Zardon

Not a hot new release from Apple, however with Christmas around the corner MP3 players sell like hot cakes. How does the Apple Nano rate? is it worth the money and more importantly is it as fragile as people are claiming?

[color=#ffffff]We’ve gone from large bulky vinyls, to the smaller more portable CDs, to the digital age and current dominant music format, MP3s. Combine all of the above, and carrying around your favorite music has never been easier. Unfortunately, with the amount of different music players available right now, making the correct choice is extremely tedious and difficult. Should you buy a Zen Micro from Creative? An iRiver player? Just step into a local electronics shop and you’ll see that there are so many choices the average user will most certainly get confused.[/color]



Read the review here

WxChaser

When I was out in Seattle/Bellevue Washington for the Valve Lost Coast/HDR day - there was a huge Apple store right across the street from the hotel near Valve headquarters.

I hiked over with a friend from bit-tech, who really wanted the Nano's since they had just come out. They had a huge table full of the Ipod Nano's, and every single one was scratched heavily. I remember commenting to my friend from bit-tech how crappy that was for a $200 dollar piece of gear. I didn't buy one and neither did he.

On my trip out later this week, I may pick up the 30GB/60GB video Ipod instead, that's what I have my eyes on!

Nice job on the review with the scratching difficulities and explaining functionalities. Other than the scratching issue it is a fine product.

pr0digal jenius

nice review, as usual

I still think iPods to be a bit fo a 2nd rate product in a 1st class housing with the marketting team to end all marketting teams pushing it, but I suppose to each their own

Zardon

Personally I always thought the creative zen gave better sound quality especially as the bundled headphones creative supply are always at least twice as good as Apples, however it is hard to fault Apple for looks and overall sex appeal. I would have concerns with this particular model and the scratching issue - I think the new 60 gig ipod looks pretty nice, not sure id use it over my archos AV however.

pr0digal jenius

my iRiver came with seinheisser headphones and has SRS/WOW, so I'm yet to find a better sound out of the box on one yet.

ViRuS2k

Ipods Suck its plain and simple.

sheesh even the ipod was on WATCHDOG becuse of its crappyness and bad support.
yeah i know it was last gen but these new ones have simlular problems, Battries die fast, they scratch easy as hell , they also dont have strong display and can break*crack* easy. ohh and did i forget to say that if the screen breaks or cracks those faults arent under the warantee by apple lol

also the reviews i have read all have problems simular to the problems a few friends of mine had....

i just bought a Creative Zen Micro 6gig Player and its way and i mean way better than this shit ipod i have.

BulletTheory

I own a iPod Nano and I love it. I got the 4gig Black one. Personally, Im a big fan of music and I need a good quality sound. I think this iPod is really good in overall. I dont use the little headphones they gave with it. I own a pair of Sony MDR-V500DJ which is the MAIN thing I need are some GOOD Headphones. Combine the iPod with those Sony Headphones and u got a nice setup. But the price is also to watch. If ur low on cash, the iPod Nano isnt for ya, but u can also get the iPod Shuffle or another its only 150$cdn to 180$cdn. But the 500$ I paid really worth it price. For me the Nano is a Great product but a lil bit too expensive, but if ur willing to pay 300$+cdn , then get it. Its a nice MusicPlayer and I love it

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LHC

Completely agree.. with a little less care

I don't like the iPods one bit, in my opinion THE most overrated product ever. As stated in the review, people just buy one to be "cool". Though it's SO annoying to see people walking out of class, putting their iPod earbuds in their ear for the 3 minutes you have to get to your next class. I remember that story where some kid beat the crap out of another kid just for his iPod headphones. That's just pathetic in my opinion.

I've had a Creative Zen Micro (5GB) for about half a year now, and it hardly has any scratches on it. Very rarely used the pouch thing that came with it or anything. Much better sound, basically same menu style system, better navigation (though there are some who will argue this).

I don't really care that people are wasting their money to be "cool" but I just feel that the product is the most overrated. Besides, right now the Zen Micro is $130 right now on Tigerdirect after the $20 rebate. Sure it's not "impossibly thin", but ya know what? It's an mp3 player, it plays music, I'm happy.

All my opinion, of course

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BulletTheory

I agree with ya LHC. Zen is a great mp3 player too. But I wanted a Thin MP3 player loll. I didnt want to be cool or trying to be the rich boy who has an iPod either. I just bought to have a good MP3 player. But I know wut u mean LHC. It is overrated!

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No_Style

I like the iPod Nano 4 GB Black. Sexy indeed! However, I'm holding out for the Zen Micro Neeon flash based 4 GB model. (Creative really needs to get one out to compete with the iPod Nano 4 GB model)

I liked my Zen Micro's headphones, but they crapped out on me (moving the wire distorts sound). I've gone back to the Sony ones I've had laying around and I never realized how great the bass is from Sony ones compared to the Creative's. Oh and the comfort of them as well!

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Necrosis

I was a fellow Ipod hater until I picked up the fifth generation Ipod.

