PROS:
firewire powers/charges/syncs device (no needless, excessive input ports)
sleek, slim design
backlight VERY handy
stores other data files than just mp3/AAC/wav/etc.
screamin' fast firewire connection (compare to USB)
durable; no problem jogging w/ it on a belt clip
solid state buttons/wheel
many features (calendar, games, clock, etc.)

CONS:
proprietary Firewire cable (which, in apple's defense, is included)
fairly expensive compared to other mp3 systems (high $/GB ratio)

This is very expensive but worth it (Rating: 5.00)
Review : this is so cool. i got one for crhistmas and loved it. i have about 529 songs on mine because i get all of my songs from my schools media room. the teacher is devoted to apple brand software, computers, acsseories, and speakers. this is very cool and the songs are cheap. theres just one problem, when listening to loud songs, you should turn it down because for a small item, this can be hered from a room away when left playing and at max voloume! and it moves alone when its loud! but it is good and it has a cool backlight so when your in the dark, the screen lights up and so do the buttons. it dsiplays the time, date, and it has a photo and video slot and you can keep your scedhual. it also has games like brick and solitare. it also has a special game where it takes all of your songs and makes a music quiz where it gives you 90 seconds of a song and a list of songs for you to pick and get right. this is the only game that you can't listen to a song while playing. the back has it's own licences number and the logo. it has an area for your settings and your ipod's identity(a.k.a your name, tis number, the amount of songs it currently contains,, and the amonut of space you have left and how much is used. pretty cool right! thanks!

A little frusterating, but in the end, worth it (Rating: 4.00)
Review : I wrote a previous review about this product before even using it, complaining about the extra expenses that came with it. I regret not using the product first, to determine whether or not the hidden expenses (sales tax ($20.00), USB 2.0 card ($30.00), and USB plug ($19.00 plus $5.00 shipping and tax), total $374). The Apple iPod, despite its setbacks in price, is an amazing little product.

As soon as the USB connector cord arrived in the mail (quickly, even, I ordered late Saturday night and recieved my order the following Wednesday) I proceeded to download the software (took about 10 minutes, very easy set up), and record about 12 CDs using the MusicMatch Jukebox software that came with the iPod. This proved to be slightly frusterating...MusicMatch is not very user-friendly, and very flawed; I had to restart my computer between every 5 or so C.D.'s, and a few C.D.'s didn't record at all. Each C.D. took about 3 minutes to record. After recording the discs, I synced my iPod to MusicMatch (my computer failed to recognize the iPod, but for some reason MusicMatch did, so I had no problem) and downloaded the files; an amazingly fast process with USB 2.0. After that, I had a slight problem in that the iPod didn't remove the "Do Not Disconnect" message from the screen after the songs were downloaded. I decided to be brave, and unplug the little machine, and had no problems.

As far as the iPod itself goes, I was amazed. The controls are a bit confusing at first, but it too me no time at all to become accostomed to them. The overall layout of the files is easy...from the main screen you can go to the playlists option (a list of your playlists, or mixes, of songs...you could do "Happy Songs", "Favorite Songs", "Classical Music", "Songs that Start with the Letter B", etc.), the browse menu (look at songs by Artists, Albums, Songs, Genres, and Composers) the Extras menu (the clock, contacts list, calender, notes and games- Solitare, Brick, and Parachute. note: although you can enter info onto the contacts list, calender, and notes from your computer, information can no be entered on the go and the iPod is absolutely no replacement for a PDA), the settings menu, the backlight button, or the "Now Playing" option if you have music going. The sound quality of the player is excellent, however, I'm not a fan of the earbuds...they're a bit too big and uncomfortable. If you really, really, really want to get the most out of your iPod, you can use it as a portable hard drive- to transfer large files from one computer to another- or to download text onto like recipies, driving directions, and maybe a short story. The touch controls make the iPod more durable-no buttons to break-but are easily pressed, so you never know when you may accidentally brush against something and stop you song, or worse, cause the volume to rise to earsplitting levels. I reccomend using the hold switch so nothing will accidentally be pressed. The only problems I have are with the batterry status indicator...its very approximate.

So, in short....

Pros:
Put all your CDs on one player...throw out the clunky CD case
Small and portable
Easy to use
Doubles as a calender, address book, text displayer, and portable hard drive
iTunes Music Store (Mac) lets you purchase individual songs for $.99 each
Looks totally spiffy
Will make friends jealous

Cons:
Battery life indicator is approximate
MusicMatch is slightly difficult to use

Scratches very easily
Kinda screwy with the "Do Not Disconnect" messages
EXPENSIVE

Sweet! (Rating: 5.00)
Review : When mp3 players came out I was fairly dissapointed until I discovered the iPods. Apple makes the absolutely top of the line mp3 player on the markey. Yeah, you can go buy a mp3 player for a fraction of the cost, but you'll also get a fraction of the quality.

The new iPod minis are great, but I'm still using my good old 10 gig iPod and it hasn't let me down yet. The batteries last practically 4ever, and it's durable and cool looking to.

A note to anyone trying to decide on size: don't automatically buy the biggest iPod just because it's the biggest. Chances are you're never going to use all of the space. One of the best ways to utilize the Pod is to put all your favorite music on it and then just set it to randomly shuffle between songs. You can't do this if you have a couple of gigs of the good stuff and 38 gigs of junk...

It's No Mini-Disc Player! (Rating: 4.00)
Review : My Sony mini-disc player died after a short life (moment of silence). So when I got a new job, the toy of choice was an iPod. What a difference!

The bad as compared to the mini-disc player is that the iPod doesn't have an LCD display remote control. So with so many songs, it's hard to blindly navigate if your iPod is stashed away. Hopefully Apple will create such a remote. Otherwise, it wins over the mini-disc player hands down!

The new mini-discs hold 5 hours of music. 2 years ago that was a big deal. My 20 Gig iPod has 17 hours of music already and I am using merely 390 MB. That's less than a fraction of its capacity. The iPod's looking at me like, "When are you gonna REALLY add some music?"

The 3 lines of music data display the song title, artist, and even album! And the sound...oh boy. I feel like I'm at a concert! Excellent sound! You can also tweak the sound with the equalizer.

Once they make that LCD remote to make navigating easier, it'll be perfect.