Apple iPod Shuffle Review
Product Description
From the ManufacturerTime to mix things up. Meet iPod shuffle, the unpredictable new iPod. What will it play next? Can it read your mind? Can it read your moods? Load it up. Put it on. See where it takes you.
Random is the New Order
Welcome to a life less orderly. As official soundtrack to the random revolution, the iPod Shuffle Songs setting takes you on a unique journey through your music collection -- you never know what's around the next tune. Meet your new ride. More roadster than Rolls, iPod shuffle rejects routine by serving up your favorite songs in a different order every time. Just plug iPod shuffle into your computer's USB port, let iTunes Autofill it with up to 240 songs and get a new experience with every connection. The trail you run every day looks different with an iPod shuffle. Daily gridlock feels less mundane when you don't know what song will play next. iPod shuffle adds musical spontaneity to your life. Lose control. Love it.
Goes with Everything
iPod shuffle weighs as little as a car key and makes a tuneful fashion statement. Just throw the included lanyard around your neck and take a walk. Or run. Or ride. There's nowhere your skip-free iPod shuffle can't go, and with up to 12 hours of continuous playback time, it keeps going as long as you do. A neat little cap protects the USB connector, and those signature white earbud headphones tell the world you love to listen in style. You can even make your iPod shuffle splash-proof, arm-hugging, and longer-running with optional accessories. Ready for anything from a Transatlantic flight to a weekend at the beach, the iPod shuffle makes the perfect, low-maintenance pal.
Touch of Genius
Good things really do come in small packages. The controls on the iPod shuffle feel as intuitive and easy to use as those on every iPod model. Play, pause, skip, repeat, shuffle and hold at the touch of a thumb: The circular, ergonomic controls and one-click slider make it simple to listen without looking.
The Music Store in Your House
Add to the iPod shuffle mix with songs downloaded from the iTunes Music Store. Browse and preview more than one million songs, then buy what you want, 24-7, from the comfort of your Mac or PC. With the iTunes Music Store and iPod shuffle, you'll always have music at hand literally.
The smallest iPod yet, iPod shuffle fits neatly in the palm of your hand and looks just plain neat around your neck. Prepare to make friends and influence people when you wear it biking, hiking, snowboarding, dog-walking and anywhere else that could use a great soundtrack.
That includes off-the-beaten-path spots where you may need to play, pause, move back, skip forward, shuffle and turn up the volume without looking. Luckily, iPod shuffle pays due respect to its elders with a thumb-friendly, circular control pad that puts the 'go' in ergonomic.
Plug-and-Playlists
iPod shuffle makes syncing a piece of cake. Cupcake, even. Use the optional Dock to connect to your computer or just plug iPod shuffle directly into a USB port on any computer. Then drag and drop individual songs, Autofill your favorite playlists or Autofill your iPod shuffle with a random sampling from your music library. Since iPod shuffle automatically charges while syncing, it stays ready for your next adventure.
Product Review
I continue to be very happy with my iPod shuffle, and I still recommend
it--especially the less-expensive 512MB version. The 1GB version,
though, may not be the best choice for you, now that the iPod Nano is
out. The 2GB iPod nano is $75 more than the 1GB shuffle - that's a lot
of money, but you get a LOT for this extra money.
The nano has all of the functionality of the larger iPods: the same menu structure; the ability to view, sort, and organize your songs by artist, album title, or genre; and the ability to play podcasts and audio books. The shuffle, in contrast, is the most basic player, with none of these features, not even a display. The display on the nano is full-color and gorgeous, and shows you the album art of the song that's currently playing. It can even display your photos.
And of course, the 2GB nano holds twice as many songs as the 1GB shuffle.
The nano is slightly bigger than the shuffle, and weighs only 1.5 ounces (the shuffle weighs 1 ounce). On the downside, the nano is more prone to scratches than the shuffle.
Both devices use flash memory rather than an internal hard drive - no moving parts, so they are especially durable for using at the gym or while jogging.
Yes, the 2GB nano is quite a bit more money than the 1GB shuffle. But here's a way to think about it. In one year, will you remember whatever sacrifices you made to scrape up the extra $$$ to buy a nano? Probably not. Will you still be enjoying your nano, and will you be thanking yourself for buying the nicer of the two players? Probably.
The rest of my original review of the shuffle follows:
* * *
Pros:
1. Price - The iPod Shuffle is cheaper than most flash-based MP3 players having the same amount of memory.
2. The famous iPod elegance and simplicity - all iPods are designed so well, are easy to learn and a joy to use.
3. Size/weight - even compared to other flash-based players, the iPod shuffle is small and very, very light.
4. Plays AAC files - This is the real selling point for people who already own iPods and have a substantial library of music already in AAC format. You might not feel too comfortable bringing your $300, 6-ounce iPod to the gym, with its delicate hard drive and other moving parts. Now you can load 6 or more workouts' worth of tunes onto a device that weighs less than 1 ounce and has no moving parts. While there are many such flash-based players on the market, the iPod shuffle is the only one that can play tunes from your existing collection of iPod-friendly AAC files.
5. Amazing sound quality for such a tiny device - I've done careful A/B comparisons between my iPod shuffle and my "big" iPod (which has awesome sound quality), and it's extremely hard to detect any difference in sound quality.
Cons:
1. No LCD display to help you navigate among the songs on the player. In my view, this will be the deal-killer for many people who would otherwise buy an iPod shuffle in a heart-beat. Say you load 100 songs on your iPod shuffle. Once you unplug it from your computer, the only way you have to navigate to a specific song is to keep forwarding to the next song until you find the one you want. What a pain! Those clever Apple marketing folks have tried to put a positive spin on this, saying "Random is the new order" and calling the player "the iPod shuffle." But people aren't stupid. Anyone familiar with flash-based players knows that almost all of them have displays to help people quickly navigate among the tunes on their player. While the screens on some players are tiny and almost illegible, many other players have highly readable and useful displays (e.g. the iRiver MP3 players).
2. No FM tuner or voice recorder. Many other flash-based MP3 players have these features (though none as inexpensive or small as the iPod shuffle).
3. Battery life rated at "up to 12 hours" is low for flash-based MP3 players. Competitors typically achieve 15-20 hours. However, to be fair to the iPod shuffle, the competing models usually require you to use AA or AAA batteries, which adds to the weight of the device.
OTHER THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Despite its name, the iPod shuffle does not force you to listen to your tunes in random order. Using the iTunes software on your computer, it's easy to create a playlist or download specific songs you choose to your iPod shuffle, and then listen to them in order.
If you're not familiar with the iTunes software, let me tell you - it is very well-designed and easy to use. iTunes is also the portal to Apple's website that sells music downloads, but the iTunes software does NOT push you to visit the store or buy anything.
There are two ways to charge the iPod shuffle's battery - you can plug it into your computer's USB port, or you can use an external adapter, which is not included in the price. So if you plan on taking your iPod shuffle on a trip, but won't have a computer, then you'll probably need to factor the cost of the adapter into your purchase decision.
Now that I've lived with my iPod shuffle for a while, I've adapted to the lack of display, and really don't mind not having one. I also like the simplicity of the iPod shuffle. I have a flash MP3 player by iRiver, which has tons of features, but accessing many of those features is awkward, and I find I don't use them very much.