Neowin Review: iPod Shuffle

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This is the first in a series of articles looking at iPods, and iPod accessories. We plan to look at the wide range of items available on the market, and see what rocks. And perhaps what does not. We hope you'll find them informative; first up is a look at the popular iPod Shuffle!

Apple's latest MP3 player, the iPod Shuffle, may lack some of the key features of it's larger brother, but does this affect the overall iPod experience? Take a look at our review to find out.

"Controlling the iPod Shuffle is very similar to any other iPod. You have Play/Pause, Previous and Next track, as well as a volume control on a circle under your thumb. This makes browsing your playlist extremely easy and is one of the iPod's greatest strengths. On the rear you have a slider which governs the play mode of your iPod. There are three settings: Off, Playlist and Shuffle. Playlist mode will play your songs in the order you transferred them, whereas Shuffle will play them in random order."

View: Apple iPod Shuffle Review | Official Website

Quake III Arena source code released under GPL
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We're done packaging up the Quake III Arena source code for a GPL release:

af8aaac46cc82035e1cba632b1a16e03 quake3-1.32b-source.zip
ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/source/q....32b-source.zip

note that a build of Q3Radiant 200f is included under GPL as well

some D3 SDK things:
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I've uploaded an XCode project file [1] to make it easier to build
the gamecode on Mac. There is no SDK source update needed at
this point.

[1] ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/doom3/source/mac

#1 Marduk on 21 Aug 2005 - 20:16

Good review, although what keeps me from getting one is the lack of LCD screen.

#2 SoulEata on 21 Aug 2005 - 20:17

Will you be reviewing iRiver products after all of this?

(5 replies) #3 pickleman on 21 Aug 2005 - 20:20

isn't it a little late to be doing an Ipod shuffle review? Most people already know what it's about.

and this seems contradicting..

QUOTE

That said, it's not without faults. The price tag for example. You can get very similar sized MP3 players that come with LCD screens at a price much lower than the Shuffle. Granted, it may be made by Company X that nobody has heard of before, but for many consumers, this doesn't bother them.

In conclusion, if you're after an excellent MP3 player and don't need your entire music collection with you all the time, the Shuffle is hard to beat.

Sounds to me like someone on the Neowin staff just purchased a shuffle and have only the Creative Muvo to compare it to.
Review...
4/10

#3.1 Howard on 21 Aug 2005 - 20:29

Yes, admittedly it is rather late. But if you're in the market for an MP3 player right now, it's still one of the newest. And the price has recently dropped too

#3.2 bucko on 22 Aug 2005 - 00:15

You are wrong not everyone knows about an ipod shuflle.

#3.3 mko on 22 Aug 2005 - 02:45

People in caves don't count.

#3.4 lare2 on 22 Aug 2005 - 11:36

lol @ cavemans

#3.5 Surr3al on 22 Aug 2005 - 14:36

I would trust that people that visit neowin would know about one of the most popular apple products out there.

(1 reply) #4 TheLittleKid on 21 Aug 2005 - 20:29

this reminds me of my sister comparing the first car she ever bought to every other car on the market...sure she never drove any of the other cars but it didn't stop her from telling everyone she has the best car. I mean give me a break. check and mate

#4.1 Howard on 21 Aug 2005 - 20:40

The Creative MuVo > iPod Shuffle is a common upgrade path, and it's difficult to compare flash based MP3 players to HDD ones because there's such a difference in capacity. Each type is targetted at different audiences, the casual listener and slightly more serious audiophile respectively.

(2 replies) #5 Mr magoo on 21 Aug 2005 - 20:34

Please do bare in mind that this is part of a series of reviews into apple gear; we know the shuffle is a little old, but heck - not everyone knows about it.

#5.1 StevoFC on 21 Aug 2005 - 20:42

i agree not everyone knows about it...but if you think about it, the ones who don't by now really don't care at all. if they don't know that a shuffle exists by now then a review here will do nothing.

i just think it's a little late and kind of useless to be posting reviews about apple products that have been out and seen everywhere for so long.

