Firstly before I go over the IPOD NANO I would like to give you a brief history about what made me opt for an Apple product (of all the myriad choices available in the market). The choice of the Nano went through enough deliberation as my previous purchase of the IPOD shuffle was one which left me smiling for 4 years. This also meant that I needed a player which could handle my appointments (outlook synchronization), my podcasts, and also have the time to show me some pictures and movies with crystal clear sound (tall order eh?).

Though there are a lot of Apple fan-boys out there, I don’t think Apple makes the best hardware (audio) as Iriver. Creative can beat them on pricing and very good sound. I went for the Nano as I needed reliability which I had found in my earlier purchase of the shuffle. I was lucky that I got this as a gift – a gift when unwrapped was beautiful to say the least. I can’t blame Apple for holding the market to ransom with their products. Their presentation has always been impeccable.

Anyways, I unpacked the package and there are the usual accessories USB dongle/charger (charging for some reason for Apple has always been through the USB though there are chargers which are available in the market which allow you to use the standard Power Socket to charge your pod), Nano Quick Start Guide, Apple Earphones, Nano Dock Adaptor and of course the Nano 3G.

On the first look (I got a black pod) it looks a beauty. Simplicity pervades every part of the Nano experience. May it be just going through the menu or transferring your songs onto the Nano (through ITunes). On a more detailed note let me break down all aspects of the IPOD NANO Xperience (XP is integral

Look and Feel

Smooth finish. Though prone to smudges due to the glossy finish, with the core being the touchpad which is core to the Nano and allows you to access all menu functions. The screen has a 5 cm wide screen (color) supporting a resolution of 320 * 240 pixels. The best thing is that the small size of the screen is not an impediment to viewing small movies (long movies might be a bit too tough on the eyes).

Sound  

Music/Photos/Videos (post conversion) are transferred through ITunes. I don’t use ITunes personally as I find it easier to use Winamp to manage my music collection and also manage the POD (Winamp plug-in).

Though there are some things where it is inevitable that you use ITunes, like managing your podcasts, videos and of course to use your POD as a drive. What you use is per your convenience.

Headphones

The standard pair of headphones needs to be discarded and you would need to invest in a good pair of head/ear phones to love the sound that the pod delivers. I use a Creative EP-630 which augments the aural response and is also a snug fit. The sound is impeccable with correct highs, mids and lows and I love listening to the podcasts, music and movies with the pod. I am not a music connoisseur so I can’t comment on the perfection of sound

Overall the pod 3G experience has been wonderful. Will give a more in-depth coverage in the 2nd part of this article.

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