Mini iPods Confirmed

[tRoG]

Woooooooo!

That is all.

 

[Clown]

I'd really like it to have a remote similar to the Sony one. With the twist and the text and stuff. $250 though? Some newspapers were quoting something like 80 quid!

 

[tRoG]

Aye, I was hoping for that price mark, but with the current exchange rates (The USD being worth only about 55p) it's £135.

4gb is perfect for me, too. This thing can consider itself ordered

*dances*

 

[leggy]

God dammit that is getting bought the minute I can pre-order.

 

[Clown]

In-f***ing-nit

 

[fatbusinessman]

Aye, I was hoping for that price mark, but with the current exchange rates (The USD being worth only about 55p) it's £135.

I think you're mistaken on the price there. Take a look at this:

15GB iPod - $300 in the US - £250 in the UK
30GB iPod - $400 in the US - £300 in the UK
40GB iPod - $500 in the US - £400 in the UK

These represent dollaround ratios of 1.2, 1.3 and 1.25 respectively.

Assuming they're going to keep that, this puts the likely market price of a mini-iPod at around £200. For that price, you can get a 30GB Nomad Zen NX.

Ok, so it's not Apple, but it's got 7.5 times as much storage for about the same price.

 

[Xavier]

As I mentioned on MSN, go running regularly with the Zen and it won't last too long

 

[Ch3tan]

Hmm, Apple have priced it higher than expected and only $50 cheaper than the 15GB ipod? Looks like they are charging extra for the novelty factor of having a really small and coloured ipod. If it's floating around the £100 mark I will buy one, otherwise I will just wait for more phones to support mp3's -the n-gage is already on the right track here.

 

[Xavier]

Well, that and the fact it's solid state, which means no moving parts. They're supplying it with a wrist band for jogging etc, which is something you really wouldn't want to do with a harddisc based MP3 player and is generally the market such solid state MP3 players are sold at.

If you watched the macworld launch Steve Jobs did an interesting comparison with iPod / iPod mini and the existing market. iPod had a 31% share on the entire MP3 player market and now apple are targeting the $200 solid state players, specifically the 256Mb units which hold about 40-60 tracks... For $50 more ($249 as opposed to $199) than most quater gig flash memory based players, the mini ipods offer 16x the storage of existing offerings and are half as thick, with dimensions of a typical business card and only half an inch deep.

 

[fatbusinessman]

So, in fact, the name is somewhat misleading - the iPod mini isn't actually just a smaller version of the iPod - it's based on different technology and aimed at a different market. Hence it's priced highly compared to HDD-based MP3 players.

I don't know about everyone else, but my chances of ever going jogging are minimal, so I think I'm more likely to go with a different player.

 

[Xavier]

The same could be said of Creatives Range, they call theirs nomad or jukebox, apple dubbed the family iPod.

mini denotes a smaller form factor iPod with solid state memories. Tha's all.

Xav

 

[Xavier]

Just had a quick scoot around dabs.com and i've spotted creatives two mp3 players in the bracket, the MuNo Squared and Muvo 2 X-Trainer:

MuVo Squared - 1.5Gb - £169.99 (harddisc)
MuVo 2 X-Trainer - 512Mb - £164.99 (memory)

iPod Mini - 4Gb - £199.99 (memory)

 

[pixie]

where does it say the mini is solid state ?
apples own page says 4gb hard drive

4GB, 15GB, 20GB or 40GB hard disk drive

Just going on what I'm told by Apple's UK PR and the press brief I was sent last night during the launches.

I'll point them at the page and see what they say.

Xav

oi stop editing my post
Id have to double check but im pretty sure steve even said disk based in the keynote
(time passes)
the press release doesnt mention flash or disk
no mention of the storage method in the keynote


pix

 

[.Wilier.]

As I mentioned on MSN, go running regularly with the Zen and it won't last too long

Who told you that??

 

[Clown]

Hmm... depending on the price, I might actually just get a big one. I'm never gonna be running anyway

 

[fatbusinessman]

Who told you that??

Probably Steve Jobs.

 

[leggy]

If it ain't solid state I'm not buying it. I'll just pay the extra hundred clams and get a 20Gb standard iPOD.

