Apple 2gb iPod Nano Silver – Perfect for My 11 Year Old or Any Beginner
Written: Nov 27 '06 (Updated Oct 12 '08)
Product Rating:
Sound:
Ease of Use:
Durability:
Portability:
Battery Life:
Pros: durability, ease of use, battery life, good display
Cons: needed a new version of iTunes, volume level and young ears
The Bottom Line: Know someone who isn't familiar with the technology and wants an MP3 player? This is the perfect model to start a newbie out with, no matter what their age.
AliventiAsylum's Full Review: Apple iPod nano 2nd Generation Silver (2 GB) MP3 P...
I know, some people are already scratching their heads wondering what an eleven year old needs an iPod for. Personally, I feel the same way. However, she was bound and determined to get one and saved her money all summer long from helping her sister babysit. She was ecstatic a few weeks back when she finally had enough money to bring home the Apple 2gb iPod Nano in silver from our local Wal-Mart.
TECH SPECS
The Apple 2gb iPod Nano holds about 500 songs and will play back plays MP3, WAV, AAC, AIFF (uncompressed), Apple Lossless, and Audible files (formats 2, 3 and 4). It can also store up to 25,000 photos and display them if they have been converted from JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF and PNG formats. The LCD screen is backlit and displays in color, an improvement over the earlier generation of iPods that had some people complaining about being able to read the screens.
The dimensions are very small, smaller than any other MP3 player I’d seen up until this point. The Apple 2gb iPod Nano comes in at 1-5/8" wide by 3-9/16" high by 5/16" deep. It weighs just about an ounce and a half. Hard to believe 500 songs in just an ounce and a half…. I feel old.
The Apple ear buds come in the package as well, along with a serial cable for connecting it to the computer. Since we already had a cable connected to the kids computer for my older daughter’s iPod, this one became a spare. I have never found the earbuds to be comfortable, but neither of my daughters have complained. I would say the comfort level probably depends on the individual, but be aware that for some people you might have to purchase an alternate way of listening to the iPod.
USING IT
Using the new Apple 2gb iPod Nano meant we had to upgrade our iTunes. That was fine but it also meant more learning steps for all of us as we were now loading two different iPods off of the same software. Mom screwed up and messed up my older daughter’s library, causing her a night of cursing at me as she attempted to clean it up and fix all her playlists. I didn’t find the newer version of iTunes to be as user-friendly as older versions, but perhaps that just takes some getting used to.
Once we’d established a playlist for my younger daughter, we instructed iTunes only to synchronize that list with the Apple 2gb iPod Nano. She was all good to go.
The music sounds great. Granted, at 11 she’s not listening to Led Zeppelin and worried about getting the surround effect from What Is and What Should Never Be but as far as I could tell the Apple 2gb iPod Nano sounded as good as the iPod I own and I’ve been really impressed with that so far. I do worry about how loud this can go, especially since I am already having hearing issues due to my own experiences with loud music. I try to tell my daughters that if they can’t hear anything else over the music, then it’s too loud. I would really like the ability to lock this at a certain level so she can’t raise the volume too loud, but the majority of people who will be using these iPods don’t have to worry about that issue.
The Apple 2gb iPod Nano has to be hooked up frequently to the computer to recharge the battery. The specs state that she can play music for up to 24 hours continuously without having to recharge it. So far it seems to be pretty good as she hasn’t run down the battery even on weekends when she takes it along for walks or car trips. Still, she’s mindful of the battery indicator and what it means and tries very hard to connect it at night before she goes to bed (or put it on in the morning before she goes to school if her sister is recharging her iPod) to make sure she’s got a full battery. This is a definite improvement in battery life as I had to worry about my earlier standard model iPod running down the battery on longer trips.
She’s mastered the use of the click-wheel very easily, something it too me a while to learn. I feel like it responds better than mine so I think Apple has made improvements over the years. She traces her fingers over the circle and the response is good. The first time she worked it, this was such a novelty to her. She’s caught on quick and is now manipulating her songs and choosing what she wants with ease.
The Apple 2gb iPod Nano also features a few extras. There’s a clock with a sleep timer and alarm, so if she wants to wear it to bed and use it as a wake-up in the morning she can, although with the restless way she sleeps that would probably not be a good idea. But in theory she can fall asleep to the music she loves and wake up to it as well. It can function as a calendar for keeping information in, although I really wouldn’t recommend any student use this in school since electronic items like this tend to disappear.
The biggest plus for my daughter’s use is the case itself. At 11, I don’t expect that the Apple 2gb iPod Nano isn’t going to see it’s share of drops, bumps and bruising. The silver case is very scratch-resistant and hardly shows any marks on it when things do happen. I had to look it over really carefully after a couple week’s worth of usage to see if there were any marks on it, and as far as I could tell there weren’t any. Any smudges cleared up immediately with a slightly damp cloth. It’s also been knocked around in the house, including having the cats knock it off of the desk where the computer is and it hasn’t suffered any ill-effects. For durability, it’s a definite plus, especially when dealing with pre-teens and teens who aren’t always as careful as they should be.
SUMMARY
If you’re in the market for an iPod for someone who’s just starting out in the technology and doesn’t have a lot of music to download, this is a great place to start. It’s small enough to go just about anywhere, yet the sound is as strong as the bigger model iPods. The durability factor is important if it’s a present for someone who’s still young and maybe not as careful as they should be. The battery life is terrific. It will easily work with iTunes, although you might have to upgrade, but it will share the same computer easily with other iPods. I feel like it’s basic functions make it easy to learn to use as well, rather than some of the more complicated iPods which may overwhelm people not used to this technology.
My daughter is thrilled with her Apple 2gb iPod Nano. It’s just the perfect size for her. I know one day she will probably outgrow the 500 song capacity, but for now it’s a great place for her to start. I can remember just how important music was to me when I was a pre-teen and teenager, and I so want to encourage that for my own children. Her desire to have an iPod of her own makes for a great place for her to start developing her own tastes, and lets her listen to the music she likes without having arguments in the house about the different music we all listen to.
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