July 16^st,2007

From all portable mp3 players available, I admit I would have never chosen an IPod Shuffle myself. I didn't see any point in using a device that wouldn't let me choose a particular mp3 track or album at any given moment. Because this is how Apple's IPod Shuffle works: once loaded with mp3 music it plays the tracks either in direct or in random order. You can skip to the next or previous mp3 track, but that's all. The IPod Shuffle doesn't have any display at all so you can neither browse your music or visualize mp3 information while playing. I just wasn't interested at all in using a mp3 player which offered such limited selection capabilities. I was reasonably happy with listening to mp3 music on my Palm TX. But since it was offered one, I decided to give the small IPod Shuffle a try. And after a month, I realized I was so wrong.

Before actually using it, I didn't realize that the IPod Shuffle perfectly fits my mobile music listening needs: between my home, the train stations and the office, I walk for at least two hours every day and the IPod Shuffle is the perfect mp3 player for the task. And it's not just walking. If you ride a bike, work out, climb or run and you want to listen to music or other mp3 content while doing it, the IPod Shuffle it what you need.

Portability

It's so light you can't even feel it in your hand. My ear-buds are actually heavier then the IPod Shuffle. You don't need a pocket or a any other accessory to take it along. It has a handy clip that let's you hang it almost anywhere: at your belt, on your t-shirt or on your jacket. The metal casing and the fact that it has no moving parts and no screen to scratch make the small mp3 player very resistant and suitable for sports of any kind.

When compared to the IPod Shuffle, other mp3 players including IPod, Palm or Pocket PC are rather big and heavy. You don't really dear take it out for sports because you can easily break it or scratch the screen and if your sports outfit doesn't have pockets, you need a dedicated accessory to wear it.

Usability

It couldn't be more simple. First, there are two small button: one to turn the device on and off and another one to choose between random and consecutive playing. There are the buttons you rarely touch. Its not very easy to switch position which is a good thing, because it prevents you from accidentally turning the IPod Shuffle on and off or change the sing order settings. For the more frequent operations there is a big round play / pause button in the center of the device, surrounded by a ring which mimics the legendary IPod click wheel. The ring doesn't turn but allows you to skip songs forwards or backwards and also control the volume by pressing the respective icons painted on it. One of the main reasons I like the IPod Shuffle so much is because it saves me time and it helps me listen to all the music. With the Palm, each time I was leaving home or the office I was spending two to four minutes trying to figure out what I want to listen to. The by the time I used to get to my destination, only two thirds of the album was played. So no matter how much music I was loading on the Palm, I was rapidly getting bored of the first songs in the album and never listened to the last ones. No such problems with the shuffle. You just turn it on and hit the sidewalk. You don't get to choose the music you'll be listening to, and it all becomes much more simple.

Of course, any mp3 player has a random play function. But just because they have a choice, most people - as I - will instinctively choose make a precise selection. Because they can. The more choices you get to make, the more complicated your life becomes. Less choices means more simple. This is where the IPod Shuffle rocks.

Connectivity and sound quality

The IPod shuffle works with all major operating systems. It can be connected to a Mac or a PC using its dock and USB cable. If you are a Mac OS X or windows user, you can use iTunes to transfer music to the device - like for any other IPod. But that's not all, you can also manage the music on your IPod Shuffle on Linux, with Amarok. It works out of the box: once connected, the IPod Shuffle, appears under the "devices" tab in Amarok. You can then drag and drop music to and from the device. Amarok is the mp3 player of choice for the KDE desktop environment, but there is also an equivalent tool for Gnome.

The sound quality is excellent. Not as good as for a big IPod but still better then most mp3 players I've listened to, including the Palm TX. The headphones packed with the IPod shuffle are not so good, however. The sound quality is basically OK, but I personally find them quite uncomfortable. Plus, they tend to fall off the ears when I'm running or walking fast, so I abandoned them in favor of more comfortable Sehenheiser ear buds.

That would be it. I'm over all happy with the IPod Shuffle and I hope this little review wil help you decide is the tiny mp3 player is for you or not.