Comments on: Apple iPod shuffle Review

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:58:10 +0000

@jhoey I would guess that the internal battery is dead.

By: jhoey

jhoey — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:05:23 +0000

sir,can u help me out with my ipod shuffle orig?same as yours..i cant play it anymore,and i dont know why my ipod wont open up…if i turned it on, lights of it will blink and then die… i cant even find some software of it,thats why im just using it as my USB,bcoz neither it wont access the sounds of it..and it sucks ‘coz it wont play,it only detects as a usb on my pc..T_T help me put with this sir…

By: iPod Shuffle 4GB Review — The Gadgeteer

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[...] honest (wow, I sound like Simon Cowell from American Idol), I think I’d pick the 4 year old original shuffle as my favorite. If only because it has a built in USB connector for charging. I also liked the [...]

By: Elgato turbo.264 (h.264 Video Encoder) Review — The Gadgeteer

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By: newnoise_

newnoise_ — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 02:30:41 +0000

My Ipod shuffle does not upload songs anymore. I dont know what’s wrong with it. It has no songs on it anymore, but it says all my space on it is filled up. Help me? :unsure:

By: arogan

arogan — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 23:53:03 +0000

Leave it up to apple to make random, shuffle, and autofill concepts new and exciting when they have been around for years.

You can pick up a rio forge 256 for $72 after rebates:
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Rio-Forge-256MB-Sport-FORGE256-/sem/rpsm/oid/97970/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

Drop in a 1 gig SD card for $50-70. Now you have more memory, expandable, full resume, 10 independent bookmarks (great for audio books), fm (useful if you go to a gym), uses 1 AAA battery (up to 20hrs) (unlike shuffle which is non user replaceable proprietary battery that once it dies after about 500 charges you have to send in your shuffle and pay apple prices), and a very nice DISPLAY all for less than that shuffle.

You want autofill or synchronization? here is some nice freeware:
http://www.cflashsoft.com/jbsynch.htm

I’m sure there are others.

more info on the 512mb version of the rio forge which is the one I picked up several months ago:
requirements: flash based, expandable memory, FM, resume
- solid state player with 512mb internal memory and a SD slot for expansion. Takes up to a 1 gig sd card though I’m thinking it’s possible larger ones will be supported. Read/writes standard Fat32. No software needed. Just drag and drop with file explorer. When you plug it in you get two drive letters, one for the internal memory, and one for the sd card. This is very convenient. usb 2.0. I’m currently using it with a 1gb sd card for a total of 1.5 gb of storage.
- to remove the sd card you have to take out the battery first.
- flashed to latest 1.20 firmware. There are reports of faulty hardware if you get firmware version 1.01 out of the box. If you get 1.16 out of the box then you have the latest hardware revision. All 512mb versions are at least 1.16 because they didn’t introduce the 512mb version until later. If you get the 128 or 256 then beware. I tried a 1.01 128mb version from best buy and the big problem is the fm reception is horrible so I returned it. I can confirm that the 512mb has much much better fm reception. You also gain the ability to record from fm (wav format).
- supports mp3, wma, and audible even.
- amazing resume/bookmark support. When turning the unit off or switching between mp3 and fm it ALWAYS remembers the exact track and second where you left off. I believe everything gets written to flash memory so I believe even with a dead batter it will remember where you left off. You have 10 independent bookmarks you can set. Saving a bookmark couldn’t be easier. Hold down the middle button, a menu pops up letting you pick your bookmark(1-10) and save. This is the best implementation of resume/bookmark I’ve seen on any player. This is a critical feature for those who listen to audio books.
- claims of up to 20hrs on a single AAA battery. There is even a NIMH/alkaline setting so the battery indicator will be correct.
- 5 band equalizer. not just presets but a real equalizer.
- has a standard usb mini connector. the little plastic cover for the usb port is very easy to lose.
- comes with an arm band and a clip. You can bend the clip so everything fits very tightly. The headphones aren’t too bad actually and wrap around your ear for a very good fit.
- good stop watch with lots of lap times
- tons of settings. You can configure many aspects of this player.
- volume and sound quality seem fine.
- when you first turn it on after changing songs it has to rebuild the database. This takes a while. After that boot time is about 4 sec.
- navigation: It has really good navigation based on id3 tags. You can choose by artist which will then drill down to albums. You can go straight to albums, genre, specific track, year, and new music (time based – when you added the songs). Every single level has a play all option, so you can play everything in memory, all albums of a specific artist, a specific album, etc.
- no way to just navigate by directory/file structure.
- m3u play lists are supported. I’ve tried ones generated by audiograbber and ones from mp3tag. Just make sure you use relative paths.
- nice display and back light. Even the buttons glow red. Shows lots of information like codec and bitrate along with the usual id3 tag info.
- no glitches or lock ups so far.

