Apple iPod nano 16 GB Black (5th Generation) OLD MODEL

Apple iPod nano 16 GB Black (5th Generation) OLD MODELIpods 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.

                
review more     Apple iPod nano 16 GB Black (5th Generation) OLD MODEL

Apple iPod nano 16 GB Black (5th Generation) OLD MODEL

Apple iPod nano 16 GB Black (5th Generation) OLD MODEL
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.

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.
read moreApple iPod nano 16 GB Black (5th Generation) OLD MODEL

Apple iPod nano 16 GB Black (5th Generation) OLD MODEL by apple

Apple iPod nano 16 GB Black (5th Generation) OLD MODEL

Details

16 GB capacity for 4,000 songs, 14,000 photos, or 16 hours of video

Up to 24 hours of music playback or 5 hours of video playback when fully charged

2.2-inch color TFT display with 240 x 376 pixel resolution

Supports AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible, Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV audio formats

Supports H.264 and MPEG-4 video formats; JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PSD (Mac only), and PNG image formats
iPod nano now has a built-in video camera that lets you spontaneously shoot video wherever you are. And that's just the beginning. It has a dramatic, polished anodized aluminum finish and a larger screen. The new Genius Mixes feature acts as your personal DJ, automatically searching your iTunes library, then making mixes you'll love. Take iPod nano anywhere and the new Pedometer counts your steps. Also making its debut: a built-in FM radio with two amazing features--iTunes Tagging and Live Pause. So the world's most popular music player now has more to play with.
Design Makes Rock More Glam


iPod nano now has a polished anodized aluminum finish in nine electrifying colors. And a larger 2.2-inch color display for your viewing pleasure.
How it Works


You'll notice how smoothly and easily VoiceOver works. A lot of thought went into creating an iPod nano that not only talks, but says the right things. It all begins with iTunes and its seamless integration with iPod nano. First, iTunes reads your song information, then uses the VoiceOver Kit to generate the announcements for the songs, artists, and playlists. Just sync your iPod nano to your computer and it really speaks to you.

Apple iPod touch 32 GB (3rd Generation) OLD MODEL

Apple iPod touch 32 GB (3rd Generation) OLD MODEL
Applications (Apps)

The apps are a plenty on the iPod Touch and there's an app for everything (practically). They're arranged by category like games, news, productivity, etc., and are furthered displayed by best selling, top-free, and release date. You can also search by keyword or check out the most popular and featured apps.

Some apps are free and some cost a one time fee of between $.99-$4.99 and up. If you're a news junkie like me, you'll really love it. I've downloaded Time Magazine, NPR (radio and print stories), BBC READER, New York Times, USA Today, AP (Associated Press) and ABC News...all for free!
I really like that the BBC Reader will download their stories into the cache memory, once you connect via Wi-Fi so you can read the articles offline (when Wi-Fi is not available). NYT and AP will allow you to save articles that you can read offline as well. And the AP will deliver breaking news as long as you're connected... ALL FREE!!!
I've downloaded a dictionary, spell checker, facebook, Grimm's Fairytales and Alice In Wonderland books to read...all for FREE! I also got this free app called "Pandora" which is a radio station that will only play songs by artists that you want to hear. Too cool!

I know that I sound like a broken record with the "free" stuff but being a Verizon Wireless user, I'm sure other VZW customers feel me, I'm amazed that one can download and install quality, portable applications onto a device for no charge or subscription plan.
Calendar for appointments etc., contact phone book, clock, weather, calculator (you can download a free tip-calculator), notes and maps. These all come with the iPod Touch.
Tunes will keep the stuff (music, apps, videos) on your iPod, backed-up on your computer so you'll always have a copy of those things. And you can tell it which play-lists to sync so that you don't have to carry around your entire music/video library from your computer on the portable.
Anyway, I'm loving my iPod Touch and it was the perfect birthday gift to myself. It really is like having a mini-computer with you at all times. The only thing that's missing is a camera, but that's not a big deal at all. It's great for people who want an iPhone, but don't want AT&T's lousy service. I also love not having to pay a monthly subscription charge to Verizon for apps on my cell phone, now that I have the iPod Touch!

The only thing I would advise getting--in addition to the iPod--is the cover protector skin and screen protector mentioned earlier, and the Apple USB Power Adapter which will allow you to plug the USB cord into an electrical outlet (though it isn't necessary, it charges a lot faster than when it's charging from your computer).
Since this is my first iPod, I don't know how it stacks up against the previous versions. But this one is great and really addicting! So if you've been wondering if you should get one and you don't have an iPhone, have access to Wi-Fi, then I'd say...yes! The iPod Touch has so much to offer the user that you can find something to do with it even if you don't plan on using it as an MP3 player all that much.
more informationApple iPod touch 32 GB (3rd Generation) OLD MODEL

Apple iPod touch 32 GB (3rd Generation) OLD MODEL

Apple iPod touch 32 GB (3rd Generation) OLD MODEL
The iPod Touch somewhere deep in its structure is a music player. Not the best sound quality, maybe it's just me but testing it out on a handful of systems, sound can feel scaled down as though the resolution has been tightened. It's not too noticeable though, and I'll make do. The touch can play a few different formats, MP3, AAC (another way to conserve room is by using apples AAC converter to rip albums at a decent bitrate and still keep quality), ALAC (apple loseless audio codec, apples answere to flac or free loseless audio codec), and WAV. Sadly it does not support traditional FLAC, or Ogg Vorbis. Not to worry though, the other formats can do there fair share. With plugins it can support a few extra video types like Xvid (Divx) and AVI, aside from its standard MPEG 4 and Quicktime. Again sorry no WMV (which is understandable).




Overall the iPod Touch is reliable, and versatile. It can perform tasks with ease, and can grant you portable gaming, music, videos, photos, internet, and messengers like Yahoo! and AIM. Texting and social networking are as portable as ever, thanks to Safaris ease of use. 32gbs will leave you asking what's more important, but the most important question is how do you want to use up your battery life? The battery can obviously be recharged, but some things can chew through its life a bit faster (viewing web pages, playing videos etc). The battery life isn't bad, but seeing the 20% battery remaining sign can get a bit annoying when its appearing even after frequent charges. This is a pricey investment, make sure you have a paid plan for it. The backing scratches a bit no biggy it's superficial, but it'd be awful to lose all your information from one wrong drop. This is a great buy, having an Itunes account only adds more to your deal, as apps become a reality. Media devices such as this are one of the few reasons I can enjoy long car rides.