mrdantownsend
music.photography.design
iPod Shuffle Review
02-02-07
So, I finally gave into temptation; I bought the iPod Shuffle.
It seemed like it was impossible for such a device to be so small, I picked it up the display at Best Buy, and I couldn't believe how small it was, even with the anti-theft sensor on the back. I had to have one of these, I thought to myself. So, $80 later, I have a silver iPod Shuffle sitting on my desk, and I couldn't be happier.
When I took it out of the box, I saw the dock connected through the headphone port, and it didn't have a port specifically for data, which I thought was odd; but it does do fast transfers on USB 2.0, about one song per second.
The top of the unit has a headphone port and a light (it sits in the dock upside-down), and the bottom has a ON/OFF switch and a Shuffle/Playlist play modes.
For being so small, I was surprised that it could fit over two-hundred songs and still fit in my sleeve stash pocket. It's great having it for doing anything athletic, whether it be skiing, skating, or biking.
It has a little clip on the back that can hold on to your shirt or bag or something, but I find it a little pretentious to have something like that hanging off of you (just like I hate people who carry their cell phones on their belts), but nevertheless, it can fit about anywhere you want it to.
I found the controls intuitive and easy to use. Even through my sweatshirt pocket, I can use all of the buttons easily. With only five control buttons, it's about the easiest device that's on the market currently.
Although it is a great device, I wouldn't recommend anyone to use this as their main DAP, because it only holds about two-hundred songs and you can't see what song you're on. But otherwise, I found it to be a great expenditure of $80.
So I have to admit that I am really liking the new iPod Shuffle, and it can handle basically any abuse you put it through, because of the flash memory and the anodized metal case.
