I've had a chance to play around with this for a few days now, and while I am a huge fan of the iPod Nano, it will not be replacing my 20GB iPod Photo anytime soon. It's Apple's own fault, really; they gave me 20GB (or 40, or 60) of space first, and now they want to take 90% of it away? Don't think so. I've come to believe what Apple's been telling me for a few years now: I NEED to take my entire music collection around with me everywhere I go. It's as essential as my cell phone and Metro Card. So for the storage reason alone, I can't chuck my 20GB model just yet. But the Nano really is a cool machine, and I imagine it will overtake the higher capacity iPods in popularity shortly because of its size, price, and cool factor. Here's what I consider the improvements to be: 1. First and foremost, the transition to flash memory. This enables the Nano to be smaller and operate quieter than iPods that are hard drive-based. Make no mistake, flash memory is the future of digital music players; 2. The size, duh. Apple has made the Nano smaller without compromising much of the bright colorful screen. As we all now by now, it is thinner than a number two pencil (my 20GB iPod Photo, on the other hand, is probably three pencils thick). But it's still too large and delicate to jog with, without an optional accessory or two (arm band, lanyard headphones); and 3. The Apple-brand accessories that have been released concurrently with the Nano are affordable and well-designed. ...And what's not-so-great: 1. The price drop isn't that substantial, especially for what you get. For an extra $100, you can upgrade to a Photo that has ten times the capacity; and 2. The headphone jack is on the bottom of the Nano. I'm not sure what the logic behind this is-it seems like making a change for the sake of making a change to me. Some wonderful things about the color iPods in general: they're very easy to use; their demure size could hardly be improved upon; the color screen is beyond adequate for viewing photos and album art; the battery life is exceptional; making playlists and controlling iTunes are simple tasks; all are compatible with Mac or Windows; and if you use a Mac, you can sync your iPod with your address book, to do list, and calendar (this has come in handy for me a number of times when I'm traveling). Also, if you're a college student or an educator at any level, the Apple Store (both the b&m and online versions) gives discounts on just about everything. For iPods it's about $20, but for computers it's up to $300 The bottom line on the Nano: it's a great entry-level MP3 player that will probably suffice for most listeners. However, if you're a music warrior who listens for many hours a day, many days a week, then 2-4GB is just too small to suit you--but of course you've had an iPod for three years now, and you already knew that.Read full review
About a year ago I became interested in purchasing an MP3 Player. I shopped around trying out all the available brands at the time. My conclusion then and to this day is that Apple makes an MP3 Player that beats the rest in every aspect. Why is it so good? Ease of use. The learning curve on my Nano was 5 minutes. It is so easy to operate it's amazing. I've played with others that were just overly complex, yet did the same things as the Ipod. Quality. From my year of ownership I'd have to say that the Nano is a very well built piece of electronics. I've had no problems to date despite heavy use and the occasional accident. The battery still holds a good charge after hundreds of recharges. Accessaries! All you have to do is type "Ipod" in the ebay search engine and you will see that there are TONS of stuff you can buy to complement your Ipod. I've seen that it can be a real hassle to find aftermarket stuff for other brands. This allows you to really personalize your Ipod and make it fit any application you need it for. Example, I just purchased a 2007 Honda Fit. For a little extra the dealer installed the Honda Music Link. This allows me to plug my Ipod into the car's sterio and search through my song using voice prompts! Conclusion: The only downside I see is in the difference in price. It is possible to purchase most other brands at a lower price. But you are definitely getting more for your money when you buy the Ipod for 50 bucks or so more. Hope this helps! If this guide has helped you in any way, please click "Yes" below and keep it alive.Read full review
