Sure, the FM tuner is extra, but it also has the ability to “beam” the iPod’s audio out to something like a car radio, so that’s a bonus as well. (I know you don’t have a car currently, but ya don’t own a house either, and that’s on your “to-do” list… :-) )

To be fair, my only scruple with iPods is the fact that they’re wrapped around an actual HDD. I favor the concept of “no moving parts what-so-bloody-ever”, but with what I’ve read about all the other competition, it’s still no contest.

The other bias I have is firewire vs. USB. As far as I’m concerned, I’d rather buy FW cards for a PC than settle for USB at all. The USB 2.0 standard claims to be faster (480Mbps vs. 400Mbps), but in every benchmark I’ve ever seen, sustained throughput is a joke over USB. This leads me to wonder how people can even conceive doing video work over USB… But maybe that’s an article *I* should undertake. :-)

Anyhow, regardless of what you end up snagging, I’m counting on a full review. Just because I’m an asshole with a strong opinion about everything, doesn’t mean I don’t like to be proven wrong. ;-)

The 15G model also isn’t exactly cheap. :-) The iPod mini isn’t even available here yet and importing it wouldn’t be cheap either.

I still haven’t really made up my mind yet; I’m just trying to distill down what the choices are and what they offer.

I originally thought this l’il bitch did FM *reception* as well as transmission… Oopsie. :-)

Cancelled, eh? Poopy. As for FM radio… I can understand your desire to keep new ideas coming in, but short of The Bear, no other FM station — hell, no other radio station, period — has anything good anymore… Unless you count teeny-bopper empty-head bullshit music, or loser grab-ass boy band glam crap as music. And I happen to know for a fact *you* don’t. :-)

(Oh, and lusting after Britney Spears’ jubblies doesn’t count as any kind of appreciation for her music, so if I’m not the only one who wants to go face-slappin’ in the valley, you needn’t feel the least bit guilty…) ;-)

However, I’m splitting hairs. Just because the concept of getting an iPod for myself excites me in ways women never could, doesn’t mean the same device will tickle your pickle — pardon the expressions. ;-)

I have the ultimate solution, tho… and it’ll be perfect for both of us. I’ll solder and install the RF jacks, FW 400, and USB2 ports, as well as the gobs of flash RAM *directly* in my brain, and you write the software. Once all the bugs are ironed out (of the surgical implant, not me; there’s not enough time left in any of our lives to do *that*), I’ll stuff one in your head, and we’re good to go.

I’ll even add a switch to turn our ears into speakers. You game, bro? :-)