203 of 211 people found the following review helpful:
Awesome!
Let's face it...we are not all clones and look for different features when it comes to an MP3 player. I wanted a small, portable player for the gym. The FM Radio feature is what I have been hoping for for a very long time! I don't need apps. I don't need to surf the web. I need to play my tunes. Genius is a great way to create a mix for the gym. The fitness tracker...
289 of 315 people found the following review helpful:
Stay away. Far away.
When I received my new iPod, I was impressed with the sound quality vs. the old 1st gen Nano I have. (The original iPods were very "middy" sounding.)
But that is about all that is good with the unit.
The new 5th generation is incompatible with everything I own. My car's radio has iPod integration which worked with my original iPod and my friends...
Let's face it...we are not all clones and look for different features when it comes to an MP3 player. I wanted a small, portable player for the gym. The FM Radio feature is what I have been hoping for for a very long time! I don't need apps. I don't need to surf the web. I need to play my tunes. Genius is a great way to create a mix for the gym. The fitness tracker is incredible. And finally I can tune in to the TVs in the gym. Love it! This is exactly what I've been waiting for. Perfect device for my needs.
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When Steve Jobs announced the newest generation iPod nano, he suggested that with its new video capability the nano would easily compete with the Flip Video camcorder. While someday down the line this may be a serious contender in the pocket video camera market, it's not there yet. I took some comparison footage with the iPod nano and the standard definition Flip Mino to show why. My point in all this is not to suggest that you go buy a Flip instead of an iPod nano, but that you ask yourself what it is you really want. If you want to make videos you can upload to Youtube and you want them to look pretty decent, and you don't care much about music or you already have an mp3 player, I wouldn't buy this iPod just because now it has video. On the other hand, having some video capability might be enough to give this the edge over most other music players; if games are more important to you than video, though, you'd be better off with an iPod touch.
One thing you'll notice in the footage, where I shot the same things back to back with both camcorders, is that where the Flip really shines is in low light. I shot the hamster moments at night, in a room illuminated only by a lamp. Not only did the iPod nano take grainy video, it also didn't do any kind of white balancing and the indoor lightbulb added an orange tint to the clip; I'm not sure exactly how the Flip is designed to address this (whether it automatically adjusts white balance or just has a better average setting), but the footage shows that it captured light correctly both outdoors and indoors. If you compare the hamster shots with the Flip and with the nano, I think it's clear that for indoor and lowlight there's no comparison and the Flip has the nano beat hands down. The outdoor images are closer, but I think even this small video shows greater detail in the Flip video. When you blow the images up bigger there's no comparison -- the Flip looks decent even on a big screen TV, the iPod nano footage looks like it was shot with, well, a toy camera. In all fairness, that's all it is at this point. (Note, by the way, that, like the Flip, the nano will only take video and doesn't take photos. You can manually add photos to the nano from your computer, but you can't use the onboard camera to capture stills.)
Another thing that bugs me a bit about the new iPod nano is the bizarre placement of the camera lens. It's nestled down in the corner of the backside below the screen -- exactly where it is most natural to hold this thing if you are shooting with it. Even if you just grasp the thing at the corners, there's a tendency for some part of a finger to accidentally edge into the camera frame. In fact, I found that even after I was aware of this fact I kept doing it anyways -- the way this thing fits in my hands just makes it likely I'll catch an edge of a finger in my shots unless I'm conscientious about avoiding it, and that detracts from the spontaneity this is designed to take advantage of. (I even noticed I'd done it on most of the iPod nano footage for this video comparison -- and I thought about doing it over, but then decided to leave it in just to show how easily it can happen.)
So, to sum up: what you really get with the iPod nano is a toy camera, fun to have in the pocket and very cool to have just in case there's something you want to shoot, but not quite the quality we've come to expect from the handy pocket camcorders like the Flip Mino and the Creative Vado and the Kodak Zi8, that keep getting better and better. Video is a nice new feature on the Nano, but not really a radical innovation and not a game changer.
What makes the iPod Nano worth it is that in addition to video on the fly, you get to listen to music, you get an FM radio that works quite well and even tells you what song you are listening to, you get a voice recorder (a VERY nice feature, excellent for students who can listen to music on their way to class and then record a lecture), a decent quality mini speaker, a somewhat useful pedometer, decent game options for killing time. You don't get any of that with the Flip! Sure, the new iPod nano is a toy ... but it's a very cool toy.
