IPod Mini

Still in tune with the iPod mini




The iPod mini, Apple's mid-range digital audio player was released in 2004 and came in first and second generation versions, the second generation introduced into the market the following year. However, Apple discontinued the iPod mini even though it was successful in the market and instead replaced it with the iPod nano.




The iPod mini's touch-sensitive scroll wheel is similar to that of the third generation iPod but its buttons were designed to be mechanical under the wheel, thus the term click wheel. The external features of both the first and second generation of iPod mini were almost the same, only that they had different battery and storage capacities.




For instance, the first generation iPod mini's battery life could last for up to eight hours. Following criticisms about its shorter duration, the second-generation already had a battery life of up to eighteen hours but did not have an AC power adapter or a FireWire cable, thus reducing the selling prices of newer iPod minis. Like several Lithium ion batteries, iPod mini batteries run down to a capacity of about 80% after 400 full charge cycles.




Moreover, the iPod mini uses Microdrive hard drives. The first generation was available in 4GB, while the second-generation version was available in 4 and 6 GB sizes, which can store up to 1,500 songs.




The iPod mini also comes with a dock connector on the bottom of the gadget to connect to a FireWire port or a computer's USB. During connection, the battery could also be charged. The iPod mini had a remote connector, hold switch and headphone jack for accessories as well.
Moreover, formats such as Apple Lossless, AAC/M4A, AIFF, MP3, WAV were supported by the iPod mini. Also, it also integrated with iTUnes and iTunes music store that allowed its users to synce between the iPod mini and the software program.
The iPod mini can run firmware such as Rockbox or iPodLinux which support games, extra codecs and many other types of plugins. It also allows music playback directly on your gadget even without the iTunes.
There are users who have recently replaced the 4 or 6GB Microdrive with higher capacity 8 or 16 GB Compactflash cards in order to increase battery life. Furthermore, CF cards are solid and have non-moving parts so they are less prone to breaking when dropped. This way, upgrading your iPod mini can still let you enjoy your music gadget's features without necessarily switching to a newer and even rather costly version of the iPod. While there may be some who were frustrated at its phase-out, it cannot be discounted that newer iPod versions were inspired from the iPod mini. And even though Apple has no longer continued marketing this rather amazing gadget, its popularity among music lovers still has not gone out of tune.