#5.2 Cubiz on 22 Aug 2005 - 07:21

this is part of a series of reviews into apple gear

Does this mean you'll be reviewing other Apple products? (not just iPods)

#6 Aaryn Kasra on 21 Aug 2005 - 20:39

Nice review

(3 replies) #7 pickleman on 21 Aug 2005 - 20:41

but heck - not everyone knows about it

you are correct. My Grandparents don't know anything about it

#7.1 Mr magoo on 21 Aug 2005 - 20:53

I can but hope you direct them towards Neowin then!

#7.2 Howard on 21 Aug 2005 - 20:56

I wonder how many pensioners have iPods

#7.3 daveoc64 on 21 Aug 2005 - 21:51

The Queen of England has one.

(1 reply) #8 Chicane-UK on 21 Aug 2005 - 21:17

Pretty pleased 512MB Shuffle owner here.. I can't seem to get the battery to die on the damn thing, no matter how infrequently I charge it.. its ALWAYS 'green' even after a few weeks intermittent usage!

#8.1 kitchenutensils on 22 Aug 2005 - 18:11

lol same here - i was worrying like hell before going on my holiday but it didnt go near changing colour even!

... anyway great simple review for a great simple product - there is nothing dazzling about the shuffle but its absoltely great for what it does.

(1 reply) #9 Peter McGrath on 21 Aug 2005 - 21:58

What caught my eye on the packaging was some small text, running across the centre. It read: "Don't steal music". Now I'm not sure about you, but when I've just spent my hard earned cash on a DVD, or in this case an MP3 player, I can't say I approve of being made to feel like I'm a music pirate.

Great review. I must say that statement really pi**ed me off too. When I read that after buying my iPod that one little thing annoyed me so much I almost took it back and asked for a refund.

Its the sneaky way they do it too. If it was plastered on the outside of the box for you to see before you bought it it wouldn't be a problem. I'll bet they don't dare do that though as it would discourage people from buying the ipods!

Its also such a hypocritical gesture. If Apple were serious about it, it would also be plastered on all their advertising material INCLUDING web sites/pages relating to the ipod. We all know THAT isn't going to happen

Last edited by 76082 on 21 Aug 2005 - 22:15

#9.1 BTallack on 22 Aug 2005 - 15:01

I believe the intention behind that warning is to steer you towards the Apple iTunes Music Store, not to accuse you of being a pirate.
Apple provides a viable alternative to P2P file sharing and they want people to use it. It's as simple as that.

Personally I was rather amused by the warning when I saw it. I've had 4 iPods and they all had that warning and so has every iPod any of my friend's have purchased.

And as I recall it was plastered throughout their iTunes Music Store ads. Do you remember the 'I Fought The Law' promotion?

(1 reply) #10 soldier1st on 21 Aug 2005 - 22:05

anything ipods sux.apple should allow you to copy your music to wherever you want.even drm is crap.

#10.1 sebflipper on 21 Aug 2005 - 22:54

Well you can, all the music is only stored in a hidden folder (My Computer -> Tools -> Folder Options -> View (tab) -> Show hidden files and folders). You also need your iPod in disk mode (under Edit -> Preferences -> iPod (tab) in iTunes).

And if memory serves its under a folder called iPod or Controller or something like that

Or you could just use one of those iPod copy programs that are floating about on the net

(5 replies) #11 dp123 on 21 Aug 2005 - 22:57

It read: "Don't steal music". Now I'm not sure about you, but when I've just spent my hard earned cash on a DVD, or in this case an MP3 player, I can't say I approve of being made to feel like I'm a music pirate.

Yeah, I hate when the entire movie industry suggests I'm immature when they say "FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY"!! (SARCASM!!!) Get a clue: you are reacting in a paranoid and touchy way... probably because you are a pirate. If not, there's no reason to even care about this standard warning.

Granted, it may be made by Company X that nobody has heard of before, but for many consumers, this doesn't bother them.

Many consumers? Who? Apple has a huge % of the market with 500 other companies sharing pathetically small pieces of the pie. Who are these many consumers and what are these many cheaper and better players?

#11.1 Raum on 22 Aug 2005 - 12:32

http://www.iriveramerica.com/prod/ultra/

The shuffle doesn't look too bad, but something about (what I consider to be) a more attractive design, up to 45 hours battery life as opossed to 12, radio, voice and line-in recording as well as generic drive support and simple drag and drop transfer methods, requiring no additional software, attracts me.