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Do not get my wrong. I have loved Apple iPods for many years now, and my iPhone is a great part of my life. However, I have started to wonder what else will be added to the traditional iPods, to keep them fresh. Have they reached the limit of necessary features?
Despite my reservations, watching the Apple keynote of this new product has led me to head down to the Apple store and pick up a 16 GB 5th Generation iPod Nano, to add to my "collection."
First reactions? This Nano appears just as sleek and beautiful as the commendable 4th generation Nano. In fact, at first glance, you would not think must different about the newer version. I quickly tried out the recording of video. This was average. It is nice, if you carry your Nano everywhere, to have the ability to take video. Cool. When played back on the Nano, the video looks pretty good. It's average, when played back on your computer. Again, far from bad, but in the age where digital cameras have some great movie modes, you have to simply call the iPod Nano video average, but most of all convenient. Fun too.
Personally, I have found myself most interested in the new Pedometer built into the Nano. It can keep track of your steps during the day, if you keep the device on you all day. I think this could push me to be more active. Again, is this feature really necessary in an iPod? I'm not sure, but keep in mind that this product is popular among fitness gurus for its portability, almost feather-like weight, and solid state memory.
Finally, in a pinch, to listen to a sporting event or particular talk radio show, the new nano includes a FM Turner. Blah you might say? Yes, that is not particularly exciting, BUT the Nano adds one cool feature to FM Radio. You can "pause," the radio up to 15 minutes, such as you might do with the DVR connected to your television. It works flawlessly. Before one asks, no, you cannot schedule radio recordings. Still, the new nano will make FM radio a bit more modern, with this pause function.
Overall, it does seem as though Apple is not quite sure how to keep adding features that are truly remarkable to the iPod Nano. The Nano is the best selling MP3 player in the history of the planet, more sold than any other iPod to date. However, the Nano's best features continue to be its size, ability to sync great content from your iTunes library, portability, and great user interface. The click wheel continues to make finding your music and videos relatively easy. Again, the Nano is superb, but the new features are probably a bit specific on if they will be useful to you or not.
The updated nano is that bit more advanced with a few new features, particularly for many the ability to record a quick video, easily, will be attractive. However, if you have the last generation Nano, I would not worry about upgrading too soon, unless having the absolute latest device and new "features," are important to you. Fantastic device, but not much different than before.
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I really didn't need a new iPod as I currently own an iPhone 3G(S), two older Nanos, an older 1 GB Shuffle and two iPod Classics in 15 GB and 30 GB configurations that I recently installed new batteries in. But I HAD to have the new one and justified it to myself by Apple's seductive inclusion of an FM radio in this 5th generation edition.
Having said all of that, I am really impressed with this new 5th generation iPod Nano. I find that the FM radio has great reception and is easy to use, unlike the Apple dongle radio attachment I use on my previous generation Nano. The radio software integration is nicely done and very simple to use, set favorite stations and pause as necessary to talk on the phone and then quickly resume where the music or talk show left off for up to 15 minutes.
The playback of pre-recorded movie video is clear and the sound is very good as with earlier iPods. The video recording is point and shoot simple to use but not of very high quality - about what you would expect from a cell phone- but I really don't plan on using this as a video camera. Would have been nice if Apple had included a still camera as well but I suspect the quality would not be acceptable without adding more componentry requiring more space and cost. I did note that this iPod has a speaker built in (which I assume is the microphone as well) but its sound quality is not good.
The pedometer function (Fitness) is interesting and can be used without any external attachments. It only counts steps and not distance so I assume that I will need to multiply the counted steps by stride length to come up with distance walked. Ironically, it does have you put in your weight but I'm not certain how this is used.
The build quality is superb, the unit is very compact and light weight with Apple's customary intuitive user interfaces that make it easy to use right out of the box without reading the instructions (which I dread resorting to anyway). In summary, I am very pleased with my new iPod and am rapidly working on irrefutable justifications for its purchase before the credit card statement arrives and my wife asks, "Did you buy ANOTHER iPod?".
