A small affordable iPod for walking/jogging around the track. Not bad. I can see myself picking one up. :yes:

-Dave

http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/

From the webpage: "Do not eat iPod shuffle." :lmao:
I think it's totally cool! I may have to get one too! Last year I bought a small CD/mp3 Panasonic player to take with me when I walk, but found carrying the thing to be cumbersome and dorky. This looks like a good solution to that problem!

Haven't ever seen one before, but it looks to be about on par with most of the other flash drive players on the market. It does lack the track info display that some of the Creative ones have, too. Oddly enough for an Apple product, tho, it is a pretty good price on that little thing. I'd personally go for the storage space on the regular Ipod, but it is a cool little gadget.

I just bought a 20 GB about a month ago as a little christmas gift, and its great, but as with most digital media, you know you're listening to compressed audio when a high note strikes.

But who cares? I don't = )

The iPod shuffle looks like an awesome little piece of gadgetry, and I'm dying to pick one up, but the fact that my iPod's box is still in plain sight will keep me from getting one any time soon = (

That Mac Mini is also looking pretty hot too

I just bought a 20 GB about a month ago as a little christmas gift, and its great, but as with most digital media, you know you're listening to compressed audio when a high note strikes.

But who cares? I don't = )

I completely agree! I just got the iPod Mini as a b-day gift and it completely ROCKS. I use it for the car and errand running (waiting for an oil change, doctor appt, etc), so compressed audio is no biggie. No more futzing w/ CD's in the car!

I know for only $50 more I can get 10x the memory, but I am fine with 4 GB. I have more than 20 hours of music on there and it isnt even 1/2 full!

As for the Shuffle, I am sure it is going to find its niche. Although there may be other flash-based players out there, Apple's simplicity of design and iTunes will keep it at the forefront.

I intend to pick one up today. As much as I love my Creative Nomad Zen Xtra, it is a bit too bulky to carry on me at all times. Granted, it has the best specs for sound output and whatnot and holds 40 gigs, but I really just want something portable. I will also be using the shuffle as a jump-drive, rather than buying a separate one. They seem to be built very well, and sound quality is decent, considering you can put this in any size pocket and probably forget its there. I'll report back later with my thoughts if anyone is interested.

PS - I don't buy into the whole idea of being "surprised" by the next song that comes up, its not like this is a new idea or anything. I always use random on my Creative MP3 player.

"The big idea here, such as it is, is that shuffle owners want to be continually surprised at which songs pop up from their music collections. " Quoted from a review of the shuffle in PCMag.com

PPS - My disappointment of the shuffle is that it does not support WMA, but then again, I wouldn't expect Apple to support Windows' proprietary file type.

Shuffle is not the draw, it's the size and price IMO.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on it Inspiribomb. I'm planning on picking one up soon as well.

-dave

Shuffle is not the draw, it's the size and price IMO.

Precisely.

Well, I got one today, but returned it 2 hours later because I decided that I need to sell my other MP3 player first, trying to exercise a little bit of self control you know. I did have a chance to open it up and look at it a little bit though. It has a nice feel to it, but I may end up just getting the 512 mb version. I think the protection plan actually may be worth it, since its only 20 bucks and I could really see accidentally damaing this thing. I'll report some more when I actually get the chance to use one.

Don't know if this is the right thread but hooked my regular ipod to my amp using the ipod headphone jack connected to rca's and it just doesn't sound right . sounds muffled and lacks detail. anybody experienced the same? tks

I use my Creative MP3 player the same way. Make sure you have whatever EQ settings are on it turned OFF. This can make a big difference.

I've had one for over two years. Got a 10 GB at first, and like it so much I got a 20.

I do not use MP3 format. I use the 320 kbps AAC format, and the sound is terrific. I've hooked it up to my main system on several occaisons and A/B'ed with the original CD. Can't really tell any difference.

