Size Matters

Finally got my iPod nano through the post yesterday (being the third person I know to do so - yes, trumped by ZK again). I've not really had a good play with it yet; I filled it up with 1.9 gigs of music last night and listened to random songs this morning. Consider this more of a first impression than in depth review.

Of course the first thing that will strike you is the design. It's one of those things (others include seeing the screen of the PSP or driving a BMW for the first time) that neither words or pictures can help to describe. I'll give it a bash though: this thing is small. And sexy. And I almost never call things sexy. Well except for women. Uhh, anyway here's a pic:


Other than the size, it is just another iPod, albeit with a colour screen previously reserved for the flagship iPod photo which manages to accentuate the already fantastic iPod UI. I dunno how I managed without a clickwheel before.

I've mentioned before how I begun to almost learn to kinda like the iPod/iTunes philosophy. In fact, it's what prompted me to use its (to be honest cheap) imitation in Windows Media Player 10 with my Axim. In a nutshell, music synchronisation and playlist management is great - even for someone with a relatively small music collection like myself. In the nano, Apple have at last given me an excuse to use the pioneer in the field.

Alas the image was shattered once I begun listening to it. Ok, it wasn't that bad, but certainly not as good as my Axim or previous players. And I guess it's the price you pay for having such a diminutive form factor. It's just a shame that something had to so obviously give.

So I guess that's it. It's not for audiophiles, although I've never claimed to be one of those anyway. However if you want a small, fast, easy to use and totally sexy MP3 player, you can't really go wrong with the iPod nano.