Apple iPod shuffle 512 MB White (1st Generation) OLD MODEL
by Apple Computer
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Apple iPod shuffle 512 MB White (1st Generation) OLD MODEL
Customer Review: more pros and cons
Summary: 4 Stars
Buy a Shuffle if you want to listen to music at work, at the gym, at the park, etc. It's great for everyday uses like these, mainly because it's so small and light. I keep mine in my pocket all day at work and it's never a hinderance.
It works seemlessly with iTunes. You can create a playlist for your Shuffle or you can have iTunes upload songs at random from your library. The playlist function is great for people who like making mix tapes. In this sense Shuffle can be a lot more fun to use than a bigger ipod with a large data capacity.
The shuffle function works pretty well. Out of the roughly 120 songs it'll hold at a time (I'm talking about the half-gig version) the Shuffle is ok about not repeating itself over the first few hours. That's not to say it never happens. Once in a while, it seems to have tunnel vision -- going back to a few songs before others have been played at all. But when it happens, you just skip to the next song.
A few other minor details. I wish Shuffle was able to transition between songs the way iTunes does. Instead, there's a noticable pause in between tracks, which is moderately annoying when you're listening to an album straight through and the songs run together. But I'll live.
Shuffle also has a Hold function although the simple interface might lead you to believe otherwise. Press the Play/Pause button for 3 seconds and the Shuffle will go into Hold mode, meaning all the buttons are on lock.
Another thing: the Stop mode is tricky. Basically, turning Shuffle off is the stop mode. When you turn it back on, sometimes it picks up where you left off, but sometimes it starts at the beginning again (if you're using a playlist. obviously you couldn't tell if you were shuffling). I haven't figured out how to control that yet.
Overall, the Shuffle has been a great purchase. Having so much music at your disposal without any size or weight burdens is a beautiful thing. You will pity others who are carrying portable cd players. Consider buying a bigger digital music player, though, if you travel a lot and don't have your computer nearby to recharge and reload your Shuffle.
Customer Review: Shuffle is OK, ear buds & iTunes are awful
Summary: 2 Stars
I like the iPod Shuffle, in spite of the lack of a display. I bought it to have something to wear for running, and for workouts at the gym. I have major problems with the ear buds and with the iTunes program that came with the iPod Shuffle.
The first huge problem was that iTunes for Windows simply didn't work on my Win XP Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop. It barely works on my Win2K Pro CAD workstation at work, but when ripping a CD, I can't do anything else at all on my workstation. It's not a slow machine, Apple just can't seem to figure out how to communicate with the driver software. Is there tech support? No, there are just some "discussion forums" that are staffed by Apple fans who want to help others out. From all the complaints I'm seeing at those fora, iTunes for Windows (4.7.1.30) really is quite bad.
My workaround on my home laptop is to rip the songs from the CD's into MP3 format using Windows Media Player, and then tell iTunes where the folder is that Windows Media Player created.
So that allows me to have some songs to play on the Shuffle, right? Sure, but the ear buds absolutely STINK. I've bought cheap ear buds that are far better than these oversized solid plastic things that Apple provides. I'm not a small guy, but these ear buds simply don't fit in my ears. If I smile, or grimace during a workout, the ear buds just fall out. It is virtually impossible to wear them while running.
Apple should do better than this. For $99, I should bloody well get good high-quality ear buds with the iPod Shuffle. The only reason I gave the Shuffle 2 stars at all is that the player itself seems to work well. The controls of the little lightweight thing are very intuitive and obvious. The only control that wasn't obvious was the "HOLD" function, which allows you to disable the volume and fast forward controls. This is a great feature, since I did accidentally fast forward to the next song when leaning on a curl bench at the gym. Nice touch, the "HOLD" function.
Apple, make some real ear buds for this product and get iTunes working correctly with Windows machines, and you'll have a market-killer.
Customer Review: Shuffle over iPod, and AAC over MP3
Summary: 4 Stars
In this review I'll cover the advantages of the Shuffle over the iPod, and the advantages of Apple's AAC format over MP3.
I've owned an iPod 15GB for a year and I love it. But the one drawback, ironically, has been its vastness. Even at a "mere" 15GB (compared to iPod models with significantly more space) I have literally lost track of my collection. I've also grown weary of navigating through iPod menus.
By contrast, I've found the Shuffle's simplicity to be a huge advantage. I can setup iTunes Playists and just drag a Playist to the Shuffle. When I'm in a different mood, I update my Shuffle using a different Playlist. It's beautiful. It's simple. And I always know what I've got on my Shuffle. True, I can do the same with a regular iPod, but with the Shuffle I always know what I've got.
