Excellent digital music player, especially for people on the go! (Apple iPod shuffle (2G) 1 GB)

Member Name: capsterdnapper

Product:	Apple iPod shuffle (2G) 1 GB
Date:	24/09/07 (212 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good for jogging and visiting the gym.

Disadvantages: People may not like that the shuffle has no screen.

After reading some of the harsh reviews posted here about this little chap, I felt the moral obligation to stand up for it! I had the 1 GB silver shuffle ipod given as a Christmas present and used it constantly before eventually purchasing an 80GB video ipod this summer (see my review). Originally I had the cumbersome 60 GB video ipod which is a little on the large side, forget large this guy is huge! I visit the gym regularly and do quite a bit of jogging and so tend to listen to a lot of music whilst doing so. I made do with my video ipod along with an arm strap to fasten it whilst jogging, but this left my arm uncomfortably heavy and found myself jogging in a silly manner just in order not to snag the headphone wire on my elbow! Eventually the clip fastening shuffle ipod appeared on the market and I became an ex-silly jogger. Hooraahh!!

---------- General Information ----------

This particular shuffle is the world’s smallest digital music player; it also boasts a 1 GB memory which holds approximately 240 songs. Like all ipods, it is very easy to upload songs, navigating your way around itunes you can either select it to randomly gather songs or manually input your favourites. There is no LCD screen or display on the shuffle, and so you can’t see which song is playing or what is coming on next. For people jogging, in the gym or on the go, the lack-of-screen doesn’t make much of a difference because there is no time to look down and search through songs. I know that if I did this I’d probably run into a tree!

---------- Controls ----------

There are five buttons on the face of the ipod; play/pause, fast forward/skip forward, rewind/skip back, volume up, volume down. In order to fast forward or rewind you simply hold down the appropriate skip buttons. The underside of the ipod has two sliding switches, one allows you to turn it on/off, and the other lets you play the songs in order or shuffled. The best thing about this ipod…nay….the two best thing about this ipod are it’s weight and the clip. The shuffle is 0.55 ounce; this sweet little character is so light you barely feel it on you. It is also shaped and designed to look like a clip which is a godsend because you can be running through a gale-force storm and the shuffle will remain clipped to your shorts.

---------- Technical Specifications ----------

• Height 1.07 inches (27.33 mm)
• Width 1.62 inches (41.2 mm)
• Depth 0.41 inch (10.55 mm including the clip)


---------- Sound Quality ----------

The shuffle supports files in the formats of AAC, MP3, WAV and AIFF however I have only uploaded songs in MP3 format so can’t really comment on the sound quality of the others…however I bet they’re great! Anyway, the sound of the shuffle is fantastic, it has skip-free playback even whilst jogging since there are no moving parts like in a CD or MD player. Ipods in general have very good sound quality; they can pick up on the slightest sound which an ordinary sound system might not.

---------- Price ----------

Ipods in general are quite pricey; however you can pick the shuffle up in shops for £49 - £79.95 depending on the memory. This I feel is well worth the money as you will love every second with it, especially if you live an active lifestyle or like to jog.

Summary: I feel the shuffle is very good value for money and a must have for active lifestyles!

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