Apple iPod Nano (1GB, Black)

Pros: Small size, good battery life

Cons: Small size, easy to scratch up, limited capacity

Summary: My university's computer store was selling off first-gen iPod nanos awhile back in order to make room for the second-gen ones, so I decided to go and invest in one. But I was too late, and all they had were the 1 GiB models. Anyway, black being my favorite color, I decided to invest in a black iPod nano. What an investment it was.

When I got my iPod home, I hooked it up to my laptop and started charging it. Along with charging it, I threw on a couple of French music CDs and waited. A couple of hours later, after going to class and having lunch, I took it off the charger and started listening to music and learning my way around the user interface.
Thankfully, there wasn't terribly much to learn. I used the iPod with a minimum of problems and loved the solid feel the device had in my hand.
The prudent reader will note that the small size of the device is both a pro and a con of ownership. After all, it's wonderful to slip an MP3 player in the watch pocket of your jeans and take off to go to class or lunch or whatever, and it's equally wonderful to only carry around a few ounces and have 240 songs at your disposal. However, 240 songs just isn't enough for me. I don't need a full-blown iPod capable of video (I'm not a movie person, and I don't much care for most TV shows, even documentaries), nor do I need a hard drive in my pocket, so the nano is the perfect candidate. But I refer the reader to a nano with more memory should s/he want to carry more music with her/him. Likewise, the nano is a bit easy to misplace because of its small size (the remote that came with my MacBook isn't much smaller than my nano).
I realize that there is a profusion of products out there available to protect one's iPod from the ravages of pockets and disorganized backpacks, and the good people at Apple even slip you a protective sleeve for it when you procure a nano, but it's easy to forget to put those things on your iPod, and even easier to misplace them. So your iPod nano is going to get scratched. There's just no way around it. It will receive scratches, especially on its metal casing on the back.
In spite of the scratches and limited capacity, I still love my nano for its ease of use and small size. But I plan to upgrade to the full-sized iPod when it comes time to do so.