Home > Consumer Reviews > Apple iPod nano 8 GB Black (4th Generation) [Previous Model]

Basically my complaint mimics Mark Garvey's. I made sure you could turn off "shake to shuffle" before buying a 4th Gen nano, but had no idea that when the device switched to coverflow, volume control would no longer work.

That means every single time you need to make an adjustment to the volume, you have to take it out (or pick it up in your car, or whatever) and hold it upright for a random period of time, until the interface reorients itself and volume control starts working again.

I'm honestly shocked Apple released this in this state-it makes using the 4th Gen nano a HUGE pain if you make even semi-frequent volume adjustments. Meanwhile, coverflow-in my opinion-adds nothing. Sure, it looks neat the first time you see it, but I would never actually use it to navigate media. And I certainly don't want it replacing volume controls if you hold the device in anything but a straight up and down position!

On top of that, the unit I had on several occasions wouldn't stop fast forwarding or rewinding until it hit the end of a track. I'm not sure if that was a hardware or software bug, but I ended up sending it back.

Beyond that, the other limitations are more obvious. I found the scroll wheel to be far too small to be comfortable to use. The controls on the iPod classic (or from what I can tell, the Zune) are FAR easier to manipulate without looking at them. It was VERY easy to accidentally hit the center button when I was trying to fast forward, etc.

The screen's quality seemed inferior to the classic/5th gen iPods' as well. Even despite the noticeably smaller size, video looked sort of grainy by comparison (though not unusable).

At any rate, this marks the SECOND recent iPod with what I view as a MAJOR interface problem. I dislike the lack of basic hardware media controls on the iPod touch, but it turns out I hate this "coverflow" issue on the 4th gen nano even more.

I'd strongly recommend looking at a classic, or even a 3rd gen nano or Zune over this model, particularly if you listen to audio books and podcasts.

My last iPod was an old, used 4 gig iPod mini. So my purchase of an 8 gig purple has me absolutely delighted. It's thinner, more appealing aesthetically, and I have only a couple of minor criticisms in regards to newer and more recent versions of iTunes.

While both the Coverflow and lack of backwards compatibility on accessories are legitimate criticisms, neither affect me personally. I've never purchased any accessories for my iPod, and I leave my iPod on hold 99% of the time I'm listening to it - which automatically disables the Coverflow.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that much of the harsh criticism for the latest gen Nano comes from the high standards that Apple has set. Not in any way meaning to discredit others' criticisms, but Apple handily dominates the market on MP3 players, and so its users, on average, are going to have higher expectations than those that go for other brands.

Personally, I had a bad experience with a Microsoft Zune Player that made me appreciate how superior the iPod is. Primarily in its customization. The fact that you can't disable Coverflow and the ensuing backlash just serves to prove what's traditional in iPod/iTunes expectations - how much of the little details within your individual usage you can adjust to fine-tune to your preferences; and the fact that Coverflow has no off-switch is an oddity. Hopefully, such a function will be improved with future firmware upgrades.

My only criticisms are:
-I've had a hard time getting iTunes to find all the artwork for my albums - and these are not obscure albums.
-iTunes has been having compatibility issues through my last two PCs, including the tendency to stutter when I run any other program simultaneously, and more recently, it divides an individual album up (not acknowledging all of the songs being on one album) if they have different artists; meaning I had to go through a very arduous process involving giving all the songs on a given album the same "album artist"; an example of Apple, perhaps, taking customization too far. It also wouldn't open as long as I had ZoneAlarm installed on my computer. I still greatly prefer iTunes to other music players, but it doesn't always work very smoothly on PCs.
-My "8 gig" iPod doesn't really have 8 gigs; it has 7.5. When I bought my 4 gig iPod, it only had 3.7. I wouldn't be surprised to learn if the 16 gig really has closer to 15. It feels like a bit of a cheat. Half a gig may not seem like much - around 100 songs - but I have a moderately sized library, and 100 songs could make a difference in the long run.

Overall, I give my new iPod Nano 4 1/2 stars. I absolutely love it. And even though I will be a lifelong PC user, Apple has my loyalty when it comes to MP3 players.

EDIT - 11/18/08
Sure enough, Apple released a firmware upgrade, and it's now possible to disable to Coverflow - under General in Settings, you can tell the iPod not to do anything when it's rotated. But the option for Coverflow can be activated manually with its own addition in the main menu.

11/12/2008 UPDATE:
Apple has released a software update (via iTunes) that will allow the user of a 4th generation iPod nano to disable the Coverflow view (which activates upon tilting the nano horizontally). This was a major gripe for many but a big "thumbs-up" to Apple for resolving this issue.

Note: I'd update the 4G nano's rating from my earlier 2 stars to 4 but Amazon does not allow me to modify that part (is this a glaring oversight by Amazon, or a glitch with my Firefox brower?).

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Real world testing was not in Apple's nano 4G design process. Otherwise they would've included an option to disable that idiotic Coverflow so users could make casual adjustments to volume and songs by feel. The nano 4G requires you to orientate it vertically to gain back access to those controls! Not good. Maybe Apple will release a software update to remedy this oversight, but they're notorious for not listening to their customers so I returned my nano 4G to Amazon. Colors are vibrant and beautiful, audio quality is excellent, and it feels great in the hand, but if you want a nano then get the 3G one instead...you'll be much happier.

The 5-STAR reviews are all written by one or two people! Do not believe them!
What a major mistake Apple made in designing this thing. It is so frustrating trying to deal with this accelerometer; it will drive you crazy! It is so annoying and unavoidable it will make you not want to bring your Nano with you. Just the slightest movement and the Nano goes into a different mode - I don't want it to go into a different mode! I was really looking forward to my new nano. I am returning it tomorrow.

This is utter nonsense. I have a Tivoli iyiyi that I love and that worked wonderfully with my last ipod. This one displays a message saying that charging is not supported, then it freezes after a few moments. It does exactly the same thing on my Honda ipod port in my Accord. This is just outrageous considering I now have several hundred dollars worth of apparently useless ipod gear, not to mention a useless ipod. I strongly recommend that you consider this problem if you have older ipod compatible gear and that you consider not getting into ipods at all if they are going to keep changing it's compatibility.