Apple iPod nano 8 GB 5th Generation (Black)
by Apple Computer
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Our Price: $252.98 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $87.00 (click here) Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Apple iPod nano 8 GB 5th Generation (Black)
Customer Review: Nano 5th Gen. Slick on Marketing, Low On Praticality
Summary: 1 Stars
Faced with a saturated, stagnated market of 4th-gen. Nano owners, Apple is seeking to stimulate new sales and revenue with the introduction of its new 5th-gen. model. It's an old, worn-out, yet effective marketing ploy that's been practiced by the cell-phone providers for some years: include some useless "add-on" to the base product and remarket/position it as something altogether new and improved. But the reality here is that the 5th-gen Nano is still just an MP3 player, only now it features a video-camera which, for all practical purposes, is not worth tossing out your year-old 4th-gen model (introduced only in Sept. 2008) to own! Just like cell phones with low-res cameras and vid-cams onboard -- which still essentially do just one thing, that is, allow you to make phone calls -- the 5th-gen. Nano too, despite its vid-cam add-on, still does one essential thing: it plays MP3s (and of course Apple's own proprietary DRM format). So the real question here is this: "why buy the 5th-gen. Nano with vid-cam when all you REALLY need the thing to do is to play your music files?!" The 4th-gen. Nano is barely a year old and is probably still operating just fine for most people. This purely market-driven product intro. by Apple -- which features no essential improvements in terms of "audio technology" -- is designed only to increase the company's revenues without providing consumers with anything fundamentally new and improved! As such, the 5th-gen. Nano is not a new and better mousetrap by any stretch but rather a repackaged 4th-gen. platform with a vid-cam slapped on it. So who needs it? Well, Apple for one: the company needs to keep its assembly line humming along, and its profit margin high, to keep people employed and to keep investors happy. (Can anybody spell "Capitalism?!") The bigger question for consumers, however, is "how much is enough?!" We tend to acquire new technology only because the manufacturers of all these "e-toys" have conditioned us to do so, and we think we're staying ahead of some "Gizmo Curve" with each new purchase, with many consumers averaging a new player or cell phone or other such e-product every year! It's how the consumer electronics industry counters a glutted market of essentially similar products. And as long as uninitated, unsavvy consumers keep buying into this strategy (literally), the more the manufacturers -- be it Apple or someone else -- will keep introducing essentially "same-as" products that often change in colors only or accessorization, but with no essential changes or improvement to their products' base technologies! My advice: hang on to your 4th-gen. Nano for a while longer and boycott the Nano 5. Then, watch how fast the price drops on the product as Apple backs down from its otherwise guerilla marketing tactics!Customer Review: Pathetic performance for this runner...
Summary: 1 Stars
When my faithful 2nd gen iPod nano died after 3.5 years, I accepted its time was up and went for a newer, spiffier model. I rejoiced to find my sparkly new iPod and was secretly maybe a little glad to have had a forced upgrade.
Note, I use my iPod only while running, and leaving it resting in open air on my desk otherwise.
Unfortunately, small issues cropped up almost immediately. I noticed that (a) the iPod would pause in the middle of a track then skip to the next, at random and (b) the touchpad would not respond at all if there was even the slightest bit of moisture on my fingertips. Since, as stated above, the only time I use my iPod is while running, this put my sparkly-but-insubstantial new iPod into the 2- or 3-star zone for me. Neither of these were issues I experienced even a single time with my hardy old 2nd gen iPod Nano.
Four weeks after its purchase and with less than twenty hours of use under its belt, I went to run this morning with my shiny but insubstantial iPod only to find it wouldn't turn on. I'd charged it immediately after my last run, since its battery was running down after a few uses without charge, and had seen the screen indicate it was charging. But something clearly happened between my last run and this morning, because neither the hard nor soft power ons did anything. Plugging it into my primary computer did nothing. The connection didn't register on either my dead, dead, dead iPod or my computer. Same result for my laptop. I rummaged up my wall charger and gave that a shot. Nada.
Had this product survived a few extra days, I would be stuck messing around with warranties, tech support and headaches for a useless product. Reading a few of the reviews on here, I feel lucky mine died when it did. A few more days and I would've been stuck with this POS.
I'd rather buy a solid product and run with a clear mind from the get-go than spend hour after hour wondering when my expensive product is going to fail again and how many hours of tech support I'm supposed to be into getting it to a level of functionality it should've had to begin with.
I'm shipping this piece of junk back and going for another well engineered, trusty 2nd gen iPod Nano.
Customer Review: The best nano yet..
Summary: 5 Stars
I upgraded from the 1st gen Nano (yes, the first gen) to the 5th gen 8GB Ipod Nano. Let me just knock down the list of traits Amazon had me rate:
Portability:
It's a Ipod Nano, 'nuff said. It's about the same size as the first gen model, but ever so slightly lighter due to it's plastic build (at least compared to the first gen, its weight makes it feel borderline cheapish). I use it during my runs, and I haven't had a problem with it so far.