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This should give you guys a pretty good idea of the night-time video quality of the 5th Generation iPod nano. The quality isn't great, but it is really handy when you don't have a dedicated camera on hand.
Another note is that conversion into a file format that Amazon accepts also degraded the quality slightly. Amazon does NOT accept the MP4 format that iPod nano records in.
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I previously owned a Nano 3rd Gen, and liked it well enough. My only major complaints were Itunes (buggy and annoying interface) and the 8 GB limit. I have quite a large music library and was constantly juggling it trying to fit everything I wanted to carry around. Otherwise, I liked the Touch 3rd Gen, and liked the compact form factor. I liked the video ability too, which I found astonishigly useful. Alas, somehow it was lost/stolen.
Ipods are enough of a luxury for me that I didn't replace it immediately. The 4th Gen Nano was an improvement (except for the forrm factor -- I'm one of the few who liked the more compact form of the 3rd gen). The 5th gen Nano finally sucked me in with amazing new features and teriffic design. Below are the things I really liked and which caused me to shell out for the latest version:
1. Better screen. Sure the screen is tiny, but I can see it very clearly with my glasses off, I'm nearsighted, but have good closeup vision.
2. FM radio - This is something available in other mp3 players, but finally Apple has decided to join the world on this feature. It works pretty well. As noted, the radio uses the earbuds cord as an antenna. While that is a problem for some, it is actually a plus for me, as my office is in the center of a large building and FM reception is iffy. I can position the cord in such a way that I get better reception than my table radio. YMMV.
3. Video - It's amazingly decent for such a tiny device. I don't need video -- at least at present, but adding features like this inspires new uses that no one ever predicted (SEE UPDATE BELOW).
4. 16 GB. I can fit more stuff in it now (yes, this was available in the 4th gen, but it is a big plus for me -- I did not want to buy another 8 GB ipod.) Additionally, I really don't care about the unavailability of still pictures. I have a Blackberry that takes fairly good pictures already, and I can send them via email immediately -- much more useful than if I relied on the Nano.
5. External Speaker - very useful, enough said.
6. Voice recording -- I understand that you can add a decent directional mike, but haven't explored this yet. If it works, it's a real plus, digital recorders are expensive and carrying them is a PITA.
Things I don't much care for --
1. Itunes continues to be basically proprietary, although I actually like the good integration with the Apple Store. I always have the feeling that Itunes is doing something with my music and data that is for Apple's benefit, not mine (the Genius feature is interesting, but I'm certain that Apple is doing something profitable with the "non-identifiable" data it collects). I know there's no more privacy on the net, but that doesn't mean I like the trend. If I'm going to be part of someone's business model, I'd like to be able to opt out or receive some share of the dough from the data harvesting. This is not an Apple-specific complaint -- they all do it. In addition, when Itunes works, it's fine, but when you have a problem with it, you better be have a black belt in Google searches for the answer. The Apple support site requires much more time and trouble than it should.
2. I have damaged hearing in one ear. The quick fix would be for me to adjust the right/left balance in the equalizer, but Apple has never put such an adjustment in, and the Apple store personnel were surprised by this. I sent in a suggestion to Apple. No response. This is an issue I do not understand. Why hasn't Apple fixed this 5 years ago?
UPDATE 10/19/2009: I am surprised by how much I enjoy the Genius feature on this thing. One of the minor "problems" on .mp3 players is the time it takes to program in a playlist of favorites -- alternatively you can simply randomly listen to everything. Genius will look at any song selection you make, and construct its own playlist (which you can save if you like it) based upon some kind of criteria (not sure), but I think it includes data from user selections. This is remarkably like litening to a very good radio station with good programming, no commercials and no DJ blab. Of course, you have to own the music first (you did BUY all the music in your library, right?) but if you have a large music library, you'd be surprised how much of it you've forgotten you owned. Unlike many groovy dudes and dudettes, I don't have the time or inclination to put together a lot of mixes and Genius is in some ways better, as you won't know what's being played or in what sequence.
Additionally, I have found that nano video is better than I thought it would be. I have video on the Blackberry, but it is encoded in some kind of horrible lossy format that looks like mush when you enlarge it (.3GP, I think). Nano's video looks good even when enlarged full screen on the desktop. The only issue I've seen is that while the microphone is quite sensitive, it is not buffered against wind noise. I am still looking for a good external mike and if I find a fix for this, I'll update.
