freefall
11-04-2006, 21:38
Hey all. Thought there might be some people out there wondering about the new iPod shuffle that just came out because of its size/weight. Thought I'd share with everyone my experience with device so far.
Pros:
1- It is very small and hence very lightweight. At only 1.62 inches and at half an ounce (just the iPod, your eadphones will add a little more), it will hardly be noticed tucked away in your backpack or clipped to a shoulder strap.
2- 1GB harddrive. It holds about 240 songs (I only got 237) on the hard drive. At 3.5 minutes per song, this adds up to about 14 hours of music. Plenty to keep you going at the end of the day trying to make that campsite.
3- Compatabililty. So far it has worked with every MP3 I've tried to put on it. Some players don't recognize "questionable" files that may have been obtained "illegally". I just tried to upload some very old mp3s that I downloaded before all the controversey and they worked fine.
4- ease of use. Using iTunes, all you have to do is drag and drop and your song is on your iPod. I have an Apple iBook G4 and it took exactly 1.3 seconds to transfer each song to my Shuffle.
5- Durability. The alluminum shell makes this far superior to the previous plastic model. Rumbling around in my day pack that I carry with me everywhere it has held up fine.
6- Price. At $79 this is hardly the most expensive mp3 player out there.
7- Sound Quality. IS AWSOME! the Clarity is only affected by the file itself. Download a bad file= bad sound. This is a typical mp3 player issue and can be fixed by running the song file through a program that "fixes" your songs.
Cons:
1- Size. Yes this was a pro as well but it would be easy to lose something of this size on the trail. As long as you keep track of it, not a problem.\
2- Downloading music. This might be a BIG problem. I was excited that right after I got home I would have songs on my iPod. Not so. You must have iTunes 7.0.2 to transfer songs to this device. Not a big problem at home, you just download the update but on the trail, you probably won't encounter many libraries or hostles with the not the right software. So, to change your songs, you'd have to either find a computer in town that has the right software or send the Shuffle home and have it sent back which would mean some downtime on the iPod.
3- Battery life. They claim 12 hours of playback but I have only 11 hours and 50 minutes. This is not a bad figure considering the size of the thing but for a week out on the trail, it's a little sparse. For a week on the trail, you could only use it about 1.8 hours a day. You can recharge on any computer that has a USB port but can only download on ones that have the right software.
4- Setup. Out of the box, I had to download iTunes 7.0.2 to work with the new Shuffle. Then on top of that, I had to download a patch for the Shffle itself. This is only a minor inconvience on broadband but at the moment I only have dialup so it took forever. This co-incides with the compatability problem above- not every public computer is going to have the right softaware or allow you to download the software.
5- Sound quality/level. While the sound level might be perfect for the woods, next to a busy highway it might might be difficult ot hear. This is part of the sizing issue. You have to sacrafice some volume level to have a device this small. There is no aprecaible difference in quality beteween my computer and my iPod shuffle.
OVERALL
I would carry this device in areas that had frequent town visits. That way I could recharge or upload new music. For rural areas it might not be a good decision unless you can deal with the songs already on it and manage use to not kill the battery. You can recharge it with any computer that has an USB port on it. It may take a litle while but not too long. mine re-charged in less than an hour.
Good luck to all that are out there or will soon be out there. I hope this helps you in your journey.
Pros:
1- It is very small and hence very lightweight. At only 1.62 inches and at half an ounce (just the iPod, your eadphones will add a little more), it will hardly be noticed tucked away in your backpack or clipped to a shoulder strap.
2- 1GB harddrive. It holds about 240 songs (I only got 237) on the hard drive. At 3.5 minutes per song, this adds up to about 14 hours of music. Plenty to keep you going at the end of the day trying to make that campsite.
3- Compatabililty. So far it has worked with every MP3 I've tried to put on it. Some players don't recognize "questionable" files that may have been obtained "illegally". I just tried to upload some very old mp3s that I downloaded before all the controversey and they worked fine.
4- ease of use. Using iTunes, all you have to do is drag and drop and your song is on your iPod. I have an Apple iBook G4 and it took exactly 1.3 seconds to transfer each song to my Shuffle.
5- Durability. The alluminum shell makes this far superior to the previous plastic model. Rumbling around in my day pack that I carry with me everywhere it has held up fine.
6- Price. At $79 this is hardly the most expensive mp3 player out there.
7- Sound Quality. IS AWSOME! the Clarity is only affected by the file itself. Download a bad file= bad sound. This is a typical mp3 player issue and can be fixed by running the song file through a program that "fixes" your songs.
Cons:
1- Size. Yes this was a pro as well but it would be easy to lose something of this size on the trail. As long as you keep track of it, not a problem.\
2- Downloading music. This might be a BIG problem. I was excited that right after I got home I would have songs on my iPod. Not so. You must have iTunes 7.0.2 to transfer songs to this device. Not a big problem at home, you just download the update but on the trail, you probably won't encounter many libraries or hostles with the not the right software. So, to change your songs, you'd have to either find a computer in town that has the right software or send the Shuffle home and have it sent back which would mean some downtime on the iPod.
3- Battery life. They claim 12 hours of playback but I have only 11 hours and 50 minutes. This is not a bad figure considering the size of the thing but for a week out on the trail, it's a little sparse. For a week on the trail, you could only use it about 1.8 hours a day. You can recharge on any computer that has a USB port but can only download on ones that have the right software.
4- Setup. Out of the box, I had to download iTunes 7.0.2 to work with the new Shuffle. Then on top of that, I had to download a patch for the Shffle itself. This is only a minor inconvience on broadband but at the moment I only have dialup so it took forever. This co-incides with the compatability problem above- not every public computer is going to have the right softaware or allow you to download the software.
5- Sound quality/level. While the sound level might be perfect for the woods, next to a busy highway it might might be difficult ot hear. This is part of the sizing issue. You have to sacrafice some volume level to have a device this small. There is no aprecaible difference in quality beteween my computer and my iPod shuffle.
OVERALL
I would carry this device in areas that had frequent town visits. That way I could recharge or upload new music. For rural areas it might not be a good decision unless you can deal with the songs already on it and manage use to not kill the battery. You can recharge it with any computer that has an USB port on it. It may take a litle while but not too long. mine re-charged in less than an hour.
Good luck to all that are out there or will soon be out there. I hope this helps you in your journey.