Digital Trends

Apple iPod nano 8GB November 1st, 2007 | by Jason Tomczak

Setup and Use

The iPod nano is easy to set up, much more so than the iPod Touch or iPhone. Remove the iPod nano and accessories from the packaging and connect the iPod to your computer via the included USB charging/sync cable. If you have a wall charger for your iPod (wall chargers for earlier iPod models will work fine), plug it in to the wall and let it charge up. Eventually, however, you'll need to connect the iPod nano to your computer so you can set it all up, connect it to iTunes and get music and videos transferred over.

Make sure you have the latest version of iTunes installed. The latest software is required to properly communicate with the nano.

Upon connecting the iPod nano to your computer, you'll see its screen light up. You may be asked to select the language you want to use the iPod in. A moment later, the iPod will automatically configure itself to best work with your PC or Mac system. Follow the on-screen instructions and in less than a minute, your iPod nano will be fully set up and ready for music. You can register your new iPod with Apple (again, part of the automatic setup process) or chose not to. It's best to register, that way Apple will have your contact info tied to the iPod serial number in case the iPod is ever lost (and then found by an ethical person).

In iTunes, make sure that the iPod nano has the newest firmware installed. If it doesn't (and iTunes makes it obvious for you), updating is as easy as clicking the button that says "update".

Once the iPod nano is set up within iTunes, transfer music by one of two ways: 1) allow iTunes to automatically sync your music library with the nano, or 2) manually select music from your library and drag it onto the the nano. You can also ease the process by creating multiple playlists and dragging the single playlist to your nano.

While files are being transferred to the nano, check out the gorgeous color widescreen on the nano itself. The animated transfer graphics are a nice touch. While you're admiring the tiny wonder, you'll probably notice that there isn't an on/off button on the nano. Use the scroll wheel (press anywhere) to turn the iPod on, and hold the play/pause button down for about 5 seconds to turn it off.

In addition to using the iPod nano as a music and video player, you can set it up to hold copies of your photos in iPhoto. The iPod nano will also hold contact lists, calendars, notes and games. It does so much!

Once the sync is done, disconnect the iPod nano from your computer. On Mac systems, you'll need to click the "eject" button in iTunes to properly disconnect the nano. Then disconnect the dock connector cable from the bottom of the nano. Plug in the headphone jack and don the trendy white headphones. (Better yet, find yourself a nice set of super high quality headphones like the Bose Triport or iMuffs model MB210. Those headsets will take full advantage of all the power the nano has to offer.)

On the nano's screen, you'll see that the new iPod menu is a little different than before. The screen is split in half - half menu, half album art. The album art floats around in a Ken Burns way, which is neat at first, but it gets a little old after the first few hundred rotations. Scroll through the menus to familiarize yourself with the placement of options, photo albums, videos and, of course, your music library. Find a song and press the play button. Enjoy!