As an FYI, I recently read that if you have an earlier version that has a docking station, like mine does, you will get much better results playing through your stereo system if you use the line out jack on the docking station instead of the headphone jack. I haven't tested it yet.

I'm currently on the road in California. I have 1,666 songs on mine, a cassette adaptor and a cigarette lighter adaptor, and I'm always good to go! Fabulous music even in tunnels!

Everybody needs one! :thmbsp:
Clay

My IPOD (actually a Dell) is hooked up to the aux RCA plugs. Keep the eq on the IPOD flat and the volume up then use your amp/receiver for control. I did spend the money for a sheilded cable which improved the sound. My amp when used with headphones really does enhance the quality of the IPOD. It is also convenient when you just want some backround music to use the IPOD in shuffle mode with your HiFi.

Good call, forgot about that. A lot of people don't know that when connecting devices like this. To reiterate, you should have the vol all the way up on the device and use your stereo to control the volume.

My 512MB iPod Shuffle arrived today that I ordered Monday and I'm listening to it as I type. It’s a cute little thing, build quality is excellent as expected. Came with another pair of those crappy ear buds though - junk 'em.

Won't replace my 10GB iPod, but its ideal for dumping a hundred or so songs on it and heading out for my evening walk. No real weight to it, so stick it in your pocket or hang it around your neck.

Plugged it into my iMac and it popped right up as expected. Dumped a 133 songs on it real quick and it was ready to go. You can pick or choose songs from your library or let it go and pick randomly for you. Might get some interesting mixes picking from my 20K+ song library. :D

I love new toys :thmbsp:

-dave

I gotta get one! We had a real pretty day here. It was sunny and 72 degrees. Perfect for a long walk! :)
(And believe me, I need all the exercize I can get!) :(

I bought the 1GB version today. I already have a second generation 20GB Ipod. It is a great machine and holds thousands of songs, but I decided to pick one of these up for the size difference. I also just had to have one. I guess I am brainwashed by the marketing hype.

The sound quality is much better than expected. It was also pretty cool hearing the selected tracks it chose for me. I often listen to shuffle play on my regular Ipod and my car's phatbox, but for some reason it seems cooler to have the Ipod shuffle pick the songs off my computer for me. Like I said, I am brainwashed. :lmao:

It is a blast to play with, but some say I'm easly amused :D

I've been doing the same thing uofmtiger. Point it to a playlist or the full library and see what it comes up with. Surprise me!

-dave

Alright, well, I jumped on the bandwagon too and picked up a 512 today, and I gotta say, that little doohicky rocks! Randomly filled it today and was listening to stuff I'd never heard before while walking around campus.

And as far as sound quality, seems the little Shuffle has a secret. Here's (http://home.comcast.net/~machrone/playertest/playertest.htm) the full scoop.

love my iPod. i have the 40gb crammed with lossless encoded music. i went so far as to buy an external 300GB HD and now have 200GB of lossless encoded music that i stream to my stereo. anybody that shuns this technology thinking sound quality sucks is dead wrong. with lossless it sounds great, and convenience factor is astounding. i plan to get the shuffle strictly for better portability. can the earlier poster comment further on sound quality vs. iPod and Nomad? is it a power output issue? or does it really have better specs. one disappointment i have with the iPod line is the damn equalizer, they need to remove that feature, sound quality is much better with no eq interference. also, can you run an iPod into a DAC? if so, i'd get the x series musical fidelity and the x series tube buffer for even better sound!

If I had any need for an iPod Shuffle I'd go to http://www.pdrop.com/index.html and order one of these:

That is cool! Thanks for the link!

I bought my wife the 1g back when the first came out for her birthday. She runs several times a week and she loves it. When I was shopping for it I did notice that you could pay just a little more and get a HD based one but when you are trail running there is no telling what will happen. ( I twisted my ankle running and was out of commision for about three months DARN ROOTS)

Two thumbs up by me.

i went so far as to buy an external 300GB HD and now have 200GB of lossless encoded music that i stream to my stereo.What are you using to play the music back? Are you directly hooking up to the stereo or do you have a media player that is connected to the stereo?

