[MW Forums]

Dell Inc. took the wraps off its holiday lineup on Thursday, showing new printers, plasma televisions and music players that will soon be available through its Web site. more

[Dionysos_Taltos]

First, let me say the competition is welcome. All these attempts to knock-off the iPod and iPod mini keep pushing Apple to stay a step ahead, and that's a good thing. I do question the Dell Direct shops and the plasma TVs, though.
I always complimented Dell on staying with their strength while Gateway opened up shops. Dell's advantage in low prices came from keeping their overhead down, something Gateway didn't seem to understand. I'm not sure why Dell thinks they will be any different. I sure hope it isn't because of Apple's stores. Dell's profit margins are razor thin and there just isn't enough room to play around with the sort of overhead created by physical stores.
As for the plasma TVs. I think they are coming too late to a market which is already beginning to flatten out. LCD TVs are making big in-roads by being cheaper and more reliable.

[Kerrigore]

These guys just don't get it- the selling point of the mini is its physical size and weight (or lack thereof), not the capacity. Otherwise people would just spend the extra $50 to get a full sized iPod and get 5x the capacity.

[d_escartes]

what selling point? - someone should do the sums for the idiots - something doesn't add up
price the mini gb for gb versus the iPod and ........ Q.E.D.?
the figures dictate it doesn't make sense to buy a mini ... unless of course you like pink, green etc
as to weight and size - hey, we're talking grams and mm here - is that SO crucial?
/forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gifNOT

[nittany4]

as an ipod owner (on my second one actually) i thought the mini was overpriced per GB of storage as well versus the regular, but if you see and touch one, you will realise that it's #1 selling point is it's size
it's REALLY small

[marco114]

With iPod, you have a killer music store, ease of use, PC & Mac compatibility, nearly unrestricted use (unless you like to pirate music), free song each week (music discovery), and much more. Plus, iTunes has 100,000+ songs and it's fun to find and listen to music on it. Add audiobooks too, these are a big bonus. Don't forget gift certificates and spending limits, and even the broadcaster to your stereo. Apple has made the completel solution. Others just have a "player". Who cares? I get lots of cool stuff when I go with Apple's iPod. Apple's player is solid and clean compared to others are somewhat clunky. Plus, being Firewire based, it's fast too. I can also use it as a hard drive easily to transfer my documents. Wait until we have portable home folders and a whole new oportunity opens up. Apple's the true innovator and people are catching on. The stock is up 14% today. Apple just rules. Face it. MSN Music store is a poor excuse for a web site. It's worse than

[ronincali3002]

In reply to:

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free song each week (music discovery)

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Actually, it's two free songs each week. There's an iMix called "Free Songs to date" or something like that, and you'll always find two free songs in there each Tuesday. Check it out!

[Uncle_Deercamp]

Dell? Never heard of them...
Oh yeah, didn't they used to matter?

[tabasco_hot]

With all the iPod sales, and prices for these mini drives dropping as newer faster ones become available I would not put it out of Apples reach to drop the price on this version of the mini fairly soon anyway. If the mini price does drop soon I would not give any credit to dell for it though. It's just how these things work. The drives are getting less expensive. Especially if your Apple and can move things like wild fire. Providers are aware of that.

I used to be an Addict... Now I'm a stranger.

[Nobody]

According to your criteria, smallest (4GB) is best; guess I have the winner. My Creative Nomad Muvo2 (4GB) is smaller and lighter than your Mini iPod.
While I have to admit that the onboard user interface is 2nd rate compared to the iPod's; I only paid $149, it's just as fast with USB 2.0, a user drop-in Lith-Ion Battery and I have an extra $100 in my pocket to buy tunes with!! Sound quality is identical to the Mini too.
Ps. I also have a 1st-Gen iPod, which I'm on my THIRD battery./forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

[srookard]

In reply to:

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Ps. I also have a 1st-Gen iPod, which I'm on my THIRD battery.

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What in the world are you doing to that thing? I've got a 1st Gen as well, and haven't replaced the battery once -- still going strong. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[tabasco_hot]

In reply to:

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What in the world are you doing to that thing? I've got a 1st Gen as well, and haven't replaced the battery once -- still going strong.

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My 1st gen is fine too. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

[EpaAmigo]

Yeah, Dell is a really interesting study in commoditization (run that through your spell checker /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif ). I'm constantly amazed at how cheeeeeeep some of the boxes people can get here at work -- they had a laptop they were selling for ~$800 the other day, after rebates, etc. They have pushed Apple out of a lot of educational sites this way, and have a huge reputation for cheap computers that will probably help them more than Gateway (Gateway = cows; Dell = cheap computers). It remains to be seen, though, if this will translate into foot traffic into their stores. Cheap doesn't equal cool.

[samrod]

"iTunes has 100,000+ song"
The iTunes Music Store has 1 million songs. So you're only off by a factor of 10.