Or maybe to some people, all these features make the iPod superior. Who konws why.

#11.2 dp123 on 22 Aug 2005 - 18:05

I didn't ask for you to point out the most frequently cited iPod-killer-but-not-really-because-it's got-much-less-than-5-percent-of-the-market.

I asked that these many consumers who prefer cheap-ass, no name products to the iPod be pointed out or referenced in some specific or definable way.

I'm sure there is a few, but where are the MANY that PREFER music player XY-NO NAME to the iPod?

I don't see them.

#11.3 kitchenutensils on 22 Aug 2005 - 18:17

he was refering to the £25 ones u get at one-stop... with the only visible production company being "mp3" and no support for legally downloaded music, a battery life advertised as 8 hours but closing in more on around 3 from an AAA battery.

#11.4 Smigit on 22 Aug 2005 - 21:36

That would be the 30% of the market that don't buy apple products. Yes, Apple dominated but 1/3 of people is a considerable amount of people, even if it pales to apples 70% and that 30% is spread between dozens of other companies.

I guess it's like saying many people prefer Firefox to IE, while true 10% still isn't a really convincing number.

#11.5 dp123 on 23 Aug 2005 - 00:12

Smigit, my point exactly.

(2 replies) #12 Garry on 21 Aug 2005 - 23:03

"Rest assured though, this is the headphones and not the iPod itself at fault. A pair of high quality headphones are a must if you take your music seriously, but remember that these may place extra strain on the battery life (which Apple state as 12 hours continuous playback from a single charge)."

Believe me, that statement is wrong. Plugging in a kickass pair of headphones isn't going to affect battery life at all. It won't make the device play any louder, put out more bass or turn the sound quality up a notch. In short, it'll make no difference to the iPod Shuffle itself whatsoever. You may, however, get the full range of sound that the standard iPod earphones aren't able to put out.

#12.1 Howard on 21 Aug 2005 - 23:37

Perhaps you could point out where it said it would change the output of the device? The iPod itself has to power the headphones from it's own battery, and common sense dictates that if you plug in more powerful headphones, it's going to draw more power. It depends on the headphones, hence the word may in the sentence.

Believe me, YOUR statement is wrong

#12.2 Zenith on 23 Aug 2005 - 07:48

if you put some really good headphones on, they draw more power in order to push the speakers. But the difference isnt going to be great.Most people dont plug headphones into their iPod anyway.
Another type of earbud probably won't make any difference; in fact if you get in-ear 'buds your battery life may even extend, because you don't need the player as loud to get the sound to your eardrum.

(1 reply) #13 thefunkymunky on 22 Aug 2005 - 07:49

It's an iPod shuffle NOT iPod Shuffle

#13.1 Surr3al on 22 Aug 2005 - 14:34

wtf? Wow, whatever dude.

#14 SeMz... on 22 Aug 2005 - 09:44

who gives a flying **** munky u idiot

#15 Ifoow on 22 Aug 2005 - 10:48

Why review this after it has been on the market for a decade?

#16 XP-RTM on 22 Aug 2005 - 12:51

u can always use your shuffle without itunes

i use shuffle database creator, is not bad and you can take your music anywhere

#17 deiong15 on 22 Aug 2005 - 15:45

not sure why people are so ipod crazy.. there not hign special. the ones i have just collect dust. i prefer the zen there cheaper, easier to use, and get alot more bang for your buck.

(1 reply) #18 RichardK on 22 Aug 2005 - 23:16

How is the sound quality / volume on this? Looking for a player that is loud enough to use while mowing the yard. I have a rather large yard that takes 2 - 3 hours to mow. I used to have a Dell DJ, it was loud enough if I used earbuds (could have been louder though, and the quality suffered when the volume was maxed out), but the player didn't last too long from the vibrations, hard drive failed in it twice. I've tried little cheapy players from Wal-Mart (iLO something or other) but it's not loud enough even with earbuds.

#18.1 Zenith on 23 Aug 2005 - 08:02

if you wear ear protection they should be loud enough to overcome the noise of the mower. If you are not, you shouldnt be having music louder than the mower if you want to be able to listen to music in ten years time.
i dunno about you but i find my ears ring if i mow the lawn without ear protection.

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