Review

Review - iPod nano (with Photos)

Friday, September 9th, 2005 at 12:40 PM - by

iPod nano (US$199 - Apple Store) is a miracle of miniaturization. Stacked up against Apple's original efforts at putting 1,000 songs in your pocket, the nano's "Impossibly small." tag-line seems insufficient. Even the svelte and now surceased iPod mini seems like a jumbo Crayola crayon next to a black cabochon Cartier fountain pen.

If you feel smaller is better--and I realize not everyone does--then there's a lot to love about the new iPod nano: It's equally as unnoticeable in your pocket as the iPod shuffle and the razor-sharp screen is the smallest yet on an iPod, but it manages to display one more item in menus than the iPod mini's larger screen. It can also fits artist, album, and track name information for the playing song, plus artwork.

To accommodate the iPod nano's narrow body, Apple shrank not only the screen but also the ClickWheel. The donut pad is 3/8-inch wide, down from about 5/8-inch on the iPod and iPod mini. The center button remains the same size. The diminutive click wheels takes a bit of getting used to, requiring more precise thumb movements than other iPods.

Apple shaved more than just size with the iPod mini's successor, mind you, reducing capacity (by 2GB) and battery life (by about 4 hours). Like a magician that distracts the audience with one hand while the other prepares the next trick, Apple is hoping that consumers will be dazzled by the tiny form factor and color screen and not notice these changes. Or simply not care.

Most probably won't, but folks who compare the price per ounce of different sized boxes of the same breakfast cereal have even more incentive now to go for the higher-end iPod nano than they did with the iPod mini: the 4GB nano's 25 percent price premium over the 2GB model buys you twice as much room for music or photos.

Not that photo functionality is a very compelling reason to buy an iPod nano. Unlike the full-size iPod, the iPod nano can't hook up to a TV to display your photos and doesn't support Apple's camera connector for downloading photos on the fly. That leaves you with a mobile photo viewer that sports a screen likely smaller than your digital camera or cell phone. Couple that with the multi-megabyte size today's digital photos are and storing any quantity on the iPod nano significantly cuts down on space for songs.

Still, I find myself nitpicking to find any problems with the iPod nano. It's a device like none other out there and once again sets Apple far ahead of the competition. The biggest shortcoming I ran into with the iPod nano is its lack of FireWire support. You can still charge the nano over FireWire, but connecting it to your computer is strictly a USB affair, despite its standard iPod dock connector. Mac owners with iBooks or iMacs more than a couple years old that can't add USB 2.0 to their systems will find this especially annoying since transferring songs over USB 1.1 is a bit of an experience in patience, especially when that high-speed FireWire port is sitting idle.

We've witnessed the music player market becoming increasingly competitive since the first iPod debuted nearly four years ago. As others vie to keep up with or outpace Apple, packing features like color screens months or years ahead of Apple, the iPod nano demonstrates that not only does Apple still have it to be the market leader, it's probably not going to lose it any time soon.

Apple simply gets that the value of a product is best not measured in gigabytes or bells and whistles but in the joy that using it brings to its owner. In that respect, iPod nano is the best to date.


For iPod nano, Apple gets back in black
Included dock adapter is for a future (as yet unreleased) iPod dock

Minimal documentation
As thick (or thin) as five credit cards

The usual suspects
The usual suspects...lying down

Just The Facts

iPod nano from Apple Computer

MSRP US$199 / Street Price: US$199.

Pros: Tiny, fun, and perfectly functional; quick start-up, sharp screen

Cons: No FireWire syncing, still super prone to scratches and scuffs

34 comments from the community.

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A guest said: (hide)

Fri Sep 09, 2005 4:50 pm

The Nano's very nice, and I do want one (in black), but there's no way it should get a 5.0 out of 5. Not with the capacity cut from the Mini, and the lack of Firewire syncing, which is kind of a slap in Mac users' collective faces.

