iPod nano

[n8dagr8]

http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/

Wow, if I didn't have a phone that did everything already, I would consider getting one of these! Pretty sweet!

[ibglowin]

Our local BB had around 20 of the 2GB models on Saturday. They sold all of their 4GB shipment in a single day. They had one on display to play with. It took me about 30 seconds to know I had to have one! Even tho I already own a 60GB iPod Photo as well as a 1GB Shuffle this was just too cool to pass up. I ordered online from Apple on Saturday. Should be here by Wednesday. Only $229 for the 4GB and free shiping using the educational discount.

You can never have enough cool toys!

[Geronimo]

Pricey.

[ntexasdude]

Unfortunately my kids saw the TV commercial and know another kid who has one. Now they think they HAVE to have one. :p

The "cool" factor is there but aren't there far less expensive alternatives that are just as good?

[Geronimo]

I think that is the case with all iPods. Thery have brand recognition but are expensive. in this case the small size might be a virtue but I believe that tehre are others with small drives.

But people will pay for the brand name.

[MarkA]

Geronimo, if this thing came in pink like the mini did I'd have one by now! I'm hoping Apple will come to their senses and bring the pink back!

The deal with it costing so much is that it doesn't have a drive. The mini was close to the smallest player with a drive. This thing has 2 or 4 GB of flash memory! You can't beat Apple's price. Even looking at physically larger flash players.

Before one calls Apple's products expensive, compare:

2GB iPod nano - $199
1GB iRiver T10 - $199 (bigger, heavier, half the capacity, and the same price)

20GB iPod - $299
20GB iRiver - $299 (slightly bulkier and thicker, not known for as good of sound quality)

The iRiver products do have FM tuners, but that's basically a useless gimick since you're buying them because you don't LIKE listening to a portable radio. Comparing them in every other aspect - sound quality, size, etc. the iPods are hands-down the winners. Compare to any manufacturer you want.

The thing is, people always SAY iPods are more expensive than the competition. If they were they wouldn't be doing so well. They're actually VERY competitively priced.

[JohnGfun]

I think I'm getting the Nano.

[jrbdmb]

I recently received a iPod 20GB (4th gen) as an award/bonus at work. Thought it was great, and now two weeks later I already have iPod envy for the new Nano. :HappyGree

[n8dagr8]

It also does the whole photo thing.

[Steve Mehs]

Oh boy, they're really sucking this dry.

I'd get the IPod Flea (http://www.nytimes.com/video/html/2005/06/29/technology/highbandwidth/windowsmedia/20050629_GUEST_VIDEO.html) :lol:

[n8dagr8]

Oh boy, they're really sucking this dry.

I'd get the IPod Flea (http://www.nytimes.com/video/html/2005/06/29/technology/highbandwidth/windowsmedia/20050629_GUEST_VIDEO.html) :lol:

:lol:

the flea collar!!! :lol:

[DonLandis]

So many new technologies and so little time left to try them. I discovered yesterday, Podcasts on the internet. I loaded them to my 1G SD card on my IPAQ and began to play them using my Blue Tooth hands free earpiece. WOW! This is way too cool But, I have some questions.

I found a website that had an IPOD Nano review and mostly the discussion was Oh this is the best consumer device ever introduced, ever, anywhere anytime. Well that came from Podcaster talk show host, Charlie White. So, did this guy just get out of prison with a 30 year sentence in isolation and the Nano was the first thing he saw before speaking? Or, is this really what he says and I should run to the first store to have one.

I'm going to ask here before looking to the specs-

What is it or what does it do that my IPAQ doesn't?
If I buy one can I use wireless technology with by Blue tooth ear piece for mono audio sources like I'm doing right now or must I use the neck wires and stick in the ear buds. I hate those things!

Once the memory of 4G is filled, can I swap the memory with more SD cards like my IPAQ? Finally, will it do the other stuff I now do with the IPAQ, like cell phone service, web surfing, e-mail, GPS, TV and video movies, Business expense tracking etc. ?

I'm having trouble finding reviews that are more technical rather than IPODHEAD exuberance.

So, if it can do everything my IPAQ can do now, what makes it better besides being smaller (Thinner).

BTW- so far, the best thing I've found about the IPOD craze has been all the free on line content. But the paid content is extremely expensive. eg. an audio book was said to be $200 for A Harry Potter title. Are they kidding? $200. If that's the going rate then I'm not in that income league! I'll pass.

Someone please set me straight but I don't see what all the excitement is all about.

[ibglowin]

The integration of Apple hardware and software is legendary as are the form and function of the iPod. The nano is NOT a pocket PC. It plays your music and podcast and can also display your photos. The 60GB iPod can hold more music and photos (including original size backups) than most people will ever need. There is no slot for a memory card of sorts on any iPod. You can't make a phone call with it either but you can if you buy the new Motorola ROKR phone with iTunes song capability.

The iPod is (arguably) the best (alright one of the best) MP3 players out there.

The integration with the iTunes music store (largest catalog of music) is one of its other major selling points. It is both Mac and PC compatible as well

The nano weighs in at 1.5 OZ, the iPAQ at 5.5 OZ. The nano is roughly 1/5 the size as well.

While it won't do everything, it wasn't meant to do everything either.

As for paid content being expensive, well you can buy songs for $0.99 each all day long. You don't have to buy the whole CD anymore for one or two songs you really like and you can listen to a 30 second sample of every song on any CD in order to see if you might like it.

