Additional thoughts... 
Very scratchable chrome on the back -- I'm currently searching for some kind of case... it's the size of a business card but thick enough that most business card cases are too small.
| | I found one of those memory-card cases (metal. The cloth/poly ones cost 1/2 but look kind of ugly - and none of them have room for headphones bigger than the annoying earbids that come with it...)... need to modify it slightly - the rubber insert anyway... |
| | Looks like the nano is a fraction of an inch longer than a PCMCIA card but a little skinnier. |
| | I'll be experimenting with that plastic cover they sell for things like the PSP to see if that helps also. It's designed to protect slick plastic surfaces like the Nano and PSP. If you can get it on correctly (I didn't have much luck with my PSP... ) |
| | A post-it on the back... keeps it from sliding around on my desk... who needs one of those expensive "iPads" (a piece of rubber for that express purpose.) |
I'm finding myself using it a lot more than my iPod shuffle (which will be on its way to T tomorrow)
It looks like I had the wrong version of iTunes installed... v5.0 DOES support direct syncing of calendar and contact info on Windows... though it seems to be flaky... works for some people and not others -- oh, the wonders of Windows and MS Outlook. -- syncing my Calendar works... contacts? I get an error -50 so I'm stuck with the drag& dropping of contacts in disk mode. Not a big deal...
I haven't gotten into the whole podcast thing yet... maybe I will now...
Need to get something for using it in my car before my next long trip (one of the reasons I bought an iPod with the docking adapter)
Need a "dock" so I can plug it into my stereo... and replace the CD player I no longer have...
Initial Thoughts on the new iPodNano
(This started out on my real blog... and was cut and pasted over here - in reverse chronological order - newest first )
[5] Oddly enough...
| | You can put photos on the iPod nano... but you have to use iTunes to do it... and it isn't by individual photo... it's by folder... I put a couple on it to see how it works... but I can't see keeping them there for long... |
| | No video out (Unless someone figures out how to do that using the docking port...) |
| | Okay... checking the manual (which you have to download from Apple)... I'm using a PC to put stuff on my iPod (until I get a Mac with a faster USB port). On a Mac you can use iSync or several other methods to easily copy stuff to it - contacts, calendar info, to-do's. |
| | The contact info is easy... it's whatever is in a vCard file. Just copy it over while the iPod is connected. |
| | Calendar info... the version of Outlook I have doesn't seem to export in vCal or iCalendar format (that I can tell) so that isn't an option. |
| | The To-Do list feature... only works with a Mac. Darn... |
| | The Notes feature... other than a note on the ipod telling you how to use it and a short blurb in the manual there isn't much info available on it... it works on both Mac and PC... but I believe there must be a size limit. |
| | To test it I downloaded a book from Baen's free library (One of their James H. Schmitz anthologies (the one I haven't purchased yet))... converted it to text (800+K) and copied it to my iPod... readable... but VERY tiny text... but it didn't all show up. I'll have to try some smaller things... not sure what I would want to carry around on an iPod for squinty reading... |
[4] For comparison purposes only...
| | Sitting on the box the Nano comes in. It's the same size as the Shuffle's box. The outer slip-cover actually has a life-size image of the Nano on it. Embossed front and side views. (The nano is thinner than the shuffle. You'll have to check Apple's website for Shuffle and Nano specs if you want exact dimensions... I don't have a ruler handy...) |
| | Haven't quite figured out the prayer/thumb wheel on the Nano... |
| | I don't use the 'ear buds' that come with these things (Or my PSP)... they make my ears hurt... I like my music pain-free... so I bought a pair of cheap 'clip-on' headphones. (I have a much better pair of real headphones I use at work with my PC...). Worth the $9 I spent on them. |
| | Not the best picture... my (3 year old) digital camera doesn't do close-up shots very well... I guess that is next on the replace list (Christmas?) |
[3] Is it an iPod or a PDA?
| | I bought it to play music... (and other audio things)... |
| | I'd heard that you can put contact info on it (Anything you can put in vCard format) and calendar info (though I have no idea how to do that...)... |
| | It looks like you can also put text files on it... kind of a small screen to read eBooks on but... possible. |
| | The real surprise... there are several games... standard simple stuff you used to find on cell phones before they got so smart... some thing Breakout, a solitaire game, music trivia (It plays a part of a song from your iPod and you have to guess the title), and something called 'Parachute' |
[2] I need some kind of case for this...
| | The "docking port" on the end the the nano doesn't have a cover. I wonder how long before dirt gets in it and it stops working... |
| | There's a docking adapter... but no instructions on what to do with it... at least not anything included with the iPod... |
[1] Okay... that's a lot of music in a pocket
| | It appears Best Buy does have the iPod-nano (It still wasn't on their website today - or on display). You just have to ask for them. Two colors... black and white... two storage sizes 2GB and 4GB. I now have a 2GB white one... Plenty of room for my tastes... and the colored skins for the thing look like they would work better with a white one... which I think might be a necessity... it collects fingerprints just as easily as the PSP... but doesn't come with something to clean it... |
| | I'm stuffing it full of music right now... the stuff that I had on my shuffle (mostly) and a bit more :-). (Total ? 296 songs/ 19 hours of music. With room left over. Mostly full albums... Beatles, Marillion, Pink Floyd, Rush, Heart, and a bunch of others from my current play-list.. Sheryl Crow, Michelle Branch, Anna Nalick, Alanis Morissette, Johnny Cash... etc. What? No Led Zeppelin? Couldn't decide which one... maybe next time...) |
| | It has a random/shuffle feature just like the shuffle. Which isn't actually a feature I use a lot. |
| | My iBook has a slow USB port... so I use my thinkpad to put music on the ipods... it has the faster USB 2.0. And neither of them does firewire... |
| | So... what happens to the Shuffle? I don't need two ipods... I already have plans for it :-). If a certain T still wants it... |
