I didn't know I wanted one...

But I ended up getting a mini iPod when I wasn't expecting it! I thought I'd get an MP3 player for my husband for Valentine's Day, but since he's the technical one in the family, I thought I'd ask some innocent questions about them to see if I could figure out which one to get him. When Valentine's Day rolled around, I opened my own gift and found a mini iPod! He figured that since I was asking about them, I must've wanted one. I didn't.

However, I didn't want him to feel bad, so I let him show me how to use it and I put some songs on it. Well, in the process, I absolutely fell in love with it! I never want to take my ear buds out, and my daughter says that I sound like I'm killing a cat when I'm listening because I crank up the sound and sing along.

The sound is terrific! ... just like being at a concert. And it's very easy to use -- you don't need any technical abilities to hook it up and use iTunes as the interface for loading music.

One more thing -- I decided to get my husband an iRiver MP3 player, but as soon as we got my iPod set up and I tried it out, I went down to the store and exchanged the iRiver for another mini iPod for him.

Here's a little more detail about why I like it so much:

1) Great sound; earbuds are comfortable. I usually hate earbuds, but these fit my ears (which are small) without hurting them.

2) Easy-to-read screen with a backlight. I am legally blind in one eye, but I find it very easy to read the screen and negotiate the various menus. I like being able to look down and read the name of the song, the artist, etc.

3) No extraneous buttons to push. The volume control is like a touch screen, in that you merely slide your finger in one direction or the other to control the volume. For someone with limited visual accuity, this is great. Oh, there is one control on the iPod itself -- it's the "hold" button which locks it so you don't accidentally turn up the volume or turn it off when you're moving around a lot. But it's on the top and easily found "by touch" so I don't have to wonder which button to push.

4) It's a really good size for using while working out or cleaning the house -- small and unobtrusive. The clip is strong so there's little danger of it falling off. I have a leather case for it that I just pop into my purse - it takes up about the same amount of room as a pack of cigarettes.

5) iTunes is a great interface, and makes organization of the songs (and audio books) very easy. The organizational options are very broad. Again, this is a great gadget to have if you have any vision limitations because of the huge availability of audio books on the iTunes music store.

6) It's easy to recharge the battery. I just plug it into the USB port while I'm using my computer (which I'm on all day long anyway). I find that the battery lasts about 8 hours before needing to be recharged.

7) It's really cute and matches most of my outfits. :-) My husband gave me the "pink" one, and it's actually more of a lavender, which happens to be my favorite color.