Maria, I think it depends on how much music you have or think you might have. Also, I think there are lots of peripherals available for the iPod that don't work with the mini. I have a remote control and a voice recorder. If you don't think you will ever use those and don't have that much music, a mini might work for you.

Yeah, the school discount, on the mini mac gets me $20. on the shuffle? $10.

It's probably wishful thinking to hope that I can find a good bargain on an iPod in a physical store, correct?

I have an iPod + hp, and those are more often discounted online than straight Apple iPods are. From the linked review:

From our perspective, there's certainly no reason for the typical PC user to prefer an Apple-branded iPod over a HP-branded one; Hewlett-Packard's iPod+hp is functionally identical, has only insignificant physical differences on its rear casing, frequently sells at a lower price and includes better warranty and support coverage than Apple's own iPod.

Which is not to diss everyone else's iPod, but to say that there seems to be no disadvantage, and you can often beat the sticker price.

My second most favorite thing about my iPod is that it has allowed me to throw away my CDs. It took me a year and a half to get up the courage to let them go, but when we moved into the new house, we didn't even bother to hook up the CD player to the stereo. It plus the CDs and cases just took up room and I have not even listened to a CD since I got the iPod. Now, if I buy a CD, I rip it and chuck it.

Ooh, I couldn't do that. I still like having the CD, and the liner notes and artwork, and some CDs have songs that run into each other, and it doesn't work smoothly when the files have been converted into mp3.

$20 and $10 off that is. Not for $20 or $10.

Good to remember for ordering a minimac!

Personally, at least the 20... The size differential on the mini isn't enough to offset the Much More Musicness of the 20 or 40 GB for me.

Ooh, I couldn't do that.

Dude, that is exactly what I said. I've always loved the liner notes and it was such a part of the experience of buying a new CD. But I was looking at my CD pile collecting dust a few months ago and I realized that I never look at them anymore. Honestly, except for foreign music, I haven't purchased a CD since I got my iPod.

Oh, Maria, I have a 15 GB iPod. I think I have about 1600 songs on it and it's half full. Just to give you an idea.

ita, you and I appear to have the same kind of problems.

A movie might make flying Southwest bearable.

Nonian, I have anywhere between 500-700 CDs, plus about 8 gigs of music on my laptop. Do I listen to it all? Hardly, because I only have a 3 disc changer in the house, and so far it's been a PITA to put on my HD. 40 gigs may not even be enough if I want to store it all.

::smooches to Cass just because I can::

I'm glad you're back around.

I have about 6600 songs on my 40 GB iPod. I rip everything to mp3, and I'm not happy with the sound quality at 128 kbps so I use VBR that averages about 195 kbps. I think I'll be able to fit a little more than 7000 songs on it (not the 10,000 that Apple says, because of the higher bitrate).

The iPod photo has a 60 GB drive. Rumor has it that we'll see an 80 GB iPod this year.