I ranted before about my useless iPod 6GB Mini that took all day to charge and 5 minutes to go flat again. Getting songs out of iTunes onto the iPod Mini was very hit and miss and working my way around the actual iPod was difficult because it only seemed to have random moments of cooperation.
I explained the problem to various geeks and to Apple and nobody was prepared to offer any real help and since the iPod was purchased at Hong Kong Duty Free by MrAO (although I suspect he might have got it off the back of a rickshaw) I could not return it to the place of purchase. I also spoke to other iPod Mini owners and several reported exactly the same problems. Hmmmmmmmm.
So - because I need to zone out to hard trance music at the gym in order to get through the pain barrier I decided to get a new iPod - only this time I got the 'normal' one. What a difference! It takes an hour to charge and lasts for 2-3 days. Transferring music from the 'puter is easy peasy and makes me realise what a piece of crap the Mini was. I now discover the Apple agrees because the Mini is no longer available - in Oz at least.
If anyone is thinking about getting an iPod DO NOT be tempted by a cheap Mini. It's really not worth the aggro.