The slight battery life cut from the 2G Mini is a non-issue though, though I wish that Apple would've understood that it would've been just fine if the Nano had been slightly larger, to accomodate a bigger, longer-lasting battery, and perhaps a slightly bigger click wheel and screen.

Oh, and to the reviewer- you meant to say that the Nano's click wheel is 1-3/8 inches, not 3/8 of an inch, right?

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A guest said: (hide)

Sat Sep 10, 2005 4:15 am

I think what Misha meant was that the outer 'donut' part of the click wheel track was 3/8 of an inch wide, compared to 5/8 for the full-sized iPods. She wasn't talking about the width of the entire click wheel, I think.

However, I do agree that the Nano definitely doesn't deserve a 5 out of 5- more like a 4.5 or even a 4. It is tres sexy, but capacity and Firewire are issues as was mentioned, and I think they made the screen a bit too small. I really don't think MP3 players have to get any smaller than this, and I dont want them to if the screen ends up being the size of a postage stamp.

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A guest said: (hide)

Sat Sep 10, 2005 9:36 am

"and the lack of Firewire syncing, which is kind of a slap in Mac users' collective faces."

Why do you need firewire if you have USB 2.0?

Yeah, firewire is faster, but a 1" microdrive or the flash chip inside iPod mini/iPod nano can't saturate the USB 2.0 bus..

I Agree with the 5 of 5 rating, ok, there isn't a 8Gb version for 300$, but doesn't mean that for the people who only needs 4 or 2Gb of music, isn't the perfect player, because it is.

No other brand has come with a superior player than the iPod Nano in quality or even price.. 250$ for a 4Gb flash player is a steal..

And please Misha Sakellaropoulo (that is a last name and not Nahasapeemapetilon ) can you post higher resolution photos? Thank u...

coolkamio

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A guest said: (hide)

Sat Sep 10, 2005 6:08 pm

Sweet!

Got my black 4GB nano yesterday and already love it...

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A guest said: (hide)

Sat Sep 10, 2005 6:17 pm

"Why do you need firewire if you have USB 2.0?"

That's easy. You need Firewire if you have one of the many Macs that have Firewire, but no USB 2.0. There are Macs LESS THAN TWO YEARS OLD which fit that description.

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A guest said: (hide)

Sat Sep 10, 2005 10:32 pm

Nice review, looks really awesome! I can't wait till I get one. I'm trying my luck at a <a href="http://ipodnanos.freepay.com/?r=22134501">free one</a>.. not 100% sure if it will work or not. Lets hope!

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gslusher said:

member since 13 Nov 2002 with 2088 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Sun Sep 11, 2005 11:57 pm

Guest wrote:
"Why do you need firewire if you have USB 2.0?"

That's easy. You need Firewire if you have one of the many Macs that have Firewire, but no USB 2.0. There are Macs LESS THAN TWO YEARS OLD which fit that description.

Want some cheese with that whine?

In other places, it's said that it WILL sync with USB 1.1, but very slowly. (Note that the iPod Shuffle also doesn't have FireWire.)

Before you continue whining, recall this: when Macs shifted to USB from ADB and SCSI, there were Macs LESS THAN TWO YEARS OLD (even LESS THAN TWO WEEKS OLD) which couldn't use USB. <sob, sob, sob> [cut to picture of teensy violin playing "My Heart Cries for You."]

If you want an iPod that will sync via FireWire, you can get one. You can even still get the Mini.

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Biff said:

member since 08 Apr 2004 with 1479 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Mon Sep 12, 2005 2:19 pm

Wow you're like talking about old Macs. That like totally means you are wise and stuff. I bet you totally have a really low /. user ID too! Golly gee!

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A guest said: (hide)

Mon Sep 12, 2005 2:27 pm

gslusher wrote:
Guest wrote:
"Why do you need firewire if you have USB 2.0?"

That's easy. You need Firewire if you have one of the many Macs that have Firewire, but no USB 2.0. There are Macs LESS THAN TWO YEARS OLD which fit that description.