I have a networked dvd player (linkplayer) that will access all of my music from my computer, external hard drive, or network server, but it currently does not support lossless formats (other than wav).

Given how many choices in the mp3 market are out there you have to be an imbecil to pick this item up or completely brainwashed by apple. I own a 3G, 20GB ipod which I use to play my music collection in the car. However I needed an mp3 player for working out and the bulkier hard drive based ipod would not be a wise choice. I red many reviews and looked at and compared many products and finally came to a conclusion that the Samsund YP-MT6, 1GB flash based player was a sure winner. I looked at the Ipod shuffle and laughed. Yes it is slim, sexy, nicely designed and very portable, but so are dozens of other players in the flash based mp3 market. Let's talk about the drawbacks of the shuffle. The most obvious is the lack of LCD, can't tell what song is playing or what's happening. With YP-MT6 you have a small but highly readable 4 line display which lets you know all aspect of the player's status as opposed to cheap led's. Sorry, Samsung does use led's but to backlight the lcd! "white colour, ironic huh?" :-) Runs on one AA battery which is widely available and lasts for 42 hours, YES 42 hours as opposed to apple'ss 12 hours. Shuffle's battery can't be replaced so after roughly 500 charges or 18 months consider the device useles or spend serious $$$ for apple battery service which is ridiculous. The player itself needs to be recharged by a USB port so when you need to charge it you need a computer. No equalizer setting of any sort, samsung has 8 presets plus you can manually adjust the equalizer if desired, even has bass boost & surround feature. You can't drag and drop files to the shuffle except when using it in the media storage mode. You are literally stuck with ITunes for filling your shuffle up. Shuffle has a music protection so no pirated music on here. The power button is hard to operate as noted by some other users. Finally "YES" the samsung as also many other players out there have the famous shuffle mode, or more commonly random mode and they had it way before this pewny ipod shuffle came out. It even has repeat whole playlist mode or repeat one song mode. Did I mention that samsung also doubles as a 1GB memory stick, it has a crisp built in tuner, you can actually record from it to the memory via various user selectable bit rates, and yes it does have a mic and can record something like 4 days worth of voice speech. It's very simple to navigate and has tons of built in features. The Ipod shuffle is a mistake straight from the drawing board, whoever designed this thing must be from a third world country where bare minimum is the norm and "yes" you literally have to be a complete idiot to spend your money on this. Don't get me wrong I love my 3G Ipod just not this crap. OOOOOOOh it can play songs in random, big deal!!!

you have to be an imbecil to pick this item up or completely brainwashed by apple I already said I was brainwashed!

The most obvious is the lack of LCD I could care less. I use the shuffle when I am doing another activity. The shuffle is a product for the market that just wants to turn it on, be entertained, and forget about it. I have an iPod for the times I want to choose my music.
No equalizer setting of any sort Once again, I could care less about equalizers. I would never use them during the activities anyway. I was working in the yard this weekend with the shuffle around my neck and I did not think once that it would be nice to have an equalizer. I never even use those features on my receiver when I am at home.
You can't drag and drop files to the shuffle except when using it in the media storage mode. You are literally stuck with ITunes for filling your shuffle up. Shuffle has a music protection so no pirated music on here. The power button is hard to operate as noted by some other users I know Rhapsody can drag and drop files into the Shuffle. However, I have Itunes and it makes the process very easy. Therefore, I do not need to experiment with different methods of adding files to the player. Also, I have no idea what you mean by "pirated", but the shuffle plays mp3 files without issue.
does have a mic and can record something like 4 days worth of voice speech If I needed a recorder, I would have bought something besides a Shuffle. I don't need a recorder and I am guessing that most Shuffle users do not need one either.Runs on one AA battery which is widely available and lasts for 42 hours This is the only feature that would appeal to me. However, I am usually not away from a computer for more than 12 hours. By the time the built in battery dies, I will be ready for something new anyway. If I need to plug it in, I could easily buy a USB Power Adapter.