By: Julie

Julie — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 03:23:42 +0000

Meredyth:

I agree with you and have decided to hold on to it. Thanks again for your help!

By: Meredyth

Meredyth — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 02:53:04 +0000

Julie,

Glad to see you finally finished the review! I cannot comment on my opinion on the Shuffle, but I think you should hang on to it so you can review various gadgets that come out for it. It’s a popular product so I think that there’s an audience for reviews on shuffle accessories. Who knows, there might even be a case that comes out that fixes your problem with the on/off switch….

By: gshepherd

gshepherd — Fri, 08 Apr 2005 18:41:30 +0000

I’ve been using a 1GB Shuffle for a few weeks now.

No problem with the power slider, but I can see where it could be a problem for some.

I like how it pauses when I unplug the headphones, and it is a great way to hear music I forgot I had.

I have mine autofill from a smart playlist that is set up to gather specific types of music (Classical or Jazz for instance) that I haven’t heard in the last 30 days.

It would be nice to have the ability to rate songs as on the regular iPods, and perhaps the ability to mark a song for later review – for those times you hear something I want to know what it was.

By: bquin

bquin — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 20:55:39 +0000

I agree with your comments on the power switch. I was having so much trouble turning it on and off that I was about to return the product. But then I thought of putting a velcro dot on the switch! I found one that matches the white color exactly. It now turns on and off with ease. Apple should send out a velcro dot to all purchasers of this product. I won’t even charge Apple for the idea.

By: aybara

aybara — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 17:25:39 +0000

I have read several reviews where people did not like the power button. The slider on my 512 Shuffle has no problems being moved to any position regardless of how dry or sweaty my hands are.

I use mine mainly when I am out doing my bike riding exercising, and it works great.

By: gadgetguru

gadgetguru — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 17:18:52 +0000

As to scratches, the ipod white case is really prone to that. So when I got mine, I wrapped it in Cling Wrap. That’s the way I used it at home and when I put it in my pocket. I did eventually get a case for it since I don’t want to be seen in the office with my Shuffle wrapped like it was ready to eat or something…

By: gadgetguru

gadgetguru — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 17:14:25 +0000

I do agree that no display can be frustrating when you suddenly discovered a long lost gem. (you can still found it the next time you plug in the Shuffle). But the way I use it (make a playlist of all your favorite tunes – that could still easily be over 10GB worth if you have say 40GB of music – and autofill from there. I am sure almost every tunes there would be familiar and the screen would not be needed if you prefer random play.

The alternative flash players (all 1000 of them that support wmas) may have a screen but it’s still pretty useless, none that I tried has an easy way of navigating say over 100 tunes. The screen is only good for changing settings, really. And since 99% of these alternative players rely on drag-and-drop and has no autofill function, you are unlikely to drag tunes you don’t know so the situation where a lost gem crop up is unlikely.

The ipod shuffle is really about autofill, I had a few other players (Creative, generics, Samsung) but you need to drag-and-drop every time you want a new set of tunes. Easy the first few times, but it had become a chore now. So the set of music on those now seldom change. On the other hand, the Shuffle’s music is easy to change, requiring almost no effort to do so. That’s why the Shuffle is still superior to the rest despite lacking an FM tuner or voice recorder which I never use anyway…

The addition of a screen also adds to the cost and size, so most competitors 512MB players are at least $30 more expensive and 1GB around $50 or more, at those price points, you might as well spring for an ipod Mini…

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 15:05:29 +0000

Oh, I forgot to mention in the review that when I first connected the shuffle, that it took me to the iTunes store and let me have a free cd sampler of 12 songs or so (I can’t remember how many exactly).

