Mossberg rates the iPod mini's competition

Gadget eminence grise Walt Mossberg and his assistants compared the iPod mini to three of its direct competitors: the Dell Pocket DJ, Rio Carbon (pictured at right), and Creative Zen Micro. While they encountered synchronization problems on those three units, the iPod Mini they used had no problems on the first try. In addition, they complained about the other manufacturers' attempts at scroll wheels, saying that the iPod mini's scroll wheel provided the quickest and most pain-free access to songs in large lists (they complained of finger cramps and mis-cues using the other methods). You can bet that manufacturers will keep their aims dead set on the mini, but for now, most people seem to be ignoring the added features, improved battery time, bigger hard drive, and (sometimes) smaller prices in lieu of Apple's usability.