Apple iPod¿ nano Second Generation 8GB ( MA497LL/A ) MP3 Player - Compact and Excellent
Written: Mar 08 '07
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Pros: Compact, stylish, excellent sound and volume, fast transfer, battery life, bright screen, 8GB
Cons: No WMA support, no FireWire support, pricey
The Bottom Line: I highly recommend the iPod Nano 8 GB. It has good sound, long battery life, bright legible screen, cool design and easy to use software. If your budget...
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| dkozin's Full Review: Apple iPod nano 2nd Generation Black (8 GB) MP3 Pl... |
Why have the 2GB version of the Nano if you can get a 8GB one? Although the 8GB iPod Nano is more expensive, I was getting tired of having to choose what songs to delete from my 2 GB version to free up some space for the new tunes. Plus I like the black color. So I got the iPod Nano 8GB in black color.
I have used the 1st generation Apple iPod Nano 2 GB in black color for over a year and also used the 2nd generation iPod Nano 2 GB in silver. The 2nd generation iPod Nanos are an improvement from the first generation in many respects.
Some things were pretty annoying with the 1st generation: the scratch-prone front panel, the stylish, but smudge-prone rear. And the Nano could use a longer-lasting battery as well as a brighter screen for those of us who take the MP3 player outside and still want to see the song titles in sunlight. The issues were addressed in the 2nd generation of iPod Nanos, including this 8GB Nano: better battery life, brighter screen, better scratch and smudge resistance. The 8GB Nano were not even available before, they were 2GB and 8GB.
What is iPod Nano?
The Apple iPod Nano is a miniature MP3 player that is compact, thin, has a color screen, a click wheel and stores songs in the MP3, AAC, protected AAC (from iTunes store or compressed with iTunes) or WAV format in the internal flash memory. There are 2-Gygabyte, 4-Gygabyte and 8-Gygabyte versions of it. The LCD screen lets you navigate the songs and also view stored photos.
Unlike the old Nano that only came in white or black, the New Second Generation Nanos come in different colors. 2GB comes in silver color only. 4GB version comes in silver, green, blue red and pink colors. 8 GB Nano comes in black or red. Both red iPods (4 or 8 GB) are "Special Edition". I got the black version of the 8GB Nano.
The player’s back panel is no longer mirror-finish metal, which was stylish, but smudge-prone. The new Nano is compact, stylish and easy to use. The case is made of aluminum and the dimensions are pretty much the same as the previous version. The Nano uses flash memory for storing your music/data and therefore is skip-free and less energy-consuming that hard drive based players. The new version has longer battery life and brighter screen than the previous generation.
What's in the Box?
The product comes in a box that contains the iPod Nano itself, small headphones (earbuds), a USB cable and a bracket for connecting your Nano to optional accessories. It also contains the quick start guide.
Manuals
The manual that comes with the player is rather short (it is rather a quick start guide), yet very descriptive. I started using my previous iPod Nano without reading the manual first and was able to figure out how to use it. Mostly. The bottom line here is if you have used an iPod or another MP3 player, there will not be much to learn.
And if you did not, you will learn in no time. I found that the new Nano is virtually the same in terms of usage as the old one. And since I had the 2nd generation Nano before (2GB version), there was absolutely nothing for me to learn.
Controls
The player has compact rectangular shape with rounded edges on the sides (a change from the last design). The player is very compact and lightweight without feeling cheap. The front panel houses bright color LCD screen in the upper part and a circular control cluster with Play/Pause button at the bottom, Skip Back and Skip Forward buttons left and right of it, Menu on top and the unnamed Center button in the middle.
The Nano is locked or unlocked by sliding the small HOLD switch on the top panel. The bottom panel houses the USB port and the standard 3.5mm headphone jack. The player is so slim that the headphone jack takes up almost the entire width of the bottom panel. I find the fact that the headphone jack is at the bottom slightly inconvenient, but I am sure it would have been impossible to place it on the top panel, since the LCD screen, most likely, takes up all the internal space in that area.
