iPod shuffle - Talk Root - PC Hardware, Software and Web Development forums

Mickster · 02-01-2005, 12:57 AM

Has anyone tried an iPod shuffle yet? Are they any good? The main problem I could see with them is that there is no screen, or is that the whole point?

TGF · 02-01-2005, 08:54 AM

I dont know. I have an ipod mini and i love it!

imported_Spencer · 02-01-2005, 09:08 AM

I think the iPod Shuffle is just a cheaper alternative. But with a cheaper price you get less features like most things that are sold for less. One of those features that you lose from getting an iPod Mini or a regular iPod is the screen and the ability to pick your songs. Now to me I couldn't live without the screen or the ability to pick my songs on my iPod. You have to ask yourself if the lower price is worth it to you.

TGF · 02-01-2005, 11:48 AM

I suppose if you were a runner or a biker or sumthing and you didnt care what order the songs came out in. But, its not any smaller than a mini, so i would want the screen.

imported_Chris · 02-01-2005, 01:51 PM

I couldn't live without the screen either, that would drive me nuts... Not even sure if I could deal with the lower capacity, one feature I think is missing from all iPods is the ability to delete files on the go, meaning I put a song on their I hate and just flat out delete it right then.

imported_Max · 02-01-2005, 03:37 PM

I agree. I would be frustrated as hell going through each song untill I found the song I wanted to listen to. I don't think its a great value eathier.

imported_Errant · 02-01-2005, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TGF

I suppose if you were a runner or a biker or sumthing and you didnt care what order the songs came out in. But, its not any smaller than a mini, so i would want the screen.

It is smaller than a Mini, and lighter.

I think the "no screen" is now being sold as a feature. I read an article reviewing the Mini, and he related a story about when he purchased another flash MP3 player, which remained nameless, in which he found playing with the digital screen and trying to find the song he wanted about as annoying as tuning a 10 dollar digital watch to the right time. Agreed. :)

But then again, lets look at the price and its features. Is it meant for music nuts, or people with large music collections, or people who are particular about listening to *one* particular song at *one* particular time? Well no, because it doesnt have a screen, and because its very cheap. Someone who is particular about their music collection is much more likely to up their investment in their player; and will probably bank for the Mini or the full Pod. Especially if they have a large music collection, the investment they have already sunk into their music is considerable... I think I've spent at least 2.5k on mine. To me, 250 or 400 dollars for a player that holds everything at once is a boon, but a 100 dollar player that wont hold 1/10th of it is silly.

For the person who only has 100-200 songs, collected from their friends or "Best of" albums, or "Now this is Music!", or "Remember the 80's!", this might be right up their alley. They already show a disposition to not wanting to purchase an album (and thus they don't care what particular song is playing), and a disposition to not wanting to spend huge sums of money on their music collections. But, they still want to listen to their music. Then, the shuffle becomes an amazing answer for those people.

BTW, you arent like what you like ;)

imported_Spencer · 02-01-2005, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Errant

I think the "no screen" is now being sold as a feature. I read an article reviewing the Mini, and he related a story about when he purchased another flash MP3 player, which remained nameless, in which he found playing with the digital screen and trying to find the song he wanted about as annoying as tuning a 10 dollar digital watch to the right time.

I never thought of it like that. That's actually a really great point. Now that I think about it I do end up messing with my regular iPod screen a lot trying to pick the "perfect" song for that moment. Lately, though, I've been trying to create more playlists so that I don't have to do that.

Mickster · 02-02-2005, 12:57 AM

I never actuly thought of that either. Now I've just realised that the whole point of not having the screen is so it is random. I used to think it was just a scaled down version.

TGF · 02-02-2005, 10:43 PM

It doesnt even seem like a very usefull product to me, but, who knows! Some people like that stuff.

imported_Errant · 02-12-2005, 10:10 AM

One of the nice things about the Shuffle, screen aside, is that its flash-based. That means that its alot more durable than a normal HD-based mp3 player. Its great for people with "active" life styles, or for giving to a little kid, who you know is going to break the damn screen or bust the harddrive anyway...

My aunt just got one for her little daughter because she wanted to listen to her bubblegum pop on a player and her elder brothers had iPods and she didn't for christamas. (Blah blah blah). When the shuffle came out, my aunt thanked God and immediately bought the 512mb one. Peace reigns again :)

ArunK · 02-13-2005, 08:20 PM

How does she like it so far? If they only had one with a radio feature with record option like the Creative flash based players, I would get one asap. $99 for a 512mb model is a pretty good deal.

pcfreak05 · 02-14-2005, 01:41 PM

hell even if u dont want it for the songs....use it as a backup hard drive! that would be the absoulte CHEAPEST USB FLASH DRIVE that you can find (in a sense)....all i kno about the ipod shuffle is that u never have the same song twice or something..the song is always randomly played....yet...my heart yearns for an ipod....i have a minidisc player as of now :P

imported_Max · 02-15-2005, 01:07 PM

USB Flash Drives are cheap anyway. Like $30-40 for 512MB one? Maybe even a 1GB one. No need to buy it to be used as a flash drive.

TGF · 02-22-2005, 04:18 PM

Its ok, I just wouldnt ever need one.