“In search of a replacement for his broken MP3 digital music player, Nathan Ward had narrowed his choice to Apple’s iPod Mini and Dell’s Digital Jukebox by the time he visited an Apple Store in Dallas. “‘The Dell’s cheaper,’ Ward, 30, said Saturday as he examined a multihued array of $249 iPod Minis at the shop in Dallas’ trendy Knox-Henderson neighborhood. The Dell is usually the same price, but the company has temporarily slashed it by $50,” Jim Fuquay reports for The Star-Telegram.

“Ward left without making a decision, although Apple’s reputation for ease of use and the Mini’s business-card dimensions were appealing, he said. The Mini weighs less than 4 ounces, holds about 1,000 songs and is smaller than the wallet-sized standard iPod and Dell,” Fuquay reports. “Even if Ward had been ready to buy, he would have walked away from the Apple Store empty-handed. Demand for the iPod Mini has taken off since its Feb. 20 debut, but supplies are short.”

“At the Apple Store, the best shoppers can do is put their names on a waiting list. Several other area stores, including Foley’s, Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA and Target, quickly sell out each time a shipment arrives,” Fuquay reports. “Apple, which makes one of every three MP3 players shipped to stores in the United States, said it took more than 100,000 orders for the Mini before the device’s debut. Apple’s Web site advises buyers to expect shipping to take one to three weeks.”

Full article here.