Apple recently released a few new iPods onto the music scene, but it may be confusing what these new iPods offer. First up is the iPod Nano. The Nano has been available for some time now. Apple has made a few important, albeit relatively minor, changes to this popular model. The Nano is, of course, the successor to the Mini. This smaller and easily pocketable version of the iPod has a relatively small capacity (now 2GB-8GB, note the increased memory in the new high end model) but is arguably more portable. The original Nano won points for its smaller case and bright color screen when compared with the mini, but many preferred the more durable (and scratch-resistant) colorful aluminum shell of the mini.

Arguably the biggest advance of the new Nano is that it combines the best of both worlds. It maintains the small, slim design of the original Nano while bringing back the scatch-resistant aluminum body. The software and screen are slightly updated with features such as search. Capacity has been doubled to 2 GB at the low end and 8 GB at the high end, with a 4 GB model in the middle. The middle capacity model comes in silver, pink, green, and blue. The low-end model is avaialble only in silver and the high-end model is available only in metallic black.

What’s the bottom line? If you already have a Nano, there’s no reason to upgrade because the improvements are minor (unless you are in desperate need of more storage space). If you have been thinking about buying a Nano, the new models are more compelling, largely for the more durable case design. These Nanos won’t play video, movies, or the new games Apple has released for the full-sized iPod, but if highly-portable music playing is what you are after, the new Nano may fit the bill.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 17th, 2006 at 4:02 pm and is filed under general. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.