In short, I wanted something simple that I could just plug in and forget about when I was doing different activies. The iPod Shuffle integrates perfectly with Itunes and it is a lot of fun for those that just want to hear music without any of the additional features you mentioned. Other than the battery issue, which is also a problem for the regular Ipod, I could pass on the rest of the features...Like I said, I already have an iPod for most of them.

I admit I am still brainwashed, but I am pretty sure I am not an "imbecil"!

Mr. coolpix your tone is not warranted or appreciated. Back off!

/d

In short, I wanted something simple that I could just plug in and forget about when I was doing different activies. The iPod Shuffle integrates perfectly with Itunes and it is a lot of fun for those that just want to hear music without any of the additional features you mentioned. Other than the battery issue, which is also a problem for the regular Ipod, I could pass on the rest of the features...Like I said, I already have an iPod for most of them.


Well, what can I say perhaps you are easily satisfied with things you get. I on the other hand work hard for my money and want to get the most for it and out of the things I spend it on. This is why internet has become a valuable resource when it comes to information about various products, their comparision, features how they rate and what people who actually own them have to say. But when I see stupidity I just can't help but to shake my head! "Sorry this may offend Dave918 who started this thread" You say you don't need the features other players offer. Its like going to a dealership and you have two cars offered to you at roughly the same price, a basic Hyundai and your top of the line Mercedes. Guess what you just picked the Hyundai. Sure it's basic and it gets you from point A to B, but what's the fun??? Sure the Mercedes has air conditioning and you may not want to use it in winter time, neither would I, but it's nice to know that it's there and if it gets real hot in the summer you can always turn it on. Oh well I suppose with the Hundai you could roll the windows down! I think you get the point. Why would you settle for something so cheap when there's much better out there for comparable price? Because it bears the apple logo? Yes I admit apple products are of good quality as a mac G4 and Ipod owner I know my share. I also know their products are way overpriced and hard to get parts for. You may think that the shuffle is a great deal. I'll agree with you as far as the cost per Mb goes it's not bad. But now imagine if you took my samsung which I recently bought and strip it down to the bare minimum of features like the shuffle it would probably cost less than $50! I could see the shuffle being great for someone like my grandmother or for the 60+ audience. She can't see very well so even that small lcd my samsung has would be worthless and older people in general want ease of use and minimal features since they don't know how to use them and what they are for. But fortunately when it comes to my money I have choices and there are plenty out there not just this cheap piece of hardware apple came up with. Probably doesn't cost $5 to make it in china for that matter neither do many other out there, but at leas they give you bang for your buck. As for brainwashing two companies I can't stand when it comes to electronics and that's bose and apple. Both have cheap products made somewhere like china or indonesia for peanuts and charge an arm & a leg for the same or better quality others provide. I learned my lesson when I bought my 3G Ipod. I love it for what it is an irreplacable piece of entertainment in my life. It was short lived though, after about a year and a half of caring and nurturing it like a baby the battery would no longer charge so I was on my mission to get it replaced only to find out that the battery service from apple would cost me $200, or rendering the device a paper weight. This really got me pissed, so I went to the store where I bought the darn thing and bought exactly the same one, opened it up took the new battery out closed it and returned it for a refund complaining that it did not work!!! Who's laughing now apple? Now if everyone had the balls to do this perhaps they would get the message. I just simply protected my investment. You would think that by now they would get the point and provide their devices with replacable batteries. Ipod shuffle is no different, new product but same old bullshit politics and brainwashing, letting you believe that less is better is simply a big joke. "see if you can apply that to your sex life" :lmao:

That's enough - thread closed thanks to coolpix and his inability to interact without insults.

/d