Ease of Use:
You need iTunes to put music on it...iTunes isn't really a terrible piece of software as it allows you to organize your stuff, but it also means you NEED iTunes, and only iTunes, to organize and put new songs on.
Battery Life:
Haven't fully tested the battery life, but I've never had a problem with it so far (I only charge it once every month or so; I use it for about 5 hours a week for listening to music).
In terms of the actual player, the menus are easy to navigate with the circular touch pad. It's not hard to find out how to get to the stuff you need with the iPod.
For a simple music player, there virtually was no difference between the 1st gen and 5th gen.
Stability:
Never had a problem with it.
Screen Size:
You're probably not going to be watching movies on it, but it's a decent enough window to navigate the menus, or show a friend some quick pictures or a brief video.
Headphones:
They suck, when will Apple realize this. I bought my own.
There's a ton of other features that I haven't mentioned but should be considered when buying...the video player is a nice plus for those moments you want to capture but don't have a camera on your person. Most other things like the games, pedometer, radio tuner are nice to have but you'll probably use once and never touch again.
As a light, reliable music player, I wholeheartedly recommend it unless you're on a tight budget. The iPod's other features, besides being a music player, are nice but not necessary; if you want a simple music player for your daily activities you could probably find cheaper elsewhere.
Customer Review: Great Travel Companion
Summary: 5 Stars
I received my Ipod 5th generation model as a late Christmas gift and have been playing with it for hours and hours, listening to all my favorite music and watching a couple of movie such as Gladiator extended cut and 300 as well as The Dark Knight, the picture quality is amazing, such clarity from such a small device but maybe that's because its due to the screen size and ratio, Does not really matter because it gets the job done. Size does matter when traveling and being one who takes buses, trains and planes to my destination im always on the look out for the next best thing when it comes to entertainment on the go and it just so happens I have found something incredible. Here are the top 5 reasons why you should purchase an Ipod Nano 5th generation:
1. So small, extremly portable, smaller than your phone, thin and light and discrete.
2. You can record and capture live video of those goofy vacations and moments.
3. You can listen to Local radio stations as long as you get a clear signal and...Pause live radio for up to 15 minutes!!
4. You can watch your videos on the go without cramping your wrists, such a portable video player now exists and it is in the form of a clever design that screams portability!
5. If you hear a song that you like from a local radio station, via Germany, France or Rome you can tag it, than sync your ipod to your pc and purchase the song! Who says you can't keep up on whats hot in the music industry, now you can!
Well there you have it, Those are my top reasons why the 5th generation is better than the 4th, I have a 4th and now a 5th as well as a Sony psp and I mus say this Nano topples my psp by far in portability and sound quality. Its just there.. waiting to be put in your pocket to go wherever you go, anytime, any where. Another feature that is interesting is that you can sit on a train and be read to using the built in audio book feature. This device is [...] for entertainment, weather your off for a run or at work trying tog et some work done, its a nifty little toy!
Customer Review: iPod Nano 5th Not for Workout Use
Summary: 2 Stars
I purchased the 5th gen iPod Nano for workout use based on past experience with the Apple Shuffle reliability. Along with the nano I purchased a Belkin nano sport armband. The nano is very tempermental - music skips and the locking switch not locking all buttons. I followed online instructions to fix the problems by ensuring fully charged, toggling the hold button, then resetting the unit - this being done at least 15-times as Apple instructions are that this operation may have to be repeated multiple times. It seemed stable when I left on a business trip but at the motel it started acting up again and it was completely unusable (skipping music - unlocked buttons - sensitive to motion). When I returned home I restored the unit checked for updated software (none) and went through the same routine. It is again working okay for now. The belkin case has the earphone jack hole in the wrong place - did Apple move the jack from 4th gen? When working out with the nano it's almost impossible to adjust the volume since unlocking the nano also activates the other buttons, which are all very sensitive. This is made especially difficult by the clear cover on the belkin, which seems to cause activation of the wrong buttons and makes the capacitive volume adjustment operate in an unpredictable way. I didn't try the additional features, such as the video. The nano seems to be well built - nice and solid - and the sound is excellent. I have no doubt that the video features would also be superb. For obvious practical reasons, I'll use my shuffle for now and wait for a firmware upgrade for the nano and try to find an armband more practical than the belkin. I think most 5th gen nano users would probably agree that it would be very bad form for Apple to charge for a version upgrade considering all the headaches with the existing nano firmware. If Apple doesn't fix the problem I'll have no choice but the chuck the nano as unusable. Hopefully Apple will do the right thing. I'm surprised they didn't in this case ...