Another simple, beautiful ipod from Apple (Apple iPod nano (3G) 8 GB)

Member Name: matt79uk

Product:	Apple iPod nano (3G) 8 GB
Date:	15/01/09 (58 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Super tiny, reasonable amount of storage. Disk mode to carry other data.

Disadvantages: Can be a bit fiddly if you have larger hands. Some may find it lacks a few features they desire.

My 3rd Generation 8 gig iPod Nano (Black) is a little over 12 months old and has provided flawless operation in that time.

Despite the release of the 4th Generation model several months ago this is still a great looking iPod with the legendary ease of use that Apples provides, through its software and interface, still firmly intact.

The ipod itself is typically gorgeous to look at and since this model introduced the 'chrome' back panel to the nano range it also suffers the same fingerprinting and misting 'issues' when held in the hand, should you percieve this to be problem.

The diminuitive stylings of this model are perhaps it's only real downfall for me personally. Whilst I love the size and compactness the smaller scroll-wheel found on this tiny player can actually be a bit of a fiddle for me to use if not held 'just right' in my hand.

Having said that, I'm fully aware I have a piano players fingers yet I still wanted a player as small and compact as the nano.

In otherwords I knew at the time of purchase it would be a trade off between the occasional bout of thumb cramp vs ultimate portability. (I often carry mine in my wallet like a credit card).

The ipods interface is widely acknowledge as being about as simple and intuitive as you can get so I don't feel it is necessary to go into details here.

New for the 3rd Generation Nano was the coverflow feature which despite looking very nice when swooshing through your album covers, is something I rarely make a point of using.

Other software features include the ubiquitous calender, address book and stopwatch applications plus a few vaguely entertaining games that you're unlikely to play more than once. None of these features were really a factor in my decision to buy the nano as my phone and laptop currently fit all these other roles well enough.

Battery life is good and I've never ran out of juice yet. Because this is 8gig (And I have many times more than that in my music library at home) I tend to add or remove tracks from it most evenings, meaning it often gets a top up of battery power.

Also I use an fm transmitter device in my car which also supplies power so battery life is really a non-issue for me.

The arguments raging online about the audio quality of iPods is a bit of a grey area as far as I'm concerned. Yes, there are without doubt better sounding players out there, but much of the iPods weakness in this respect is simply down to the supplied headphones.

You also have to account for the fact that you're listening to an mp3 which by its nature is a compressed audio format. Unless you rip all your own CD's yourself, (and at the highest possible quality), you are more than likely listening to mp3 with a bitrate between 120k and 180k. This is not a CD quality audio file.

Plugged into good headphones, a stereo or decent iPod speaker setup, there is little to fault with the iPods audio quality assuming your source material is decent.

Last thing to mention is the screen which despite being small (1.5 inches, diagonally) is actually very good. Brightness, contrast, colour and sharpness are all impressive. The screens strengh is largly down to its relatively high resolution (320 x 240) for its size.

You probably wouldn't want to watch entire movies on it simply because movies are meant to be watched on the biggest screen you can find but for watching music videos, podcasts and the odd TV programme on the move, it's certainly more than capable.

To summarise, all I really have to say is that its an ipod.
You either love them for their styling, simplicity and ease of use use. Or you hate them because they don't do everything or lack features you may want.

Summary: A simple, elegant device, brilliant mp3 player. Audio quality largly depends on how you use it.

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