Over all I like it very much. Other than the wide screen format issue, it's great. I don't use Itunes either so that helps. However, I do have to recommend the Zen Micro over the Nano though. BTW, about ear buds. I have yet to see/hear any that beat Koss Plugs especially for the money.

Sandok

The thing is that as I said in the review, I was an iPod hater too but this one was different. It had more style and the iPod mania isn't as extreme here so I didn't really find it annoying. The thing I personally don't like about the Zen Micro is how bulky and heavy it is compared to the Nano. But the bad headphones really kill it (the Nano)

IvanV

I think it's really disappointing. It's the world's most famous player, probably the most expensive one too (when it comes to $/MB), so recieving bad earphones with it really is an insult. And I don't even know what to say about the scratches. In another review I read, they wrote that it was the black Nano that had the scratching problem, and that the white one had the fragile screen, but only those from the first series, which Apple agreed to replace.

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Kombatant

From my previous experience with the various players that I have tested for the magazine I was previously working for, I must say that iRiver > *.

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Erroneus

Getting my tuesday!!

I know it's easy scratchable (is that a word? ) but according to alof of nano users, it can easy be removed by using som Brasso.

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germanjulian

No more scratches. Invisible!!!!
http://www.theinvisibleshield.com/index.asp

Thats why I applied this to my Ipod new 60GB ipod straight away. Still no scratches on it

you all know it scratches but nobody seems to get protection for it straight away!?? Doesnt make sense to me. Its the must have accessory.

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Sandok

Well I bought the socks (as I said in the review) to protect the nano but I underestimated the scratchableness of the player.

Btw, funny thing but my name is spelt 3 different ways in that review

Erroneus

Looks nice, only one small problem. Shpping to EU costs 85$

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germanjulian

no it can be less then $20. change the shipping option (funny my friend didnt see that either)

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Necrosis

http://www.speckproducts.com/vid-toughskin.html

That is what I use.

riles9262

I like my shuffle (got it for free as well ), but i'd really like to have one with a screen and more importantly, equalizer settings.

With all ipods I think that there are 2 important things: first, trash the headphones, which seems to be almost common knowledge now . Second, imo, forget itunes. I use foo_pod plugin for foobar2000 and I love it. Many of the same actions as itunes, and a built in transcoder, which comes in handy

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Erroneus

Ah yes, true.

But I'm getting an iSee Nano from www.contourcase.com and they even got a office here in Denmark :O

Thanks though.

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pr0digal jenius

must have accessory, yes.


But my point is still this: Creative players(most of them), and all(?) iRiver's come with cases out of the box...why can't apple?

germanjulian

cause their playerers are shiny and uuuuuhhh nice factor. to be frank i dont care but 80% of apple buys do care that it looks amazing.

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CynicalSaint

Although this review has stated the earbuds that come with Nano are the worse aspect of it, many other reviews have said the earbuds are in fact pretty decent. iLounge, which does fairly accurate reviews of iPod accessories (I trusted them for my purchases), gave it is B-
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/rev...adphones-ipod/

However, it is still no match for my Sony MDR-EX70. Scratching on my 4th gen iPod was a problem, until I bought a full enclosure case.

There is more than one opinion. Stop jumping on the Apple-hater bandwagon guys. Listen for yourselves before bashing them.

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Sandok

Ummmm I BOUGHT the Nano for the review with MY money... So I don't hate apple and dude, even my last MP3 player from MPIO had better Headphones. So does my PSP. So does everything I own. These headphones DO suck bad. Honestly, listen to the same song with the default headphones on a zen micro and then on a Nano (or any ipod) and you will hear a difference.

Luckily, if you just get better headphones ur saved

brutusmaximus

I love Apple, and have an Ipod, Mini and a Nano all bought over the years. I agree ilounge is a decent site but they are WAY off the mark with regards to the headphone quality (those arent bundled phones btw). a rating of B- is very biased to Apple. I hate their headphones and always pick up a nice pair of Sony inear to listen on the bus/planes etc. Interesting to see in that review that even though they cost $40 (WAY OVERPRICED), they still get a B minus! certainly doesnt say much for a pair they give away free with a nano, I doubt they are anywhere near as good as those!

Cons: Surprisingly high price, even by Apple and standard iPod accessory standards. Nothing special about either the earphones or the lanyard.

Apple make great portable players but the headphones suck (that review link isnt even the pair that comes with the nano anyway, you pay $40 for those and they still suck). probably ok for kids or for people who cant tell the difference but I agree with the DH review on this.

LHC

Are people not allowed to not like Apple? That statement sounds like you're an iPod fanatic (no offense or anything). That statement makes it seem like you think Apple is just the greatest. Like you said, there are multiple oninions, and not everybody will like Apple, because a lot of people are starting to turn the other shoulder on them.

I remember that news article on here not too long ago that siad that researchers and whatnot think that within the next year or so, people will go to a different manufacture other than Apple for mp3 player needs.

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germanjulian

there are apple haters and apple fanatics.. and people like me who hated and started to like their new generation of mp3 players which dont suck any more (do to sound quality)

but MAN the default apple headphones SUCK SO BAD!

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Erroneus

Anybody has some expirence with the Sony MDR EX81SL?

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