Refurbished Ipod Mini or New Nano for 12-year-old?

baseballmom94baseballmom94
Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
My son's birthday is next week and I would like to surprise him with an ipod. I've heard that the nano is not very durable. I was thinking of buying a refurbished 4gb mini with 18 hour battery from the Apple website. It's $159 and if I had the extended 2 year applecare warranty for $59, it still is cheaper than the 4gb Nano. Do I also need to buy a battery charger for the mini? Is this a good idea for a 12-year-old's first ipod or will we end up being disappointed?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    The mini is the roughest, toughest iPod ever built. You can't go wrong giving it to a 12-year-old. It will come with a cord to charge it (either with a wall outlet or from your computer's powered USB or Firewire ports).
  • Reply 2 of 12
    baseballmom94baseballmom94 Posts: 5member
    Well, I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who just bought nanos for her two kids for Christmas. She said that "everyone" their age has nanos and it's really the thing to have. Also, they bought the rubber skins for their kids and haven't had a problem. Still trying to decide here...........
  • Reply 3 of 12
    baseballmom94baseballmom94 Posts: 5member
    Does anyone know if the nanos are being sold with the cases or do you have to buy them separately? Thanks!
  • Reply 4 of 12
    stustanleystustanley Posts: 236member
    The ipod nano comes with a slip case, however investing in a rubber case is a good idea, you will probably want to get a rubber case which protects the screen aswell, afaik the apple nano tubes dont! (they're the cases made by apple)



    Whilst the ipod mini is supremely durable, the ipod nano is pretty sturdy too, my friend dropped hers whilst she was on the treadmill at the gym, so it weant shooting off the back but is still fine. In fact the ipod nano has flah memory rather than a hard-disk like the ipod mini so it is much less likely for the inards to break if it is dropped.



    stu
  • Reply 5 of 12
    icibaquicibaqu Posts: 278member
    those agent 18 cases (hard clear plastic) are also pretty nice)
  • Reply 6 of 12
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by stustanley

    ...my friend dropped hers whilst she was on the treadmill at the gym, so it weant shooting off the back...



    THAT had to have been a sight to see!
  • Reply 7 of 12
    monkeyastronautmonkeyastronaut Posts: 1,343member
    also note that the ipod mini has a monochrome screen and the nano has a color screen. while music still sounds the same, your 12-year-old might think it's cool to have a color screen.
  • Reply 8 of 12
    macaddict16macaddict16 Posts: 194member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by icibaqu

    those agent 18 cases (hard clear plastic) are also pretty nice)



    I second this case. I have it and it rocks. I toss my nano around like nothing else and the case does not look scratched at all.



    Macaddict16
  • Reply 9 of 12
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by monkeyastronaut

    also note that the ipod mini has a monochrome screen and the nano has a color screen. while music still sounds the same, your 12-year-old might think it's cool to have a color screen.



    I used a mini for over a year and now am using a nano. I'm way over 12 and I think it's cool to have the color screen. I'm also an album art freak, so YMMV.



    The nano trounces the mini all over town. I vote nano!
  • Reply 10 of 12
    monkeyastronautmonkeyastronaut Posts: 1,343member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Xool

    I used a mini for over a year and now am using a nano. I'm way over 12 and I think it's cool to have the color screen. I'm also an album art freak, so YMMV.



    The nano trounces the mini all over town. I vote nano!



    Yeah, similar situation here too. i had a 6gb blue mini, which i loved by the way, but now i have a 2 gb white nano, and i'm 12 years old times two.



    nano rocks, it's so tiny.
  • Reply 11 of 12
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    Also, regarding cases, I actually like Apple's nano tubes. The only downside is that when in the tube you can't stick it in the nano dock or use it with accessories like the iTrip.



    Hmm, maybe if I get a universal dock and use a different adapter...



    Anyhow, they're thin and keep it secret, keep it safe. Plus you have different colors so you can change it for the days you're feeling green versus purple.
  • Reply 12 of 12
    ichiban_jayichiban_jay Posts: 660member
    I think a nano in a silicon case is more durable than a mini without.



    Since the mini is hard drive based, if your child was to drop it (even by 5 inches) while the hard drive is reading data it can destroy the hard drive's "needle." I did that once with my ipod, dropped it by 4 inches while it's hard drive was spinning and immediately the screen blanked out and the dreaded blinking folder icon with a '!' popped up.



    That said, even if the mini's outward appearance might hold it's integrity better than the nano, it's innards surely won't. Solid state memory is the safest way to go.
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