you pretty much asked for a good microdrive mp3 player, so i'll show you three of my absolute favorite. creative zen micro PROS: comes in 10 colors, touch pad interface, comes in 4, 5, and 6 gb, has radio, voice recorder, a removable batter and a charge cradle, very cool CONS: none, really http://www.creative.com/products/mp3/zenmicro/ next, the apple ipod nano PROS: comes in white and black, color screen, very easy click wheel, uses apple itunes, which is fairly easy to use CONS: maybe a little more expensive than the others for 4 gb, very fragile www.ipod.com lastly, the rio carbon PROS: very slim, very affordable, comes in 3 different colors, best battery life, comes in 5 and 6 gb CONS: maybe a little hard to find since rio shut down, but still findable nonetheless http://reviews.cnet.com/Rio_Carbon_5GB_Silver/4505-6490_7-30984154.html hope this helps, tell me if it does.Read full review
Ok- let me just say right off the bat that I LOVE MY NANO. I bought my husband one and he loves it too and I can confidently say this after having to have my Nano serviced not once, but TWICE since I originally purchased it just 14 months ago. After I tell you why I love my Nano- I'll tell you why I hate the software (i-tunes in particular): +The design is beautiful- it is modern, minimalistic and beautiful to handle and it looks great without a case. -The navigation wheel gets "sticky" when you put certain kinds of cases on it. You HAVE TO put a case on it or it gets scratched, dinged, worn and broken. +The sound volume is good- I like my music loud and I'm able to turn it up without distortion or cutting in and out. The headphones it comes with suck. If you buy a pair of good ones, listening becomes much more satisfying. -The equalizer is not the greatest. I wasn't able to tweak it as much as I'd like to with certain types of music. -The original battery was defective and I had to send it in for servicing RIGHT after getting it (NOT something you want to have to do nearly right after opening it). On the up side, however, Apple provided shipping and packaging both ways, and the repair was at no charge. +Once battery was replaced, the battery life improved greatly... I get a good 5 hours out of a charge now and that is MUCH better than before. REGARDING iTUNES SOFTWARE: The iTunes software lets you organize and program your playlists and any music you want to listen to regularly and iTunes downloads usually come with album/performer images. iTunes software appears to be fairly easy to use at first glance and it is concisely organized, HOWEVER: after messing with iTunes software on a regular basis (I have a lot of music and like to change my playlists and manage my music often), I realized it wasn't going to work for me. My theory is that if you've PAID for your music, you should be able to burn copies of it for PERSONAL use! A couple of good programs are VPod, EPHpod or TuneByte. With programs like these installed, you can rip personal MP3s to your NANO and burn them back to discs for personal use HASSLE FREE. Alternate programs usually allow for greater control over image downloads, as well. Ultimately, iTunes software is prettily packaged, but lacks the good programming (perhaps purposefully) to allow the consumer to tailor how he/she uses it. Finally- Apple makes a pretty penny on a pretty little piece of electronic flash drive engineering in the Nano- it DID cost the company good money to develop it- BUT they're greedy. They DON'T need to regulate your use of music on a personal player! I feel pretty strongly about that- maybe it's because I'm an old college DJ, maybe it's because I still like "stickin' it to the man", or MAYBE it's because I think Steve Jobs is a turd... either way, it's YOUR player and your music once you buy it and it SHOULD be YOUR music programming. You should be able to decide how you want to USE IT AND ENJOY IT. So- while there are other cheaper players on the market, I still think the true beauty of the Nano is in the design. The Nano itself is ultimately user friendly and streamlined. Despite all the negatives, I love it.Read full review
The ipod nano is very easy to use and very easy to store in backpocket or armband. Its great for going to the gym, and great for destressing. with 4 kids theres never a moment to listen to my music, so now i pop in the barney cd for the kids in the car, and plug the music right into my ears. its best to keep it in a protective case because the screen is very vulnerable, and the back dents and scratches very easy. i do not believe it is a product you can have 10 years from now and still be in good condition. if you love to exersize and you love music this is the right product for you. just realize you might have to get a new one every couple of years. i've had mine for 3 months and it looks like i dropped it off the empire state building, becaus ei have not had a protective case covering it. Overall it is pretty durable, light, and it looks pretty cool in my opinion. I believe in a couple of years these things will be cheap, and evn more hiigh tech ones will be the same price or cheaper. I believe they are a big deal now but not for long. i hope you found this helpful.Read full review
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