Joining the iPod Experience (As a PC user)

I had been a Mini disc fan for couple of years, when Apple Computers came out with their iPod Mini. Just about every MD forum in the Mini Disc community wondered how Apple's entrance into the portable music player market would impact the entire music industry? When Apple came out with their 1st generation Nano, I still believed the Mini Disc format was the best system at being compact and portable, and I used this excuse for a while for not buying an iPod. However when my wife got me an JBL iPod speaker set and my sister gave me a Nike iPod armband. No doubt these gifts were hints that I should give the iPod experience a try.

Straight out of the Container

What impressed me about Apple Computers is their attention to details, and it shows in their iPods. The container the Nano was packaged in seems to make a statement as if telling me I am different from any music device you have ever used in your life. My new Nano was held in a cradle, and in the space behind it neatly arranged and wrapped were: A Quick Start Guide, Product Information pamphlet, a pair of Apple ICON Stickers, one Docking plate, USB cord, and iPod earphones.

I was cautious fearing I might snap the iPod Nano in half as I removed it from the cradle as it was slim and light: It is 3.5-inches long, 1.6-inches wide, 0.26-inches thick, and weighs in a 1.41-ounces. It has the same dimensions and weight as my security badge I wear at work, so you know this baby is compact and weighs almost close to nothing. The shell of the Nano is made of aluminum anodized in Blue (iPod Nano comes in 5 colors). Having large hands I hate to admit I am Mister Butter Fingers when it comes to tiny objects as small as the Nano. With its shell made of aluminum I naturally assumed it could easily scratch or dent, so I immediately bought a cover for it (Better safe then sorry, right). Well this second generation's shell is improved, I have rough callous hands and my Nano has withstood being handle by my paws.

The LCD screen measures 1.5-inches, the screen is said to be brighter and sharper than the 1st generation Nano. I agree with a 176 by 132 pixel resolution and a blue-white LED back lighting it is BRIGHT. The illumination the screen gives off is so bright, that I have used the Nano as a light source to find my way in the dark.

The iPod Nano 4GB is a flash drive with no moving parts that can hold up to a 1,000 songs. It is capable of storing and displaying photos, and can be used as an external data drive. The Nano is not only a music player, it comes loaded with a lot of other features I will touch on in my review.

My initial reaction to the Nano

I was skeptical of the iPod Nano because everyone who bought an iPod said it is a "PLUG N PLAY" device. Yeah right even Sony said the same thing about their Mini Disc players/recorders and they too failed to work as advertised, so with fingers crossed I connected the Nano to my PC.

I was astonished that iTune 7 started up automatically! The iTunes promptly had me go through the Setup Assistant process which was done in 2-minutes, and to my glee I downloaded my first playlist in less than 5-minutes? Why was I having a bout of giddiness over a Flash drive device? Allow me to share my experience with the Mini Disc system I had used for years with my computer.

When I got my first Sony mini disc recorder/player it came with Sony's "I-link" adapter and a USB cord. I followed the instruction in the manual word for word, connecting everything accordingly anticipating to burn music with ease. Instead nothing happened, Microsoft Windows would not acknowledge my MD recorder was connected. I tried Sony's Support page and they couldn't help me. I had to scour the MD forums, and hunt down forgotten Sony tech support web pages to find a solution. The solution I found that got me recording from my PC involved purchasing a special Sony MD burner deck, and a Creative premium sound card that could convert audio to digital signals. The whole setup set me back $500. Sony's equivalent of iTunes was called "M-Crew" and it too never worked properly. I had to fidget with Windows settings to get M-Crew to cooperate but it never worked perfectly. When I did get to burning music from my PC to a MD media it was tedious because the process required I play each song track in order to record it to a disc. So burning several albums to a mini disc was an all day affair, and if the M-Crew software crashed (which happened from time to time) all that recording was lost and I had to start over again. So you can imagine my astonishment to see this iPod Nano accomplish right out of the container what my MD system struggled to do when it came to downloading music from my computer!