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When I received my new iPod, I was impressed with the sound quality vs. the old 1st gen Nano I have. (The original iPods were very "middy" sounding.)
But that is about all that is good with the unit.
The new 5th generation is incompatible with everything I own. My car's radio has iPod integration which worked with my original iPod and my friends 4th generation unit, however, the newest iPods are incompatible. My home receiver also has an iPod dock which doesn't work with the new unit. You also cannot add music for playback under Linux (at the moment. It's being worked on.) Apple changed how they store music on the iPod, in what can only be described, as attempt to keep 3rd party applications form working. (Let's face it, iTunes has become a horrible, bloated and slow application.)
If all this wasn't bad enough, the thing keeps locking up. When I'm listening to MP3s or the radio, it just automatically resets and the music library is erased. I then have to refill the unit with the songs from my PC. And after a few more minutes of listening, it resets again erasing everything. I have sent it back twice and I still have the problem. (A friend of mine bought a new Nano and he is also having the reset problem.)
Apple, why would you make a product that is incompatible with the expansive collection of accessories that people have invested in? Is anybody there monitoring quality of your products anymore?
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GAMES
Varied ....
Suprisingly deep ....
Extraordinary graphics ....
CD quality sound ....
When I think "iPod Game" I always expect the BreakOut-level stuff that is the 1st iPod easteregg.
I was really really taken aback by the quality of these iPod games.
TEXT
Yup -- you can store .TXT files of whatever you want.
I've turned PDFs in .TXTs ta have somethin ta read now & again
and it really comes in handy.
MUSIC
Lots of different playback modes, EQ settings, etc.
IMAGES
Just choose PHOTOS on the menu & hit the PLAY part of the clickwheel
and you have an instant slideshow -- with diffrent transitional styles! -- with
whatever music you want as accompaniment.
VIDEO
This is what sold it for *me*.
The quality of the video is ASTOUNDING!
Is it HD? No.
BUT, is ir rocksolid crystal clear, especially when played on YouTube [in normal mode!],
your computer, a DVD & so on?
Oh yes -- absolutely!
COUNTLESS special FX, easy to play/pause/stop ....
The iPod Nano with camcorder is, top to bottom, a DEFINATE Must Buy,
at the price make GREAT Christmas gifts, and although lacking in InterNet
& calling, is a solid rival to the iPhone & iPod Touch.
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This is my second iPod and my first Nano. My older (classic) doesn't support Genius and the interface is almost prehistoric compared to this new one.
The fact that you can press "shuffle", then construct a full, almost perfectly-accurate playlist based on the "Genius" database is amazing and worth the price alone.
The video camera is perfect for catching That Adorable Thing your cat/kid/wife just did or said. And the voice recorder is indispensable. My only complaint is that the "voice recorder" function isn't in the main menu, and you can't program it to appear in the main menu when you explore and customize your settings (you can literally add anything else to the main menu but that, and that is very very odd to me).
There is quite a bit of dissent as to why this product got a video camera and the iPod Touch did not. The biggest rumor is a software/compatibility issue. I don't think that's the case. The iPod Touch is going to go on a crusade to compete with other handheld gaming platforms like the PSP and the Nintendo DS. It is my opinion that they will be pushing the Nano as the "this is the music/media you wanted... our bigger brother is for all you folks who want to bridge the gap between your smart phone and your laptop".
I, for one, am fine with that.
If you are thinking of upgrading and you don't want all the distractions (games, mail, gps, etc) that come with the iPod Touch, this is the item for you. I am able to fit 16 gigs of music and video into a sliver of metal that fits into the credit card slot of my wallet. That's pretty remarkable.
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If you are not a computer programmer, do not buy this iPod. I've done every "fix" suggested by iPod and Windows for this useless Nano that won't sync. Not only will it not sync, Apple wants ME to pay THEM for a rep's assistance with a product that is still under warranty. That is BS!!!! After 60 days this thing is useless. Spend your money on something cheaper..that way when it doesn't work you won't feel so bad about throwing it away. No more iPod.
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