tinkfan4ever:
The mini is now discontinued and has been replaced by the nano. The mini size is bigger than the nano, but smaller than the normal Ipod. I think there is also a difference in the memory used in the nano versus the mini, but not sure exactly. I believe the nano uses flash memory which I believe is more reliable.
I have seen a lot of mini's on E-bay, but not sure of it's availability at other places.
HTH,
Dan.