Want some cheese with that whine?

In other places, it's said that it WILL sync with USB 1.1, but very slowly. (Note that the iPod Shuffle also doesn't have FireWire.)

Before you continue whining, recall this: when Macs shifted to USB from ADB and SCSI, there were Macs LESS THAN TWO YEARS OLD (even LESS THAN TWO WEEKS OLD) which couldn't use USB. <sob, sob, sob> [cut to picture of teensy violin playing "My Heart Cries for You."]

If you want an iPod that will sync via FireWire, you can get one. You can even still get the Mini.

I'm not the person you're addressing, but I find your attitude infantile and repugnant. Its people like you that make forums war zones, not places for meaningful discussion. If you have an axe to grind, I suggest you go someplace else with it.

In any case, the original poster has a very good point- Macs less than two years old cannot use the Nano conveniently, as they cannot sync except through the (extremely slow) USB 1.1. This is poor form on Apple's part. And just because the carpet was pulled out from under Mac users in the ADB/SCSI to USB transition in similar fashion does not make it right. It simply means that Apple made a poor decision that did not value its most loyal customers, twice. It is very fortunate indeed for them that they do not have stronger competition.

It does amaze me, however, how anyone could construe a reasonable complaint as 'whining'. Let us hope we never encounter such unsavory individuals on the other end of a customer service call. Jerks abound, as it were.

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A guest said: (hide)

Mon Sep 12, 2005 6:56 pm

I couldn't resist, I already ordered my new ipod nano, and can't wait to put my hands on it, now I need to order something else, looking for something to help manage all my digital music files, considering the following, the symphony by www.olive.us , and also the sonos by www.sonos.com, or maybe someone could recommend something else? but at a similar price range?

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mikelancaster8975 said:

member since 12 Sep 2005 with 1 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Mon Sep 12, 2005 7:03 pm

I couldn't resist, I already ordered my new ipod nano, and can't wait to put my hands on it, now I need to order something else, looking for something to help manage all my digital music files, considering the following, the symphony by www.olive.us , and also the sonos by www.sonos.com, or maybe someone could recommend something else? but at a similar price range?

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Local Maxima said:

member since 13 Sep 2005 with 1 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Sep 13, 2005 11:57 am

It's interesting to note that the nano enters the market at about the same price-per-gigabyte price point as the original iPod, and it makes the nano much more attractive on this metric than the shuffle. See my historical analysis at http://localmaxima.blogspot.com/2005/09/price-per-musical-gigabyte.html

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A guest said: (hide)

Sun Sep 18, 2005 11:09 am

Guest wrote:
The slight battery life cut from the 2G Mini is a non-issue though, though I wish that Apple would've understood that it would've been just fine if the Nano had been slightly larger, to accomodate a bigger, longer-lasting battery, and perhaps a slightly bigger click wheel and screen.

Well, I have a black 4gig nano, and I absolutely love it (gave my mini to my wife). I do agree, however, that it doesn't deserve a 5 out of 5 rating, due to the lack of Firewire sync. Be advised that although you can charge the nano via Firewire hooked up to your computer, if you try to use the Firewire / AC adapter combo, it will lock up up the nano, requiring a reset, so don't do it.

The battery life issue was a problem for me, until I saw the screen on the nano. It's small, but it's very crisp and bright for its size, therefore very readable. To power such a brilliant screen most definitely will eat up battery cycles, and I'm convinced that if the mini had such a screen it would make for shorter battery life as well, so I'm over that little frustration.

A 4.5 out of 5 rating would have been appropriate, IMO.

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Nov 16, 2005 6:19 pm

is an nano worth the RIO CALI, ive got a rio but they are light wieght and seem more durable than a nano...

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Nov 16, 2005 6:21 pm

i mean really the nano is like 150 bucks more than a rio

is that worthit you can get extra mem for a rio to

Color screen on nano?

I think so...

