Apple iPod shuffle 4 GB

...I saw it on the apple store website and it looked alright. 4GB of storage, very small and light, perfect for me. I bought it and a few days later it arrived in the post.

Size

When it said on the internet that it was the smallest MP3 player in the world, I realised it would be small. What I didn’t realise was how small it would be. On the site there was a picture of a hand holding the iPod between its fingers, being cynical, ...
...£19 for replacements.
Apple also sells in-ear versions of these headphones but they cost around £50 and I wouldn’t pay that much unless they were from a trusted company that specifically deals with headphones and speakers.
I find the headphones are good and I like the ability to change song without having to get the IPod out of my pocket, but the lack of headphone options is annoying.

Voice over

Not only ... more

Intro…..

For a few years now I have used my mobile phone as both a music player and a phone, but recently my trusty phone has lost most of its battery life and listening to music severely depletes the battery. So, taking this into account I decided to buy a new MP3 player. I was looking around at cheap music players when I stumbled across the new iPod shuffle. I saw it on the apple store website and it looked alright. 4GB of storage, very small and light, perfect for me. I bought it and a few days later it arrived in the post.

Size

When it said on the internet that it was the smallest MP3 player in the world, I realised it would be small. What I didn’t realise was how small it would be. On the site there was a picture of a hand holding the iPod between its fingers, being cynical, I thought that it would be an image of a man (or woman) that has extremely large hands and I was wrong. It measures around 1.5cm in length by 1.6cm wide and around 0.4cm thick. Its so small that most people I know say that they would loose it, and I think the only way that I can avoid loosing it is to keep it attached to the headphones all the time. The good thing about its size is that my pockets aren’t bulging with gadgets. It fits nicely in my pocket, with my phone, or clipped to my waist band.

Functions

When I got the shuffle I didn’t really read much about it. I thought that it would just hold all my songs and play them randomly. I was wrong. It does, as the name suggests, shuffle through the songs stored on it, but there is also the option to select a playlist. Playlists are made on iTunes and then put onto the shuffle. Once a playlist is made you can select the playlist using the control on the headphones (more later) and then either play through the playlist, or shuffle through it by moving the switch on the top of the shuffle into the right position.
The switch has three positions. In the first position the iPod is off, in the second, the playlist will be played in order, and in the third the songs are shuffled. In the second and third positions, there is a green colour next to the switch, this lets you know easily when the iPod is on.

Battery

To charge the iPod, the usb cable must be plugged into the computer, or an additional mains cable can be bought. The battery takes around 2-3 hours to charge, and when fully charged can last for up to 10 hours. I think this is great battery life as it lasts me most of the day without fail.
I would prefer it if a mains charger was supplied with the iPod but by doing some quick research I have found them for under £5 on Amazon. So I will probably be buying one soon.

Headphones

The headphones that come with the new iPod shuffle are pretty good. They are the standard iPod headphone shape; they are white, in fact, they are mostly the same as most iPod headphones, Except for one thing, the control. On the wire for the right earphone there is a small plastic control for the iPod. As the iPod has no buttons on it, the headphones are the only way to use it. The control consists of three buttons, a volume up button, a volume down button, and a centre button. This centre button is what is needed for the main controls of the iPod. It lets you play/pause the iPod with one click, skip forward or back songs with two or three clicks and by holding it down controls the voice over function. The downside to these headphones is that the lack of controls on the actual iPod means that the headphones cant be changed for better ones, (although I heard that other companies were developing headphones for the shuffle, I don’t know if this is true) and if they break they cost around £19 for replacements.
Apple also sells in-ear versions of these headphones but they cost around £50 and I wouldn’t pay that much unless they were from a trusted company that specifically deals with headphones and speakers.
I find the headphones are good and I like the ability to change song without having to get the IPod out of my pocket, but the lack of headphone options is annoying.

Voice over

Not only is this the smallest MP3 player, but it is also the worlds first MP3 with voice over. What this means is, as the shuffle has no display, holding down the centre button lets you hear what song is playing by listening to a robot like voice. The voice also reads out what playlists are on the iPod so you can select the one you want, and tells you how much battery is left when you flick the shuffle off and on again quickly.
The idea of the voice over is great; as it lets you clearly hear the song name and artist. The music is dimmed when the voiceover is on so that you can hear it properly. The problem with the voice over is that since it is not pre-recorded, the voice is very robotic. I know it would be practically impossible to record a voice saying every song name in the world, but a more realistic voice would be nice. Also sometimes the pronunciation of some band names can be off a bit, but I always know what is meant to be said.

ITunes

ITunes is the Apple software that must be used in order to put music onto an iPod. It can be downloaded for free off of the apple website and once installed can be used to easily access the iTunes store and manage all your music files. To put music onto iTunes from your computer all you have to do is drag and drop the files onto the iTunes music page.
Also, when the iPod is plugged in, you can search for software updates. This means that when Apple launch new software for you iPod, you can install it straight away. New software can include things like, improved playback or different functions using the control.
I like iTunes as it is easy to use and lets me easily sort through my music and decide which tracks I want on my iPod.

Problems/ bad points

I have only encountered one problem with the shuffle, the lack of headphone choice. This doesn’t really bother me but I know some people are put off from buying it for this reason.
Whilst browsing the internet, I discovered a problem that many people have had to do with the controls. Apparently, when exercising if sweat gets into the control, then it can stop working, or force the volume right up. Apple released software that means the volume can only be increase one notch per click, so your ears won’t get blasted out. However, it doesn’t fix the headphones and the control will still be broken.
Hopefully this doesn’t happen to me.

Price

The shuffle is currently available from Apple at the price of £59. I think this is great value as the previous iPod shuffle was only available in 1 or 2GB models and this one is 4GB for a little less than £20 more. The price was the main factor in my decision to buy it and I still think its great.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I think this iPod is perfect for anyone that wants a small cheap MP3 player without any complex extras. It is small, lightweight and can hold around 1000 of you favourite tracks, what more could you want!
The only real problem is the lack of headphone choice, but I think I can live with that. I love my new iPod and I hope it never dies on me!
 

...less