity of the click wheel is also very good, as I can put it in my pocket without locking it and it typically doesn’t change even the volume, not to mention the songs or settings.

Battery life has been a roller-coaster (at least in my mind). Initially when I got the mini, and was using it every day, I got almost 20 hours of continuous battery life out of it. Then, after the first year, I stopped using the iPod as regularly. Recently I started using it again on business trips, which I take about every 2 weeks, and noticed that the battery life was terrible. It seemed as though every time I went to turn it on there was no battery life left. This went on and on, and I couldn’t figure it out. But it turns out that the iPod mini actually never shuts off, it only goes into “sleep mode”, so it constantly consumes power, even when it appears to be off. After about a week in sleep mode, it’s used enough battery power that it needs to be recharged. Once I realized this, I charged it fully and tested the charge, and what do you know – it played continuously for about 20 hours – the same as when I first got it. I think it’s kind of a poor feature that you can’t turn it completely off, but knowing that, the battery has held up very well.