Apple iPod nano 8 GB Pink (5th Generation) NEWEST MODEL

Do not get my wrong. I have loved Apple iPods for many years now, and my iPhone is a great part of my life. However, I have started to wonder what else will be added to the traditional iPods, to keep them fresh. Have they reached the limit of necessary features?

Despite my reservations, watching the Apple keynote of this new product has led me to head down to the Apple store and pick up a 16 GB 5th Generation iPod Nano, to add to my "collection."

First reactions? This Nano appears just as sleek and beautiful as the commendable 4th generation Nano. In fact, at first glance, you would not think must different about the newer version. I quickly tried out the recording of video. This was average. It is nice, if you carry your Nano everywhere, to have the ability to take video. Cool. When played back on the Nano, the video looks pretty good. It's average, when played back on your computer. Again, far from bad, but in the age where digital cameras have some great movie modes, you have to simply call the iPod Nano video average, but most of all convenient. Fun too.

Personally, I have found myself most interested in the new Pedometer built into the Nano. It can keep track of your steps during the day, if you keep the device on you all day. I think this could push me to be more active. Again, is this feature really necessary in an iPod? I'm not sure, but keep in mind that this product is popular among fitness gurus for its portability, almost feather-like weight, and solid state memory.

Finally, in a pinch, to listen to a sporting event or particular talk radio show, the new nano includes a FM Turner. Blah you might say? Yes, that is not particularly exciting, BUT the Nano adds one cool feature to FM Radio. You can "pause," the radio up to 15 minutes, such as you might do with the DVR connected to your television. It works flawlessly. Before one asks, no, you cannot schedule radio recordings. Still, the new nano will make FM radio a bit more modern, with this pause function.

Overall, it does seem as though Apple is not quite sure how to keep adding features that are truly remarkable to the iPod Nano. The Nano is the best selling MP3 player in the history of the planet, more sold than any other iPod to date. However, the Nano's best features continue to be its size, ability to sync great content from your iTunes library, portability, and great user interface. The click wheel continues to make finding your music and videos relatively easy. Again, the Nano is superb, but the new features are probably a bit specific on if they will be useful to you or not.

The updated nano is that bit more advanced with a few new features, particularly for many the ability to record a quick video, easily, will be attractive. However, if you have the last generation Nano, I would not worry about upgrading too soon, unless having the absolute latest device and new "features," are important to you. Fantastic device, but not much different than before.

Apple iPod classic 160 GB Black (7th Generation) NEWEST MODEL

The new 160GB iPod Classic is easily Apple Inc.'s best iPod to date, and out of all of the iPods that I own, this is my favorite.

First, the capacity of this iPod is simply unbeatable. I've yet to see another portable media player that can match the iPod Classic in capacity. I have a huge music library, and it's nice to be able to carry every song that I own on my person at all times. What's more, thanks to the iPod Classic's capacity, I also have room to carry a few videos with me, and some of my photos. If you don't like having to pick which songs to load onto your portable media player, the iPod Classic is the way to go.

The second thing that I love about this iPod can be summed up in two words: it works. The 160GB iPod Classic that was introduced in 2007 was extremely buggy, had a non-responsive Clickwheel on many units, crashed frequently, and required a hit-and-miss firmware update to stop the hard drive from spinning even when the device was "off," which often lead to dead batteries. All of these problems left the 2007 160GB iPod Classic warming shelves and earning it the infamous "honor" of being the "worst selling iPod ever," according to Apple. I'm pleased to say that the new 160GB iPod Classic released earlier this month has virtually none of these problems. There's no "spinning hard drive bug," the Clickwheel is incredibly responsive, and the device isn't crash-prone. While it's true that many of these issues were fixed with last year's iPod Classic, there hasn't been a truly functional 160GB model until now. To put it bluntly, this is the iPod that Apple should've released in 2007.

Another thing that I really like about this iPod, and the iPod Classic in general, is it's ability to double as an external hard drive. While I believe that the iPod Nano is also capable of this, the only iPod that really has enough space to function as an external hard drive is the iPod Classic. The hard drive functionality admittedly reduces the number of devices I have to carry on me at any given time. If you regularly work with large files and are considering a new iPod, the iPod Classic is the way to go, plain and simple.