I don’t want you guys to think I hate the shuffle because I don’t. I just don’t LOVE it.

As far as scratching, mine doesn’t appear to have any yet. I did receive a Speck Design rubber case for it the other day that I need to test out and review…

By: forrman

forrman — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 13:53:01 +0000

And just to throw everyone a bone, there’s a promotion at Amazon where if you buy $50 worth of iPod accessories you get a $15 iTunes card free.
You can find it here…
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/562258/102-7348406-3668910

By: TheDreamer

TheDreamer — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 13:44:23 +0000

I just received my TuffWrapz case from XtremeMac. I’m using the translucent white one….

The nice thing about it, is it has a thin membrane over the powerswitch area….which makes it easier to work the powerswitch.

I’m thinking I might try using it for audio books and as a flash drive. Though it has been such a long time that I’ve had time to read (or listen) to books. Between work and trying to keep up with my ReplayTVs…there’s isn’t a whole lot of time for books. ;D

The Dreamer.

By: forrester

forrester — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 13:38:43 +0000

Hi Julie!

I have a 1GB Shuffle and I really like it. I had tried the 1GB Sandisk and had a terrible experience with it. I love the Shuffle because it works like it is supposed to when it is supposed to.

Like you, I found myself picking it up and trying to read it before remembering it does not have a screen, but this eventually went away. Also, my buttons on the front and my power button are not stiff at all. Maybe you just got a bad one.

A few “pros” (for me, at least) you may not be aware of:

- In non-shuffle mode, if you press the “play” button three times in a row, it goes back to the beginning of the list of songs.

- In shuffle mode, doing the same thing reshuffles the songs.

- Because you can switch from shuffle to non-shuffle, finding a song is not so bad. For example, let’s say I am in shuffle mode and I really want to hear “Elevation” by U2. As long as any other song on the album comes up in shuffle mode, I can switch to non-shuffle mode and then easily scroll to that song on the album. Of course, this assumes you have several songs by the same band or from the same album on your shuffle.

- A nice feature: If you are listening to an audiobook and you pause your shuffle before turining it off, the next time you listen to that audiobook on your shuffle, the audiobook will be in the same place. Also, if you do this and then sync your shuffle with your computer, the next time you listen to the audiobook on your desktop, it will begin playing in the “bookmarked” place.

My one big “con:”

Man this thing scratches easily. I mean, really easily. I bought a translucent white silicon case off eBay, which is nice, because it still looks like a shuffle, hides the scratches, and keeps me from dinging it anymore.

Great review Julie! Keep up the good work!

By: forrman

forrman — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 13:37:31 +0000

Julie – i’m sure they’ll be a 2nd gen shuffle, they are still the cheapest way to get an Apple product to play music on, but its still interesting to see Apple NOT hit one out of the ballpark.

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 13:07:59 +0000

forrman:

Yes, I did want to like this player. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t do it for me. I guess I can use it as a 1gb flash drive. Or I can sell it on eBay to try to get back a little of the money I shelled out for it. Or I can keep it in order to review all the nifty little accessories that are available for it. I haven’t decided yet what I want to do.

I wonder if there will be a 2nd generation shuffle, and if it will have all the features / fixes that I wish this one had. Time will tell…

By: forrman

forrman — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 12:46:28 +0000

I have to say there are lots of gripes in the article, makes me think you want to like the shuffle (it IS from Apple after all) but that you dont.
Between the power switch complaint, the lack of LCD, price and battery life, which, lets fact it, is mediocre compared to some out there (there are lots of mp3 flash players out there which will last many more hours which DO have an lcd) there’s lots to not like about the Shuffle.
But, lets face it, it IS an Apple product, which means it automatically has a fan base and people who will gush, its nice to hear about its failings too and an honest review that does point out the flaws in the product.

By: TheDreamer

TheDreamer — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 11:15:34 +0000

Yeah, I find it a Con that the iPod Shuffle doesn’t implement Sound Check like the other iPods do.

The Dreamer.

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 03:11:26 +0000

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