Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33713 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Apple
• Model: ipodshuffle1gb
• Released on: 2005-01-30
• Dimensions: .5 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
Time to mix things up. Meet iPod shuffle, the unpredictable new iPod. What will it play next? Can it read your mind? Can it read your moods? Load it up. Put it on. See where it takes you.

Random is the New Order
Welcome to a life less orderly. As official soundtrack to the random revolution, the iPod Shuffle Songs setting takes you on a unique journey through your music collection you never know what's around the next tune. Meet your new ride. More roadster than Rolls, iPod shuffle rejects routine by serving up your favourite songs in a different order every time. Just plug iPod shuffle into your computer's USB port, let iTunes Autofill it with up to 240 songs(1) and get a new experience with every connection. The trail you run every day looks different with an iPod shuffle. Daily gridlock feels less mundane when you don't know what song will play next. iPod shuffle adds musical spontaneity to your life. Lose control. Love it.

Smaller than a pack of gum and much more fun.

DJ Your Day If you prefer cycling to a hip-hop soundtrack and snowboarding to a little electronica, Autofill iPod shuffle from a specific iTunes Playlist and roll. Download an album from the iTunes Music Store and listen to it in order before you Shuffle it into your collection. Or just drag and drop individual songs from iTunes onto iPod shuffle. With Play in Order mode, you manage the music. If things take a turn for the predictable, never fear. Turn iPod shuffle over, flip the slider to Shuffle and mix on the go. Goes with Everything iPod shuffle weighs as little as a car key and makes a tuneful fashion statement. Just throw the included lanyard around your neck and take a walk. Or run. Or ride. There's nowhere your skip-free iPod shuffle can't go, and with up to 12 hours(2) of continuous playback time, it keeps going as long as you do. A neat little cap protects the USB connector, and those signature white earbud headphones tell the world you love to listen in style. You can even make your iPod shuffle splash-proof, arm-hugging and longer-running with optional accessories. Ready for anything from a Transatlantic flight to a weekend at the beach, the iPod shuffle makes the perfect low-maintenance pal.

Touch of Genius Good things really do come in small packages. The controls on the iPod shuffle feel as intuitive and easy to use as those on every iPod model. Play, pause, skip, repeat, shuffle and hold at the touch of a thumb: The circular, ergonomic controls and one-click slider make it simple to listen without looking. The Music Store in Your House Add to the iPod shuffle mix with songs downloaded from the iTunes Music Store. Browse and preview more than 700,000 songs, then buy what you want, 24-7, from the comfort of your Mac or PC. With the iTunes Music Store and iPod shuffle, you'll always have music at hand--literally. The smallest iPod yet, iPod shuffle fits neatly in the palm of your hand and looks just plain neat around your neck. Prepare to make friends and influence people when you wear it biking, hiking, snowboarding, dog-walking and anywhere else that could use a great soundtrack.

Download an album and listen to it in order before you Shuffle it into your collection.

That includes off-the-beaten-path spots where you may need to play, pause, move back, skip forward, shuffle and turn up the volume without looking. Luckily, iPod shuffle pays due respect to its elders with a thumb-friendly, circular control pad that puts the 'go' in ergonomic. Plug-and-Playlists iPod shuffle makes syncing a piece of cake. Use the optional Dock to connect to your computer or just plug iPod shuffle directly into a USB port on any computer(3). Then drag and drop individual songs, Autofill your favourite playlists or Autofill your iPod shuffle with a random sampling from your music library. Since iPod shuffle automatically charges while syncing, it stays ready for your next adventure.

1. Music capacity is based on 4 minutes per song and 128Kbps AAC encoding.
2. Rechargeable batteries have a limie optional iPod shuffle Dock or a USB cable extender (sold separately).

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

5 stars for the remote - where is the iPod?
It's quite a shock when you receive your iPod through the post. Nothing prepares you for the size (or lack of) of the package and the iPod is so small it could pass as a remote control.

There are three disadvantages to buying a shuffle:

1. The unit is sealed so replacing the battery is not an option - although it can be recharged 500 - 1000 times this is a potential problem.

2. There is no space for connectors other than a headphone socket - you can't connect it into your car stereo.

3. There is no display. So you can't choose the type of music at play time.

The advantages are:

1. Its incredibly small size

2. Long battery life

3. Ease of use

Replacing the battery may sound like a limitation however the speed of technology changing means that when the time it may be preferable to upgrade rather than repair.

