iPod Nano Review

In the techie-croud, it was expected that the mini iPods would eventually move to a flash-based drive. Most people knew they would add color and video support as well. Apple, however, pulled a quick one on us with the release of the ultra-slim iPod nano. Besides being the coolest looking gadget on the market, it performs with excellent sound quality.

Just how thin is the nano? About 0.27 inches - or 3 quarters and a nickel stacked. My first impression was "how small do we actually need it?" There's a point when it's no longer convinient and becomes flimsy. Luckily this was not the case. I found the nano to fit comfortable in my hand (and rather durable - not that I would reccomend testing its limits). All in all, the nano seems like the direction Apple should have took in the first place with the Mini instead of bothering with hard drives at all.

One of the over-hyped features of the nano is its ability to sync with your Outlook contacts and calendars. The feature works well, but it's gimmiky and doesn't seem very useful. Why do you need your contacts on your iPod if you can't do anything with them? Now, syncing a cellphone with your Outlook could be useful.

The nano's sound quality is crisp, clear, and defining. Bass-heads will get their fix as well. When tested on different ear-phones, the nano continued to perform perfectly.

Photos can be synced to the nano via iTunes and viewed on the 1.5-inch color screen (slightly smaller than the Mini). It can even do slide shows with music which can be fun.

All in all, Apple has done it again with one of the coolest toys ever. The 2GB version retails at $199 and 4GB at $249 - both available in black or white.