Video playback

Strange as it may seem, there is little to say about video playback. The image is crisp and detailed. We have no gripes with it. As you touch the click wheel, there will appear two stripes with the file name (top), and volume/progress (bottom). Don't forget that in case of wide-screen movies you will have to choose -- either fit a movie to screen (there will be black stripes on top and bottom), or activate the full-screen mode (you won't see the left and right parts of the movie.)

A full battery will last 3.5 -- 4 hours of video playback with the maximum backlight level and 80% volume. The official video playback time is up to 5 hours. What concerns the charge time, the official value matches what we've got in practice -- a fully discharged battery will be charged to 100% for approximately three hours.

Audio quality

In times of large iPods, all manufacturers of such devices had to use low-integration chips. Even chipsets. So there were big differences in circuitry resulting in audio quality differences. Besides, much depended on firmware, because almost everything (except for such basic features as digital analog conversions) were performed on the software level. MP3 decoder errors in iPods belonged to those times as well, they noticeably spoiled audio quality, if you used files of this format. But these are things of the past. In particular, the decoder was "repaired" in the nano 2G. In fact, now all manufacturers use highly integrated SoCs and SDK from their makers. Firmware is still important as far as service features and audio support are concerned. But it cannot affect audio quality in basic sound formats. It's not necessary. Striving for maximum audio quality is overkill, when most users are satisfied with stock headphones. They may upgrade them only for something inexpensive. It's vital to provide a reasonable minimum level of audio quality. It makes sense to adjust audio quality to your headphones with the equalizer.

General results (WAV)

General results (MP3)

Configurations and prices

The iPod nano 3G comes in two modifications: with 4 GB and 8 GB of built-in memory. No breakthrough here -- both memory sizes were available in the iPod nano 2G, which couldn't play video. The 4 GB iPod comes only in silvery design (our sample was equipped with 4 GB of memory). The 8 GB player comes in all colors: silvery, blue, red, pale green, and black.

For real-time prices please see this page.

Conclusions

On the whole, we like Apple iPod nano 3G. Some users may dislike its new proportions -- but it will change, as they start using it. The player will be a good Christmas present both to men and women, especially considering various colors and low prices.

We can recommend it to those users who want to use this player for audio playback and sometimes watch videos, podcasts, or even movies. Cinemaddicts "on the go" that cannot live without many high-quality movies should decide whether they like the display size and possible black stripes in wide-screen movies (they make the movie even smaller). If they don't like it, they should consider more expensive solutions, such as Apple iPod touch (we'll review it soon) or iPhone.

When you choose between 4 GB and 8 GB, you'd better consider the more expensive model -- 4 GB is good for music, but it will be insufficient for video. Even the 4 GB iPhone was discontinued not long ago. Besides, the 8 GB player comes in all colors, not silver only.

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