It's cute, its white, its easy to use!

I wanted a small, compact MP3 player - we already have a 20GB iPod - to replace the Compact Flash based player I previously used. During a trip to the Apple Store in London I had the opportunity to have a play with one in the flesh. It seemed to meet my requirements, and the winning factor for me was that I could also use it as USB pen drive (which I'd been meaning to buy for a long time).

The interface is very simple - press the play/pause button three times in quick succession to get to the beginning of the playlist, press the play/pause button for about 5 seconds and it will go into hold mode (i.e. you can't accidentally knock the buttons), press the forward or backward buttons and it will move to the next or previous tracks, and press and hold the forward or backward buttons and it will skip through the current track. You can play music either shuffled or in order (as defined in iTunes). Putting music onto the shuffle is simple - you can either get iTunes to autofill it for you, or you can drag tracks onto the shuffle yourself. I always choose the latter. You can specify the order of the tracks by simply moving them up and down on the shuffle.

6 months on and I can say that I have no regrets with my choice. It accompanies me on trips, usually holding both podcasts and music and can keep me going for about 8 hours before I have to listen to the same track twice.

I have a couple of accessories - the sports case and the USB power adaptor, and currently don't feel the need to invest in any more.

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Shuffle

Purchase from: Amazon

Related Links:

• Apple
  Apple's iPod Shuffle page
  
• Apple
  Apple's iPod and iTunes page
  
• Apple
  Apple's iPod Shuffle Accessories page
  
• shufflehacks
  Unofficial site detailing hacks for iPod Shuffle