The main body of the iPod shuffle is crafted from a single piece of aluminum and polished to a beautiful shine so it feels solid sleek and durable. Thanks to the color choices too it's the perfect fashion accessory. Choose gleaming silver blue green orange or pink. Hundreds of songs to go Never leave a favorite tune behind. Along with up to 15 hours of battery life iPod shuffle gives you 2GB of storage capacity good for hundreds of songs. That's plenty of room for the essential songs of your workout or commute multiple playlists Genius Mixes podcasts and audiobooks too. Goes anywhere. And with anything iPod shuffle isn't just portable. It's wearable too. Clip it to your shirt jacket workout gear backpack or purse strap and it stays put—whether you're running an errand or running around the track. Control your music with just a click It's back—the big clickable control pad on the front of iPod shuffle. It's 18 percent larger than on previous iPod shuffle models so it's even easier to see and use the music controls. Press the center button to play and pause. Press the outer buttons to skip forward or back and adjust volume. Click click click. It's music to your fingers. Play it your way Maybe you're the spontaneous type. Or maybe you prefer a little order. Just flip the shuffle switch to suit your listening style. Flip it to the left and you'll hear your music in a refreshingly random way. Flip it to the middle and your songs play in order. Or flip to the right to turn iPod shuffle off. Voiceover tells you what you want to hear Say you're listening to a song and want to know the title or the artist. Just press the VoiceOver button on top of your iPod shuffle and it tells you. You can even use VoiceOver to hear the names of playlists and switch between them. If your battery needs charging VoiceOver tells you that too. It speaks your language It speaks your language. A French love song. A Spanish bolero. An Italian cantata. Your

• 2 GB capacity for about 500 songs


• Up to 15 hours of audio playback on a single charge


• Easy-to-use control pad for playing your music audiobooks and podcasts


• Support for AAC Protected AAC (iTunes Store) MP3 MP3 VBR Audible Apple Lossless AIFF and WAV audio formats


• One-year limited warranty

More detail ...

The main body of the iPod shuffle is crafted from a single piece of aluminum and polished to a beautiful shine so it feels solid sleek and durable. Thanks to the color choices too it's the perfect fashion accessory. Choose gleaming silver blue green orange or pink. Hundreds of songs to go Never leave a favorite tune behind. Along with up to 15 hours of battery life iPod shuffle gives you 2GB of storage capacity good for hundreds of songs. That's plenty of room for the essential songs of your workout or commute multiple playlists Genius Mixes podcasts and audiobooks too. Goes anywhere. And with anything iPod shuffle isn't just portable. It's wearable too. Clip it to your shirt jacket workout gear backpack or purse strap and it stays put—whether you're running an errand or running around the track. Control your music with just a click It's back—the big clickable control pad on the front of iPod shuffle. It's 18 percent larger than on previous iPod shuffle models so it's even easier to see and use the music controls. Press the center button to play and pause. Press the outer buttons to skip forward or back and adjust volume. Click click click. It's music to your fingers. Play it your way Maybe you're the spontaneous type. Or maybe you prefer a little order. Just flip the shuffle switch to suit your listening style. Flip it to the left and you'll hear your music in a refreshingly random way. Flip it to the middle and your songs play in order. Or flip to the right to turn iPod shuffle off. Voiceover tells you what you want to hear Say you're listening to a song and want to know the title or the artist. Just press the VoiceOver button on top of your iPod shuffle and it tells you. You can even use VoiceOver to hear the names of playlists and switch between them. If your battery needs charging VoiceOver tells you that too. It speaks your language It speaks your language. A French love song. A Spanish bolero. An Italian cantata. Your

• 2 GB capacity for about 500 songs


• Up to 15 hours of audio playback on a single charge


• Easy-to-use control pad for playing your music audiobooks and podcasts


• Support for AAC Protected AAC (iTunes Store) MP3 MP3 VBR Audible Apple Lossless AIFF and WAV audio formats


• One-year limited warranty

More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Simple but compact and excellent

I picked the Shuffle for my wife because she wanted an simple music player had no interest in pictures or videos and needed a device that was easy to sync with straightforward software. I have experience with several MP3 players used on Windows platforms and I knew she would be frustrated with the downloading issues. The Shuffle works perfectly. It is easy to sync with iTunes it is very compact and can be clipped to a T-shirt it holds plenty of music for her purposes and the sound quality is great. If you want just music a compact device and simple operations the Shuffle is for you.More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

A triumph of form over function.

