Apple iPod shuffle 1 GB White (1st Generation) OLD MODEL
by Apple Computer
|
List Price: Our Price: $24.50 You Save: $75.49 (75%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Apple iPod shuffle 1 GB White (1st Generation) OLD MODEL
Customer Review: GREAT PRODUCT...GREAT INVESTMENT
Summary: 4 Stars
I must say first that I was mad that I bought this and found out that the new ipod nano is out...I think I might have went with that instead...maybe! As for my shuffle, it's great. I've been using it for about 2 weeks and I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. I think I should've went with the one that hold 220 songs, but I was being cheap. Anyway, 120 songs is sufficient.
I love it because:
It's small and light weight
It looks kewl (lol)
Great sound
Gives me randomness, never know what I'm going to get:)
Sticks very nicely into my laptop.
Why it lost a star:
BATTERY LIFE SUCKS!!! OMG, it is awful! My travel time during anyday is 2 hours. Then I like to listen to it on my lunch break at work and between classes at school. So I need at least THREE hours of battery life per day. I get about 2 hours, some days I get 1 1/2 hours. When I first started using it I think I got like three hours of life. I'm not sure what the book says batt. life should be, but I'm tired of my music cutting off in the middle of a good song after I charged it for FOUR hours (that's about how long it takes to charge) the night before. Grrr!
Moving on, the litte rubbery end of the headphones picks up all the colors of my clothes. When I stick it in my pocket the color rubs off on the cord and it DOESN'T come off. I'm a little anal about that and it looks dirty...yuck! It bugs the heck out of me.
Next, the accesories, as many have mentioned, are wicked expensive. Lawd haf mercy....the dock-or whatever it's called-is almost as much as the ipod itself. After you get all the accesories you end up spending more on that than the actual shuffle.
Last, why can we only charge the thing if the computer is on? I think this is the only way to juice it up..not to sure. I hate having to cut my computer on just to give it a charge. And it will only charge if I open up and connect to itunes. I'm NOT computer savvy so it could be something I'm doing wrong or just missing something in the directions, but I swear this is the only way to charge it up. Is there no regular kind of charger, apple people, that we can use to gas up our shuffles? AND it runs my computer battery down waaaay fast when I do it that way.
As for downloading, I have no problems. I just download from itunes and my CD's. I'm not with all that high tech I want to download from here there and everywhere, so this works great for me. Though I'm not too sure how it works when you try to take song OFF of your ipod!
But no matter what it's a great little device. It's worh one hundred dollars, it gets he job done, and it's so bloody portable it's amazing. If you are considering a shuffle I say go for it, it's AWESOME!!!
Customer Review: i-Cheapo
Summary: 4 Stars
After owning a regular iPod for over a year, I decided to purchase an iPod Shuffle mainly for active use in situations I would not feel comfortable using my regular iPod. There are obvious missing features on the iPod Shuffle which I was willing to accept in exchange for a more durable device. While feature cuts only make sense given the size and the price of the iPod Shuffle, I believe a couple key functions would greatly improve the iPod Shuffle.
A major missing feature on the iPod Shuffle is some kind of indication of what track number you are on. While a full screen is out of the question on such a small device, I think a simple LCD one would be a huge help in searching through tracks. Second, there is no option to jump ahead more than a single track or jump from one album to the next. This is a feature that could have been easily added in iTunes, so its exclusion is really inexcusable. Third, listening to files from Audible.com is a real pain because there is no option to skip ahead into a track exceeding an hour in length. While simple elegance in design is a key factor in what you get from Apple, I believed the possible features I mentioned could have been easy been included in the iPod Shuffle design. For instance, a track number could light up and show through the surface of the iPod Shuffle without the need for an actual screen. Jumping from one album to the next could have been accomplished by holding the forward and backward track buttons for a second or longer and skipping forward through a long track could have been accomplished with a tilting dial on the back of the iPod.
Speaking of the back of the iPod Shuffle, I believe the toggle switch between off, repeat, and shuffle functions is difficulty positioned. Currently you need to flip the device over in order to select one of the settings. While a small detail, I think a switch on the edge of the iPod would be much easier to use.
In terms of size and sound quality, iPod Shuffle cannot be beat. It's just plain practical for no matter where you happen to be. It is small enough to fit in a pocket and not notice it and large enough to comfortably hold and operate with a single hand. If you want music on the go, in a small package, this is a great option. It also serves well as a flash drive, crossing between mac and windows. You'll soon love having this little sound stick in your shirt pocket whenever you need it.
In conclusion, I'm happy with my purchase, but I think the functionality is not up to typical Apple standards. Apple finally released Mighty Mouse as their first two-button mouse. It's about time we see a Mighty Shuffle.
Customer Review: The little stick of fun...
Summary: 4 Stars
The most amazing thing about the Shuffle, bar none, is its weight. Actually, it's weightlessness. You don't know that you are wearing it. If you pick it up, it feels like a piece of plastic holding air. At .78 ounces, that's the equivalent of 20 small paper clips.
The first time I held one in my hand, I knew I had to have one. Never thought I could convince my wife to spend three H's on a big iPod, and with a cell phone and a PDA already, didn't need another weighty device hanging off of me.
Enter Shuffle.
I've had it for the past few weeks. The lack of a screen is a small minus. Sometimes it would be nice to know what's coming next, or find a particular track. But it's easy enough to skip if you hit one you don't want to hear -- which is rare, because after all, it's your music.
Sound quality is fine. Battery life is OK, too, about 10-15 hours.