The Skip Forward and Skip Back buttons skip to the next or previous song. When held, they fast forward or backward within the song. The MENU button lets you go to the previous menu level. The PLAY/PAUSE button lets you start or resume playback, pause it or turn the player off if depressed for several seconds.
The Nano features so-called click wheel. You can place your finger on any area within the outer control circle and move it clockwise or counter-clockwise to scroll through the menu items, change the volume while the song is playing or jump to any point within the song. Very cool and user-friendly.
The player usage is exactly the same as with the previous generation of the Nano. But the case is less reflective and does not scratch as easily or show scratches as prominently as the old one (my older-generation Nano was black too).
Click Wheel
The click wheel functionality is really cool. Although there is no actual wheel of any kind, you place your finger on the outer circle of controls and move it clockwise or counterclockwise to scroll through the menu items, adjust the volume or move to any point within the song.
The tactile response of the controls is excellent, including the click wheel. And the Nano makes a short chirping sound when you push some buttons, which is a great confirmation as well.
Connectivity
The Nano has a wide exposed connection port for use with a supplied USB cable. The supplied USB cable plugs into the port with some effort and you have to squeeze the ends of it to take it out. You can also use the USB cables from other iPods. What you still cannot use, however, is the FireWire cable from other iPods. Your Nano will charge, but you will not be able to transfer songs. Not a big deal with smaller-capacity iPods, but when you deal with 8GB of capacity, I wish I had an option to use FireWire.
Battery and Charging
The player has an internal battery that recharges while the iPod is connected to the powered USB port. When I connected to my computer, the LCD screen illuminated and the icon that indicates charging appeared. My Nano came charged about 80%. I still followed Apple's recommendation and fully charged it.
According to Apple, you have up to 24 hours of continuous playback time on one charge, which is a significant improvement from the earlier Nano models’ claimed 14 hours. I normally use the Nano while hiking in the mountains, which is about 4-5 hours worth of music. In such conditions, especially if you recharge/change music before/after every trip, battery life matters little (or not at all).
But I do take my Nano on transatlantic flights and traveling in general. In this conditions, the battery life of my previous Nano (about 12-14 hours) was good, but not great. I have used the new one for a combined time period of about 15 hours and there is still charge left in it, which is already a very good improvement. I figure the real battery life is about 20-24 hours. Nice!
Software Installation
You can download the latest software from the Apple web site. The software in question is Apple iTunes 7, which seems to be an improvement on the previous iTunes, but not a revolutionary one.
Music Transfer
You can select an option in the iTunes software that makes the iTunes automatically start once the iPod is connected. The iTunes looks cute and is easy to use. The iPod appears as one of the folders in the left pane of iTunes and you can drag and drop the songs you want from the Library folder that represents your music library. And unlike the earlier iTunes and the iPod Shuffle, you can drag MP3 files directly from your hard drive or any other drive onto your iPod in iTunes without placing them first into your music library.
As soon as you drag and drop the songs, the data processing and transfer to iPod starts. The message is also telling you that you cannot disconnect the iPod at this stage (to prevent data corruption). The LCD display on the iPod also tells you not to disconnect the Nano at this stage.
The Nano supports USB 2.0 Hi-Speed and files are copied very fast. I copied close to 3 GB of music and discovered that the Nano has the transfer speed of over 5 MB per second. This means that it takes about 11-14 seconds to transfer an average album of music (depending on bit rate).
The iPod 8GB version can fit a little less than 8 GB of music, since in addition to actual files, there are several folders created and files with information about each song are written. Depending on song length and the bit rate, you can fit anywhere from 2,000 songs (at 128 kbps bit rate) to 1,000 songs (if you want better sound quality and use, say 256 kbps VBR). You can select the default compression method and bit-rate in iTunes settings (for CD ripping). You cannot transcode from WMA to MP3 or AAC however.
