Apple iPod shuffle 1 GB

As much as I admire people who are super motivated and are able to get themselves up and out exercising without any problems, I am definitely one of those who needs some motivation in the form of music while I am out running. It's not that I wouldn't go out a run without music, just that if I do then I become bored a lot easier and will end up out for a shorter time, covering less distance.

When I decided that I needed to get myself back into some sort of exercise regime after a good couple of years without doing much exercise, I went out and bought myself an Apple iPod shuffle 1 GB. Having owned, and enjoyed using, a previous version of the iPod shuffle a few years earlier I believed that it would be a safe choice to plump for this iPod to help me with my training and keep me motivated.

HOW MUCH DOES THIS COST?

My iPod shuffle 1 GB cost me £40 to buy but I have had it for a while now. Although this version still retails for about the same price, you can now pick up an Apple iPod shuffle 2 GB for about the same price which I think is excellent value for money.

WHAT DO YOU GET IN THE BOX?

When you open the box there are just a few things in there. As well as the most important part which is the iPod shuffle you will get the connector stand which helps you to both connect your iPod to your computer and to charge your iPod. You also get a set of headphones, which do the job without being anything spectacular. You should also get a couple of booklets in the box which will give you all the information that you need to set up and use your iPod shuffle.

BRAND

You can't fail to see the Apple brand everywhere these days, it is currently one of the most iconic and successful brands in the world with the company being responsible for various products like iPhones, iPods, iPads and mac laptops. At the annual presentations in my work recently the big bosses gave a presentation on brands and what made a good brand. It was mostly about Apple and how they have done such a fabulous job of promoting the brand. They were aiming to get our company brand represented as highly as the Apple brand, even although we are a bank!

BACK TO THE SHUFFLE, WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

The first thing that I would mention here, would be the size of the shuffle. It is tiny, about 1 inch high and about 1.5 inches wide. This along with the fact that it is very light, makes the iPod shuffle an excellent training tool. Another feature of the shuffle that makes it suitable for training is the clip on the back of the shuffle, which means that you can easily clip it on to your sleeve or shorts for example. I have found the clip on the back of shuffle to be very strongly made, there is absolutely no chance that it is going to unclip and come off my shorts while I am running which is perfect as it would be a waste of time if I had to keep clipping it back on.

The shuffle comes in several different colours including silver, green, pink, blue or the one which I have got which is purple. I wasn't particularly bothered about the colour that I got as long as it wasn't the pink one! On the front of the shuffle is a white circle which is where the main buttons for controlling it are.

All in all I believe that the ipod shuffle looks really good, it is a very simple but effective design and fits in well with the apple brand. The size of the ipod, with it being as small as it is, mean that it is really good for running or using in the gym therefore suiting my needs as a training tool.

SETTING UP YOUR IPOD SHUFFLE

I found setting up the ipod shuffle to be very easy. Firstly, if you do not already have iTunes installed on your computer then you will need to download it, as you will need iTunes to be able to download songs to you iPod shuffle. You can then either pay to download some songs from iTunes or you can upload some songs from your own music collection on to iTunes which you can then transfer on to the shuffle. I have done a bit of both to get a good mixture of music on my iPod.

It is really easy to connect your iPod shuffle to the computer and iTunes. Firstly connect your iPod on to the connector stand which comes with the iPod, then plug the connector stand in to your computer with the USB attachment and you are there.

Getting the iPod to sync in with iTunes then seemed to happen automatically and just took a few minutes. Once you have selected the songs that you want to transfer from your iTunes catalogue, you select auto fill to transfer them on to your iPod shuffle.

Your iPod will be charging as it is plugged in to your computer, if you charge your iPod fully then it should give you about twelve hours of listening time which I think is excellent.

Overall I was very impressed with how easy it was to get my iPod shuffle set up and going, I have absolutely no complaints at all in this area.

HOW DOES THE SHUFFLE WORK?

On the bottom of the iPod shuffle are two small switches, one of which is an on and off switch, the other on is to switch between shuffle mode and non shuffle mode. The shuffle mode is self explanatory with the tracks playing in no particular order when this is selected. Personally I always keep this switch to shuffle mode as it is one of the main features of this particular iPod and I prefer the tracks to come round in a different order all the time. Next to the on and off button is a tiny LED that lights up when you turn the shuffle on. It is used to give you an indication of the battery life, for instance if the light is green you should have plenty of battery life left and if it is amber then your battery is running down and may need charged soon. This is maybe not the best system but at least it gives you a rough idea of when you need to charge the shuffle.

On the front of the shuffle are the buttons which control the music, on a white circular control. The up and down parts of the circle are to turn the volume up and down. The left and right parts of the circle are the buttons to skip forwards and backwards through your songs that you hold on the iPod.

STORAGE ON THE IPOD SHUFFLE

The iPod shuffle 1 GB will hold roughly about 240 to 250 songs. Now I realise that this may not be enough for a lot of people but it is way more than enough for my purpose. I really just use my iPod shuffle for listening to while I am out running and admit to being a bit picky as I need the music to be quite upbeat to help motivate me while I am running. At the moment I only have about 80 songs on my iPod shuffle so storage is not a problem for me. If you like to have thousands of songs on your iPod then the shuffle is definitely not the one for you.

SOUND QUALITY

The sound quality on the iPod shuffle is excellent, the music coming through is very crisp and clear in my opinion. I would say that the music sounds much better on my iPod shuffle than it does when I am listening to it through iTunes on my computer. The volume can go very high as well, it certainly block out all the background noise when I am out running and I find that I sometimes have to turn it down a bit.

VERDICT

I totally recommend the iPod shuffle for anyone who is looking for an mp3 player to help with their training. The design is first class in my opinion, the fact that this iPod is so small and light mean that it is brilliant to use whether you are going out for a run, going to the gym or in fact for using simply in your day to day life. Although maybe a bit more expensive than some other mp3 players on the market, I believe that you do get quality for your money here and £40 is not too high a price to pay. I also really like the shuffle feature as I like the songs to come round in a different order all the time.