In case you didn't know, the Shuffle can play your tunes in sequential mode. Just park the button in the middle position. (I think naming it "iPod Micro" would have been cool, though "Shuffle" is catchier.)
The biggest advantage of any iPod is AAC. I've been using MP3 encoders for about eight years. I've spent a lot of time encoding my own compositions. I can even predict which MP3 algorithms will produce which artifacts at which points in the music. AAC is of a noticeably higher quality. Side-by-side at the same bit rate (e.g. 128 kbps), AAC seems to be at least double the audio quality. I've been impressed with AAC from day one. Even if you don't own an iPod, download iTunes (it's free), rip one of your CDs with it, and listen to the results on your computer (headphones recommended).
The Shuffle's only drawback is its lack of a screen or track indicator. However, with its green and amber LED indicators, a couple of very handy button-press functional options, and iTunes' simple Playlist management capability, this drawback seems more like a petty complaint.
In conclusion, for $99 you get a simple, iTunes-manageable player that can hold eight hours of music with long battery life. Add a pinch of Apple mystique, and it's a steal. I give it 4.25 out of 5 stars.
Customer Review: iPod Shuffle
Summary: 4 Stars
Digital music is a new frontier for me. I had a $100 gift certificate to use and decided to begin my experience with the Shuffle. I'd been spending a bit more time on airplanes this year, and packing a CD player & CDs to use with my Bose noise-cancelling headphones was taking up too much room in my carry-on laptop bag, so I saw an iPod as a way to lighten my load.
The iPod brand reputation was the key factor in my deciding to start with the Shuffle. I read several reviews and noted the limitations of the Shuffle (and smiled at Apple's skill in turning limitations into brand positioning!) but decided it was a low-risk way to explore digital music, downloads, etc.
I have been very pleased with the Shuffle. It has performed as advertised and is simple to use. Amazingly light and compact! I have had only 2 minor frustrations. First, the three-position switch on the back which turns the unit off or determines the mode of play (in order loaded or "shuffling" the selections) lacks definiteness and I have to mess with it more than I think I should to find the middle position I predominantly use, which is for playing the selections in the order loaded. As I said, a minor complaint.
Secondly, the iTunes software has been very easy to use, with the exception of recording multi-movement classical pieces which I would normally want to have all in one selection. The software does allow you to aggregate the tracks in this kind of situation, but I thought it took an inordinate amount of time for me to figure out how to do this (not possible with tracks you've already loaded into the software, and a couple little tricks even when bringing the tracks in for the first time).
Overall, I'm very pleased with the Shuffle for the purposes for which I acquired it: as an introduction to working with digital music files, and a rugged appliance for use in environments where I don't want to have to be very careful (gyms, etc.) with the unit. I anticipate I'll acquire a second, "normal" iPod with a screen and additional capacity at some point in the future.
Customer Review: Nice Flash Player
Summary: 5 Stars
With my iPod 20GB not currently funtioning and not under warrenty, I decided to indulge myself in the iPod Shuffle as a stopgap between my old iPod and a potentially new iPod. I really didn't have high expectations for the shuffle, as I thought it was still relatively overpriced for what it had to offer, without the LCD screen, and whatnot.
Boy, was I wrong.
I cracked open the shuffle, and immediately started charging my shuffle and at the same time, I was able to load my songs from my iTunes into my shuffle. This means that if you have any experience with an iPod or even iTunes at all, you should have absolutely no trouble with the shuffle, as it's basically the same thing. The shuffle also gives you the option to automatically update, or manually update. With 14 GB of music on my computer, I choose the 'Manual Update' option of updating my songs, and I drag playlists (created through iTunes) into my shuffle while charging, and once done, I just take it with me wherever I go.
The nuances of the shuffle may annoy people, such as the shuffling of music or the lack of an LCD screen. I honestly have no need for an LCD screen because I pretty much know all of my music, and if I had the screen, would probably just browse to my favorites all at once. And to quell a lot of people's fears of the shuffle, you can actually set playlists and drag them into your shuffle, and keep your playlists playing in order. The shuffle just randomizes your music, not something I do, but I know people love doing it.
I am extremely pleased with my purchase so far, and enjoy the shuffle far more than my iPod, when it did function. I mean, do you really need 4,500 songs with you at once when you can just upload maybe 150 with you for a day, and update which songs you want on your shuffle for the next day?
I would reccomend the shuffle to anyone. If you absolutely have an inherent need an LCD screen, then I would not reccomend this to you, but otherwise, I'm not going back to my iPod because of this small wonder.