OTHER TECH

Flash memory's time has come. Previously popular only in low-capacity MP3 players and digital cameras, the iPod nano seems destined to take this solid-state medium to a new level. With the nano's 4-gigabyte (GB) flash guts holding almost as many songs as the original hard-disk-based iPod (which debuted in 2001), it's not hard to imagine 20- or 30-GB iPod nanos coming our way by 2009, if not sooner.

With no hard drive to carry, the nano is shockingly thin - about half as thick as the iPod mini it replaced. A big bonus of flash memory is its lack of moving parts, so it's skip-free. The nano's capacity doesn't quite match the mini's, which had as much as 6 GB, but some compromise was necessary to get the ultra-thin form factor (actual size shown below). Another is battery life, which is rated at 14 hours to the mini's 18.

One important thing the nano retains is Apple's proprietary dock connector. Putting the headphone jack on the bottom of the player is a peculiar choice, though it's not that awkward to use. The major downside is that any iPod accessory that uses the now-obsolete remote connector (which was found beside the headphone minijack on older iPods, including the mini) is nano-phobic.

SETUP First, the nano's screen isn't as flimsy as you may have heard - at least not on the sample I had. It does, however, scratch way too easily, and the chrome back­side attracts more fingerprints than Pamela Anderson's headboard. But it still has the most inviting design of any iPod ever.

Connecting the nano to my iBook via the supplied cable (no dock is included), I was transferring songs in minutes. Syncing playlists and podcasts for automatic updating through iTunes is so simple your grandma could do it - much easier than with some other programs (look and learn, Windows Media Player). Syncing photos through iPhoto is just as easy, and the software will automatically down-rez pics so they're optimized for the nano's screen. You also have the option to include the full-resolution files in case you want to transfer them.

To properly test the nano, I decided to become one of "those people." You know - those iPod-sporting, head-nodding hipsters with white cords permanently dangling from their heads. Those people. With the nano, it wasn't that challenging - there is a definite cachet to a portable player with a clock that displays multiple time zones at once.

The Short Form

APPLE.COM / 800-692-7753 / $249 / 1.625 x 3.5 x .25 in / 1.5 oz

Plus

•Super thin. •Simple to use. •Too cool for school.

Minus

•Scratches easily. •No user-definable EQ.

Key Features

•$249 (4 GB); $199 (2 GB) •11/2-inch, 176 x 132-pixel color LCD •2 or 4 GB of flash memory •Plays MP3, AAC, AIFF, and WAV audio files •Displays JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PSD (Mac only), and PNG photos •Connects to USB 2.0 port via proprietary connector

PERFORMANCE Once I'd loaded up my nano's 4 gigs with a mix of MP3, AAC, and WAV files, it was time for my first iPod-fueled commute. I immediately found myself turning up the volume so street and subway noise wouldn't overpower the little guy. Even in the office where it was fairly quiet, I would rarely listen on the lower half of the nano's volume scale. The nano is certainly loud enough for everyday use, but headbangers will lament that blow-your-brains-out decibels are out of its reach.

Sound quality, as always, depended much more on earbuds and the compression schemes used for ripping music than the nano itself. When I listened to the same tunes on both my Mac and the nano via the same set of 'buds, they sounded identical. There was a slight extra-crispness in some lower-end and midrange sounds like drums and male voices, but it was only discernible at higher-than-normal levels. I'd attribute this to some minor distortion in the earbuds, which are actually quite good overall.

In case you want to give your music a boost, there are 22 equalizer presets, for everything from acoustic to hip-hop. Some work, and a few don't, but it's a bit annoying that none of them are graphic - with no way to see which frequencies are being boosted or cut. There's also no user-definable EQ setting. None of this is crippling, but plenty of Apple's competitors get this right.

What Apple does get right, however, are the controller and navigation menus. In replacing the iPod mini, Apple thankfully didn't reinvent the Click Wheel, which really is genius in its simplicity.

BOTTOM LINE Thanks mainly to Apple's tried-and-tested interface and a superslick design, the iPod nano is one of the best digital music portables out there. But beyond just enjoying a competent music player, you feel intoxicatingly cooler when you have one. After I joined the ranks of "those people," I must confess that I took at least a little pleasure in pulling out my nano when I saw someone on the subway listening to an older iPod. No one ever said having 1,000 songs in your pocket would build character.