[iamdone]

Quote:

Originally posted by sno1man Also a certain addon manufacturer (cant say because of non-disclosure) was at the show and they were asking if people would be interested in a strictly line out cable for the current and mini ipod. This would be a straight no dock required cable with line level output. I told them heck yes. They then asked about a price. They were hinting at $20-$25 range.

There is already a product out there for this:
http://store.sik.com/merchant.mv?Scr...t_Code=03-1004

I should have mine any day. You even get a car charger that detaches, leaving you with a firewire input so you can use a regular firewire with it instead of the special new cables. If all you need is the line-out, you can always snip the other cable. I'm sure if you could save $5 - $10 and only need the line-out, then this other company's new product would work.

 

[Oliver :)]

I will not judge the mini before I touch it. I did not like the 3G as well firsthand... until I held it in my hands, saw the glow of the buttons, felt the curves...

I think the new colours (and again, I have to see them in natura first) are a treat for people who are into fashion. I guess if I was a tad richer and wore a greater variety of colours, I could even want to have several iPods for several outfits. Why is there no black one

Speaking of the 3G, I actually wanted to pick one up locally today, 20GB. There was none to be found!

 

[iamdone]

Quote:

Originally posted by IpaqMan The Minipod is a good concept. The Audible support is a big plus. However, cost and low battery life are deal breakers for me. I just got a 1.5gb Nitrus for $120 for listening to audiobooks. The price, size, bookmarking, and battery life (over 20 hours for books) were the big selling points. However, since the Nitrus lacks Audible support, time has to be invested to convert Audible content to 32kbps MP3s.

The big plus about ipod's audible support is it keeps bookmarks. You can listen to part of the book then listen to music, make changes to your library, and then come back to the book even a month or two later and still be at the same spot. There are also sections you can skip to but I'm not sure they relate the actual chapters from the real book.

 

[Dweebgal]

one thing i'd just like to point out....

does anyone else think that it loos like its pretty much the same freakin' size as the 3g?

 

[IpaqMan]

Quote:

Originally posted by iamdone The big plus about ipod's audible support is it keeps bookmarks. You can listen to part of the book then listen to music, make changes to your library, and then come back to the book even a month or two later and still be at the same spot. There are also sections you can skip to but I'm not sure they relate the actual chapters from the real book.

Agreed. This is a big plus for the Minipod.

But for less than half price with the Nitrus, you get nine bookmarks, read converted Audible content, get more than twice the battery life (possibly twice the battery lifespan), and get less weight.

With the Minipod, you get a stylish, thinner, taller unit with 4gb of space, half the battery life, Audible support, and no support for Win98/Me.

 

[Lilac_Wine]

I think the mini looks like a great product. The iPod does what it is supposed to do very well. I do not understand why people complain about 8 hour battery life. listening to music for more than 8 hours in a single day using headphones does not really seem like that great an idea. You can get an adapter to charge ipods in a car.

The mini will be great for working out with. The mini combines the best of flash players (small size) and hard drive players (decent storage). iTunes makes it really easy to swap music on and off the device.

I do not think you can really judge the colors from the photographs.

 

[Skeeve]

Quote:

Originally posted by Dweebgal one thing i'd just like to point out.... does anyone else think that it loos like its pretty much the same freakin' size as the 3g?

I hadn't seen them next to each other, they look virtually identical, at least the muvo and the nitrus go for different designs from their larger alternatives.

 

[Dweebgal]

i think if *all* players only had 8hours battery life, no-one would moan as much, but there is longer lasting players out there.

e.g. the iriver is only a fraction bigger than a 3g ipod, and gets better battery life than the 2g ipod!

also not everyone can get back to a charging socket everyday, and some people use thier ipod more than 8 hours a day. and 8 hours is an optimum, i.e touch that menu, and it drops, and it's only with 128kb/s files, and i could go on, but you get the picture.

 

[Spad]

Dweebgal's photo comparison above is the first possibly serious problem I've seen with the Mini. I don't think the size is an issue, but note the marring at the bottom of the unit. Is this the result of routinely placing the Mini in the charging stand, or was it caused by rough handling?

 

[iamdone]

It also looks like it's missing the Album info when the song is playing because of the smaller screen. Not a big deal but it is less information.

 

[penbat]

Mr Lindrone, surely the Mini Ipod is no advance on the regular Ipod for you - an audiophile. So surely you must now be looking at the Karma, for example, where i think the majority opinion says you get better sound quality than an Ipod.

 

[blessingx]

Quote:

Originally posted by penbat Mr Lindrone, surely the Mini Ipod is no advance on the regular Ipod for you - an audiophile. So surely you must now be looking at the Karma, for example, where i think the majority opinion says you get better sound quality than an Ipod.

When did the "majority opinion" come to the conclusion the Karma sounded better? Although the two players share many components in the audio path (more so than probably any other two manufactures products), we've seen as many reviews here state the opposite.

 

[iPodophile]

^ Actually, it seems to me like I've seen more comparisons that favored the iPod of the two.

 

[austonia]

Quote:

Originally posted by blessingx When did the "majority opinion" come to the conclusion the Karma sounded better? Although the two players share many components in the audio path (more so than probably any other two manufactures products), we've seen as many reviews here state the opposite.

exactley. i've compared them both using the same files, the iPod blows away the Karma

 

[lindrone]

Quote:

Originally posted by penbat Mr Lindrone, surely the Mini Ipod is no advance on the regular Ipod for you - an audiophile. So surely you must now be looking at the Karma, for example, where i think the majority opinion says you get better sound quality than an Ipod.

True, the mini iPod is probably no advance at all in terms of sound quality.. if it doesn't detract from the regular iPod. However, in terms of size and portability, it does one better. If it was able to retain the same quality at the smaller size, then it's a worthy purchase for people who needs that combination of size + usability. There's still a market there for them, and I still would take this thing over the Nitrus any day.

As far as the Karma... I'm not sure how that's relevant.. Karma's not any smaller than the iPod. They weigh the same, just a different shape. In fact, the Karma is less portable, if any case, because it's a square shape (doesn't fit in pockets as well, as what I do with my iPod right now) and it's thicker. It feels quite hefty and sturdy holding it in your hand though.

All the other statements here are true, the sound quality difference between Karma and iPod is debatable, and I think more of a preference rather than anything else.

I love the way my iPod & E5 work together, so I'm fine with it.