Apple iPod nano 8 GB Black (3rd Generation) OLD MODEL
by Apple Computer
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Our Price: $370.50 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Apple iPod nano 8 GB Black (3rd Generation) OLD MODEL
Customer Review: My First iPod
Summary: 3 Stars
I really struggled between 3 and 4 stars. If you don't mind being locked into iTunes, locked into Apple and having to pay $50 for a video cable, then I'd consider this a 5 star product. However, I do mind.
Without repeating everyone else, the hardware is a thing of beauty. Specifically what made me make this my first iPod ever was the fact that this is by far the most compact video player available, especially for one that can output to a TV or projector. This was the only reason I left my drag-and-drop, user-replaceable battery Sansa behind. I'd give my new iPod 5 stars for this feature alone if it weren't for the $50 cable you have to buy only from Apple because they inserted an authentication chip. I consider that kind of restriction blatantly anti-consumer.
In fact, it's that let's-lock-you-into-Apple aspect that has me downgrading my opinion. Many people will not care, but I still chafe under the necessity of DRM, how I will lose most of the utility of my iTunes purchases if I ever abandon the iPod, the mandatory use of iTunes, etc.. Still, I knew what I was getting into and was willing to overlook these little uglies. I can even understand how some of those measures were perhaps necessary to placate the recording labels, but the authentication chip and $50 price tag for the video-out cable was definitely not a necessity. I guess Apple was sick of being undercut on video cables for the last-gen video iPod. For $20, I'd be happy. For $30, I'd shut my mouth and take it like a man. But $50 for a cable that they are in essence telling me I cannot buy elsewhere? Sorry, but for me that's more than just a blemish on something otherwise so pretty.
On the other hand, to those who find that their generic USB chargers do not charge their iPod -- this is not a scheme from Apple to force you to buy their stuff. After reading through the newest USB specs, I believe Apple is just following the new standard which specifies that the two middle USB pins (D+ and D-) on the charger should be shorted together.
This is how all future USB devices are supposed to instantly detect that they are connected to a charger and not a hub or computer USB port. Most older and/or generic chargers do not comply with this spec and the newest iPods will not recognize them. Even Apple chargers made for the 1st-gen Shuffle do not work with the newest iPods for this very reason. So if you're buying a USB charger for your iPod, make sure it supports the newest models.
Also, I've found the player to be somewhat buggy. For instance, my iPod will sometimes not let me adjust the volume level if I don't exit the song first. Some album art shows up in iTunes on my PC but ends up as a black box on my iPod. I expect future firmware updates will correct those bugs. I also wish there were some way to scroll through files faster. I have some files (like lectures) that are an hour long. Trying to fast-forward to a spot near the end of the lecture is a frustrating exercise of thumb-spinning. Many of my previous MP3 players allowed me to just hold the FF button and the longer I held it, the faster it would forward.
Overall, I'd give me iPod 5 stars on hardware. I knock it down to a 3 or 4 because of unnecessary or anti-consumer product restrictions.
Customer Review: I like it, but it has two major drawbacks for my needs
Summary: 3 Stars
If 'TV out' isn't important to you, or you don't care about playing podcasts back to back without fiddling with the ipod, then I'm sure you'll still love the new 3g nano. I like the video feature, the size (great for commuting), style, and colors of the new nano 3g, and iPods have the easiest/best way of selecting and sorting through music of any MP3 player out there. (I've tried a couple other brands.) But....
...in my case, one of the key reasons I bought the 3g was so that I could display photos or video on a TV. Unfortunately, that feature requires the purchase of a new cable which costs 50 bucks(the old AV cables don't work. The new cables connect through the docking port, not through the headphone input.) Of course this is something most people won't find out till they buy the product and the old AV cable. Not only do you need a new cable, but I went to many stores to get the new cable and none of them had it in stock. I finally had to order it directly from the iTunes store. I suppose someday soon, 3rd party cables will be made for one third the cost of the new AV cable made by Apple, but if you want the video out feature now, be prepared to fork over another 50 bucks. Yuck!
