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If you want to lug around your entire library, then yes, a shuffle is too small. If you can stand to only have a mere 16 hours of continuous 128kbps AAC available before you have to go to your computer and swap songs around, then a 1GB shuffle is perfectly adequate. And it's little. And cute.

Compared to the full-sized video ipods, the shuffle and nano have the added benefit of having no moving parts.

I have a 4GB iPod mini. Plenty of room for me. A 4 or 8 GB nano would probably be a fine fit for you. Or a Shuffle, if you're good at picking out in advance what you want to listen to for the next day.

maxintosh wrote:

get a full sized iPod or the larger nano. put the Music in your iTunes library. The iPod Shuffle is useless if you have a lot of music and want to be able to browse, but useful for people who just want to have a handful of songs to take with them to, say, the gym.

Yup, the nano is great.

Although the shuffle is far from useless. My dad has one and he loves it. He doesn't care about choosing specific songs. He just skips one if he doesn't feel like listening to it.
He also only has about 60 songs, so he has plenty of room.
The shuffle is unmatched when it comes to portability.

I agree with what w p h said about the nano and shuffle.  I would also recommend looking at how much more music you are going to accrue in the future.  My old 40Gb is great, although probably going to die soon.  Has lots of room for my 12+Gb collection, which should jump to 20 as soon as I get my CDs sent from home.

No moving parts are nice though...

ahem...


IT'S A FREAKIN' iPOD. NOT IPOD.

ahem...

that said, have fun with whatever you get.

We're seriously considering getting the new shuffles.  That thing is awesome - built in clip, as big as a button, aluminum casing ...  I think it will sell extremely well.  But why would I want it?  It couldn't be a better work out music player. (At least for me).  If I work out for an hour, the shuffle holds more than enough songs for me, and it's so small and easy to operate when exercising.

Apple is making an iPod for everyone!

Last edited by Macintosha Fanatica (2006-10-11 11:01 am)

crazyfrengy wrote:

the shuffle can be a pain in the *** too though and it only holds a measly gigabyte. Shuffle is another one of those unneeded ideas from Apple. Just Like nintendo with Virtual Boy

I don't think it's an "unneeded idea" from Apple at all. As a runner, I can say that a Shuffle would be absolutely perfect. Don't need many songs. Don't need an LCD since you can't really look at it while you're running (saves battery life!). Extremely light weight and small (terribly important for running, especially sprinting).

Shuffle has a limited audience, but an audience that loves it.

Every time I read someone praising the shuffle because it's great to work out with, I feel a teensy weensy bit more lazy and actually gain a few lbs. YOU PEOPLE ARE MAKING ME FAT!

Kindly refrain.

tF

p.s. I bought my shuffle cos it was cheap. Somehow some moisture got into the end cap without my noticing and it rusted big time. My USB plug is now stained and the inside of the cap looks a mess. I since got a Mini, which I much prefer (and seems less prone to random oxidation). Unless you are gonna be working out with it, I'd second getting one with a screen - possibly a refurb Nano, as previously recommended.

crazyfrengy wrote:

the shuffle can be a pain in the *** too though and it only holds a measly gigabyte. Shuffle is another one of those unneeded ideas from Apple. Just Like nintendo with Virtual Boy

Ah, the classic "I don't like it therefore it shouldn't exist" argument. Always a pleasure to encounter.

,xtG
.tsooJ

I use a 1gb stick Shuffle, and I like it a hell of a lot more than my video iPod, mainly because the battery life is mammoth.

I personally cannot stand the iPod interface, because it demands attention.  While this is good advertising, pulling an iPod out to stare at is not always wise for some of us.  And I don't even want to get into the dangers of scrolling while driving.  The shuffle doesn't have any of these issues - I just poke it and it plays music.  Thats the kind of functionality I'd expect from Apple on the whole.

Shuffles are notoriously skittish, though.  While durable against impacts and superficial damage cleans up easy, water kills them and usb-port errors can blow the firmware and make it unusable as an mp3 player (had to have Geniuses repair it twice).

The shuffle is far from worthless.  My wife has a shuffle, and while it can't hold a huge library, it still holds a lot of music.  Impact resistance, no moving parts, and huge battery life make it an absolute joy to use.  While it's true that you can't dig through your library visually with the Shuffle, you can fine tune it with precision in iTunes.  This is the perfect MP3 player for running, working out, motorcycle riding, etc...  I would never strap my iPod video on my dirt bike, but I wouldn't hesitate to do so with the shuffle.

Kendall wrote:

333imacman wrote:

ahem...


IT'S A FREAKIN' iPOD. NOT IPOD.

ahem...

that said, have fun with whatever you get.

ahem...


iPod, not iPOD


ahem....


hehe   

But I was yelling. When you yell iPod, it's spelled iPOD. Gosh.

Ok fine, you're right.

I have an original shuffle and a mini.  I'll probably get one of the new shuffles for working out.