Apple iPod shuffle 1 GB White (1st Generation) OLD MODEL
by Apple Computer
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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 |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Apple iPod shuffle 1 GB White (1st Generation) OLD MODEL
Customer Review: Great Little FRAGILE device
Summary: 5 Stars
Okay, I just had to get this little thing. Suffice it to say, that I have had at least 5 different mp3 type players.. and they were all at least good, some were frustrating, but good. Some better than others...
BUT!!!
If you prefer an Mp3 player that does NOT have confusing menu's .. useless menu's, or menu's that just seem to be outright dumb and nonsensicle... some menu items and screens are there I feel, for self serving promo reasons (with our mp3 player you get 10 thousand menu options!!! -who cares)... but with this device, it is all about the music.
All of the menu options (and no silly screen to tell you the name of the songs that you put on the player..) you will use. Volume up and Volume down. Previous song, or in case one stinks, Next song. A little sliding device in the back so you can have either shuffle, or not shuffle. So, what else does a human need? NONE MORE FOR ME PLEASE.
I bought the gig version to get the max out of it, and I am presently listening to u2 right now.
I found it funny that when I Auto filled the shuffle, the first song it played was u2. Ha.
O, yes. The iTunes software is quite good. You can autofill from your library, or you can make a playlist of whatever you want, and have the default fill from that .... quite nice.
easy.
Have fun.
UPDATE
I originally owned the 40 gigger iPod. It was a monster. And I enjoyed it for a month until it just up and died. After getting this iPod Shuffle I was confident that it would hold up better.... but, while Autofilling the Shuffle, it died too. Good news is, Target exchanged it no problems. but, I only owned it for a month and a half.
So if I could change my stars, I would give it a three. five on the sound and portability and overall 'coolness' but ZERo on toughness and durability.
And with Sony releasing a smaller version that gets 50 hours with battery life... the only question will be, is Sony's little Mp3 player more durable than Apples... lets hope both offer better quality in the durability department.. because Apples is very nice... just very fragile.. and I'm not doing anything but carrying it around in my pocket playing music on it, and autofiling it...fragile indeed.
Have fun
Customer Review: Practically Perfect...from a new iPod nut
Summary: 4 Stars
I've had the 1gb iPod for a little over a week now, and this little thing has definitely changed the way I listen to music.
Not only is the design nifty, but it's INCREDIBLY easy to use, even without looking at it. The quality of the music is absolutely superb. I accidentally uploaded a sound check track from my home theatre system into it, and when I listened to the guys voice through the ear buds, it was *LITERALLY* 3-D sound. It raised the hairs on my neck! It's small and I wear it around my neck at the office (I'm a graphic designer...on the computer all day). The best use that I get out of my shuffle is at the gym. I can run on the track and use the eliptical with no problem, and then when I'm on the free weights and weight machines I can still listen to my music. Before, my jog-proof CD player was too cumbersome to keep up with when lifting. Right now I've got 260 songs, over 14 hours of music stored in here, and it's pretty much maxed out. I think there are 8mb left. So...maybe one more song. Ha ha.
As much as I'm in love with my new little toy, it's not without downfalls. My biggest concern is with the software and compatibility. I have Windows XP on my computer at home, and iTunes is CONSTANTLY bombing my system. I've read a few hints, tips and suggestions from others that have this problem, but it's still *very* tempermental. The only time it crashed is during transfers or iPod updates. The best tip I've learned is to uncheck the "connect to the internet if needed" box, but even with that, it's only at about 50% of what it should be.
Something else that's not so much a complaint as it is a mystery...is that you're unable to fast forward through some songs. For example, I'm able to fast forward through all of the songs from RENT, but when I get to John Mayer...nada. I don't know if it's the way that the songs are coded, but it's an enigma nontheless.
To some, the fact that it doesn't have a display is discouraging. I thought so too, until I was able to play with it. Even with 250 songs in mine, they're all alphabetical, and it's easy to locate them by toggling through them with the wheel. So, I can jump from Avenue Q to Jason Mraz with no problem. I rarely use it in the shuffle mode.
So, that's my honest review in a nutshell. Not without dissapointments on my end, but once the music is loaded, I'm in music wonderland.
Customer Review: Dont waste time on this
Summary: 1 Stars
Just bought iPod shuffle. Looks sweet but is my most frustrating technology experience since ZX spectrum.
First, I was asked to plug in iPod shuffle for the first time, but when I did (yes, into a USB port) my computer just switched off.
Ok, s..t happens, I switch it on again. Start over, but then, iPod was not detected when in the front USB port. Ok, try the rear one, and amen! finally it was picked up.
Ok, after some fiddling with iTunes (duh!) I've managed to make it figure out where my files are. That was ugly and frustrating but at least it worked. Having said that, it only worked to an extent. I cant see the filenames anywhere and many songs are scattered randomly. I want to only see files and directories!
Anyway, time to get songs onto the iPod. How? After reading documentation, I see that iPod should appear in the sources. Unlucky, it's not there. Unplug, plug. Not there. Try again, on, off... Close iTunes. Plug in, open itunes, and finally it is there. My retrying expertise has paid off.
