After a can of drink spilt in my bag not long ago, I lost my beloved nano ipod. After months of begging my mum (and my sister brought her a touch), she let me have her running shuffle.

Apple claim that this is the smallest MP3 player in the world, which is honestly must be the amount it gets lost in my bag. Sizing up at only 2cms by 5cms, its tiny enough to tuck away or use without the bulk. It weights a tiny 10g aswell.

The iPod can be brought in silver, black, blue, pink, green and probably a few more colours but these are the ones I have seen. I have mine in black (but if I chose it then it would of been pink). The fact there is so many colours is a good feature as there is something for everyone. Other iPods in the range come in these colours too but it varies depending on the style.

One of the main features which is different with the shuffle compared to other iPods is that there is no screen or way to click through songs on the actual iPod. The shuffle is made from anodised aluminium and looks fairly modern and a bit like a memory stick. There is a mirrored clip on the back so you can attach it t anything for ease. To change songs and pause, volume controls etc you will need the ipod headphones that it comes with. Without this, you will be unable to use the iPod at all.

As I have just mentioned, the only thing you can actually do with the iPod itself is turn it on and off. To change volume, change song, pause and play you need the headphones. This has bugged me as I find that iPod headphones never last very long so you need to keep spending loads on them to use the shuffle properly. With normal headphones you do not have the little strip of control so it would be impossible to do anything. I do like that if you hold down the middle button, the iPod speaks to you. It is a male voice that tells you if your battery is low and which playlist you are on (which I will get to in a minute). I suppose they had no option but to use this voice because of there not being a screen.

Having the 4GB shuffle, I can hold 500 songs which might seem like a lot, but to me it isn't much. I have around 2,000 on my computer and can never seem to narrow them down to fit on. Although the number of songs you have depends on their length. If you only had 2 minute songs, you may be able to get 550-600 on there. The 500 is based on having 4 minutes per song and 128-kbps ACC encoding (which my mums partner has been trying to explain to me since I read it on the instructions booklet).

To connect to the computer, you will need to use the USB device given to you in the box when you buy the iPod shuffle. It is different to the other iPod cables because the shuffle isn't big enough for the connection point - meaning you need to use the headphone part. The USB cable is only about 4cms in length so very easy to loose, I would advise you to keep it in a safe place as without it you can't charge or add songs to your iPod.

Once connected to iTunes, you can easily access the usual library that you can with any other iPod but you will not be able to use the apps, videos or podcasts as they will not work. Pretty much all you can use is the music which can also be brought from the iTunes store as well as being imported from CDs you already own. I don't think illegal downloading is right because the artists aren't getting money for their music which you're enjoying but that is a whole new debate.

Now when it comes to music, you can make playlists of songs or just have them all free. I find this feature useless as when the iPod speaks to you, it simply names them 'playlist 1, playlist 2' and so on. I did have a playlist for the gym, relaxation songs and upbeat ones for when I'm getting ready to go on nights out. This is now only on my iTunes library.

When it comes down to the battery, I was quite surprised. When fully charged (I leave it charging over night) it gives me 10 hours of playback which is enough to get me through the journey to and from college, and my half hour runs every night. I do tend to flick through loads of songs to find one I want which doesn't actually run the battery down too much.

Although I really like the fact the iPod is so small, I can't help but think it is more aimed at fitness junkies. It is perfect for clipping to your trousers when you go for a run or to the gym but not really for bus trips as it often gets lost in my bag and I worry that it gets stolen.

Despite the lack of a screen and controls, this iPod is really just as good as the rest when it comes to the music - but if you want the other features then you're going to have to splash out more for a better pod.

The iPod shuffle has now been changed back to its old look, which costs £40 but as this version is not the newest it cannot be brought on the Apple website. You will probably be able to buy it on eBay and Amazon for around £20, which is quite a reasonable price considering its an Apple product.