Filed under: iPod Family, Reviews
iPod nano: the first 24 hours
I've had my iPod nano in hand (and large ogre-like hands if the picture with this post is any indicator) now for 24 hours. Three words: best iPod ever.I love it. I'm actually considering selling my 60GB iPod. It's flash-based, so it is fast. It's super light and small. The plug on the bottom isn't weird like I thought it'd be. If I drop the iPod nano, it hangs nicely from the earphone cable without pulling free. It fits nicely in my shirt pocket.
It doesn't fit as neatly in the little jean pocket that Steve Jobs' intro to the unit indicated. It's too tall to fit straight down, and with the earphones plugged in, it won't fit fully in sideways. Nevertheless, the thing is so small you won't have any difficulty whatsoever finding a place to tuck it away. Also, it feels pretty solid. One of my complaints about the iPod shuffle was how light and plastic it felt. Walt Mossberg was right: this feels just right. Nice and solid with just enough weight. I think I could skip this sucker pretty nicely across the face of a lake.More after the jump...
Here's a pic of the illustrious bag it comes in if you buy one from the Apple Store (previously mentioned by Dave in his hands-on review). It's a rather stiff bag, but if I can figure out how to ship it, I'll include the bag with the white 2GB iPod nano I bought to send to the winner of our contest. If not, maybe I'll auction it off to the suckers on ebay.The black picks up fingerprints like you wouldn't believe and I've already put a scratch in the front, but honestly, I don't care. I've never been squeamish about scratches on my iPods. I bought this for its size and functionality. It delivers nicely in both areas. The USB only file transfer is a bit of a drag, and I don't think the file transfer is nearly as fast as Christopher Breen's review seems to indicate. It took quite some time for the iPod nano to get the 500 songs I chose to cram on it transfered over alongside all the photos I chose to transfer. That being said, the performance of the iPod nano when it is not connected to a computer is amazing. It flies through the interface and displays the photos much faster than my 60GB iPod does. The screen is great. Bright and clear. The only negative I can say about the screen is that the Notes font is more than a bit small on the nano's small screen and will most likely not make it an attractive choice for people with bifocals. Apple should release a firmware update that adds a preference to toggle the font size from miniscule to mega-big.
The sound is great. The iPod is great. Get one. Try to win one. I'll add more bits later.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Alex said 10:37PM on 9-09-2005
I Want One.
I can't spend that kinda money right now.
This thing would be great with my photography.
I'm jealous!
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REY2K7 said 10:57PM on 9-09-2005
My white nano is on its way! I'm glad I chose white!
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Jeff Schottmiller said 11:19PM on 9-09-2005
So, here's my question. I haven't used the new automatic music syncing feature that the iPod Flash and Nano use.
If my music library is larger than my iPod (which it is), is it possible to play tracks that were autosync'd from iTunes off the iPod?
My previous experience with iTunes 4.x and my old 3rd gen iPod wouldn't let me do this if I used any method other than manual tranfers over to the iPod. I need this functionality, as my library is inaccessible to my iTunes 99% of the time.
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El Payo said 11:18PM on 9-09-2005
Totally with you on this CK - I LOVE my nano (black 4GB) it's absolutely the best iPod yet (just wish it was a 60GB flash model - though I'm sure we'll see those in about 2 years). I woke up this morning, saw the nano on my bedside table and immediately congratulated myself once again for buying Apple stock a few years back when everyone was declaring the death of Apple.
Now I just need a super-slick case for it. Oh, and the lanyard headphones (in black).
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Ian Nott said 11:56PM on 9-09-2005
God I can't wait till tommarow, all this postive content I keep reading on the nano is killing me! 4GB white for me. :)
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Leo said 11:40PM on 9-09-2005
i am grabbin my 4GB Black nano tomorrow... has anyone seen a belt-clip type holder for one yet? At the gym, I wear shorts/trunks that don't have a pocket... I need to find a clip!
+
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Chris Breen said 11:59PM on 9-09-2005
C.K. I appreciate the link to my first look at the nano.
I've since written a full review of the nano and agree with you, the nano may be the finest iPod ever.
