This review is written in memory of my son's iPod Nano Black. He got it for his birthday, but it was stolen a few months later. In it's memory, I'd like to say a few words.

iPod Nano Black, we hardly knew you!

Coolness factor I remember how excited my son was when we purchased this at Best Buy as a late birthday present. It was so thin, so sleek so black. It really did look quite cool, so cool that it was stolen about 3 months later.

Set Up Set up on the iPod Black wasn't difficult either. It came with it's own software CD (iTunes) that was easily loaded, and a USB cable that not only downloaded songs, but also charged the battery. I had to set up a new Apple iTunes Library, and transfer songs on my computers Music Match library into the Apple library. The itunes program automatically searches the folders you select to locate songs on your computer. Don't let it just search any files, or not only music files but any assorted video files or misc. files may end up in itunes. I selected my music library files, and all my MP3's ripped from my extensive CD collection showed up on iTUnes. Transferring them to the little Black Nano was a simple matter of drag and drop.

Storage Capacity My son quickly had my Black Sabbath library, and Metallica library downloaded to his new elecronic toy, together with a couple Deep Purple albums, Gorillaz and some Yes. This iPod only holds a Gigabyte though, so it rapidly filled up. (about 250 songs or 25 albums assuming 10 songs an album) However, you can easily drag and drop a new selection of songs or albums onto it.

Sound Quality I listened to songs on this, and I'll be honest, I cannot stand those little ear buds that MP3 players come with. Why don't they come in matching black by the way? The earbuds are white. They hurt my ears, and they lack deep bass. My son loves them and listens all the time, and they don't seem to bother him. I just have to make sure he isn't listening too loudly. He would have the iPod with him constantly and talk in a shouting voice, not knowing he was shouting. I listened again on my own Koss PortaPro earphones, and then I found listening a lot more comfortable, and a renewed presence of deep bass.

Menu This is so easy to operate, an 11 year old can figure it out. My son easily selected songs by artist or album with an easy to operate wheel (similar to a DVD remote wheel) to select by main categories ARTIST // ALBUM // SONG, then to subcategories, the actual artist, album or song in alphabetical order.

Durability This uses flash memory, which means there is no hard drive, and thus no moving parts. You can bounce it about a bit or drop it with no ill effects. It is made of plastic though, my son's new iPod Nano is brushed aluminum.

Would I buy it Again? Well, in a simple word NO. It was a great iPod, but the replacement one we got; the Second Generation Silver iPod Nano holds 2 gigabytes for the same price. The 1 Gigabyte iPod Nano Black is now passe.

Summary The iPod Nano Black was fine, but it's already outdated by the second gen iPods. The storage capacity is rapidly filled up, and it is plastic instead of metal. However, it did come with its own software, while our new iPod Nano did not (it had to be downloaded). Now I think that 150 for 1 gig is rather pricey. 3 Stars.

The replacement iPod Nano Silver (2nd Generation!)


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 150.00
Recommended for: Beginners - Easy Enough for Tech Newbies