Now, for the quibbles. Charging the Shuffle is a pain. You have to have it plugged into a USB port. I don't know about your desktop, but mine is on the floor, and it's a pain to plug and unplug. It's no problem on the laptop. Also, it takes 4 hours to fully charge. That's weak compared to the competish. (It's like, who cares that you have USB 2.0? You could USB 0.000001 and still transfer the songs in 4 hours.) There should be a quick charge option, an adapter, or something similar. You can get a docking station, but that defeats the $99 price point. Sony's offering a similar enough player with 70 hours (!), although it's a bit heavier and doesn't work with iTunes.
Transferring songs is also a pain. There are hacks using the Shuffle in disk mode -- others here or on iPod web sites can tell you how to do it -- but directly uploading songs from Shuffle to computer is made difficult as a bar (albeit a low one) to piracy. I'm sure Apple is trying to keep the record labels happy, but it should be easier.
Anyway, the last few weeks I've rediscovered my music collection -- another plus of the Shuffle. Although you can set up playlists, I prefer random. I've listened to great tunes I forgot I had. Old Santana, Marley, Zeppelin and U2 mixed with a little Green Day turns my grocery shopping into a groovy concert. And I've had probably 20 people ask me what's hanging around my neck. (19 positive, 1 jerk who joked that it looked like an alarm for elderly people for when they fall and can't get up).
Final thought -- get the 512, not the 1 Gig. There is no point having more music (16 hours) than battery life (12 hours) without a screen. 120 songs is just fine 99 percent of the time.
Enjoy!
Customer Review: Wonderful little piece of little plastic :)
Summary: 5 Stars
After weeks of waiting, I finally got my hands on an Ipod Shuffle. And I adore it. No LCD screen? Who cares.
1) If you haven't been living under a rock, you must know beforehand that the shuffle has no screen, so no need to complain when you look down and see nothing but white shining back at you! Most people put songs they know/like onto their playlist, so the lack of LCD isn't such a big deal. If you're looking for something with a screen, I don't know why you'd even consider buying the shuffle.
2) For those who bypass the worry of not having a screen: Apple sells the "Life is random" deal hard, but maybe you all don't enjoy constant randomness. I find the "nonshuffle" and "shuffle" to be fantastic at wiggling around to a set of songs I'd like to hear at the moment. (Beware: may take some patience, but out of 250 songs, which is enough for me, it only takes a couple of clicks.) When initially setting up my Shuffle playlist, I placed my songs in alphabetical order by author and grouped them all together. Simple enough. So when you put them onto the ipod, you know that songs by the same artist are together. (Note: if you typically like one song from each of your favorite artists, my method doesn't work. Sorry) Once that is done, say you're shuffling and feel like listening to only (insert band here). Find one of their songs, switch off shuffle mode and enjoy (insert band here) heaven. I said you have to be patient, but when dealing with fine things, patience is a must.
3) Who can resist the sleek look? Tell me! I couldn't. Call me a sucker but I have a weak spot for those beautiful Ipods.
So... yes you can find a similar product cheaper, I'm not going to lie. 1GB, that's nothing you might say, but I can't even name 10,000 songs, so 1GB is just enough for me, and maybe for you too. I've heard that the shuffle is great for people who exercise. I wouldn't know, you can ask someone who exercises. The shuffle also functions as a USB storage thing (you know what I'm talking about) that can hold files. Most laptops don't have A:/ drives anymore and a lot of people go out and buy those USB storage things to save or back-up files for around $50, give or take.
Function over form? Point is, the shuffle works and looks great. Sound quality is as good as a regular ipod and it just slides into your pocket. Say that the Ipod is "over-priced"? Buy a CD player then.
*Edit: woah, I just saw the guy's review above me. Apple really screwed over people who just bought an ipod recently. Good going Jobs... Anyway, I guess the mini is now only $50 more, not bad.
Customer Review: Either you get it or you don't . . .
Summary: 4 Stars
First off, no more bickering about a product that you don't actually have. What I am telling you about this product is a fact. And honestly, I don't like apple as a company, but this product after much debate is a product that I considered worth buying.
The lack of a screen is not a negative, that is what it is. Don't buy this product and then complain about the fact that you don't know what is playing next. You put songs on there, and you can choose exactly what songs go on there, and choose what order you would like, if this "shuffle" idea is just to scary for you.
This item is small, there is no other MP3 play that is as small, or really even close, the rechargable battery is why it can be so small. Yes this battery will eventually be no good, especially if you charge it to frequently. But the money you would have spent after 2 years of continuious regular use would add up to be more then the price of the unit. So it is worth the "disposability."
This is not an MP3 player for someone who wants to have only one MP3 player. I have a 30 gig Creative MP3 player that was less then 1/2 the cost to me to buy new, then a 20 gig Ipod, and it is a way better unit (better sound quality, comes with leather belt holder, and it has an easily user replacable rechargable battery) But for someone like me who won't bring his hard drive based MP3 player to the gym (I don't need to explain why, it is clear to everyone.) This unit fits the bill. It is small enough to not get in the way whilst doing my workout. That is the main reason I bought it. I have sweat rolling down my face, I couldn't see the screen if there was one, and while I am benching, I don't think I should be looking down at my MP3 player to see what I am listening. And if you remember from before, I did choose that song anyways, so it should not even come close to a suprise for me that this song is playing, or what it is.
So for those who think it is a waste of money (you'll love this) You're right! If you need all of those other features, then this is a big waste of money.
For those of you like me, who need something small as an "expendable" form of music for your activity. Here ya go, it is worth it. . .
Oh yeah, and did I mention that I really don't like Apple and I tried everything in my power to find a better unit for my needs, and I failed. So either you get it or you don't . . .