I'm interested in your syncing results. I found syncing consistently faster with the nano. To compare the experience with the nano and an older 1G mini I synced (sank?) both of them to the same 903-track playlist and the nano took 7 minutes less to do it (nano: 9 minutes and 15 seconds; mini: 16 minutes and 13 seconds). Other fill-'er-up syncs were also right around 9 minutes for the nano. What kind of times are you seeing?
And no, I'm not asking to pimp my stuff. Rather, I'm interested in learning if there's something about particular playlists that can cause the nano to choke. It's early days on this thing and the more we know, the better.
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Logan said 12:35AM on 9-10-2005
I picked up my nano today. I ended up with the 4GB white. I knew I was going to the Apple store for a 4GB but unsure on the color. I was convinced after an employee threw two downsides to the black one at me. First being, as you said, the fingers. And the second was, at first glance the black nano doesn't really look like an iPod, but more of a knock off.
Either way, I'm happy as a pig in a slop with my new nano.
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Wheels said 12:42AM on 9-10-2005
Dude, I was under the impression that syncing was through USB 2.0, but it's plain ole USB!(According to Apple's tech sheet) At first I thought the nano was dumb, but now I'm falling in love! Man, if I have a good work weekend, the black 4 gig is so mine!
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Wilymon said 12:54AM on 9-10-2005
you know who else chose white? HITLER!
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vivamoto said 1:38AM on 9-10-2005
Quick question, you said syncing is only via USB, what about charging?
If i plug it into a firewire cable which is connected to the A/C adaptor, will it charge from the powerpoint?
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Oliver said 2:25AM on 9-10-2005
re: vivamoto
It should charge through Firewire (connected to A/C.
regarding the USB issue:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61935
It should work with USB 1.1, albeit very, very slowly.
I still think this is a major bummer. I wish there was a USB2-Firewire adapter or something.
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Oliver said 2:30AM on 9-10-2005
There's a feedback page for that article about USB1.1 connectivity. You can find it here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/survey/index.html?v=1&artnum=61935
I've sent some feedback pleading for them to re-enable firewire syncing in the nano (if that would be possible through a software update or something... you never know).
Perhaps other TUAW readers could send some feedback too if they feel the same way about this issue.
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jimmie said 2:59AM on 9-10-2005
I have to agree this is the finest ipod ever. I have a 60gig photo, silver ipod mini, 512mb shuffe. I gave mini and shuffle to my sister, no need for them anymore. I got a 4gig white at the Apple store at 10am when they opened thursday morning. There were over 20 people waiting outside. Like Steve said "it's impossibly small", I still can't believe how small it is. I brought it to work and almost everyone that seen it said they were going to the Apple store to get one, some ordered online. This will be the most popular iPod ever, guaranteed.
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craig said 3:46AM on 9-10-2005
when does Apple embed wlan into the new new iPod???
http://techstockblog.blogspot.com/
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iFelix said 4:38AM on 9-10-2005
black, white, black, white
I can't make up my mind...
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Darren Cornwell said 7:39AM on 9-10-2005
Man I love this new iPod, my boss ordered me as a gift! Thanks for the review - just makes me salivate in anticipation!
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reece said 7:49AM on 9-10-2005
WOW!
best iPod ever. I have a 20GB iPod and a 512mb shuffle but who cares now I only use my 4GB white nano because its sooo sexy. Cant even put it down.
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Galley said 9:35AM on 9-10-2005
That jeans pocket is actually called a watch pocket. They date back to the time when men wore pocket watches. Jeans are more than 100 years old after all. I think the ones Steve Jobs was wearing Had an unusually deep pocket.
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Georg said 10:02AM on 9-10-2005
Thanks for your quick review. I haven't seen one yet live, so the evaluation of those lucky few who possess one is helpful. From the pictures I saw the nano looks like the best iPod Apple has ever produced, but I had my doubts regarding the "feel" of it, I was afraid it would not live up to the quality of the large iPods, good to know that it doesn't have the flimsy plastic feeling of the shuffles.
Not sad of the passing of the iPod minis, they never seemed to strike a chord with me, too colorful and a bit bulky. The only thing that bothers me about the nano is that the black edition, which I find most attractive, comes with white earphones and accessories. Why? Looks ridiculous. Can it be that expensive for Apple to produce black earphones, I don't get it. That's the only thing keeping me from ordering one now.
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