Most of my friends had iPods. I didn’t. I didn’t want to haul around the mp3 playing brick. I was holding out for something smaller. I was excited when the iPod Mini came out, but still wasn’t too impressed. Around the 1st of September I read a press release explaining that Apple would be making a big announcement on the 7th. It would definitely have something to do with the iPod family. I was excited because I knew it might be what I was waiting for.
After I arrived at work on the 7th I checked various sites around the Internet. Many seemed to think Apple would be announcing an iPod phone and a smaller iPod. Finally the word got out and Apple had the iPod nano on their site. Immediately after I saw the specs and photos I knew I was ordering one. Less than 2 hours later I did. Using the Education discount (By the way, anyone can get the Education discount because they don’t do any checking on you.) through the Apple store I put in my order for a 4 GB black iPod nano with free engraving. Line one would get Nick Momrik and line two ‘MtDewVirus’. After tax the total came to just over $242 (with free shipping). Not bad for an item listed at $249.
The next day I received an email from Apple telling me my iPod nano was being shipped. Holy shit! They said it would take a few days longer because of the engraving. I jumped on FedEx and found out it was shipping from China. I guessed it would take a few extra days. I had waited years for an iPod, so I could wait a few more days. When I checked the tracking again on Monday, my package was out for delivery. Damn, FedEx is good! I went home for lunch to hopefully pick it up, but all I found was a note from the delivery man. I’d have to pick it up at the FedEx location after 6 that night. A few more hours wouldn’t hurt…
Finally I got my hands on the package and I couldn’t believe how teeny-tiny the box was. It’s like an inch thick CD jewel case. After I whipped out the nano I couldn’t believe my eyes. Apple really did their work on this one. The nano is just as long as my middle finger (see photo at right) and the thickness is smaller than the photos lead you to believe. The iPod nano is a very losable device. Can you tell I love it?
OK…how about some real reviewing now?
This part of the post might actually be pretty short. There are too many reviews out there, so I’m not sure what I can say that hasn’t been said already. This is my first iPod, so I don’t have anything to compare it to. I’ve only messed around with an iPod for a couple of minutes before getting my own.
The best part of the iPod nano (except the size) is the color screen. It is crisp, the colors are bright, and text is easy to read. The scroll wheel and buttons are easy to use. The menu system is organized well with everything just a few click-scroll combos away. The new clock feature is cool, but I’m not sure it’s needed. The stop watch is very sweet. If you use the lap feature on stop watches, you’ll love this. When you are finished timing, you can scroll through each lap and see all of the different times. The iPod nano is a great little device; the real deal. You’ll get your money’s worth if you decide to buy one for yourself or as a gift.
Just about the only thing I’ve seen others bitch about is the same gripe I have. The headphone jack is on the bottom. What the fuck was Apple thinking? The only logical reason I can think of is that they didn’t have a choice. In order to pack everything into such a small space, I’m guessing that this was the only place they could end up with the jack.
To sum it up…if you’ve been holding to buy an iPod, this is your time. I’m more than happy with mine.
Nick Momrik 
It’s a bit of a shame that I already have an iPod mini 😦
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Ah…but you’d love the nano! 😉
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Hm… I wonder… I’ve been holding off on an iPod for a while now too. I still might go for a regular iPod (I heard they discontinued the mini?) because of the size of the harddrive. My music collection is slightly under 9GB. How much can the Nano hold?
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Didn’t realize I hit submit… I just checked Apple’s site, it comes in 2GB and 4GB flavors… That’s not much, but then again, I probably can shave off more than half of my collection to stick on this thing..
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I fit just under 600 songs on mine. That’s with a couple of 30-50 MB podcasts and some albums that have a lot higher quality. iTunes tells me that I have over 3 days worth of listening pleasure stored on it.
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@satoshi: See “A Tip for Syncing With a Library Larger Than iPod“
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Hey nice review, i’ve read somewhere that the screen scratches really really easily. Any evidence of that yet, if so do you think apple will fix it?
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Yes, unfortunately the entire top surface scratches easily. I have a black nano and the black is covered by some type of clear surface which gets scratched up by what seems like nothing. I had it in my pants pocket a few times without anything else in the pocket and I have some small scratches on the surface. I can’t wait until companies start selling the covers/cases.
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[…] Two weeks ago I bought the new iPod nano and one of the first things I did was start downloading some old episodes (back to around 38 or so) of the Card Club on Lord Admiral Radio podcast. Tomorrow I should finally catch up with Sunday’s podcast (episode 45). I’ve been playing the shows on my ride to and from work each day, which works out great. Listening to Sean, Brent, and everyone else involved in the shows has renewed my poker focus. […]
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Hi.
I as well have the same kind of experiance. I got my nano not to long ago, and I love it!
And yes, it really sucks how easily it scratches!! I bought a leather case for mine not to long ago, and it still somehow figures out a way to get a scratch! Talk about annoying! I find that I can fit lots of songs on it, but it depends mostly on how long your song is. Oh god, that is annoying how the headohone jack is on the bottom! Stubborn!! Do you know if eventully apple will be able to sell Games on Itunes for your Ipod? I think thatd be great, cuase im all about the games! 😛 oh yes, and the photo addition is excellent. Except, its kind of hard to see your picture and what not.
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Why wouldn’t the headjack be on the bottom? The nano was designed to be in your palm or laying down facing you. That doesn’t work too well with the cord rewinding from the top of the device and going across the screen. I’m glad its on the bottom.
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And…the headjack on the bottom lets you have the laynard headphones. With the headphone jack on the bottom when you lift the nano up it will be rightside-up not upside down. I also heard that the screen and the parts behind it left no room for a heaphone jack anyway.
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