Get a 2GB up to 500 songs iPod shuffle in the all-new vibrant blue color. Clip it to your sleeve your belt or your gym shorts for a little music wherever you go. Intuitive controls let you listen without looking: play pause move back skip forward and shuffle at the touch of a button. And if you think that's easy wait till you see how iPod shuffle works with iTunes. Just drop iPod shuffle into its included dock and with just one click iTunes can automatically fill it with your favorite music. Built-in clip Automatic syncing with iTunes Audio formats supported - AAC (8 to 320 Kbps) Protected AAC (from iTunes Store) MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps) MP3 VBR Audible (formats 2 3 and 4) WAV and AIFF System Requirements - iTunes 7.7 or later USB 2.0 port Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later Mac OS X v10.4.10 or later Unit Dimensions - 1.62 x 1.07 x 0.41 (including clip) Unit Weight - 0.55 oz.

• 2 GB capacity for 500 songs


• Up to 12 hours of music playback when fully charged


• Clips to your sleeve belt or your gym shorts for music wherever you go


• Supported audio formats: AAC Protected AAC MP3 MP3 VBR Audible Apple Lossless AIFF and WAV


• Measures 1.07 x 1.62 x 0.41 inches (H x W x D) weighs .55 ounces

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The smallest most wearable digital music player in the world now comes in three new colors. Get a 1 GB 240-song iPod shuffle or a 2 GB 500-song iPod shuffle--available in original silver and all-new vibrant blue green and pink. Clip it to your sleeve your belt or your gym shorts for a little music wherever you go. Intuitive controls let you listen without looking: play pause move back skip forward and shuffle at the touch of a button. And if you think that's easy wait until you see how iPod shuffle works with iTunes. Just drop iPod shuffle into its included dock and with just one click iTunes can automatically fill it with your favorite music.

• 1 GB capacity for 240 songs


• Up to 12 hours of music playback when fully charged


• Clips to your sleeve belt or your gym shorts for music wherever you go


• Supported audio formats: AAC Protected AAC MP3 MP3 VBR Audible Apple Lossless AIFF and WAV


• Measures 1.07 x 1.62 x 0.41 inches (H x W x D) weighs .55 ounces

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 ...