Home > Consumer Reviews > Apple iPod nano 4 GB Green (2nd Generation) OLD MODEL

I've had a chance to play around with this for a few days now, and while I am a huge fan of the iPod Nano, it will not be replacing my 20GB iPod Photo anytime soon. It's Apple's own fault, really; they gave me 20GB (or 40, or 60) of space first, and now they want to take 90% of it away? Don't think so. I've come to believe what Apple's been telling me for a few years now: I NEED to take my entire music collection around with me everywhere I go. It's as essential as my cell phone and Metro Card. So for the storage reason alone, I can't chuck my 20GB model just yet. But the Nano really is a cool machine, and I imagine it will overtake the higher capacity iPods in popularity shortly because of its size, price, and cool factor.

Here's what I consider the improvements to be:
1. First and foremost, the transition to flash memory. This enables the Nano to be smaller and operate quieter than iPods that are hard drive-based. Make no mistake, flash memory is the future of digital music players;
2. The size, duh. Apple has made the Nano smaller without compromising much of the bright colorful screen. As we all now by now, it is thinner than a number two pencil (my 20GB iPod Photo, on the other hand, is probably three pencils thick). But it's still too large and delicate to jog with, without an optional accessory or two (arm band, lanyard headphones); and
3. The Apple-brand accessories that have been released concurrently with the Nano are affordable and well-designed.

...And what's not-so-great:
1. The price drop isn't that substantial, especially for what you get. For an extra $100, you can upgrade to a Photo that has ten times the capacity; and
2. The headphone jack is on the bottom of the Nano. I'm not sure what the logic behind this is-it seems like making a change for the sake of making a change to me.

Some wonderful things about the color iPods in general: they're very easy to use; their demure size could hardly be improved upon; the color screen is beyond adequate for viewing photos and album art; the battery life is exceptional; making playlists and controlling iTunes are simple tasks; all are compatible with Mac or Windows; and if you use a Mac, you can sync your iPod with your address book, to do list, and calendar (this has come in handy for me a number of times when I'm traveling). Also, if you're a college student or an educator at any level, the Apple Store (both the b&m and online versions) gives discounts on just about everything. For iPods it's about $20, but for computers it's up to $300

The bottom line on the Nano: it's a great entry-level MP3 player that will probably suffice for most listeners. However, if you're a music warrior who listens for many hours a day, many days a week, then 2-4GB is just too small to suit you--but of course you've had an iPod for three years now, and you already knew that.

I bought a 2nd Generation 8 GB Nano to supplement (and probably eventually replace) my 20GB Color iPod, which has been developing signs of old age, getting stuck at innopportune moments. I decided that 8 gig is really big enough to listen to the music I actually listen to every day at the gym, and I wanted to replace my disk-based iPod with a solid state device.

My first reaction upon opening the box was astonishment at how small the Nano is! I had never seen one before. It is very slick.

Itunes is pretty smart about letting me update the 8 GB Nano from the music library I had accumulated for my 20 GB iPod. It creates a special playlist for the Nano to define what songs are specifically downloaded to the smaller device. I had actually thought I would have to set up a completely new music library, and go through the tedium of reloading all those CDs.

One extremely important note of caution for PC users: this is the first USB device I have owned (and I own a lot of different USB devices) that really requires a USB 2.0 port. I didn't even realize that my 3-year-old home-brew Windows machine didn't have USB 2.0; it was never really an issue before. Apple says that USB 2.0 is highly recommended for the 2nd generation Nano, but it really should be a hard requirement. The behavior of my PC while trying to talk to the Nano over a USB 1.1 port was truly bizarre. The Nano basically brought the PC to its knees. I was able eventually to start updating the Nano but after 24 hours had only loaded about 400 songs. The response time of my PC during this ordeal was utterly ridiculous. During the day I bought a USB 2.0 PCI card, shut down the PC, installed the card, and was able to finish updating the Nano in a matter of minutes.

Let me start by saying that I'm coming to the iPod Nano from the world of flash MP3 players, this is my first iPod because I was waiting for Apple to make a decent flash MP3... and they've finally done it! So here are the things I love about my iPod Nano after about a month of use:

1) Making playlists on iTunes, this is a wonderful feature that you just don't find outside the iPod world!
2) Beauty, the iPod Nano is without doubt the sexiest MP3 player alive today. Apple really knows how to make beautiful products.
3) Sound is great.
4) Love that click wheel thing, another great idea by Apple.
5) Beautiful big color display makes navigation easy and fun.

I know much of that is old hat to the iPod world, but for me coming from a world of Muvo's and iAudio these are wonderful features. Now for the bad news, why I didn't give the Nano a 5:

1) Fragile!! Doesn't Apple understand that part of the appeal of a flash player is ruggedness? I'm scared to take this thing outside or even put it in my pocket without protection.. I immediately went out and spent another $30 for a decent case which leads to
2) Where are the accessories? My iAudio's and Muvos came with cases and lanyards and armbands. iPod Nano: nothing!! The most expensive player I've bought to date and the one most in need of a protective case and I have to go and spend an extra $30 for what should have been included!

In summary, this is a wonderful product and a delight to use and behold. However, Apple does need to get a clue about durability and accessories imho!