OK I'll begin by saying that the new Shuffle is without doubt one of the smallest sexiest MP3 players I've ever seen. I love how it looks. It's... compelling. Of course with this level of form some functionality is lost. With the 3G Shuffle it's the buttons (or lack thereof).



Apple decided to move the buttons off the controller and onto the headphone cord. There are two major flaws that I can see:



1. I can't use "any old" pair of headphones anymore. Sure the music still plays but if I can't pause skip turn the volume up/down what's the point. I'm now tied into either Apple's headphones or third-party headphones with the controller. Gone are the days of a "headphone catastrophe" where the headphone cord gets pinched while traveling and I have to run out to a store and grab a pair of substitute $10 phones. I now have to either shell out $20-30 and/or find a local Apple store. Not good. (And let's not even talk about using it with my car stereo...)



2. The controls are... in a bad place. It's kind of hard to grab the controller without looking when it's bouncing around near my jaw while running. Today it took me about 5-6s to actually get a hold of the darned thing and skip ahead. Later in the day I grabbed it a bit quicker but then accidentally yanked the earbud out. This was obviously designed without testing it "in the field."



To both of the above some comment: "wait until Apple releases an adapter with controls in a better position that allow you to use normal headphones." Of course my reply is "I already spent $80 on this thing. You want me to spend MORE?"



In the end this is one sweet of technology that just screams "impress your friends." Of course you don't hear it whispering "and secretly dread using me anywhere but in your living room chair."



At least Apple's not discontinuing the 2G Shuffle...More detail ...

Great Sound Quality Limited Functionalty and Expensive

BACKGROUND: I am an experienced mp3 player user and my current other unit is a SanDisk Sansa Clip 2 GB MP3 Player (Black). I bought a silver 1 Gb iPod Shuffle primarily to use at the gym; however I will also comment about general usage as well. This is also the only Apple device that I have owned of any kind.



SETUP: There are two things to note about the setup process for the iPod Shuffle. Neither of them is complicated but they are annoying. Unlike most other mp3 players that use a mini-USB cable for charging and transferring music the Shuffle requires the use of a proprietary docking station. As such I wasn't able to reuse any of the myriad of mini-USB cables that I have from other devices. So you either have to buy a second docking station or take the one that comes with the Shuffle with you for charging away from home.



The other thing about the Shuffle that I found frustrating was that you are limited to using iTunes for music transfer. Further you can only transfer music from a single computer. This is a very restrictive requirement for such a low end device. Finally I was surprised by how slow iTunes is. Believe me; the last thing I expected was for iTunes to perform slower (by a significant amount) that Windows Media Player. I am no Microsoft lover or apologist by any means (I actually prefer Linux).



SOUND QUALITY: This is the area where I give the Shuffle its best marks. The sound is great whether I am playing m4p formats from iTunes or mp3s that I have ripped from CDs or purchased elsewhere. It is equal in dynamics and range to my Sansa Clip and it even sounds good plugged into the AUX jack for my car stereo.



Of note however I am not using the headphones that came with the Shuffle. I have never thought of myself as having small ears but I found that the headphones that come with the Shuffle seem rather large and hurt my ears immediately after putting them on. For my workouts I am using a pair of Skullcandy Buds Ink'd Earbuds - Dark Gray because they are inexpensive and the in ear style have a secure fit while active. While these ear buds will not win any awards the Shuffle still sounds good even using these.



USAGE/NAVIGATION: This is the area where the Shuffle is way behind the competition. Without a display you essentially have one giant playlist that is in the order that you put songs on the device. You can either play straight through the list or you can "shuffle" your music. However I noticed that between 30 and minute minutes into shuffling the first song gets repeated. This was with over four and a half hours of music on the device. Unlike every other CD or mp3 player that I have ever had I was surprised to find that the Shuffle repeats songs before going through the entire list.



If you decide that want to find a specific song best of luck to you. You have skip and reverse navigation and you'll need a good memory of what order you synced things to your device. Ultimately it is not worth it to try to use the Shuffle this way. It seems that it is really geared toward the gym/active user who doesn't need a lot of control over their music. With this in mind I can hardly see the point of even having a unit larger than 1 Gb. It would seem to make sense to have a 512k offering to better match the functionality.



In short it's great for working out but it would be extremely frustrating to use this as your portable music collection.



OPTIONS: Really the only option that you have on the device itself is the toggle between continuous or shuffle play. From iTunes you can update the software for the Shuffle and change a few settings that most people won't alter from their defaults.