So what are the caveats? Well for starters, as with every other iPod Classic, this is a hard-drive (rather than flash-memory) based device. As a result, it has moving parts which make it unsuitable for running or any physical activity that exerts mechanical shock onto the iPod. Unless you exercise constantly with your iPod though, this really shouldn't be an issue. The only other caveat, which is more of personal taste than an actual flaw, that I can find, is that Apple has not made any cosmetic changes to this device since they introduced it in 2007. Now don't get me wrong, the point of an iPod "Classic," is to retain the "Classic" design, but after seeing how much better a black Clickwheel looks on the silver iPod Nano, I'd have thought that Apple would have given the silver iPod Classic a black Clickwheel as well. However, I admit that this is entirely my personal preference and not a "flaw" per se. I've put a quick list of pros and cons together, which can be seen below:


Pros: Largest iPod Capacity-wise, long battery life, "Genius" feature, excellent value for your money, well-built, doubles as an external hard drive, and improvements to Cover Flow.

Cons: Hard Drive (rather than Flash memory) based storage medium; device is cosmetically identical to the 2007 80GB model. (I still don't understand why Apple hasn't colored the Clickwheel black on the silver model to match the iPod Nano.)

Finally, I would highly recommend this product, which is why it gets five stars from me. I don't like the iPod Nano; it's too small for my hands, and the screen is too small for my eyes. While the iPod Touch may have app store access and Wi-Fi, I find it to be a really gimmicky device, that makes for a poor portable media player, (Apple was wise to position it as a handheld game system,) and is really an "iPhone without a phone." In contrast, the iPod Classic is an excellent portable media player, it has an excellent interface, and it only costs $249 dollars. To put things in perspective, the 2009 160GB iPod Classic costs $70 dollars more than a 16GB iPod Nano, and $150 dollars less than a 64GB iPod Touch. All in all, I highly recommend this product.

Apple iPod Nano 5th Generation (with Camera) Transparent Clear Snap On Crystal Plastic Hard Cover Case

When I received my 5th generation Nano, I was scared to touch it. It was so shiny, and extremely small. A little too small, in fact... so I needed a case to not only preserve it but buff it up just a tad.

Thank you so much for the wonderful clear case and FREE screen protector!!! This is an absolutely unbeatable price for the quality and the service. I got my package within one day of your shipping notification. When I opened the package, there was a black Mivizu pouch, like a jewelry pouch, for carring my iPod (you could use this when you put it into your bag for even more protection) as well as a free, high quality screen protector that is made for the 5th generation (fits perfectly) *high quality because there are no bubbles if you apply it correctly, just remember that there are two sides you have to peel off protecting the middle piece which is your protector*, and the clear, no nonsense case. Not only is it just what I wanted/ made for the 5th Generation Nano, I also noticed that there is a loophole on the back if you wanted to add a wrist strap! The screen protector comes sealed in its own package with a lense wipe for cleaning. (I know everyone was complaining about this so I will address it- the reason the entire case is not over the screen is that you would not have the same visibility. The clear case is thin enough so that the color of the body shines through but too thick to go over the screen. With the screen protector, which was included in my order, you get the protection against scratches plus the hard case for the body.)

I don't think I will ever need to get my iPod out of the case, but I have not tried that yet so cannot comment. My SkullCandy headphone jack fits with ample room.

In total, I got 3 items plus fast shipping for 5 dollars. Unbeatable!

Desktop External Hard Drive 34275 Iomega Prestige 1 TB USB 2.0

Amazon offers this unit for less than some big-box stores. Another good reason to buy from Amazon.

Always remember that outfits like iomega, LaCie, Fantom and others are packagers, not hard drive manufacturers. There are only a few hard drive manufacturers and all of them turn out good products. This does not mean that hard drives don't fail - they do and anyone who keeps only one copy of critical data is a fool.

The units I purchased both had current models of Seagate Barracuda drives installed: excellent devices. Right now, the drives themselves from some sources cost only a few dollars less than the iomega unit, so you are getting the external housing for just a few dollars.
The housing has a power switch, very nice at a time when other manufacturers are eliminating such "frills" and a white activity light on the side, which strikes me as a strange place for it. Since the housing has no fan, there is no fan noise. The noise from the drive itself should be imperceptible. (If it isn't, return the unit immediately.)The housing remains cool to the touch in use.

The unit size is nice and a plastic base is included for those who prefer a vertical mounting.

A power supply and USB cable round out the package.

One of the very nice aspects of this unit is that there is no software installed on the drive - nor is any included in the box. Yea! The drive comes NTFS formatted and, for use with an Apple Macintosh, must be reformatted.

Overall, a very nice value.