As I mentioned in my review of the previously introduced iPod nano, though it's a 1.5-inch display compared to the 1.65-inch screen of the iPod mini, which the nano replaced, it's crisp and bright. I had no trouble reading playlists, songs, artists, etc.
However viewing album art and photos on the iPod nano is not its forte. You can do it, but it's like using Final Cut Pro on a 12-inch PowerBook: you won't enjoy it. The nano changes each photo's thumbnail to 7 by 6.5 millimeters and shrinks the five by five thumbnail of the standard iPod to three by four. And that's just too teeny to work effectively even though you can store your iPhotos on the device.
On the other hand, the smaller click wheel works just fine. And the iPod nano features the same 30-pin dock connector as the iPod and iPod mini, which means it works with a over 1,000 accessories developed for the iPod family. Apple says the nano offers up to 14 hours of battery life. My experience says that's about right. The new iPod uses flash-based memory rather than a hard drive, and it seems noticeably more perky in performance than the full sized iPod and the iPod mini.
As with the first roll-out of the nanos, I have some things I'd change in an ideal world. The iPod nano comes with a USB 2.0 cable, which is okay, though I'd prefer FireWire. Since I have a FireWire connector that works with iPods, I figured to use it with the nano. But, no. The new iPod can only be charged with synced with the USB 2.0 cable; you can only charge it with a FW cable. What's up with that?
Unlike with the standard iPods, you can't install Mac OS X on the nano and boot from it. There are no TV Out commands in its Slideshow Settings window because the iPod nano can't project pictures to an attached television. Nor does it work with Apple's iPod Camera Connector or Belkin's Media Reader. This means you can't upload photos to it, but, as I pointed out, photo viewing isn't a strong point of the new iPod. Finally, current iPod microphones won't work with the nano since they need a connection to a Remote Control port. These aren't complaints, merely observations.
The iPod nano features optional accessories including lanyard headphones ($39) that integrate the headphone cables into the lanyard so you can wear your iPod nano around your neck without dangling headphone cables. If you want to personalize your iPod nano with colors, an optional set of iPod nano Tubes ($29) in pink, purple, blue, green and clear offers fashionable protection in a sheer casing while enabling full operation of all functions including the click wheel. Optional armbands ($29) available in gray, pink, blue, red and green let you to wear the iPod nano as a fashion and sports accessory.
If you want the most bang for your buck when it comes to the music/memory ratio, go with the video (5G) iPod. Ditto if you're into recording and or photo viewing with your iPod. But if you're looking for a classy music player that's eye-poppingly svelte, look no further than the iPod nano. As for going with the new 1GB version, it's reasonably priced -- if you can live with its 240 song limitation.
Macsimum rating: 7 out of 10.