Also disappointing to me was a change to the software that significantly impacts what I use the ipod for. I mostly listen to podcasts and like to download all my favorites and then listen to them all without messing with the ipod (very nice feature when you're working out for an hour or more and don't want to have to mess with the ipod on the go). On the old ipod, I could find my podcasts on the music menu under "genres" and could click on "podcasts" and "all" and it would play all of them without my ever having to touch it again. Cool!!! The new ipod doesn't allow this. Not cool!! Podcasts have been moved to the root menu so they no longer show up on the music menu and there is no way to play them all non-stop. (If anyone finds a way to do this, please make a comment.) So, now when I'm on a long ride on my bike, or I'm in traffic, I have to stop and fumble with the 3g after the end of each podcast. That is really annoying and what used to be a great feature of the 2g nano, suddenly becomes impossible on the 3g. Bummer! Now, I'm back to using my 2g nano on my biking commute.
Update (Jan 12)... The 'shuffle on' setting is what has caused my podcasts to stop playing back to back. If shuffle is set to 'off' they play without touching the iPod. Thanks for the comments that led to this discovery. Still, there hasn't been a software fix for this and it is annoying to have to fiddle with the shuffle setting depending on whether I want to listen to music or podcasts. Hello Apple!
Finally, the 3g nano has some compatibility problems with other products. For example, I bought the iHome alarm clock and it has glitches when I use my 3g but works well with my older 2g. Same thing with a sports watch I tested in the store. The TIMEX ironman watch that has wireless controls for the ipod didn't work with the 3g. So, if you are an early adopter, be aware of that. I'd recommend that if you have the 3g nano, that you test it carefully in the store with any product that claims to be 3g nano compatible before you buy and make sure the features you care about actually work.
Customer Review: A great little piece of equipment
Summary: 4 Stars
After several MP3 players, I have finally grown frustrated with Microsoft's kinks with their Media Player software and the incessant troubleshooting of their poorly managed DRM music files. After experimenting with the iTunes software, I headed over to my local Apple store to play with their iPods. I considered both the Nano and the Classic. While my entire music collection is over 8 gb (plus video content), I decided to go with the Nano simply because of it's tiny size, and the ease of slipping it in my pocket while exercising or traveling.
Style: The Nano is really small and tops on my list in terms of looks, the slick case contains the iPod trademark stainless steel back (which is nearly impossible to keep clean), and the wheel. The wheel is a good bit smaller than the Classic, and while it took some getting used to, I think it was quite easy to master. The screen is small, but the new "squatty" styling of the Nano permits a larger screen than the previous generation Nano. The screen is slightly recessed from the case, and it has begun to collect some dust around the edges.
Interface: The distinctive wheel on the iPod makes navigating the menus quite easy. The menus are very intuitive, and begin with music, podcasts, video, etc, then within the Music category you can play by artist, playlist, etc. I don't really find what all the fuss about this album view thing is, while it is useful on a touch screen device like the Touch or the iPhone, it is pointless on the Nano or Classic. You can only sync this device using Apple's proprietary iTunes software, there are many options which enable you to restrict what gets transferred to the iPod by rating, genre, playlists, or even only checked items - this is very useful if your collection exceeds the capacity of the iPod.
Music: I can sync it with only my favorite songs (using the rating system within iTunes), and while. Equalizer customization is very limited, but the factory defaults are set very good, sound comes out full and rich (at least as good as a flash MP3 player can). The Nano came with the distinctive white earbuds and they are ok, but I am using some sound isolating SONY earbuds which provide excellent sound from this Nano.
Video: The screen resolution is incredibly crisp and bright - it's amazing really. I initially thought the idea of watching a video on this 2" screen was ludicrous, it is not as bad as it seems assuming you are picking up a 30 minute or shorter video podcast or something - I still don't think I could subject my eyes to a 2 hour movie on this thing though.
All-in-all, this device meets or exceeds my expectations by providing a lot of features in a very small package at a reasonable cost. 8GB of storage is adequate for most folks, and the video functions that Apple includes in this are a nice addition. There is still some room for Apple to improve the sound quality and customization options, and I wish they would include a set of earbuds that not only looked cool, but also sounded good.
Customer Review: Excelent little player!
Summary: 5 Stars
I received my 3rd Gen. iPod Nano a little less than a month ago as a gift. Before that, I had a clunky, ugly, and constrained Nomad Muvo2 from Creative Labs. It was functional, but it was so constrained that I could do no more than listen to music. I never actually wanted an iPod before I saw the Nano in the Apple store. What a breath of fresh air!! The new iPod Nano is so versatile, so intuitive, and so sleek that I will never try an inferior brand of MP3 players again. And talk about video quality! I thought that I would get eyestrain watching such a tiny screen, but the quality of the iPod's screen is so detailed that your eyes trick you into thinking you're watching your video on a bigger screen, and iPod games look great on this player.
