The fourth-generation iPod isn't significantly smaller than its predecessor, nor is it clad in flashy colors, as rumors would have it. Apple, however, has made marked evolutionary improvements to the iconic digital audio player. The adoption of the intuitive Click Wheel (as seen on the Mini), the vastly improved battery life, and a few key firmware enhancements are simply the icing on the cake. The real news here is the iPod's lower price: $299 and $399 for the 20GB and 40GB versions, respectively. Do these ingredients add up to a perfect iPod?

One of the major drawbacks of most home iPod speaker systems is that the remote control that comes with the unit offers only limited control of your iPod. You stick the iPod in the speaker's dock and you can do little more than skip forward and back through tracks (and possibly playlists), raise and lower the volume, and pause and play audio. If you're lucky, the speaker has a display that's big enough for you to be able see what track is playing from more than a few feet away. Most don't, as they rely on the iPod's screen to display the relevant track and navigation info. Which brings us to George, the high-end iPod music system from start-up Chestnut Hill Sound. The George solves the interface problem in much the same way that Sonos does for media-streaming devices: it builds a remote into the system that essentially mirrors the display of the iPod. But the smart usability solution will cost you a pretty penny--the George retails for $500. That's a lot, to be sure, but--when you consider that it now includes the once optional external remote charger--it represents $100 savings off the George's original list price.

There are plenty of cable kits out there that let you connect your Apple iPod to your car stereo system, but you still have to fumble with the iPod to select songs and playlists, a somewhat dangerous task while navigating through traffic. Harman Kardon's Drive + Play ($199.95), however, gives you the freedom to take full advantage of your iPod's user interface without risking life and limb.

Just when you thought Apple's standard iPod was overly saturating the public consciousness, Steve Jobs and company pull another beauty from the company's bushel. The Apple iPod Nano sets new standards for gadget design and stretches the boundaries of technology. It's the world's first 4GB flash player, yet it's also one of the thinnest. Plus, it boasts a bright color screen that takes advantage of the bigger iPod's photo capabilities, though be aware that the Nano's screen scratches easily. Throw in some ancillary improvements, and you have not only the latest MP3 player phenom but a glance into the future. The flash-based Nano (the name is curiously similar to the Creative Zen Nano Plus's) comes in classic white or black and three capacities: 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB at $149, $199 and $249, respectively. It also replaces the current popular iPod Mini line.

The Apple iPod Nano is a design wonder at 3.5 by 1.6 by 0.27 inches and 1.5 ounces. The last two numbers are key--the thing is really thin. As we've said, it looks much smaller in person than in photos, and it truly fits anywhere, comfortably and sometimes invisibly. We've been told that the iPod Nano is 62 percent smaller than the product it's replacing, the iPod Mini (see other Nano size comparisons). The Nano, in terms of MP3 design standards, changes everything. Now, the Creative Zen Micro looks fat, the iRiver H10 looks monstrous, and the Mini looks outdated. Of course, the others are microdrive-based players; the Nano is a flash-based player, the first to hit 4GB; a few companies came out with 2GB models earlier this year but priced them at much more than $200. The 4GB player holds about 1,000 songs or 25,000 photos, while the 2GB version holds about 500 tunes. The 1GB device, then, takes about 250 tracks.

Ever since the first Bluetooth headset for cell phones came out, plenty of folks have been eager to see the day when Bluetooth audio made the transition to stereo sound, so you could ditch that wire connected to your iPod--or other portable music device--and feel, well, a bit more liberated. That finally happened last year, and now several new Bluetooth stereo headphones are trickling their way onto the market. The only problem is, most of them don't sound all that good, which is why we were pretty excited to hear that Etymotic, which is known for its high-performance wired earbuds, was getting into the wireless game.

Try to avoid frequent full discharges because this can cause strain on your iPod battery. There is no harm in charging a battery even if is not totally drained. Unless you are watching videos on your iPod, I usually reduce the brightness to about 40 percent when listening to mp3. The iPod Nano is very tiny. In fact, it’s about the size of a portable flash drive (those little memory sticks that people walk around with and plug into their laptops). The iPod Nano has all of the features of the iPod mini, with the real differences being size, storage capacity, and technical scalability.