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Monday, 10 September 2007

Video Nano's [Pod]



So Maddy's killers are now on the run and seem to have settled down over here and dug their heels in for the long fight......


Nah just kidding. Like just about anyone else living above the chav line I was bored of this story before it even began. Instead I'm here today to give you my review of the new Ipod Nano. It was beej who first told me about the upgrades the nano was going to recieve. Granted, back on tuesday, they weren't quite right (16 gig nano's sadly weren't announced) but my interest was still peaked. I headed down to the apple store on saturday to see what they were like in the flesh. I'd seen the specs on the web and had noticed that the device was thicker. Human perception eh? Even though the values were in mmthere have been people bleeting on our mailing lists about how its grown in size. Tell you what, in hand you don't notice it. What you do notice is how cool it looks and how it feels in your palm. Upto the counter I strode and bought an 8gig Red one for £129. Some of which goes to fight Aids in Africa (the Product Red promotion, same price as the other colours too!)


Still, proof is in the pudding. Got it home, charged it and played with the menu system. Nice and visual as you'd expect from an apple product. The interface has gained cover flow mode which is a visual treat but after years of using itunes and browsing by name I've no idea what the covers of my albums look like :) Still, those of you who have upto date Itunes installs will know that it also provides you with the name so you can still find what you're looking for. Just takes a little longer is all. Interface wise the only downsides I could find was that the wheel was a little sensitive (no sensitivity setting that I've found) and that the cover flow mode can take a little time to fully load all the images.


Finally, the big upgrade for this model is the video. The screen is super lush and I've converted some music videos and showed them off to my friends. All have been very impressed with the quality of the playback etc. All I need to do now is get a load of content queued for conversion so I can make the most of it.


So decent marks for the new nano. Not perfect, it loses marks for the interface issues but I do wonder if some of those might be addressed in a firmware upgrade. I was also hoping for a 16gig model but faster transfer rates over my gen1 ipod helps in that area anyway :)

6 comments:



  1. Tips:

    For DVD video conversion, Handbrake is pretty good & quick, despite the awful UI. AutoMKV is another one that does swish x264 conversion, but I don't know if it'll put the chapter markers in or downmix the sound like Handbrake does. Videora does a pretty good job of converting other format files like avi.

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  2. I don't understand all this fuss. Surely a walkman is perfect for music on the go? Nobody could ever need more than a C-90 full of music anyway.

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  3. I'm loving the way you segway'd so brilliantly from murderous parents to iPod... you should work in teevee! :)

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  4. Yep, it's a very, very nicely designed product. I bought my girlfriend one this weekend. Unfortunately the Apple Store didn't have the new 160gb Classic in for me, but that's on order now. The new high-resolution screens are a dream to watch stuff on, and the whole minimalist design of the player and even the packaging is a breath of fresh-air compared to everything else to do with computers.

    Shame there's no 160gb Touch, but you can't have everything I guess.

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  5. Im an apple weenie anyway, but Im going to get me a 160gb classic from santa..

    I have a 80gb classic now, and Im very happy with it. But I have about 90gb of music at home, so I have the ipod full, before any of the podcasts I listen to get near it. So the extra space is just what I need as I like to listen to some podcasts on the go :)

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  6. I've got the previous generation 30gb video iPod and I have to say that I'm really happy about the latest ipod announcements.

    Not a single significant feature that would make me consider upgrading this year! So thats a few extra pounds to spend somewhere else.

    Most of my niggling problems with the ipod are interface based and I'm sure could be implemented/fixed with a firmware upgrade (but.. no.. far more profitable to churn out new hardware each year...).Couldn't give a toss about the touch screen stuff.. mp3 players are for sitting in your pocket and playing music on.. not for constantly fiddling with.

    Anyone tried messing around with the Rockbox firmware?

    Looks a bit naff visually (but you listen to these things more than look at them eh?).. but the feature set is pretty comprehensive.. if it works..

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