I must mention that there are several downsides that you should know before buying this otherwise great system:
1. You can't play radio right off--you'll have to buy an FM receiver which is sold by a plethora of companies in just about any store.
2. You can only synch to one playlist. This means that you can't take files off several computers at the same time like MP3 players, instead you have to have all of your music on one computer.
3. You can't play MP3. You instead have to go through a lengthy process of letting iTunes convert all of your MP3 files into a readable format.
4. Unlike most MP3 players, you can't just slide off a panel in the back and insert a new rechargeable battery when yours dies. You can buy replacement batteries for the iPod, but you have to crack open your iPod to insert it. So, unless you are comfortable messing with hardware (like myself), plan on buying a new iPod in three to four years (that's probably time for a new one anyway, though.
5. Battery life: it's very limited (2-5 hours depending on what you're doing), and you can only charge from your computer unless you buy an AC or DC adapter. I wouldn't go on a long car-trip without a car charger.
6. iPod only supports MPEG4 videos. This means that, if you have a system that can record TV and put it on you computer in readable files, it has to be able to record in MPEG4, or you have to get file converter software, which can be expensive.
7. When the iPod crashes (it's happened to me twice in the time that I've had it), it is easily remedied with the restore function on iTunes. But, before you click that button, I must warn you that it will erase all of your settings (except the time and date) and all of the high-scores and accounts on your games.
I know that all of these "downsides" sound like I'm trying to discourage you, but I still give the Nano a 5-star rating because, in spite of all of these little bugs and disadvantages (which aren't all that difficult to deal with), the Apple 3rd Gen. iPod Nano is still, at the end of the day, one of the best (if not the best) music player on the market today. If you can find a better player anywhere, please tell me, I would like to know.
Customer Review: Good, but could be better.
Summary: 4 Stars
I recently just received the Apple iPod Nano 8 GB Black as a gift from one of my friend's. After popping on the cable, I found I had to download iTunes, in order to "kick-over," all my music from Windows Media Player to iTunes. Easy, just went to the website and uploaded the program. But after that, I spent many frustrating hours watching my music conversed over from WMP to iTunes, and than trying to figure out how to put the music onto my new iPod.
I made it harder than it was, to tell you the truth. I kept on checking and re-checking the little boxes next to the Tracks of music and after un-checking everything that loaded up, re-checked the ones that I wanted on my iPod and than finally figured out that you have to go to the name of your iPod and press the "magical," button Synchronize, which translates to burning the music onto this little, nifty device. It worked, the only problem I had was that I'm still trying to figure out how to put Videos on it, since the Videos are stored into the Movies folder as icons besides Tracks in a List. I tried putting them on from the "Recently Added," section, but that didn't work. So if anybody knows how to transfer Videos from that Music folder onto the iPod, please, let me know.
Anyway, other than how long it takes for all that music, plus pictures, pod cast and anything else to "Synchronize," onto the Apple iPod, it is very convenient and compact, tiny and delicate yet stronger than its ancestors. I remember that one of my friend's had an older, bulkier version of the iPod, and holding that in my hands was like holding a brick. With this little dude, it's light, but might not be good for anybody with big hands or fingers.
Before I received this iPod, I was using an MP3 Player and thought I could transfer my music directly from Window Media Player to my new iPod. Big no no. iTunes wouldn't like you doing that, and the iPod doesn't recognize the files when you put them on, so you ether have to download iTunes in order to load up everything or find some other program. You also have to buy music, videos, pod cast, or whatever from the iTunes Store, but that isn't altogether necessary. You can just pop-in a CD disc and rip it into the iTunes. I do not suggest that you illegally download music from Limewire or Ares, but I know that people do that all the time. Which is nice to have free music, but its hard transferring that stuff from one thing, like Windows Media Player, to having to convert it to iTunes, which takes a while.
Overall, the Apple iPod Nano 8 GB Black is really nice device, but they could had done a whole lot better job. They make it so hard having to covert the music over, that its frustrating. I think the iPod should be more like the older MP3, just able to copy the music, video, whatever files from your folders on your computer and paste them in. But oh well, the iPod is enjoyable enough.