Electronics : Apple iPod nano 4GB - White [MA005FB/A]

Rating: - Great design & looks good, but do you want a 1g?
Bought this iPod as a gift for wife and she loves it - looks great and overall it's a very good mp3 player. Though for me the only reason to buy a 1g (first generation) nano is if you want a black or white one. It's true what they say, you only have to put the 1g down on a normal surface and it's scratched. The 2g nano has a longer life battery and better casing, which they say is less likely to pick up marks. So for me it's a shame there isn't a 2g in white.
If like me you're a windows user it's worth noting you can install the iPod as a drive on your pc but as these are older models, they require an up-date before you can transfer files. After wasting loads of time I found myself having to use the iTunes software. My advice even if you don't want to use iTunes, do the install and get it all working and then move on. Don't get me wrong it's a good bit of software but you do have to put up with it wanting to load Apple's music store all the time. The whole experience left me feeling I was being coerced into operating the way Apple wanted me to and for them it wasn't so much about the iPod but the possible after sales?

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Rating: - Small and proud!
This is the first ipod I have owned and I have to say its fantastic. It is perfect for the traveller or gym guru. Having to travel a lot myself, having a device thats not heavy and bulky,but can also hold all my favourite albums is a blessing!It fits perfectly into my pockets or hide snuggly in my bag. The nano certainly shows its proud to be small by the attention it attracts. It works beautifuly with itunes and I do feel for those people who have experienced problems. But to anyone out there thinking of purchasing a nano you must!
However I will end with one mild negative. The battery life. Buy an in car charger or adapter. They are a godsend! Oh and by the way better buy some ipod nano tubes for protection. The nano does scratch on the back!

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Rating: - Apple Products are unreliable and poorly made
I would never buy another Apple product after my experience with Ipods. I have had one for one year that I have gotten replaced 6 times, and after buying an extended warrenty they informed me that the warrenty was not registered on the computer (by the fault of the APPLE store I bought it at) and thus they could not find it on their system. Their customer service is not helpful, the products are extremely poorly made, and the only reason they are successful is because they have become a trend, not because they are a worthwhile investment.

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Rating: - An icon of what technology and design should be all about
I did not rush out and buy an ipod because I simply did not think I needed it - I don't have a Walkman and I don't need to listen to music in odd places. My route to the nano started with my migration to a PowerBook. I started to use the Mac to collect and archive lots of music CD's, and in particular select those tracks I wanted to keep from a mass of old compilations. I could even throw away the discs, boxes and all - I finally still have the discs, but I did manage to throw away the boxes. I then bought a JBL The Encounter for my home office, and started to consider getting an ipod - and low and behold the nano appeared. What I wanted, and what I use the nano for is to collect and carry my music collection when I go to our second home in Spain. There I have an Altec Lansing iM7 portable speaker/docking system for the ipod - and it works perfect with the nano as well. The nano is ideal in that it carries a really useful collection of music and that includes my entire Spanish language course. I can plug it in to my iM7 in Spain and get a great listening experience, and I can use it the flight there and back. Esthetically speaking the nano is a perfectly designed artifact and fits with my idea of good-looking technology (thin, white, light-weight, easy interface and bright display, great storage capacity, total portability, robust and great quality and attention to detail). And I have never needed to read the user manual. So far I have had no problems at all with it (e.g. screen scratching) and long battery life is not a major consideration for my particular purpose. So for me it is a perfect device, and (as long as it does not break down on me in the next couple of years) I would wholeheartedly recommended it (or more precisely the one with the biggest storage capacity available at the time of purchase).

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Rating: - The best music player so far.
It's hard to find the superlatives to describe this item, it's beautifully designed and constructed, something you can look and and realise just how much thought as gone in to producing the tiny end product. It starts with the packaging, which is stunning in itself, if you appreciate this attention to detail, you won't be disappointed, other manufacturers don't even come close. It is slim, tiny, elegant, with a intuitive simple user interface, I bet no-one has to read the manual. This is Apple design at it's best. The sound quality is fine through the bundled earphones, if you want hi-fi quality then a pair of shure earbuds will improve things a little. It also sounds very good through my reference hi-fi separates system, so don't be fooled by the size, as long as use go for high-quality (larger) MP3 encoding on your albums, you'll never notice it's not a CD playing. 4 Gb is enough for a lot of music, I have a 20Gb desktop collection of music, but it's easy to set-up playlists in iTunes to copy over what you fancy when it docks. I've managed to keep all my 4 and 5 star tracks and many new albums on this device all the time. You are limited to using iTunes, but it's one of the best free music programs, so hardly a limitation. Oh you can also store photos, contacts and notes on this too, if you have a Mac (and probably a PC too). Battery life is pretty good, not excellent, but if you are going away, buy an extra cheap charger that just plugs into the mains. The Nano only charges via it's docking port (and hence only via USB when on the Mac/PC), so a little charger is a good investment. It's a great holiday companion. I've read all the reviews about the screen scratching, but if you are careful, then there won't be a problem. You can buy plastic sleeves to protect it, and lovely leather cases (mine is a Knomo one) and they don't detract from the iPod.
This is the ultimate music player, the only people who'll improve on this are Apple in my opinion. A design classic.