Connection to other equipment - if you want this then a regular iPod is probably the answer.

Lack of display. Whilst this may not be for everyone, the choice of music is readily chosen at download time.

For someone who must put every possible CD onto their iPod and then select only a subset for listening this isn't an option. For everyone else it's not a problem.

By not having a display, the battery life is very long. Whilst use may vary it doesn't run down over two weeks - obviously your mileage will vary. This also points to the battery replacement not being relevant.

The shuffle facility presents tracks in a semi-random order. This is actually very handy. By moving forwards and backwards through the tracks two or three presses of a button is sufficient. At this point you can switch to sequential or leave it on shuffle. The backwards button allows the previous shuffled track to be replayed but this feature can also be used to switch to playing a different set of sequential tracks.

In some ways if you havn't considered the plus/minuses of 'display - no display' then its not time to make a purchase.

Which one? The 1GB may seem the better buy - but the battery life will only allow (at most) one play through the music (less than 25 CDs on a 1GB iPod) or (12 CDs on a 512MB iPod).

If you have a car CD stacker (6 CD unit) then 12 CD may seem a modest (limited) improvement and 25 CD more appealing especially as the difference in cost is about three regular CD purchases. Since the unit can't be upgraded I bought the 1GB unit.

Because the unit can also be used as a USB memory stick this points to the 1GB being a better buy - you move a slider in the software setup to allocate space for USB memory - which limits the download of software. There seems little point also carrying a memory stick around.

If you already have a regular iPod - I can't see the point in also having a shuffle aside from the size and long battery life.

For anyone else the shuffle is absolutely brilliant and you won't regret buying one.

PS Like all rechargeable items it pays dividends to let the unit run down completely once in a while to get the best possible battery life.

Quality
I was looking for and mp3 player and after looking at probably all that there is to offer i finally decided to get the i pod shuffle. I was a bit worried becuase of battery life and people i know who have got i pods theres has gone wrong just after a couple of months. But none of them had the shuffle and i have had mine for a couple of months now and it is still working fine. Also the battery life is still very good about 11 hours and it comes fully charged so you don't have to wait around for ages for it to charge before you can use it. The music qulity is superb and the headphones have had some criticism but i think they are excellent. The software is very simple to use it only took me about 5 mins to work it out and it takes no time at all to fill your i pod with music. I would definatly suggest getting this as it is excellent!!!!

There is a point to this player... (from an iPod Photo user)
I have both this 1GB iPod Shuffle and a 60GB iPod Photo, and I understand the point in having the iPod Shuffle. The 60GB is fantastic, and I'm putting my music collection of over 800 CDs onto it (taking some time!) which is great for me as I'll have all my music in one place.

However, what I don't want is to damage my iPod Photo when it has all this music on it, as it does take ages to move it over from iTunes. I'm not worried that when I listen to music on-the-go with my white "I have an iPod" earphones (Sony MDR-EX71SLW, well worth the money!) someone is gonna rob me; I'm not worried that when I'm listening to music in bed I'll wake up in the morning having dropped my iPod on the floor; I'm not worried that I don't have a leather case, screen protector, or big pockets to carry my iPod with me. Why? Because I'm using my iPod Shuffle for all these times that I used to worry about when I was using my iPod Photo.

For those of you whining "It's got no screen": why do you need a screen? To break/damage/scratch? Get an iPod Mini and read your songs.

If you want a digital music player to use while you're away travelling for the next few weeks/months then I agree that this will not fit the bill, and you should consider an iPod Mini, iPod, or iPod Photo - take the time out to get all the music you want on it and go.

If you want a digital music player which you're gonna use on a day-to-day basis, like a daily train journey into work, when you're taking a walk, going on a day-trip, or just chilling out at home, then this is an excellent little player, at a reasonably cheap price with the added bonus that you can get some files on it using the USB interface. And the lanyard is alright too - I thought it'd be unused when I ordered it, but I've always got it round my neck when I'm listening to the iPod Shuffle, and the length is just right to use with the shortened earphone cables of the Sony MDR-EX71SLW without getting any tangling.

Do you also see the point to this player now?