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A guest said: (hide)

Mon Nov 28, 2005 12:00 am

I just bought an iPod nano 4GB in white (of course!). It's amazing. My brother bought a Toshiba 10GB in silver and debates that his mp3 is better. (Considering his was $75 CAN dollars cheaper.) The iPod nano is nice because of it's sleek and professional design with the catch that it is "impossibly small". (About the width of five credit cards) where as the Toshiba is 2.2 lbs. Of course besides the software you are definately paying for appearence. I am happy with my nano because with 1, 000 songs or 25, 000 photos which fits in your front pocket, what else for could you ask for? It's simple. I bought an iPod nano so that I wouldn't be clogging around a hefty CD player or dare I say it "Cassette player" anymore. The iPod fits my description of the perfect mp3 player of 2005.Despite how expensive it is, it's definately worth it!!!

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Nov 29, 2005 3:37 pm

hpw dp you put photos onto the ipod nano? cant do it!! whos the geek talking about the ipod nano being so good!! get out more!! it is good but no need to get an orgasme over it!!!!

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A guest said: (hide)

Thu Dec 01, 2005 4:13 pm

hi ive got a ipod nano thing ive got loads of songs on thier but i cant getting f****** photos

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KEB said:

member since 07 Dec 2005 with 4 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Dec 07, 2005 11:29 pm

To put photos on ur nano:

-open itunes

-go to the edit tab

-go to preferences

-when the window pops up go to the ipod tab

-go to the photo tab

-check the 'sychronize photos from' box

-pick the picture file

-check the boxes of the picture files you want to put on ur ipod

good luck! I hope I helped

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Dec 13, 2005 3:13 pm

First of All whats that thing under the Wires

And does somebody know a site where i can buy skin protectors for a ipod nano

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A guest said: (hide)

Mon Dec 19, 2005 10:10 pm

I still debating wether or not if i should get an ipod nano, i hear many good things about it but.....

recently i've been looking through reviews and the battery life of ipod seems really low.... Some say they only get 2-5 hours of playing time. For those who already have an ipod nano whether its 2gig or 4gig how is ur battery life on ur ipod. i'm planning to use my ipod everyday for about 8 hours.

need some feedback on this.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Dec 20, 2005 2:10 pm

New to Apple and iPod, I'm a satisfied customer so far!

iPod nano is great for me. I've read a lot of bad and good things about it. So far the only thing that bugs me is that you can't delete songs directly off of the nano, you have to do it through iTunes. Hard for synchronizing three iPod's on one computer! Playlists and such have not solved our problems, but we're dealing. Still a pain in the ass.

Also the mirror back of the nano is great except when it comes to keeping it clean. I plan on getting a tube from an Apple store which should solve that.

Getting the photos on the iPod nano was another challenge, finally found out how with the help of KEB up there. 'Preciate it. There is NOTHING on the website, in the package, or elsewhere that would tell me how to do it.

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A guest said: (hide)

Sun Dec 25, 2005 3:51 pm

How do you delete pics off the ipod nano??!! help! thanks x

[IP logged: 212.159.72.60]

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A guest said: (hide)

Mon Dec 26, 2005 5:59 am

While you are listening to the song on your ipod, it shows the song, artist, and album. I thought that it was also supposed to show a picture of what that album was called. Is that true? I have the ipod nano 2GB.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Dec 27, 2005 7:30 pm

I got a black 2gb nano for x-mas and it kicks @$$!!!

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KEB said:

member since 07 Dec 2005 with 4 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Fri Dec 30, 2005 4:22 am

Im back to try to help!

For those of you who are wondering how to get those pictures off your ipod, its not as easy as getting them on. Are there some pictures you want to keep and some you dont? If so, its a long process so listen closely. (Im assuming that if you have pictures loaded onto your ipod, you know how to get to the photos window -- if not see my previous post).

Go to the photos window. Lets say you have PictureFile1 and PictureFile2 selected (these are the files containing the pictures that are currently loaded onto your ipod). Now you want to get rid of some of the pictures that are on your ipod. Maybe you want to completely delete all of the pictures from PictureFile1, so you deselect (uncheck) "PictureFile1." Ok, no more pictures from that file will be loaded on ur ipod.

