Apple iPod shuffle 1 GB Bright Green (2nd Generation)

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.

I already own an 80GB video iPod. I bought the shuffle to hold a few hours worth of music and to be extremely light and portable. It does all of that, along with excellent battery life. When I have this strapped on my shirt or pants when I working out, I can barely even tell it is there. I also use it when I am traveling on my motorcycle, I just clip it onto my tank bag and I can even use the controls with my gloves on. I did buy my own pair of headphones though.

Apple's iPod Shuffle finally has a higher-capacity big brother. This compact MP3 player was always great for active users who enjoy working out, running or music listening on the go. The new 2GB model offers consumers an Apple version of capacity the competition has been offering for a year. Great as a gift, extra player, or exercise companion.

Pros:
+ New 2GB provides better capacity at a lower price per gigabyte!!!!
+ Enlarged capacity allows for more song storage and less swapping in iTunes!
+ Compact and functional design
+ Nicely integrated clip - No case needed!
+ Nice battery performance for long use
+ Great family of Apple accessories
+ Great for those already used to iTunes
+ iTunes also good for inexperienced MP3 users
+ Included in-ear headphones are great for a starter pair
+ Same great color options (silver, green, purple, blue)
+ Highly durable player
+ Apple brand and reputation

Cons:
- Still a premium price compared to competing players in total $ terms
- Competing products offer more features, including fm radio and voice recording
- No screen to view track names
- Difficult to control / select tracks via playlists
- Proprietary dock / jack for syncing
- No expandability
- Limited native file format support in iTunes (MP3, AAC)
- No drag and drop music control
- Non iTunes fans are still forced to deal with software limitations

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.

I dislike iPod shuffle when I found this on their web site.

Note: iPod shuffle is intended for use with a single computer. You cannot load music from multiple computers or iTunes libraries onto iPod shuffle like you can with other iPods.

The iTunes software is very difficult to use for old people, very slow to load music, and crashes often in my windows xp.

The good: It's small and it's an mp3 player. Perfect for the gym.

The bad: Make sure you set this iPod to the computer you want to use and use the most. If you have music libraries that are on various computers, like myself. Then you will need to merge yours into one.

You cant even plug this into another computer and listen to the music because it will ask you if you want to erase and reformat. That is total bs.

I'm swallowing Apples 10% restocking fee and will be returning this. I'm totally disappointed.