Apple iPod Shuffle (512MB)

Pros: Small and cheap

Cons: Forced iTunes, propietary battery

Summary: My brother(because it had good value for money) bought an iPod shuffle today and I came up with the following conclusion: This MP3 player does not fit everyone. It is made for people who just want to listen to their music with minimal amount of interfence. For example, If you like to micromanage your playlist and your equaliser, of course you don't want this.

Of course, I did not score this highly because I liked it. It is good, but it doesn't suit my taste. Sure, it is almost a steal at $99 for 512MB, but it doesn't suit a person like me who takes the bus everyday.

Firstly, it does not have a screen(which is good for me) showing important information such as how much battery I have left(you could argue that most battery measurements are inaccurate), does not have support for Ogg Vorbis(favourite format), has a propietary battery(expensive to replace). I have rechargeables, so I don't spend much money on batteries.

Finally, iTunes(which you are forced to install) is a piece of software that seems sluggish and does not fit in Windows. Yes, it does fit Mac users, but how about the rest of the people?

A lot of people would actually what I didn't. Buying an mp3 player is about choice. There is no ultimate player or "on-size-fits-all". It all depends on taste