And this is where the most frustrating bit begins. iTunes starts blurting out Updating iPod. Update complete. Updating iPod. Update complete. Updating iPod. Update complete. Updating iPod. Update complete. Updating iPod. Update complete.Updating iPod. Update complete.Updating iPod. Update complete.Updating iPod. Update complete.Updating iPod. Update complete.Updating iPod. Update complete.Updating iPod. Update complete.Updating iPod. Update complete.Updating iPod. Update complete.Updating iPod. Update complete.Updating iPod. Update complete.Updating iPod. Update complete.Updating iPod. Update complete. . . . . .
I let it be for a while, assuming there really is something to update. But after 15 minutes of this, considering my nerves are already strained by the installation, I had enough.
It's not just that it shows these misleading messages, iTunes also flicks the whole user interface every few seconds. While "updating ipod" is showing in the top bar, iTunes shows library tab. When it shows update complete, it switches to iPod tab.
I can't use 'shuffle' without iTunes? Well, you know what? I am taking this back to the shop and getting a proper player that will actually work and not lock me into buggy software which I don't want to use.
Customer Review: worth every penny
Summary: 5 Stars
Is the iPod Shuffle perfect? No. Is it somehow still flawless? Absolutely. This little device has changed my life in the same way TiVo has changed it. I am freed from the constraints of technology and my life is better. My husband got me the Shuffle while I was in the hospital and it got me through some tough times, being able to listen to my favorite music. Now that I'm home it's no less valuable, allowing me to walk around the house early in the morning or late at night, or even sleep next to aforementioned husband -- listening without disturbing anyone else. Ten years ago I took a vacation and wanted to bring my favorite music, and wound up lugging around a bulky tape recorder with tinny speakers and a bunch of batteries; now I can just toss my Shuffle in a pocket and go!
As usual, the Apple Corporation has designed a beautiful and functional piece of technology with a vision rarely found in other companies. The design is superb, with intuitive controls that even a sick person can operate right away. While ads say you get 12 hours of music per charge, I tested this out. I let my Shuffle totally run out, recharged it in my computer for 2 hours, and then played it non-stop for 17 hours! I've also dropped it and the replay didn't even skip. The volume control has about 40 clicks, so you get the sound level just right. The earbuds are very comfortable and stay in place well; Consumer Reports recently rated tham as the best headphones on a music player.
This is a sturdy, well-designed music player with great sound quality, intuitive controls, huge capacity and .... it's beautiful!
The Shuffle will not be for everyone. I like it because I want to load it up with a couple of hundred songs and then just let it shuffle. I don't care if I see the title on a display. My husband wants to be able to play a favorite album or two, or have a mix ready for when he exercises, so he has the 512 Mb Shuffle. We are both very happy.
The Shuffle comes with a software disk, a reference card, headphones with adapters, instructions, Apple decals and a lanyard for hanging the Shuffle around your neck rather than tucked in a pocket. Many accessories are available, including many types of adapters, carriers, docks and speakers.
Superb. Couldn't be happier.
Customer Review: iPod Shuffle rocks--but there are some rough spots
Summary: 4 Stars
I have nearly 4,000 classic rock, classic jazz, classic blues, and classical numbers in my collection, but I rarely listened to them because it was inconvenient to do so. It would take a half hour or longer to find the CD I wanted, and then I had to connect 30 feet of headphone cable from my CD player (in my bedroom) to my living room sofa, where I listen to music.
The iPod Shuffle changed all that. I bought it to use at the gym and for jogging, where a regular iPod wouldn't do. And I wanted something small. Once I got all my music into my computer using the excellent iTunes software that's part of the iPod Shuffle system, suddenly every piece of music I own was instantly at my fingertips. Cool!
There are, however, a few rough spots with the iPod Shuffle. First, the battery. The battery is unremovable, except by Apple technicians, which means you need to send your unit in to do it, and that will set you back 60 bucks. Also, the battery is programmed to be charged 144 times. Then it dies. So if you attach the Shuffle to USB cable to change your playlist, that counts as a charge. So in order to conserve battery life, you must limit changing playlists to the times when the battery has run down, which it does in about 12 hours (which is okay but not great). So you really can't change your music selections as often as you wish if you don't want your battery to die prematurely.
Another rough spot: Apple advertises the iPod as perfect to use at the gym. Well, at the gym, many of us sweat, and the little Shuffle cap that protects the USB connector doesn't have a rubber gasket to prevent sweat from leaking inside. When I removed the cap the other day to recharge my Shuffle, I found the USB connector had a significant amount of rust from my sweating. I've only been using it for about two weeks.
Yet another rough spot is with the iTunes software. It's an elegant and simple program, but it's a memory pig. I have 512 megabytes of RAM on my desktop computer, and when I'm loading music into iTunes, there's no memory left to use other programs. When I tried, iTunes went haywire and started screwing up my playlists.
Still, this is a marvelous little gadget in its first iteration. And hopefully these problems will be ironed out in the future.