Apple iPod Nano video 4GB Third Generation

Author's product rating:   

Sound Quality	Good
Ease of Use	Very Easy
Look & Design	Excellent
Range of Features	Excellent
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Slim and easy to carry
Disadvantages:	Requires constant charging

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

MUSIC IS AN INTEGRAL PART of our way of living. It is an art form that transcends differences and boundaries. It is indeed a human expression being passed from one generation to another. With the technological advancement, music is much easier shared and very much enjoyed by everyone. From the ordinary turn-table to a radio cassette recorder, and from walkmans to portable media players, our favourite songs can be played at our own convenience, either inside our homes or while walking in the parks.

In the latter part of 2001, music became closer to our daily routines - 24/7 activities of work and play when Apple, Inc. launched its iconic brand, iPod. To date, iPod showcases the latest trend of portable digital audio players - from screen-less to touch-screen gadget, including its latest product line, iPod touch. It is fascinating to know the evolution of this stylish music gadget. Apple, Inc. has marketed several models - commonly known as "generation" which differ by functional features, storage capacities and sizes as briefly enumerated below (source:Wikipedia):

1. Classic: It has four generations, from the mechanical scroll wheel to the coloured screen and photo viewing.
2. Mini: It has two generations, from the click wheel to longer battery life-span
3. Nano: It has three generations, from flash memory connection to video-viewing capability
4. Shuffle: It has two generation, from no screen to smaller clip design
5. Touch: The latest/first generation has wi-fi and multi-touch interface with access to Youtube and iTunes.

AT FIRST I WAS NOT INTERESTED to own one of these generations. Few years ago when Shuffle model was available, everybody feels "crazy" for acquiring one as a status symbol of being trendy or "in" with the young generation! Despite being an impulsiveness buyer, I was completely successful to avoid iPod's craze and contented of having my laptop and mobile phone play my favourite music. But Apple, Inc. is really good in marketing and every year new models are distributed to meet the high demand of buyers. When the iPod nano (third generation) hits the high street in 2007, I was one of the consumers who plan to grab it as a birthday/Christmas presence for myself. But I was lucky to have it "free" before my birthday. It was not a gift from a friend or a relative, but it was a winning prize for my 10-seconds video clip submitted to one of the on-line travel sites as part of its 10-year anniversary promotional celebration. The iPod nano was not totally free as a prize. I spent approximately £6 in preparing the clip (for the props), as well as paying the courier service of £35 for the import tax. The organizer of the contest declared the exact market price of the gadget when it was posted from Canada. Well, at first I was disappointed, but then I eventually thankful and obliged to pay the tax, otherwise it will be sent back to the organizer. Anyway, I paid less for my pod (compared to the prevailing price of the device from £99 to £120) to accommodate my 1,000 various songs - from love songs to pop, and from local to foreign artists.

HOW DOES iPOD NANO LOOKS LIKE?
In reality, this iPod does perfectly fits to the catchy name "nano" as describing its size. In engineering terminology, nano is used to denote a measurement of 1x10 (raised to -9) but the term also derived from Greek meaning "dwarf" or from India as "little". Some of the basic physical attributes of the device as follows:

1. This third generation device has 6 colours shell to choose from for higher 8GB version, namely: mint green, red, black, pink, turquoise and silver. Unfortunately, black and green were my preferred colours, however the contest organiser gave me silver since it was the first version of 4GB and the only available colour at that time.
2. Having a 2-inch (approximately 51 mm) screen, it is thinner (6.9mm), shorter (3.5 mm) and heavier (42 grams) than the first and second generations of its kind. It is thinner due to its flash memory application.
3. The clarity and precision of the coloured screen is comparable to the 2.5 inch (64 mm) screen of the iPod classic generation.
4. Its front plate is made of aluminium while the black plate is stainless steel which somehow slides perfectly inside a small pocket.
5. Similar to other iPods, it has five buttons integrated in a click wheel, namely: menu is used to scroll backwards the contents of the unit; the center (middle part of the wheel) is used to select a specific item in the menu; play/pause is used to hear the song or stops playing momentarily. If this button is hold in a longer time, it totally switches off the power of the unit. The remaining buttons include skip backwards/fast reverse and skip forward and fast forward which function as the words imply.
6. It has a pair of white headphones (earbuds) which is smaller from the old models; the headphone jack is located at the bottom of the unit and the dock connecter at the centre. Unlike other earphone connection, the tip of the chord of the earphones is tightly attached to the jack and not easily removed from the device from any slight movement.
7. The lithium ion battery is hidden! It can not be removed or replaced by simple manual operation. It is soldered to the printed circuit board of the unit. Thus, battery lifespan is one of the issues of this generation, even though replacement batteries are available.

HOW DOES iPOD NANO WORKS?
Unlike other media players, iPod nano requires the assistance of iTunes software to reactivate its internal program. The iTunes software is available via internet thru the iTunes store website (www.apple.com/uk/itunes) which is free of charge. The steps are clearly stipulated in the installation manual as provided in the plastic box of the device upon purchase to successfully download the software. iTunes store allows iPod users to import, play and buy music and synchronise the tunes, audiobooks and podcasts with the device and with PC or laptop.

