Dirt Cheap Apple 8 GB iPod nano AAC/MP3
posted on 14 Dec 2007 09:37 by dirtcheapelectronics in ProductDetail
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Player Black (3rd Generation)
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Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #7 in Consumer Electronics
- Color: Black
- Brand: Apple
- Model: MB261LL/A
- Released on: 2007-09-05
- Dimensions: 2.75" h x .26" w x 2.06" l, .11 pounds
Features
- Now the world's most popular music player lets you enjoy up to 5 hours of TV shows, movies, video podcasts, and more
- An enhanced interface offers a whole new way to browse and view your music and video
- iPod nano sports a larger, 320-by-240-resolution display that's 65 percent brighter than before
- In anodized aluminum and polished stainless steel, iPod nano is now 6.5 mm thin and even more beautiful
- Measures 2.75 x 2.06 x 0.26 inches (H x W x D), weighs 1.74 ounces
Product Description
Editorial Reviews
![]() In addition to listening to music you can now enjoy TV shows, movies, video podcasts, and more. View iPod nano dimensions. |
![]() The iPod nano comes in a host of exciting new colors. |
![]() Play up to 5 hours of video or up to 24 hours of audio on one charge. View larger. |
Use the Click Wheel to adjust volume, navigate songs, browse in Cover Flow, or explore the Music menu by playlist, artist, album, song, genre, composer, and more. Want to mix things up? Click Shuffle Songs. iPod nano makes your music look as good as it sounds, thanks to its bright color display.
The Looks
First the aesthetics. Some people will prefer the gen2 nano's longer body with the larger click wheel. Apple shortened the body in order to limit breaks due to the former generation flexing in people's pockets and bags. The longer nano was prone to bend (and sometimes break) when people put them in their pocket and sat down or moved around.
Another change motivated by durability is the metal face. The old clear composite face was a magnet for smudges and scratches. The new metal face holds up nicer. Be warned though; it does chip and scratch some more, so get a cover.
This unit is also thinner, meaning when after you put it in a cover it will still be thinner than most other players.
Apple does lose some points for the smaller click-wheel being awkward. It's a trade-off.
The Sound
Sound quality is not significantly improved from previous models. The slight improvements touted in Apple's marketing are exagerated. However, let's be fair to Apple here. They are not alone when it comes to high cost MP3 players with only moderate fidelity sound.
Almost no MP3 players are actually designed for audiophiles / musicians / sound engineers; i.e., the people who could tell the difference between good sound and great sound.
Keep in mind also that MP3 is a compression technology that does experience quality loss. Particularly, with a lower bitrate your MP3 files will lose more and more of the sound integrity from the original recording. Combine that with the fact many people rip from CDs that are not digitally mastered, and you would get inferior sound quality with any device.
Features
Other than the changes in the body design, not many new features are noteworthy with this device.
There are some changes in the components and software that do make the screen brighter and allow you to do more things, including watch videos and play games. Some complain there isn't enough memory for video. But you can still get enough on here for a cross-country flight. It's a nice extra even if these nanos don't have tremendous memory.
The flash memory in this device could have been a higher speed. However, the main advantages of the flash player are still here: less risk of hardware failure associated with a hard disk drive player (better for running or working out).
The device does seem to have a slighly shorter battery life than advertised. Perhaps there is a trade-off with the shorter form factor. Few users will notice this as they are still likely to get a day's worth of use from a full charge.
Apple's software is still a weakness with very limited direct control over your device library and few file options. However, most users have limited needs and will not notice. Apple hits the minimum compatibility needs of most of the market.
Coverflow is little more than a gimmick. It's still buggy and covers tend to blank out if you scroll quickly. Cover art has been downloaded with previous software versions and with other players, so the ability to scroll covers is not really a breakthough.
Keep in mind that the iPod actually still has less features than most competitive devices. It doesn't have a radio tuner, voice recorder, bluetooth, WMA support, etc. But what it does it does well.
Overall this device is an improvement. Apple really wins with sleek design and a wealth of accessories. This unit is no different. While it is not perfect, none of the competition is good enough to dominate it any time soon.
edit @ 14 Dec 2007 09:42:19 by pittayut ( shopkeeper )
edit @ 14 Dec 2007 09:57:16 by pittayut ( shopkeeper )



