Quick Tracks: Pros/Cons & Conclusion - iPod Shuffle Photo Gallery - iPod Shuffle Tips & Hints.

The Review

It took at least ten minutes to convince myself to get an iPod Shuffle while already owning a 60GB iPod Photo. I mean, I can't go running with that big, expensive and heavy iPod can I?

I must have another iPod to run with and I figured if I kept saying that to myself over and over again it might right true to others. So far, so good.

The iPod Shuffle is Apple's newest and smallest iPod weighing in at just a few ounces and no bigger than a stick of gum, it is an iPod that really makes the mini, seem not so mini after all.

Unlike the other iPods, though, the iPod Shuffle is a flash based device, meaning that there are no moving parts on the inside. All other iPods produced have a hard drive in them which stores the data. Hard drives are bigger and cheaper but need RAM (solid memory) so as not to skip. Flash based players like the iPod Shuffle, on the other hand, store all the music in solid state memory, so nothing is moving inside. Flash based players are much cheaper to produce, use less energy but currently don't hold as much as hard drive based iPods. Thus the 512MB and 1GB sized iPod Shuffles.

Ok, enough with the tech talk, how is it?

I picked up the 512MB iPod Shuffle and it is great. It is simplicity taken to another extreme. No screen to worry about. No wheel so scroll through music, just a simple set of buttons in a simple circle. You have the play/pause button in the middle surrounded by volume up/down and forward/next buttons in what is now a very iPod friendly look. There are little green and orange lights that tell you what is going on in your stick of white gum. Generally green means good and orange means not so good. For example to put the iPod Shuffle in hold mode, you press and hold the Play/Pause button for 5 seconds and it will flash the orange light a few times to let you know it is in hold. The reverse will get it out of hold.

The iPod Shuffle is also a bit different in that it only connects via USB and not Firewire like the rest of the iPods. This makes transfer times a bit longer, but since it is only 512MB or 1GB of data, it is not too bad. About the same time as filling up a much bigger iPod with music and pictures.

The iPod Shuffle also comes with a lanyard to wear around your neck while you do all those sporty iPod things. Personally, the lanyard isn't getting used much as I rather hold it in my hands or put it in my pocket. The other tester here at iPodTips.com also had problems doing housework wearing the lanyard and opted for the pocket method.

Also included is your standard iPod earbuds which we at iPodTips don't mind at all and a few extra covers for them. The software comes on a CD but if you are already an iPoder, you should have all of that stuff on your computer already.

Apple's iTunes software has a bit of a different twist when it comes to the iPod Shuffle allowing you to do an autofill from either your entire library or just a playlist. I set it to my "Work Out" playlist when it just sucked up just fine not even complaining about the Eye of The Tiger.

Pros & Cons

Pros Very small Easy to use Priced to sell Cons No screen means less of the full "iPod" experience USB interface has slower transfer rates You cannot just own one

Conclusion

For the price, for the size, for the coolness factor the iPod Shuffle is a winner and we predict will break iPod sales records for Apple this coming quarter.

See way too many photos iPod Shuffle gallery.