now you can only get an ipod nano, shuffle or video .. from the apple store that is .. cuz mini, 1g,2g,3g,4g, colour, u2 etc have all gone out of production...
i dont know what you are looking for .. but as far as i am concerned, size matters alot .. thats why i went for the ipod nano ..
its a flash memory based mp3 player, meaning that you dont have to worry about blowing the hard disk up .. but then it comes with a limited memory ... that is 4gb max, however .. i think it should be enuff ... i own a 2gb nano .. and it works fine for me .. i have got all my fac songs on it .. including audiobooks and podcasts.
now the ipod video is good as well .. but first its too big!! .. second dont think you will actually be able to watch full length movies on it .. on the move ... cuz the battery life on video pod is very poor ... it wont last for more than an hour with backlight on ..
besides you will be inviting bums to come and mug you off your ipod .. if you go out on streets watchin a music video, you and your ipod all lit up like a christmas tree ..
as far as scratches and the fargility of nano is concerned .. well i havent had any problems with my nano yet .. and tell you what .. if you actually do go out and get yourself one .. it comes with a thin transparent vinyl film stuck to it ... leave it on .. it will protect your nano till you get yourself a cover or something ..
dont get it from uk or europe .. cuz here its like 139 pounds for nano 2gb 179 pounds for nano 4gb 209 for ipod video ...
get it from japan or usa ..
and yeah ... if you get a nano .. dont worry .. it can play videos as well .. you just need to runb linux on it .. i have my nano playing videos ..