One of my best friends, now living in the US, has come back home for a couple of weeks break.

With him he brought his two week old brushed blue metal iPod mini I know some Applecentres in Australia have these on display, but I got to borrow his all day today.

First impressions were how solid and stylish the metal casing is, even though it's only 1/3 of the size of a cigarette packet. I can't see this case being scratched easily, unlike the shiny and slightly malleable plastics found on normal iPods. And the blue definately looks better in the flesh - not a pastel hue as Apple's official site indicate.

It uses the same dial control as the newest normal iPod, it's a little smaller but just as usable. The backlit display wasn't too bad either. Sound quality is as good as, if not better IMO, than the normal models, and it comes with the same decent quality headphones. Noise-wise, it's still very loud, and you can only hear the tiny hard disk spinning if you try listening, hard. The battery lasted for about 7-8 hours, and it didn't take long to charge from the Firewire cable.

Copying from a Firewire-400 equipped machine under iTunes seemed pretty slow; not sure if this was a driver/software issue, but it wasn't that bad.

All in all, I might look out for one when Apple can finally deliver them down to Oz, although the initial price turns me off somewhat.

JB

bYrd!! Get it again! Take photos - do an australian exclusive review!!

I've had a green iPod mini since April when I got in in Honolulu. Now I have also got a Powerbook and a .Mac account (was a PC user) I will take some pics and post the url here in a day or 2. I also have the Bang & Olufsson A8 headphones, the Monster cable in car charger/FM transmitter and the Monster portable speakers which I use at work. Just ask my colleague walexx :P

I had them here at work on Saturday and Sunday but I dont think he really likes my taste in music all that much! I could not live without my iPod now, or my Powerbook. Should have listened to walexx years ago and made the move from the dark side earlier .

PS I was originally user id sydrx but have re registered now i have my .mac account and this is my .mac user name.

Ahhh, another new and very satisfied Mac User to the fold .

I have spent years trying to convert Kenexx to a Mac and he used to laugh at me and make fun of me along with the rest of the office as I was the only Mac User.

All it took though was one or two visits to work with my Powerbook a quick demo of iLife to all those PC suckers, and the rest is history (more to the point, their PC's). Since August last year, I have now converted 60% of our office into Mac Users, and some others into iPod buyers .

As for Kenexx's Green Mini iPod, its really really nice, and feels so light and a dream to use. Apple have really got a hit on their hands with the mini, and when it comes here next month, its gonna be an instant sell out.

F.Y.I, for anyone in Aust with a mini, as of today Apple Australia now support them.

Which would make the Australian release of them this month a certainty.

My bets will be either June 15 or at the WWDC.

OK here are the pics of my iPod mini. As you can see I'm not the worlds best photographer.
However in the pic of the Powerbook you can see it in the bottom corner next to the mouse so it gives you an idea of the size.
My iPod mini