COST: You are paying a premium for the Apple name but you probably already knew that. Creative and SanDisk both have competing offerings with more functionality at a lower price.



CONCLUSION: The iPod Shuffle as an expensive offering that really only makes sense to a specific subset of mp3 player users. While the sound quality is good it is really only for brand loyalists looking for a player to use at the gym.More detail ...

Great Sound Quality Limited Functionalty and Expensive

BACKGROUND: I am an experienced mp3 player user and my current other unit is a SanDisk Sansa Clip 2 GB MP3 Player (Black). I bought a silver 1 Gb iPod Shuffle primarily to use at the gym; however I will also comment about general usage as well. This is also the only Apple device that I have owned of any kind.



SETUP: There are two things to note about the setup process for the iPod Shuffle. Neither of them is complicated but they are annoying. Unlike most other mp3 players that use a mini-USB cable for charging and transferring music the Shuffle requires the use of a proprietary docking station. As such I wasn't able to reuse any of the myriad of mini-USB cables that I have from other devices. So you either have to buy a second docking station or take the one that comes with the Shuffle with you for charging away from home.



The other thing about the Shuffle that I found frustrating was that you are limited to using iTunes for music transfer. Further you can only transfer music from a single computer. This is a very restrictive requirement for such a low end device. Finally I was surprised by how slow iTunes is. Believe me; the last thing I expected was for iTunes to perform slower (by a significant amount) that Windows Media Player. I am no Microsoft lover or apologist by any means (I actually prefer Linux).



SOUND QUALITY: This is the area where I give the Shuffle its best marks. The sound is great whether I am playing m4p formats from iTunes or mp3s that I have ripped from CDs or purchased elsewhere. It is equal in dynamics and range to my Sansa Clip and it even sounds good plugged into the AUX jack for my car stereo.



Of note however I am not using the headphones that came with the Shuffle. I have never thought of myself as having small ears but I found that the headphones that come with the Shuffle seem rather large and hurt my ears immediately after putting them on. For my workouts I am using a pair of Skullcandy Buds Ink'd Earbuds - Dark Gray because they are inexpensive and the in ear style have a secure fit while active. While these ear buds will not win any awards the Shuffle still sounds good even using these.



USAGE/NAVIGATION: This is the area where the Shuffle is way behind the competition. Without a display you essentially have one giant playlist that is in the order that you put songs on the device. You can either play straight through the list or you can "shuffle" your music. However I noticed that between 30 and minute minutes into shuffling the first song gets repeated. This was with over four and a half hours of music on the device. Unlike every other CD or mp3 player that I have ever had I was surprised to find that the Shuffle repeats songs before going through the entire list.



If you decide that want to find a specific song best of luck to you. You have skip and reverse navigation and you'll need a good memory of what order you synced things to your device. Ultimately it is not worth it to try to use the Shuffle this way. It seems that it is really geared toward the gym/active user who doesn't need a lot of control over their music. With this in mind I can hardly see the point of even having a unit larger than 1 Gb. It would seem to make sense to have a 512k offering to better match the functionality.



In short it's great for working out but it would be extremely frustrating to use this as your portable music collection.



OPTIONS: Really the only option that you have on the device itself is the toggle between continuous or shuffle play. From iTunes you can update the software for the Shuffle and change a few settings that most people won't alter from their defaults.



COST: You are paying a premium for the Apple name but you probably already knew that. Creative and SanDisk both have competing offerings with more functionality at a lower price.



CONCLUSION: The iPod Shuffle as an expensive offering that really only makes sense to a specific subset of mp3 player users. While the sound quality is good it is really only for brand loyalists looking for a player to use at the gym.More detail ...

Great Sound Quality Limited Functionalty and Expensive

BACKGROUND: I am an experienced mp3 player user and my current other unit is a SanDisk Sansa Clip 2 GB MP3 Player (Black). I bought a silver 1 Gb iPod Shuffle primarily to use at the gym; however I will also comment about general usage as well. This is also the only Apple device that I have owned of any kind.



SETUP: There are two things to note about the setup process for the iPod Shuffle. Neither of them is complicated but they are annoying. Unlike most other mp3 players that use a mini-USB cable for charging and transferring music the Shuffle requires the use of a proprietary docking station. As such I wasn't able to reuse any of the myriad of mini-USB cables that I have from other devices. So you either have to buy a second docking station or take the one that comes with the Shuffle with you for charging away from home.



