Iphone Nano

I have both the iPod Nano and the iphone.

First, here is my review of the iPod Nano.

The pictures don't do justice to this tiny technological marvel. It is very thin (thickness of 2 quarters) and less than a quarter size of my average sized hand. If you are looking for a smallest MP3 player with a screen, I would look no further than than Nano.

It not only plays music well, but it plays videos reasonably well on its high definition screen. You can watch an entire movie on this device. How cool is that?

Couple of pointers:
1)Because ipod showcases the album covers and others bits of information about each song, each AAC track takes little more space on its flash drive. Only about 3.6GB of 4GB are usuable for music/video storage (the rest is used primarily by the OS). This is only sufficient for about 1000-1500 (depending on the bits) songs and a few videos. If you have more than 1000 songs in your iTunes, I suggest purchasing the 8GB version.

2)The Operating System of this device does crash occassionally. You can reboot the device by simultaneously pressing on the middle button and the menu button for about 5 seconds (you will need this info so save this review =) ).

3)Contrary to a popular belief, the sound quality is primarily determined by the quality of the headphones and not the MP3 player. The iPod headphones are of the bare minimum quality (but far superior to those used in Sony Walkmans of the 1980s). If you are an audiophile and have some extra money, I recommend getting a good earphone from Shure (E310, E410, E510).

iPod Nano vs iPhone

1)Sound quality: the sound quality of both devices are identifical. iPhone, however, has an annoying non-standard earphone plug-in which requires an adapter for the third party earphones.

2)User Interface: iPhone has possibly the greatest user interface created by Man. It is not only functional but fun to use. Flipping through the albums in the iPhone's ipod is one of most beautiful GUIs ever developed. The Nano has a typical iPod user interface that use the iPod buttons to navigate through music.

3)Battery Life: Nano has the edge here. iPhone, although posessing a reasonably good battery life, is a natural battery hog. The prime reason is its beautiful touch screen. It is basically a small computer. Listening to music while having the cell phone turned will drain the iphone's battery in about 3.5-4 hours. The Nano will last about 6.5 hours.

4)Functionality: iPhone clearly has the edge, even its the music player is more usable. iPhone has a cell phone, web browser (EDGE and WiFi), IPOD, camera, eMail, and a calendar. The Nano is principally a music player. iPhone's IPOD user interface, however, far trumps Nano's touchwheel.

5)Size: Nano is about 1/8 size of the iPhone (by weight and volume). iPhone isn't bulky, but Nano is a very small device.

6)Price/Benefit ratio: the 8GB Nano costs $200 and 8GB iphone costs $400. iPhone, however, offers more than twice the features.If you already have a phone you love, then Nano might be the better choice. Plus, iPhone is a surprising poor choice of text messaging, especially if you compare it against the phones with QWERTY buttons (not just GUI). So if you are one of those folks who send/receive over 100 messages a day, you might be better off with a QWERTY phone.

7)Coolness factor: iPhone is the coolest device on the planet. Too bad every geek with some cash has one. =)

8)Portability: If you want a MP3 player that you can carry in your pants without having it drag your pants down about 1/4 inch, then I recommend the Nano. But if you already carry a cell phone, it is probably causing your pockets to be bulky anyway.

9)Accessibility: iPhone is only supported on the AT&T/Cingular network. If you are already on an another plan, you may want to stick with your plan until the contract expires and get the Nano in the interim. The next generation iPhone probably will be relased around June of 2008. That version is almost certainly going to be more feature ridden.