Back in Black - the iPod Nano

As usual, Apple has come up with a unique addition to their line of MP3 players in the iPod Nano. With black, white, blue, silver, pink, green, and now a special red edition, you can choose from a total of six different colors for your iPod Nano. Of course, black goes with everything as everyone knows. The iPod Nano, black or otherwise, is one of Apple's low capacity iPods and uses a flash drive instead of a hard drive like its big brother, the video iPod. When this tiny device was first introduced, it gave Apple a black eye. The iPod Nano initially had some manufacturing defects that caused screens to crack, and the devices were prone to scratching. Once the bugs got worked out though, the Nano has turned out to be a solid MP3 player with photo storage and viewing capabilities. Unlike the video iPod, the Nano does not play video unfortunately. However, it does what really counts: it plays music and does it well.

The iPod Nano comes in three storage capacities: 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB. It might not sound like a lot, but the 8GB iPod Nano can hold 2,000 songs! This device is even thinner (and much lighter) than the video iPod, and the only thing smaller is the iPod Shuffle. If you're looking for a small, simple device to hold your favorite tunes and pictures, the iPod Nano may be an ideal choice for you.

Harsh Economic Realities

Now for the bad news: prices start at $149 for a 2GB iPod Nano and go up to $249 for an 8GB version. Now while $149 is a so-so price for the 2GB unit, the reason this is "bad news" is because there are a number of low capacity MP3 players from companies like Creative, iRiver, and MobiBlu that cram more features into small packages - sometimes at a lower price.

For example, the MobiBlu Cube2 has 2GB of memory but also plays video and as an FM transmitter, and it's still cheaper than an iPod Nano. Even Apple's own 30GB video iPod costs as much as a Nano, so it makes more economic sense to buy a video iPod and get almost four times more storage than the 8GB Nano. However, if having a super-slim and light MP3 player is important to you, then the iPod Nano, perhaps in black, may still be the right choice for you.