But maybe you want to keep some of the pictures in PictureFile2 and delete some of the other ones from that file. This is where it gets tricky (well not tricky but it takes a long time if you have a lot of pics). You have to make a WHOLE NEW FILE of the pictures you want to keep on ur ipod (lets call it PictureFile3). Now deselect (uncheck) PictureFile2 and select (check) PictureFile3.

I know, it sucks... and they should've thought of a better way to go about this whole process. If anyone is still confused just post back with a specific question and I will try to elaborate more. Good Luck!

PS

to the person 4 posts above me, it does show the album cover if you download songs off itunes, but not if you have music files from CDs that you buy. Im still trying to figure out how to get the album cover to show from my CDs. But if you have a song (perhaps you downloaded it from itunes) with an album cover that shows when you play the song, you can view the cover by right clicking the song, going to "get info," then going to "artwork."

OH HEY! I just found out how to get the album cover!!!! If you do all that and you have your ipod connected, after you go to artwork, click "Add" and then you can add the album cover!!!!! (but first you have to find the cover online, save the picture, then you can add it and select it for your ipod to display).

Also, itunes is a really good investment. Come on people! For all of you who are illegally downloading, would it kill you to spend 99 cents on a song??? Its a good deal if you want to buy the whole album too. I just downloaded the Kings of Leon album for $9.99!! Thats a great deal!!! Support your favorite music artists and DONT illegally download!!!!

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A guest said: (hide)

Fri Dec 30, 2005 2:27 pm

i have a nano and my sister has a shuffle and i accidentally registered hers under my name how do i re-register us so that she has her own account?

please reply ASAP!!!

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KEB said:

member since 07 Dec 2005 with 4 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Sun Jan 01, 2006 9:29 pm

TO PUT PHOTOS ON YOUR NANO

-open itunes (when your ipod is hooked up)

-go to the "edit" tab

-go to "preferences"

-when the window pops up go to the "ipod" tab

-go to the "photo" tab

-check the "sychronize photos from" box

-pick the picture file

-check the boxes of the picture files you want to put on ur ipod

That is how you put photos on your nano

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KEB said:

member since 07 Dec 2005 with 4 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Sun Jan 01, 2006 9:47 pm

TO DELETE PHOTOS OFF YOUR NANO

-open itunes (when your ipod is hooked up)

-go to the "edit" tab

-go to "preferences"

-when the window pops up go to the "ipod" tab

-go to the "photo" tab

to delete ALL PHOTOS off your ipod:

-uncheck the "synchronize photos from" box

a window will pop up that says "iTunes will no longer copy photos to the iPod. Would you like iTunes to remove photos previously copied to your iPod?"

choose "Yes" if you want to delete ALL PHOTOS off your ipod

HOWEVER, if you do NOT want to delete ALL photos:

-make sure the "sychronize photos from" box is still checked

-uncheck the picture files you dont want on your ipod anymore

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A guest said: (hide)

Thu Jan 05, 2006 12:10 am

hey keb ur post on gettin pics is awesome! XD thx!

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A guest said: (hide)

Sun Jan 08, 2006 7:04 pm

Guest wrote:
First of All whats that thing under the Wires

And does somebody know a site where i can buy skin protectors for a ipod nano
YEH GO TO WWW.STREETWISE.COM

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LaurieF said:

member since 15 Jun 2001 with 3545 posts, TMO Forum Mod, send him a message or view his profile

Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:10 pm

You can't be helped if you can't read.

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Feb 01, 2006 4:38 am

Troll p00p go bye bye.

[Photodan]

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LaurieF said:

member since 15 Jun 2001 with 3545 posts, TMO Forum Mod, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Feb 22, 2006 11:23 pm

As I have said before, you can't be helped if you can't read.

You're not big, and you're not clever.

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