iPod nano 2GB review

Put it this way: everyone at MacUser now has 'iPod nano' at the top of their Christmas list.

We always strive to maintain an authoritative, professional and critical eye when reviewing products, but we must confess to getting all emotional when we cracked open the tiny, matte black box in which the nano arrived.

There's no preparing you for how tiny it is. We've tried, by printing it at life size on this issue's cover, but it just ain't the same.

To touch and hold one for the first time is to fall in love with the whole idea of iPod all over again; without exception, everyone to whom we showed the nano had the same visceral reaction. Forgive us for gushing, but, really, you'll do the same the first time you see and hold one.

And then there's the capacity. It comes in both 2GB and 4GB sizes (both in a white and a black finish), and it's astonishing to think of how much music that means can be crammed into the tiny casing. Some colleagues from our sister PC titles, already grudgingly impressed by the looks of the nano, were justifiably blown away by the realisation of how many tracks could be stored.

It may look flimsy, but technology website Ars Technica reported running over the nano with a car, after which the diminutive music player still worked. Twice. We couldn't bring ourselves to do the same to ours, so we'll just take their word for it.

Let's scotch one concern before we go any further. The iPod mini line has now been scrapped by Apple, but before the introduction of the iPod nano, a 4GB iPod mini cost £139. The 4GB nano now costs £179, effectively raising the price of a 4GB iPod by £40. True, but not the whole picture. When the 4GB iPod mini was first made available in the UK in July 2004, it cost £179 as well, so even though a 4GB nano is more expensive than the immediately preceding 4GB mini, it's not quite the rip-off you might first think.

Part of the reason for that pseudo increase is the move from the small hard disks used in the mini line to the more expensive flash memory in the nanos. This brings benefits, though. First, such solid-state storage has no moving parts, so there's less to go wrong and zero chance of any skipping during playback, no matter how hard you shake the nano. Second, flash memory requires less power, as there are no moving parts to spin. The practical upshot of this isn't so much increased battery life - the quoted 14-hour playback time is in line with the rest of the iPod range as it stands - but that a smaller battery is required to produce a decent amount of playback time, which is another factor in shrinking the iPod.

Enough of this background stuff, though: you want to know what it's like to use. Frankly, it's a joy. If you've used any iPod other than the shuffle, you'll be right at home: Apple hasn't tampered with the perfect user experience formula it has concocted. Audiobooks, on-the-go playlists, solitaire, podcasts, the ability to rate tracks on the move, diary and address book and the rest of the stuff that made the iPod great are all there. The supplied earphones aren't stunning, but we like the handy positioning of the headphone jack on the bottom of the device. If you've never used an iPod, you're in for a treat.

Inevitably, the iPod nano is closely linked to iTunes. It's iTunes you'll use to import your existing music, organise it into playlists and generally get everything set up as you want it.

Plug in the nano and, after walking you through a setup guide the first time, your tracks are copied to it.