I have purchsed a couple of audio books by Dan Brown (daVinci Code etc.) for very resonable prices. ($18) I even caught Digital Fortress on sale for $6.95.

The $200 Harry Potter you mention is the price for the ENTIRE collection and those are some rather large books.

So there you have it in a nutshell. Hope this helped.

[music_beans]

It also seems like Apple doesn't use tough material to build the new nano: http://homepage.mac.com/matthewdotcom/flaw/

[compubit]

It seems that Apple didn't like his page - it's no longer there...

[music_beans]

Well, well. What a coincidence. Tell ya what, just do a Google search on iPod nano and click News.

[Steve Mehs]

Someone please set me straight but I don't see what all the excitement is all about.

I agree Don. I don't see what the big fuss is all about either. I've played with iPods, I've used my friends and I don't see them as anything special.

You hit a great point. If an iPod or MP3 players in general are not Pocket PCs, then keep the Pocket PC fluff out of them. The photo capability, the calendars, the address books, the memos and whatnot, they’re not needed. I want an MP3 Player, not a jack of all traits master of none. Just like cell phones, every feature under the sun, when all I want to do is make calls. I’m looking at getting a new cell phone. I want a new Nextel flip phone with a front outside display. That’s all I want, nothing more. It’s a phone and doesn’t take pictures, that why I spend $600 on a Sony digital camera to take pictures, I spent $150 a cell phone to make calls. Or with satellite receivers. I had an E* receiver to watch TV, not to play Atari style games.

My iPaq has made an excellent MP3 player, as well as many other things, But that's the point of a Pocket PC. So I can grab lunch at Arby’s and listen to MP3s, while typing a report and getting information for that report from an unsecured wireless network broadcasting from the house across the street. Battery life and limitations of 1GB SD cards are why I want a hard drive based MP3 player. Weight is not an issue. I don’t like small and compact.

A coworker of mine recently bought a 20GB iRiver and I downloaded a bunch of music for her. It was nice just plugging the thing in and having the icon to explore the iRiver in My Computer. No extra software, back in the dial up days other then AOL 2.0, I never supported an ISP that forced me to use their software over plain old Windows DUN, and I will never buy an MP3 player that forces me to use something other then My Computer, which is a third of the reason why I’ll never get an iPod.

[DonLandis]

We don't agree on everything, Steve. I actually really like the idea of one small device to do everything I need when out and about for the day. I don't expect it to do what my desktop or laptops do when I'm at a base of operations, ie home office or hotel room. But on a flight in tourist class cramped in or just in the car or at a restaurant, the IPAQ can do just about anything I need, including lookups for information on the WWW or double as a GPS in my rental car. This week I'm caught up on the Video Production work so I am painting the house. I have the IPAQ sitting nearby or on my belt and with the Blue tooth hands free HS850, I'm listening to podcasts of tech talk picking up little tips and tricks while I'm house painting. Then I get a call and can push a button on the Mot HS850 to take that call while the podcast mp3 file is auto on hold. When I "hangup" the call the podcast auto resumes. What I can't do or haven't figured out yet is to listen to stereo music and do the same thing. ear buds for music can't double as a phone when the call comes in. Any ideas? BUT, if I used an IPOD, I can't even listen for a call like the IPAQ does. So that's no solution. I found the podcasts (as they are now called) to be the next best thing to listening to music because stereo isn't required.

As for battery life and SD memory- I carry 6 1Gb SD cards with me for use in the IPAQ. Each has separate function categories. Like GPS Maps on one, Movies on another, Recent Client files on another updated from my Windows Briefcase, Music on another, a blank and a backup battery. I have no trouble with all this stuff in a compact belt case I carry with me like my wallet and keys. In the 70's I carried a pocket protector with circular sliderule, later an HP45 on a belt pack. As an engineer I never go anywhere without some type of calculator but the IPAQ is the best of that need. I really don't want to carry separate cell phone GPS MP3 player, camera, extra headhones, PDA, etc. Too much stuff! The IPAQ does the best job of it now. Not the best at everything but good enough for anything at my fingertips anywhere I go!

So where does that leave the IPOD Nano for a person of my tastes? I believe I will wish the IPOD's much success because it is spinning off the real advantage to me which are the podcast as a new marketing industry for all PDA users. In addition, I am intreagued by the possibilities for my business tapping into doing podcast productions for my clients. :) I see income potential in doing podcasts here as they become more popular and known as a stable outlet for my "infomercial" business. When I started we did strictly broadcast shows, then cable, then DBS, then Internet 24/7 VOD. My partner had done a few on Radio but I din't get involved with those but I see Internet radio and podcasts as the next market for my business and my infomercial clients. The IPOD is not just about mp3 music, I have learned. Funny how painting the house has put me onto a new opportunity.

[DonLandis]

Friends who are Apple ipod heads have told me I am missing out on the real value of the ipod because I don't use a feature "only available through ipods" that of aggregating a podtune or podcast. Well, I'm not so eager to get into the purchasing of music for download. But the idea of the podcast has intreagued me so I set out and foud that there are several software clients that work the pocket PC's much in the same way. After looking at several awkward types, I found one that seems to work pretty well. Egress. Cost is $12 through the Handango website. I downloaded it and now going through the learning curve of using it. It's not simple to set up but once I got one podcast site subscribbed and updating automatically, I was easily able to follow that process to do a couple of others. I'm sure that Apple made the ipod much easier but it is not the only way to tap into this industry. I tried some others but they were really cryptic to figure out and even difficult to install.