Getting Acquainted

When I first switched on my Nano, I had no idea how sensitive the Click wheel was. I found out the hard way when I brushed the side of my thumb across the wheel not realizing I had moved the cursor bar down, when I pressed the center button I unknowingly selected Japanese as my language! Fortunately for me Apple has great tech support than Sony does, and I was able to find instructions that allowed me to quickly get my Nano to operate in English. After getting accustom to holding the Nano in my hand, I had no problems operating the Nano. In no time I was handling the Nano like I had been using an iPod for years. Making the center button concave does help in distinguishing the center button from the rest of the click wheel. Especially when the Nano is in a case/skin, and the click wheel is covered.

The hold switch on the top was difficult for me to actuate even though the switch protrudes a hair from the end cap, it is smooth. It's not designed for people like me that prefer to keep their finger nails short.

I used the iPod earphones and must say their performance was adequate but not impressive. I didn't feel the music sounded full. Then I wondered if it was because I was so accustomed to using my UE Super Pro 5.0 earphones or did I have to use one of the EQ presets in the ipod to enhance the sound?

iPod Nano Features

Besides playing music, the Nano has a host of features that are useful:

When it comes to playing music on the Nano it has menus that allow you to find particular songs going by "Artist", "Album", and "Playlist". Or you can simply use the "Search" box by typing in any letter, and the Nano will display all songs, podcast, audiobooks starting with the letter you entered.

When it comes to fine tuning the way you listen to your music on the Nano you can set the max level of the volume to save your hearing, play your music through preset equalizer settings, and have all your music play at the same volume. In iTunes you can assign EQ presets to certain songs or playlist. If none of the EQ presets is to your liking, you can create and save your own EQ preset instead.

The feature I came to enjoy is the ability to download Podcast which are radio shows, and iTunes have many genres to choose from and they are free to download. You have the freedom to download all the episodes of a particular podcast or choose to get the newest one.

Audiobooks can be purchased from the iTunes stores and played on the Nano. They go for an average of $10 each.

The Clock can be configured through the Nano, but it will sync to the time that is displayed on your computer. I created two clock zones, one for local time and the other for Hawaii so I can see what time is best to call my family. The clock can display the time in either 12 or 24-hour format. Lastly you can even set an alarm to wake you up if you happen to doze off on your bus ride home.

The Stopwatch is useful for runners/joggers in storing their running times. What is even cool is that all the saved times can be compared to each other. It will show the "shortest", "longest", and "average" lap times.

The Contact list is useful for carrying email addresses of friends and relatives. I used Outlook Express to download my contact information. However when it comes to using the Calender and the To do List, and Notes you have to have Outlook or Mac's email client in order to used these features.

Storing and viewing Photos is simple too. I created a folder labeled "iPod Photos" and directed iTunes to sync to this folder every time I connect the ipod to the PC. On the Nano you can view the pictures individually, as a slide show or as a slide show played to your favorite playlist. You can even add transitions in between your photos.

For you gamers, the Nano has four games installed: Brick, Solitaire, Parachute, and Music Quiz. Brick, is like Break-Out, you bounce a ball and destroy the "bricks" until you make an opening to escape. Parachute, you fire your cannon at Helicopters flying overhead or shoot down the soldiers who parachute from them. Music Quiz, it is music quiz game that plays snippets of songs from your music collection, and you have to guess the correct title to the song. Lastly everybody knows Solitaire.

One of the features I think was nice. No matter what you play, whether you are sampling a song then switching to a podcast/audiobook, the system will automatically save the spot that you stopped at, and when you return to that song or podcast at some time later. It will pick up from that saved spot.

As for security, the iPod Nano has Screen Lock feature that requires a 4-digit combination. If you somehow forget the combination just connect to your computer, and the Nano will automatically unlock itself.

I have experienced only one problem with the iPod Nano at this time. It froze up on me while I was connecting the Nano to the AUX jack in my mini van, but I was able to restore it without any problems afterwards.

Bottom Line

I am really sad knowing I might not go back to using my Mini Disc equipment. Perhaps I will keep using them for old time sake or keep it as a backup to my ipod Nano. But I have become an instant convert, and I am even considering buying a Mac computer.

I really recommend the Apple iPod Nano to everyone, you will not be disappointed in its performance and quality.