The other thing about the Shuffle that I found frustrating was that you are limited to using iTunes for music transfer. Further you can only transfer music from a single computer. This is a very restrictive requirement for such a low end device. Finally I was surprised by how slow iTunes is. Believe me; the last thing I expected was for iTunes to perform slower (by a significant amount) that Windows Media Player. I am no Microsoft lover or apologist by any means (I actually prefer Linux).



SOUND QUALITY: This is the area where I give the Shuffle its best marks. The sound is great whether I am playing m4p formats from iTunes or mp3s that I have ripped from CDs or purchased elsewhere. It is equal in dynamics and range to my Sansa Clip and it even sounds good plugged into the AUX jack for my car stereo.



Of note however I am not using the headphones that came with the Shuffle. I have never thought of myself as having small ears but I found that the headphones that come with the Shuffle seem rather large and hurt my ears immediately after putting them on. For my workouts I am using a pair of Skullcandy Buds Ink'd Earbuds - Dark Gray because they are inexpensive and the in ear style have a secure fit while active. While these ear buds will not win any awards the Shuffle still sounds good even using these.



USAGE/NAVIGATION: This is the area where the Shuffle is way behind the competition. Without a display you essentially have one giant playlist that is in the order that you put songs on the device. You can either play straight through the list or you can "shuffle" your music. However I noticed that between 30 and minute minutes into shuffling the first song gets repeated. This was with over four and a half hours of music on the device. Unlike every other CD or mp3 player that I have ever had I was surprised to find that the Shuffle repeats songs before going through the entire list.



If you decide that want to find a specific song best of luck to you. You have skip and reverse navigation and you'll need a good memory of what order you synced things to your device. Ultimately it is not worth it to try to use the Shuffle this way. It seems that it is really geared toward the gym/active user who doesn't need a lot of control over their music. With this in mind I can hardly see the point of even having a unit larger than 1 Gb. It would seem to make sense to have a 512k offering to better match the functionality.



In short it's great for working out but it would be extremely frustrating to use this as your portable music collection.



OPTIONS: Really the only option that you have on the device itself is the toggle between continuous or shuffle play. From iTunes you can update the software for the Shuffle and change a few settings that most people won't alter from their defaults.



COST: You are paying a premium for the Apple name but you probably already knew that. Creative and SanDisk both have competing offerings with more functionality at a lower price.



CONCLUSION: The iPod Shuffle as an expensive offering that really only makes sense to a specific subset of mp3 player users. While the sound quality is good it is really only for brand loyalists looking for a player to use at the gym.More detail ...

Great Sound Quality Limited Functionalty and Expensive

BACKGROUND: I am an experienced mp3 player user and my current other unit is a SanDisk Sansa Clip 2 GB MP3 Player (Black). I bought a silver 1 Gb iPod Shuffle primarily to use at the gym; however I will also comment about general usage as well. This is also the only Apple device that I have owned of any kind.



SETUP: There are two things to note about the setup process for the iPod Shuffle. Neither of them is complicated but they are annoying. Unlike most other mp3 players that use a mini-USB cable for charging and transferring music the Shuffle requires the use of a proprietary docking station. As such I wasn't able to reuse any of the myriad of mini-USB cables that I have from other devices. So you either have to buy a second docking station or take the one that comes with the Shuffle with you for charging away from home.



The other thing about the Shuffle that I found frustrating was that you are limited to using iTunes for music transfer. Further you can only transfer music from a single computer. This is a very restrictive requirement for such a low end device. Finally I was surprised by how slow iTunes is. Believe me; the last thing I expected was for iTunes to perform slower (by a significant amount) that Windows Media Player. I am no Microsoft lover or apologist by any means (I actually prefer Linux).



SOUND QUALITY: This is the area where I give the Shuffle its best marks. The sound is great whether I am playing m4p formats from iTunes or mp3s that I have ripped from CDs or purchased elsewhere. It is equal in dynamics and range to my Sansa Clip and it even sounds good plugged into the AUX jack for my car stereo.



Of note however I am not using the headphones that came with the Shuffle. I have never thought of myself as having small ears but I found that the headphones that come with the Shuffle seem rather large and hurt my ears immediately after putting them on. For my workouts I am using a pair of Skullcandy Buds Ink'd Earbuds - Dark Gray because they are inexpensive and the in ear style have a secure fit while active. While these ear buds will not win any awards the Shuffle still sounds good even using these.



USAGE/NAVIGATION: This is the area where the Shuffle is way behind the competition. Without a display you essentially have one giant playlist that is in the order that you put songs on the device. You can either play straight through the list or you can "shuffle" your music. However I noticed that between 30 and minute minutes into shuffling the first song gets repeated. This was with over four and a half hours of music on the device. Unlike every other CD or mp3 player that I have ever had I was surprised to find that the Shuffle repeats songs before going through the entire list.