1. Installation is hassle-free by simply following the instructions as shown in the PC/laptop screen while connected with the internet. iTunes guides the users to complete the downloading process before the iPod is connected to the computer using a USB cable.
2. The iTunes program will open and the iPod is ready to be connected. The program overrides whatever music library installed inside the hard drive of the computer and automatically synchronise with the iPod. It means that the iTunes becomes the default music player of the computer.
3. iTunes automatically transfer the music from the online iTunes library or from the computer to iPod. Since I have more songs in my computer which could not be accommodated on my iPod, I decided to have it manage manually by clicking the desired songs to be added.
4. Manual adding is by simply dragging the selected file from the iTunes playlist to the iPod. Transferring songs from CDs is also easy and manageable.
5. Every time the iPod is connected to the iTunes, it also informs the users about the latest free version of the software for updates, otherwise ignore it for future downloading.

There are also few steps to follow in adding or copying music from CD to my iPod, and disconnecting the device from the PC. For adding music, I have to insert the audio CD to my laptop CD/DVD's drive while the iTunes program is open and connected to the internet. This way, iTunes automatically identify the audio information such as names of the artists, songs and album. I click the 'import CD' button in the iTunes window and uncheck the box besides the songs that I don't want to be copied from the CD.

In terms of disconnecting the iPod after updating the songs to be stored, an "ok to disconnect" message is seen on the screen of iPod which means it is safe to disconnect the device from the computer. However, if there is a message, "do not disconnect" in the iPod screen, then just simply click the eject icon found in the iTunes window and "ok to disconnect" message will appear on the device's screen.

In terms of uploading of videos to the device, I have a problem of doing it. Up to now, I don't know why my first and the last video that I transferred from my laptop to the iPod did not have an audio or sound! In other words, it is a "silent clip". Still on the process of discovering it, including on how to transfer youtubes videos to the iPod, instead of relying on iTunes which is not "free" to download songs!

DOES iPOD HAS ANY OPERATING AND TROUBLESHOOTING ISSUES?
There are basic things to remember for some operational difficulties of iPod. Make sure that the iPod is connected to the PC/laptop's high power USB port, not with keyboards or USB hubs because the device will not be charged. In my experience, at least one hour of charging to have a fully charged iPod and can be used for at least 3-days of interval usage. There is a sliding lock besides the connector hub of the iPod to lock the functions of the wheel, and at the same time that it also controls the accidental on-off of the device which could leads to the shortage of the battery.

Please note that there are instances that the iPod hangs-up and the screen just frozen! Having this issue, there is a need to reset the device by pressing and holding the menu and select (centre part of the wheel) buttons at the same time, and wait for the Apple logo to appear on the screen. For extreme problems, I suggest to contact (by phone or email) a local Apply distributer in the area, or refer to the registered distributor list found in the plastic box. Expect for higher charges and it might be expensive to have it repaired than to buy a new one!

HOW DOES iPOD NANO ENTERTAINS ME? IS IT WORTH KEEPING?
Briefly, as soon as the device is synchronised using the iTunes program, a table of contents or title lists will appear in the iPod's screen: Music, Playlists, Videos, Video playlists, Photos, Podcasts, Extras, Settings and Shuffle Songs. Clicking "music", it provides the "cover flows" of the available albums stored in the device (showing the album cover/image at the right side of the screen); the playlists of recently played, top 25 most played songs and the complete list of the songs. The "extras" include clocks, calendar, contact, alarms, games and stopwatch, etc. I think the games are quite interesting! The settings are used for the modes of playing the music such as shuffle, repeat, volume, brightness of the screen, backlight and for audiobooks' setting.

So far, this third generation device has a capacity of 4GB which provides a storage space for 1,000 songs, or 3,500 photos or four hours of video. So far, I had already transferred more than 700 songs and one video which occupy approximately 2.9 GB of the total storage capacity and 729MB are still available for use.

How about comparing it with other generations? Does it really worth keeping? These are some of the reasons why the 3rd generation iPod nano is always the "music to our ears"!

1. Unlike with the previous models, except the fifth generation of iPod classic, this generation uses USB cables instead of FireWire (a connection to the host computer for uploading/updating of songs and recharging of batteries).
2. It is also supported by MP3 and MAV for audio formats like with iPod mini.
3. It is the second smallest device comes next to iPod shuffle as the latter is only weighs 15 grams and iPod nano (third) is about 49.2 grams. The dimension as follows: height - 69.8mm (2.75 inches); width - 52.3mm (2.06 inches) and the depth - 6.5mm (0.26 inch).
4. Similar to the previous models, it has pre-installed games and
5. It has a video capability however; it does not support voice recording and camera connection which could be available in the old models.
6. It has a screen/display comparable to the pixel count of iPod classic.
7. It has a lock control using the click wheel which also used for volume level adjustment.
8. In the plastic box upon purchase has the following accessories: iPod nano device, white Earphones, dock adapter, USB 2.0 cable and the quick start manual/guide.

AFTER MORE THAN 8 MONTHS OF USING IT, I really enjoyed it - while walking or during my irregular workouts in the gym. It is very handy and easily slips to small pockets of my jogging pants, jeans or jacket. The size of the earphones perfectly fit to my ears; and the quality of sound/audio is very good which the volume can be adjusted to suits individual hearing level. To protect against scratches from sharp objects, I bought a plastic transparent case or skin, thus to maintain its original colour. It also helps organise my extra activities using its calendar, contact, notes, and timer/clock. Completely, a tiny and handy piece of technology that entertains me all the time!