PDA

View Full Version : iPod Shuffle



Slaughter
02-24-2005, 14:59
I've been looking at the new ipod shuffle as a possible replacement for the regular ol' mp3 players (I've known many to die quickly on the trail...). For trail use you'd have to get an extra battery pack and probably the "sporty" weather cover, but the shuffle itself is less than an ounce on its own, so it seems like it would be a nice thing to carry, assuming it worked. Anyone out there have any experience using one outdoors and know if this would be a bad idea, or if the battery pack can be used exclusively as a means of powering the thing? (I know it's relatively new, so maybe I'm a little early in asking....). If any of you class of '05 kids use one, let me know how it goes! :sun

Footslogger
02-24-2005, 15:17
My daughter has one and at Xmas we were outside in 30'ish degree temps. She tried to turn it on an the battery appeared to be dead. Later on inside the house she again tried to turn it on and it registered a full battery. Not sure if that is typical behavior or if you would ever be hiking in those temps but it's something to consider.

'Slogger
AT 2003

Kevin A. Boyce
02-24-2005, 15:45
I just picked one of these up a few weeks back, the 512mb version.

I love it!

It is real small, as was mentioned, and weighs extremely little. I have not field tested it in the cold yet, but I have been using it at the gym almost everyday since I got it, and have yet to have any problems. It has the little disk to navigate your music, there is no LCD panel to view. The functions of the buttons are extremely easy to learn, I have no trouble using it without looking at the buttons.

The biggest downside is that the accessories are not out yet, but should be available the next few weeks. I personally am awaiting the external battery supply that is not much bigger then the AAA batteries that power it. I am also waiting for the arm band, as the layard it comes with is a bit annoying to me hanging from around my neck. As for the cases, well, on eBay, there are all sorts of them available already. How good they are, I do not know. I have ordered some of the silicon ones, 2 for under $20 including shipping. I am not sure if Apple plans a silicon one for the Shuffle, but normal iPod silicon cases at the store were more then $20 for a single one... Yes I know the Shuffle is much smaller then the normal and mini size. One funny case someone had for sale on eBay was a crushed Coke can, it was a joke, but hey I bet there is someone thinking about making one at home!

I personally chose to get the 512mb version as I am not one that wants 1000's of songs available to me because I would probably spend more time trying to decide what to listen to, then actually listening! The 512mb version holds over 120 songs, more then enough for me.

I hope the internal battery has a decent life, that is one of my concerns. My other is more of a security one. With this thing dangling around your neck, it would not be hard to have someone yank it off, leaving you with the lanyard and a set of earphones hanging off you. This is one reason I want the arm band, it is a little more secured to your person.

Overall, like I said, I love it. It is my first mpeg3 palyer, and I have been very satisfied with it.

Catch you on the trail
Kevin

Alligator
02-24-2005, 21:01
The lack of screen strikes me as poor design. I have a Sandisk silver (1GB) and we bought the 512MB for my wife. If you like listening to whole albums, go with a 1GB model ~16 hours on mp3 format. I got it for Christmas and I have not had it out hiking, just to the gym. These models have FM radios and weighs about 1 oz. I had to buy a new armband because I seem to have lost the original while traveling. On the plus side, the new neoprene one I bought is better. I plan on taking it hiking soon, for camp listening. If you were to listen while hiking, I think you would want a 1GB model also.

Two sites with very good electronic goods prices are
www.buy.com (http://www.buy.com)
www.tigerdirect.com (http://www.tigerdirect.com)

orangebug
02-24-2005, 21:06
I have the 20G iPod, and love the opportunity to listen to books, albums, make play lists and all of the rest. I suspect that only 100 songs would get pretty boring and repetitive fairly quickly.

The biggest downsize is the lack of ability to change batteries or easily recharge. It is better for brief weekend hikes and working out.

Alligator
02-24-2005, 22:22
Some other negatives for an Ipod are it costs ~2-3 times as much, the hard drive is subject to jarring, and it weighs 4.5 oz more than the smallest mp3 players.

If I really wanted to, with my Sandisk (1GB), I can get 32 hours of music recorded with the windows WMA(?) format (I just prefer the more universal mp3). That's 480 4 minute songs:sun . 32 hours of music is 6+ hours per day for 5 days. While I am not sure I actually get the full 15 hours per single AAA battery, I could just pop in a new battery as needed and change out tunes in the next town by prerecording CDs and mailing. Or listen to the radio once in a while. That's why I recommend this player.

There are other light weight players out there though. I also liked the Creative Labs' models, they may have even played audio books too. I remember when the Ipod shuffle was introduced, with great fanfare, and I felt that it was lacking in features as compared to other similar flash memory models.

Daddy Longlegs
02-25-2005, 09:45
I have the 40gb and love it! I also bought an external battery supply that takes 4 AAA batteries (a little heavy but worth it) since the internal battery only last about 12 hours. After that you would be screwed without backup power and be carring dead weight. I used it last fall when I backpacked for 8 days on the AT and it worked great! I mainly only used it at night when I was about ready to go to bed. At home I used it every day connecting it to my home stereo or through my car radio and cutting the grass.

From what I have read a lot of electronics act "dead" at colder temps until they warm up. Also above 10000 feet the ipod can also die and may not be able to recover.

Footslogger
02-25-2005, 09:56
A little off the beaten path of this thread ...but doesn't the iPod Shuffle sound like a dance ??

'Slogger

Needles
02-25-2005, 15:11
The lack of screen strikes me as poor design.

I have a 512mb iPod Shuffle and at first I thought I would miss the screen as I also have a 15 GB iPod. Truthfully I don't miss the screen at all. With the larger iPod the screen is important, there is just too much music to wade through without one, with the Shuffle though I don't find that to be a problem. Of course I use the 2 players differently. The big iPod supplies all of my music when I am in my car, or at home, or at a friend's house. The Shuffle is for when I go out for a walk or am working in the yard. It provides me with about 6 hours worth of music whihc is randomly selected from a group of songs I put together specificly for the Shuffle. The big iPod has everything on it and so there is a much greater chance of coming across a song I just don't want to listen to at that moment.
The biggest things the Shuffle has going for it, along with the rest of the iPods, though isn't it's size, price, battery life, or what ever, it is the user interface on the player itself, and the fact that it connects to iTunes on your computer. I have used several different pieces of music software and none of them compare to iTunes as far as useability or simplicity. Plus the iTunes music store, if you choose to use it, is also the best thing going in the music downloads business. So for the overall package I don't think any other music player comes close to the iPod.

Pappa Green Jeans
02-25-2005, 19:13
I am an iPod technical support agent. And you are right about the ipods being the best. The shuffle is about the size of a pack of gum, uses flash memory, and is compatable with any computer(with win2000 service pack 4 or later, and windows xp service pack 2 or later). Good choice just make sure your careful with it.