iPod Shuffle - Mini Review

[jerry]

Unpacking the iPod Shuffle

by Eric Lin

So immediately after the keynote finished, fellow Engadgeteer Lenn Pryor and I decided we had to have iPod Shuffles RIGHT NOW! It just made sense for the kind of iPod users we are to snap them up. I have too much music on my iPod (25 Gigs, actually) to pick what I want to play, but with so much music on there, shuffle never comes out quite right. Plus the iPod is too big, and too susceptible to crashing from being shook up for my active lifestyle, and so I mainly only use it only trips these days. I figured the Shuffle was the answer to all my prayers ? and if it wasn?t the 99 bucks wouldn?t kill me.

But getting one was like the tasks of Hercules. First we had to fight our way out of the Moscone Center ? since we watched the keynote downstairs in the press room, we had to wait for the throngs to make the mad dash down to the show floor before we could get up to the exit, and we were worried they would be sold out by the time we could make it up the stairs and down the street. Then we had to persevere a long line out the door of the Apple Store and around the corner. Our patience paid off the minute we hit the door, when the black clad employees were walking down the line with crates full of the precious green boxes. We had nothing to worry about, Apple had planned for the high demand. Not that there?ll be any left by tomorrow or anything, because while we just bought two each (one for ourselves, one for a special someone), others were buying six to 10 of them obviously expecting to eBay them for fun and profit. When we got to the register, our new main man Jesse hooked us up, and seconds later we were out the door, Shuffles in hand.

We patiently kept our mitts off the box, biting our nails instead until we could get back to a good camera to bring you these pictures.

Yes, you can turn the shuffle off with the flick of a switch if your playlist is in perfect order.

Some things never change, Apple still reminds us ?Don?t steal music.?

The new Autofill dialog. We love this feature.

Now that it?s all charged up and we?ve had a chance to use it, here?s a few initial impressions:

• We love Autofill. It makes the shuffle even more random since you never even know what will wind up on your Shuffle. Sure, you can narrow it down to music from a playlist, or do it all manually, but where?s the fun in that?
  
• We?re spoiled by Firewire. The USB 2.0 moved the songs onto the iPod Shuffle pretty quickly, but it?s not the song per second speed of the regular iPod over Firewire.
  
• Apple claims 120 songs probably fit on the 512 MB version. We managed to fit 110, but we have lots of 160 and 192 kbps mp3 files.
  
• This thing is tiny ? and light. You?ll never feel it around your neck or in your pocket. It?s like a stick of gum, not a pack. Just be sure not to leave it in your jeans when you wash them.
  
• The controls take a second or two to get used to, then you never think about them again.
  
• The sound is great. It?s easily as loud and seems to be more clear with better bass response than our 3G iPod.
  

Source[/b]try/1234000177027029:drool:ource

:drool:

[mikedc1760]

Kick a$$, I really hope my brother gets one. I already have a 4g.

[Porp]

Getting one next month!

[topher1078]

Mine's already on the way - can't wait.

[kainashi]

i want one of these. a mac mini too. :drool:

[nicedreams]

I don't get what this product is. Is it just a 512mb MP3 player with shuffle?

Pretty cool that it's $99 being like a lite version of the Ipod, but it just doesn't seem like a hyped up product to me or I just don't understand.

[christracy]

probably a better chance of me getting the 1 gig version than any of the other ipods. although the ipod mini is still something im thinking about.

[416_guy]

hmm can you use the iPod Shuffle as a USB key as well?

[topher1078]

Yes you can, making it a worthy purchase in my book.

[.....]

Damn, I was hoping for a new review. :(

Mine's shipping on the 26th.

[facted]

Yes you can, making it a worthy purchase in my book.

585283636[/snapback]

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but a gig of music without a screen is pretty crazy. You have NO control whatsoever over the next song.

[NeoXY]

wow....want one of those babies.....

[topher1078]

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but a gig of music without a screen is pretty crazy. You have NO control whatsoever over the next song.

585283653[/snapback]

I use shuffle most of the time anyways, I'm only going to load good songs, i.e. songs I know, so why do I need a screen?

[Azadre]

I know what I am getting my fiancee! That's hot!

[ryanmcv]

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but a gig of music without a screen is pretty crazy. You have NO control whatsoever over the next song.

585283653[/snapback]

:rolleyes: Take a look at the bottom of the box under "Unshuffle":

[aximxp]

seriously its amazing marketing because again this is just the same as any one of a million usb keys out there, especially those cheap little deals offered by benq and other cheap developers. the argument 'well i already know the music im putting on so who cares' is pretty weak guys. obviously many situations will arise when you want to show a buddy a song or you want to jump to a certain album.

also lets look past the marketing and realize that the ability to SHUFFLE playlists is a feature that is a solid 25 years old and without doubt nothing to freak out about. also windows media player has a billion ways to autocreate a playlist for a portable device as you can get it to put on the most listened to tracks, 4-5 star rated songs etc etc so their itunes feature is nothing special either.

again not a bad price for a lcd-less device but for anyone who's serious about listening to music on a solid-state device this is clearly not a great option.

[Winston]

Btw dude, if u didnt charge the iPod shuffl and u plug into the usb, would it still allow u to transfer files? like does the USB drive charge it as well?

Thanks.

[aximxp]

:rolleyes: Take a look at the bottom of the box under "Unshuffle":

http://img30.exs.cx/img30/6521/88282597248589146pw.jpg

585283717[/snapback]

just curious how many people will have a list of 120 songs completely memorized.

[esco]

I plan on getting an iPod shuffle. I currently have a 40GB 4th gen, but i'll keep it hooked up to the car. When i want to listen to music @ school or when out somewhere, i'll bring the iPod shuffle. I'll most likely be listening to a core group of songs, so it won't be too bad in terms of control issues.

[christracy]

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but a gig of music without a screen is pretty crazy. You have NO control whatsoever over the next song.

585283653[/snapback]

I use shuffle most of the time anyways, I'm only going to load good songs, i.e. songs I know, so why do I need a screen?

585283697[/snapback]

so true, besides if your doing something like running or biking you cant really find the song your probably looking for anyway

[esco]

yeah...so it's been 10 minutes since my post and i convinced myself to get one. Actually...2, i got one for my gf for our anniversary coming up ;) I decided to go w/ the 512MB since if i want mroe than 120 songs, i'll just bring my 4G around.

[Slipdisc210]

I want one as well.

[kirk26]

I really, really like this, but I already have a 20GB 4G iPod. I already have an armband to strap on the iPod when I'm working out (everyone looks at it when I'm working out, meow!). Congratulations on your new purchase! Nice pictures btw.

[jerry]

Congratulations on your new purchase!

585283881[/snapback]

Just so that people dont misunderstand, this is not mine. The article is from Engadget and I have also provided a link to the source. ;)

I have ordered one btw. :shifty:

[bobeck]

ok flame away if ya want...but i'm kinda missing the point of this thing...a smaller more portable addition to a portable player that does a function that the existing one does already just not as well as it should...all for 100 bucks...someone outta give apple the nobel prize for marketing