 

[Xavier]

20Gb? The sizes have shuffled a little, the 15Gb starts at £249 and there are 30Gb and 40Gb too versions iirc.

Xav

 

[fatbusinessman]

Afraid you don't rc Steve - the standard versions are 15GB, 20GB and 40GB versions, at £250, £300 and £400 respectively.

(check the Apple Store to confirm - stupid thing won't link )

 

[leggy]

You can't link to the apple store like that.

And yes the 20Gb is the best value for money and mid-range ipod and currently the best seller this christmas. You'll be lucky if you can find someone with them in stock. They retail at £299 as FBM has already said.

 

[DaGaffer]

Very nice, might have even got one if I hadn't bought myself a full size iPod this Christmas.

On the pricing front, everyone always forgets that prices on US websites are always tax free (no VAT on online orders in the States) but inc. VAT in the UK, so you're never making a direct comparison.

15GB iPod - $300 in the US - £250 in the UK (ex VAT - £213)
30GB iPod - $400 in the US - £300 in the UK (ex VAT - £255)
40GB iPod - $500 in the US - £400 in the UK (ex VAT - £340)

Looking at this way the prices are a lot closer between the US and UK, between $1.4 and $1.56 to the Pound, which is where the exchange rate had been hovering for quite a while until very recently (dollar's v.weak at the moment).

 

[leggy]

OK the mini iPODS and NOT solid state. They contain hitachi 1 inch hard drives.

 

[Xavier]

Yep, you're right, I've just had it confirmed... Though apparently they're low-rpm high tolerance drives...

Xav

 

[Xavier]

Very nice, might have even got one if I hadn't bought myself a full size iPod this Christmas.

On the pricing front, everyone always forgets that prices on US websites are always tax free (no VAT on online orders in the States) but inc. VAT in the UK, so you're never making a direct comparison.

15GB iPod - $300 in the US - £250 in the UK (ex VAT - £213)
30GB iPod - $400 in the US - £300 in the UK (ex VAT - £255)
40GB iPod - $500 in the US - £400 in the UK (ex VAT - £340)

Looking at this way the prices are a lot closer between the US and UK, between $1.4 and $1.56 to the Pound, which is where the exchange rate had been hovering for quite a while until very recently (dollar's v.weak at the moment).

Likewise people over here forget to include state sales tax which is only calculated at the checkout itself.

 

[DaGaffer]

Likewise people over here forget to include state sales tax which is only calculated at the checkout itself.

Exactly - that was my point, price differentials aren't as much as you think when you compare like for like. Americans are lucky that they don't have to pay any state sales tax when they buy online, but I don't think that state of affairs will last for much longer.

 

[Xavier]

Not true, some kit such as digi camera can be had for excellent prices from the US. If you know what you're doing you can get a 300D for £650 from the states, rather than the £900 you'd pay here, and that includes import duty and VAT.

Xav

 

[Stimpy]

Pop this back to the top
I just noticed on neowin that - Apple boss Steve Jobs revealed the tiny iPod during his opening address at the Macworld conference in San Francisco this week with a UK price set to be around the £130 mark .

At £130 I'll certainly be picking one up, 3 months to save up the cash to

 

[fatbusinessman]

Hmmm, having not seen this anywhere except on Neowin, I wouldn't trust it until I see it in print on Apple's site.

 

[tRoG]

I'm getting one for my birthday

I've convinced a relative in the USA to order one (Which I am paying for), which should be dispatched on Feb 16th. I'm guessing It'll reach her on the 20th or so, and she can then post it to me, to hopefully arrive in time for my birthday, on the 24th.

A lot of trouble just for a credit card sized iPod, but I'm a style whore

Oh, and it is pretty sad when you have to buy your own birthday presents

 

[fatbusinessman]

I think I'll probably be buying a full-size iPod. My music collection is fast approaching the size where it just won't fit comfortably in 4 gigs, even if I strip out all the chaff.

And take a look at the figures:
iPod Mini - 4GB - £200 (£50 per GB)
iPod Standard - 20GB - £300 (£15 per GB)

Plus I find the mini ones to be a bit on the ugleh side...