The fourth generation of the Ipod Nano is a worthwhile upgrade. The user interface is very good, and they have upgraded the processor to deal with some newer video codecs.

My first iPod was the 5th generation iPod Video. My second iPod was a 3rd generation iPod Nano (the Fatboy). This newly upgraded 4th generation Nano is my newest iPod player.

I like the new size, and the upgraded menu viewing options are nice. You can now change the font size in the menus which can help vision challenged users.

The video processor is improved, and is capable of handling many video podcasts that earlier iPods have been having problems with. VH1's "Best Night Ever" plays flawlessly on this model. Many of those shows wouldn't load onto my older iPods in recent months. I downloaded versions which would fail on my earlier edition iPods, which played correctly on this newer model.

The screen is exactly the same size as the "Fatboy" Gen 3 nano, but rotated 90 degrees. When playing video, the display will adjust itself and invert the video to keep it "right-side-up" in either landscape direction. The video is ALWAYS displayed landscape, though, so if you hold the nano vertically the video will be rotated 90 degrees off-axis. The confusing part of this is that for games, they rotate the direction of the menu wheel by 90 degrees, but the labels on the wheel are then inaccurate. Many times while playing the games, I accidentally stop the audio playback, instead of controlling the game. This makes the menu system inconsistent. Knowing Apple, this may or may not be "fixed" in future firmware updates. I am running 1.02 software as of this review.

This player requires iTunes 8.0 to work, so before purchasing this player, be sure to download the newest iTunes and be sure it works on your system. There have been reported bugs on some systems.

The menus are very easy to navigate, and are organized well. Apple has mastered an intuitive user interface, and I have no complaints here.

My musical tastes are a bit eclectic, and the "genius" playlist feature doesn't work well for my tastes. If my musical likes were more mainstream, this would probably be a great feature.

The ipod comes the same old iPod earbuds, which I don't use. It also includes a new USB cable that doesn't require you to squeeze the connector to remove it, so now you can disconnect the cable after a charge witout needing to remove your headphone cable.

The player works in my iHome player with no issues, although a third-party car charging cable is now not accepted by the nano to charge it. Until I get an updated charging cable, I will need to dock it to a computer or place it in my iHome player to charge the nano.

I played 5 hours and of television programs in one session on a single charge before the battery conked out. After a full charge it then played music continously for more than 16 hours on a charge. It still showed more time available, but I don't know how long it would have continued before stopping.

Overall, I really like this new player.



Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 149
Recommended for: Athletes - Lightweight and Portable, Perfect for the Gym