If you decide that want to find a specific song best of luck to you. You have skip and reverse navigation and you'll need a good memory of what order you synced things to your device. Ultimately it is not worth it to try to use the Shuffle this way. It seems that it is really geared toward the gym/active user who doesn't need a lot of control over their music. With this in mind I can hardly see the point of even having a unit larger than 1 Gb. It would seem to make sense to have a 512k offering to better match the functionality.



In short it's great for working out but it would be extremely frustrating to use this as your portable music collection.



OPTIONS: Really the only option that you have on the device itself is the toggle between continuous or shuffle play. From iTunes you can update the software for the Shuffle and change a few settings that most people won't alter from their defaults.



COST: You are paying a premium for the Apple name but you probably already knew that. Creative and SanDisk both have competing offerings with more functionality at a lower price.



CONCLUSION: The iPod Shuffle as an expensive offering that really only makes sense to a specific subset of mp3 player users. While the sound quality is good it is really only for brand loyalists looking for a player to use at the gym.More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Great Sound Quality Limited Functionalty and Expensive

BACKGROUND: I am an experienced mp3 player user and my current other unit is a SanDisk Sansa Clip 2 GB MP3 Player (Black). I bought a silver 1 Gb iPod Shuffle primarily to use at the gym; however I will also comment about general usage as well. This is also the only Apple device that I have owned of any kind.



SETUP: There are two things to note about the setup process for the iPod Shuffle. Neither of them is complicated but they are annoying. Unlike most other mp3 players that use a mini-USB cable for charging and transferring music the Shuffle requires the use of a proprietary docking station. As such I wasn't able to reuse any of the myriad of mini-USB cables that I have from other devices. So you either have to buy a second docking station or take the one that comes with the Shuffle with you for charging away from home.



The other thing about the Shuffle that I found frustrating was that you are limited to using iTunes for music transfer. Further you can only transfer music from a single computer. This is a very restrictive requirement for such a low end device. Finally I was surprised by how slow iTunes is. Believe me; the last thing I expected was for iTunes to perform slower (by a significant amount) that Windows Media Player. I am no Microsoft lover or apologist by any means (I actually prefer Linux).



SOUND QUALITY: This is the area where I give the Shuffle its best marks. The sound is great whether I am playing m4p formats from iTunes or mp3s that I have ripped from CDs or purchased elsewhere. It is equal in dynamics and range to my Sansa Clip and it even sounds good plugged into the AUX jack for my car stereo.



Of note however I am not using the headphones that came with the Shuffle. I have never thought of myself as having small ears but I found that the headphones that come with the Shuffle seem rather large and hurt my ears immediately after putting them on. For my workouts I am using a pair of Skullcandy Buds Ink'd Earbuds - Dark Gray because they are inexpensive and the in ear style have a secure fit while active. While these ear buds will not win any awards the Shuffle still sounds good even using these.



USAGE/NAVIGATION: This is the area where the Shuffle is way behind the competition. Without a display you essentially have one giant playlist that is in the order that you put songs on the device. You can either play straight through the list or you can "shuffle" your music. However I noticed that between 30 and minute minutes into shuffling the first song gets repeated. This was with over four and a half hours of music on the device. Unlike every other CD or mp3 player that I have ever had I was surprised to find that the Shuffle repeats songs before going through the entire list.



If you decide that want to find a specific song best of luck to you. You have skip and reverse navigation and you'll need a good memory of what order you synced things to your device. Ultimately it is not worth it to try to use the Shuffle this way. It seems that it is really geared toward the gym/active user who doesn't need a lot of control over their music. With this in mind I can hardly see the point of even having a unit larger than 1 Gb. It would seem to make sense to have a 512k offering to better match the functionality.



In short it's great for working out but it would be extremely frustrating to use this as your portable music collection.



OPTIONS: Really the only option that you have on the device itself is the toggle between continuous or shuffle play. From iTunes you can update the software for the Shuffle and change a few settings that most people won't alter from their defaults.



COST: You are paying a premium for the Apple name but you probably already knew that. Creative and SanDisk both have competing offerings with more functionality at a lower price.



CONCLUSION: The iPod Shuffle as an expensive offering that really only makes sense to a specific subset of mp3 player users. While the sound quality is good it is really only for brand loyalists looking for a player to use at the gym.More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...