I have been reeling over when to buy a new ipod for a long time now. I have a 3rd generation 10gb ipod that I got for Xmas in '03 and it was immediately filled to the brim with music. I have probably used the thing every day since I've had it but the battery isn't what it used to be and I have to charge the thing for a good hour and a half during my work day just so I can listen to it for the last few hours. This has become an inconvenience for me considering that my job is extremely boring and the workplace is fairly loud and I find myself getting easily frustrated without music. The new nano commercial certainly is flashy and very persuasive. I want to point out that the click wheel does not glow up at all-I think that Apple falsely advertises that it does and that they should look into changing this misrepresentation. I am sure that they did this in the commercial for a greater effect but I can bet that people who haven't seen it in person and purchase this item online will be a little disappointed when receiving it.

Considering how fast I filled up my 10gb ipod I was torn between getting the new 30gb model with 3 times the amount of space I had before, or, the nano with considerable less space but a much longer battery life. It was a very tough decision but I went with the 4gb nano because of its long battery life. I know that Apple is going to continuously have new and improved models so I decided that the nano could hold me over until a 30gb model with a better battery life (for music and videos) and other improved features comes out.

The nano itself... I would say that I wasn't all that impressed at first sight of the nano, it looked different than the previous nano and very similar to the mini which I thought looked silly. My impression has totally changed considering the fact that I haven't been able to put the thing down since I got it last week. I can't stop holding it and marveling at how compact, light and sturdy it is (compared to the previous model). The screen is colorful and bright and I am happy with the resolution of the photos (albeit on a really small screen). The new headphones are an improvement since the previous ones didn't fit in my ears too well. I haven't noticed much of an improvement regarding the sound quality but I am extremely satisfied since these are more comfortable in the ears than the previous model, the cord is longer, and they also will not wind up together since they are separated by a handy little piece of rubber that you can adjust to your preference.

Some small gripes...I have noticed that the games tend to slow down at times, not really a big deal since these games get boring within the first 2 minutes of playing them. Transitioning from one screen to another isn't as smooth as on the other models--probably due to the fact that the nano is flash drive based. The click wheel isn't the most stable and certainly takes some getting used to. I have noticed that turning the backlight on and off isn't as easy as it used to be. On my older Ipod all I needed to do was to hold down the Menu button for a few seconds for the backlight to turn on. It isn't possible to do that anymore so you have to make sure that the backlight settings are turned on. I also would like to say that my previous model came with a white plug that you can put into the data outlet to protect the outlet from dust and other hazardous circumstances. I think that the little piece of plastic is essential to the life cycle of the ipod and it should be included with every Ipod model.

All in all I couldn't be more pleased with this item. I would definitely advise you to purchase a case that would shield the nano from everyday hazards. The new anodized aluminum casing should protect this item better than the previous models which were easily scratched. I will probably purchase a case from Otterbox when it becomes available because it appears that it will be the best protection available for this fragile investment. Hopefully I won't regret not getting the larger storage model but as of right now I am 100 percent satisfied with my new ipod 4gb nano. It has all that you really need in an mp3 player.

Ok... This might be the first iPod that I've owned but I've been an admirier of Apple's work for some time. I have several friends with various generations of the original iPod and always loved the combination of art and technology that goes into them.

I had been the owner of a Sony mp3 player for about 2 years and until this summer had no reason to think about replacing it. 256meg of memory seemed enough for me and it was small too. What more did I need really ?? However, over the summer my trusty sony got washed and so it was time to look for something to replace it.

In the run up to my birthday Apple launched the Nano and I instantly fell in love with it. I have no real need for 60 gigabytes of storage but knew that 256 meg was limiting the amount of music I could carry around with me. Even the 2gig version which held 500 songs would be fine for me. I added a Nano to my birthday wish list and waited !!

Last Friday I opened up the sleek box to feast my eyes on my Nano for the first time. Even though I'd read pages of reviews about the player, I was still amazed at the size (or lack of size) of this unit. It's just tiny !! Not so small that you'd lose it but small enough that when It's in your pocket you can forget its there. The screen is so bright and clear and the sound !!.... WOW. For such a small player, it certainly packs quite a punch in the volume department. Full volume would certainly lead to hearing damage after a short time.

The iTunes software that comes with it is easy to install and easy to use. I was soon burning my CD's onto my PC with ease. A 10-12 track CD takes around 2-3 minutes to load onto the PC but uploading those same songs onto the iPod takes a fraction of that time. Infact on day 1 I loaded about 450 songs onto my player and it can't have taken more than 5 or 6 minutes. The product specs say that the 2gig version will hold 500 songs. Well I've got about 560 on mine at the moment and there is still about 250 meg free. I'm sure that the actual storage capabilities depend on the length of the songs you're loading.

I'd read lots about the problems with early versions of the Nano with regard to failing screens and scratches etc. but guess what ??... stuff gets scratched and damaged, thats just how it is. if you;re silly enough to think that anything will stay as pristine as the day it was bought, then you're bound to be dissappointed. I will be buying a case for mine (probably an Agent18 hard case) because I want to keep it in the best shape possible. I'd reccommend others do the same, not because it will fall apart if you don't but because when you're spending $200 on something, you want to look after it !!

I'm not going to tell anyone that the iPod Nano is the best value mp3 player on the market. There are plenty of others that have it beat hands down in terms of storage and price. However, I am willing to say that It's probably the sexiest mp3 player around and has the competition beat when it comes to looks. Add to that the fact that 500+ songs is probably more than enough for most users, that the quality of the sound is excellent and that (sor far) battery life has been up there with most of the others on the market, this really is an awesome piece of kit and well worth considering if you don't need the ability to carry around 25,000 songs !!

Bottom line... if you want a great looking player that is very capable and also has some neat additional functions that most of the others don't have then get out there and get yourself a Nano. If you want something thats gonna hold thousands and thousands of songs and withstand you throwing it around all the time, look elsewhere !!

I love mine

Mark