Apple iPod Shuffle user reviews (second generation 2006, 1GB, silver)

3.0 stars

"Mixed Emotions from a non-apple loving Zune 80GB owner" on November 25, 2008 by com-hunter

Pros: 1. The earbuds that come with the Shuffle are the most comfortable I have found *for me* to date. I hate the ones that stick in the ear canal.

2. The size of the unit. By far the lightest mp3 player I've ever laid hands on.

3. The metal clip.

Cons: 1. The FF is only one speed and the unit doesn't recognize audible chapters within a file.

2. No display.

3. No auto turn-off (that I have seen yet).

4. Poor quality. This is #5 in a string of duds. (more later)

5. The USB dock.

Summary: Ok. Here goes nothing. First - Don't pre-judge me because I am a Zune owner or think that I'm biased because of it. Truth be told, before using one I would have given the Shuffle Zero stars just because it's Apple. Now that's out of the way...time to move on.

I have a Creative Muvo-Tx, Creative Zen Stone plus (for my son) and a Zune 80gb. I am a tech professional and have been in the field for over 10 years.

I didn't choose to purchase the iPod Shuffle. Instead, I acquired it from a co-worker. I found it on her desk when I went to fix a problem on her pc. She said she was having issues, so I did the troubleshooting to no avail. The unit...a replacement for the one she had for 11 months where the flash went bad...had no sound. She got it replaced, for a 3rd one which didn't charge and then a fourth with the same problem. After several months, I went back to her office and asked her about it since it was on her desk again. She said that was the fourth replacement and she was throwing it away. I told her I would call and she said if I managed to get an answer I could have whatever they gave me. Thus I'm an iPod owner after vowing never to buy one...at least I didn't have to fork out cash.

Being a non-apple person, I've always had my music library, now 10gb, in WiMP. To bring it into iTunes would have taken 3 days according to the program, so I decided to put that off and put my audiobooks on instead.

Once I managed to figure out how to get the audible books into iTunes from the audible site, I put several to my iPod and waited for them to sync. Imagine my surprise when I turned my Shuffle on, hit play and got a "no music" error code flashed at me. Crazy, right? After some thinking and looking at the player, I noticed that the button for how to play music was set to shuffle...imagine that? Well audible books won't play when the player is set to shuffle, so a flick of the button and I was following the adventures of Odd Thomas.

I'm disappointed with the difficulty of getting music over to iTunes, but figured as much anyway. I have steered away from Apple because I have never liked the way apple computers work (used them in college), I don't like the trendy, have to have vibe, I don't like the way people shove them in my face saying how great they are and how much money they spent on them, and I don't like being penned in. The USB dock on this thing is dumb and cumbersome as it gets hung up on things with the 3.5mm end sticking up like the eiffel tower. Without a display it is difficult to navigate through the books, but even more difficult if you hit the wrong button and have to FF through hours of reading to find your place at the one slow FF pace. Audible provides several 'chapter' markers that a zune and zen will make use of, but the shuffle does not.

I'm skeptical of how long this unit will last as it is the 5th replacement of this model. The Apple folks were good enough to give me a new unit vs. a refurb, so time will tell.

Overall, I'm ok with the unit, but am not a convert to iPods. I won't be trading in my Zune for an iPod, nor will I be giving it to my son as he's the popular one on the school bus having a built in speaker to share his music with his friends. My husband wants to listen to the books on it, but I'm sure he'll be yelling about losing his place.

So while I have some dislikes and some positives for the unit, overall I think it's a solid unit for a particular type of user. I'll keep it until it breaks or I'll give it to my husband if he likes it. I much prefer my Zune :)