The Nano supports Variable Bit Rate (VBR) for better sound quality at the same bit rate as CBR (Constant Bit Rate). It also supports AAC, Audible format 2-4, Apple lossless, protected AAC, AIFF and WAV. What it still does not support (and unlikely will support in future) is WMA. Windows Media is not a good friend of Apple. And the iTunes does not support WMA either.
Sound Quality
Even in a portable device, the sound quality is very important to me. The new Nano does not disappoint. It is difficult to expect much from the compact device that comes with small earbuds and is used with MP3/AAC. But even with the supplied earbuds, the music sounded pretty good.
The supplied earbuds lack bass and sounded bright overall with slight metallic treble, but the imaging was good, the clarity was very good as well. Still, other headphones are needed to fully utilize the sound quality the Nano can provide.
The single most significant improvement to the sound of any MP3 player is replacing the stock headphones. You do not even have to spend a lot to get better sound. I replaced the stock Apple headphones with the, tried and true, Koss KSC75, which is a larger headphone that is attached to your ear with a clip that curves around it. I also tried the iPod with large enclosed Sennheiser HD202. Neither of these headphones costs more than $20, but both improve the sound dramatically.
With both, the bass appeared along with warmer, more natural sound. The MP3 decoding quality was good and approached CD quality at higher bit rates, although at 128 kbps there was slight lack of treble quality. But that was expected because of the low bit rate and no player would be able to do much better.
The supplied earbuds look stylish (even though they are white and thus do not match the Nano's color). They are also quite big for earbuds. Overall, I am pleased with the iPod’s sound, especially paired with better headphones than the ones supplied. The imaging was great, the noise non-existent and the frequency response seems to be excellent.
Furthermore, unlike my previous Philips player and like the last iPod Nano, the 2-nd gen Nano can play very loud, even with aftermarket headphones, which is not always the case with other players.
The Nano has an equalizer with multiple effective presets, but I do not use it since the MP3s I have are usually of good quality (ripped from CDs or downloaded from a paid web site). The supplied headphones are decent enough to require no equalization and the aftermarket once are even better. I highly recommend Koss KSC75 headphones (reviewed here) to upgrade any iPod.
I also used iSolate headphones as well as Koss SparkPlug when I fly and need noise suppression.
Skip Protection
The Nano players needs no skip protection as it has no mechanical parts (they use flash memory) and will not skip. It is also less susceptible to damage from drops, comparing with the players that use hard drives (for instance iPod Video). The use of flash memopry also results in lower power consumption.
LCD
The Nano has a bright colorful 1.5-inch LCD display. The screen has a bright backlight and features nice color scheme. It is even more visible in sunlight now that it is brighter (Apple claims 40% brighter) and fits a lot of information.
Durability
Having used the previous generation of iPod Nano, I had my concerns: scratch-resistance is the only one of them. The new case makes the Nano more scratch-resistant and the black matte finish shows scratches less than my previous black reflective Nano. I have used a protective silicone case with my previous Nano and use the rugged case with this one, which, along with the screen protector, should preserve it very well.
Bottom Line
I am very pleased with the new Second Generation iPod Nano. It is a definite improvement over the previous generation. It is stylish, compact, does not skip, provides excellent volume, sound quality and battery life, needs no charger, has useful hold functionality, comes with good software and is easy to use. The small issues I did not like in the last Nano were improved upon as well: the scratch resistance, longer battery life and the brighter screen are great news.
The new iPod Nano 8 GB has excellent capacity. Although it cannot hold your entire music library but it holds a lot of music and its compact size and low weight make up for it. It is also easy and pleasant to use. And the price of under $250 is low for such an impressive capacity, performance and style.
I highly recommend the iPod Nano 8 GB. It has good sound, long battery life, bright legible screen, cool design and easy to use software. If your budget is smaller, check out the 2 GB version, which can be had for less than $150.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 245
Recommended for: Athletes - Lightweight and Portable, Perfect for the Gym
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Epinions.com ID:
dkozin
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 in Electronics |
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Location: California
Reviews written: 838
Trusted by: 516 members
About Me:
I love to push buttons on electronic (audio and video) equipment. It makes me happy.
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