Review of the iPod Shuffle: The iPod Shuffle sits right in your palm...even the cheapest 512Mb model can hold about 150 songs so, at first, it would seem that the Shuffle is the cheapest and best choice for a singer who sticks to the same set lists and really only needs an mp3 player to hold a couple of 45 minute backing track sets plus a half-hour or so of background music...

However, upon closer examination, we find that the iPod Shuffle, while a great little machine, doesn't quite match up to it's bigger brothers and the corners that Apple have cut to produce this cheaper iPod make it not so good for live use by singers or entertainers onstage.

The biggest drawback of this machine is the lack of an LCD screen. That alone makes me very dubious as to whether this iPod has any real use on a professional stage at all! However, if you have a very strict set list that never changes (or rarely changes), you may just be able to find a use for this little iPod somewhere in your set up.

Mind you, that's not to say that it's a bad product by any means - it's maybe just not for the gigging singer. It has some really good points. For example, the iPod shuffle weighs next to nothing and makes a real fashion statement. There's nowhere your skip-free iPod shuffle can't go, and with up to 12 hours of continuous playback, it keeps going and going and going....

Your iPod shuffle can further benefit from optional accessories to make it splash-proof, arm-hugging, and longer-running. The iPod Shuffle is small enough to be ready for anything - from a Transatlantic flight to a weekend at the beach. It's inexpensive and it's low maintenance. They say that good things come in diminutive packages and this is true of the iPod Shuffle. The console on the Shuffle feels as intuitive and easy to navigate as those on the other, bigger iPod models. Play, pause, skip, copy, shuffle are all there at the touch of a button. The circular, ergonomic controls and one-click slider make it easy to use without even looking. The smallest iPod yet, the iPod Shuffle fits daintily in the palm of your hand and looks cool as hell around your neck. But no matter how many great things you can find to say about this iPod, I keep coming back to the question of it's suitability for onstage use...

If you're thinking of using this iPod onstage, then I would strongly suggest you only use it for playing background music (unless you want to sit the iPod beside a large sheet of A4 paper with a list of where each song is written on it)! Mind you, I can see a few singers buying the iPod Shuffle and keeping it in their pocket as a backup of their backing tracks. This could make sense - imagine the scene - you get to a gig and your midifile, minidisc player, laptop, CD player or whatever you use to play your backing tracks breaks down. Normally this would mean disaster and maybe even a cancelled gig. However, reach in to your pocket and pull out your little iPod Shuffle and you'll have more than enough material there to do the gig and more. So, this little marvel could end up being a life saver! It's worth thinking about.

So, let's suppose you've now decided that you want to buy the iPod Shuffle. Do you buy the 1GB or 512MB model? Well, for the above reasons, I'd recommend you buy the less-expensive 512MB model - it'll still hold around 150 songs which is enough to get you through a gig and play background music. Another reason which makes the 1GB model less attractive is that the iPod Nano is now on the market. Remember that the 2GB iPod nano is only another $75 more than the 1GB Shuffle so weigh it up before you buy.

While on this subject, bear in mind that the Nano has all of the functionality of the larger iPods: the same menu structure; the ability to view, sort, and organize your songs by artist, album title, or genre; the ability to play podcasts and audio books: and the display on the nano is full-color too! The shuffle, in contrast, is the most basic player, with none of these features, not even a display.

Summary
So, let's summarise - what's good and bad about the iPod Shuffle? Well, the price is great - The iPod Shuffle is cheaper than most flash-based MP3 players having the same amount of memory. The famous iPod elegance and simplicity is there - all iPods are designed so well, are easy to learn and a joy to use. Even compared to other flash-based players, the iPod Shuffle is small and very, very light. It plays AAC files - This is the real selling point for people who already own iPods and have a substantial library of music already in AAC format. You might not feel too comfortable bringing your $300 iPod Video in to a hot sweaty venue with its delicate hard drive and other moving parts, so now you can load your set(s) onto a device that weighs less than 1 ounce and has no moving parts.

While there are many such flash-based players on the market, the iPod shuffle is the only one that can play tunes from your existing collection of iPod-friendly AAC files. It has amazing sound quality for such a tiny device and you will not be able to tell any difference between the quality of audio whatsoever - a big plus!

There are a few misgivings with this iPod however. The main one which, as a singer myself, makes me scream "Don't buy it" is the lack of a LCD display to help you navigate among the songs on the player. In my opinion this will be the one feature (or lack of) which will stop many entertainers buying this iPod. Say you load 100 songs on your iPod shuffle. Once you unplug it from your computer, the only way you can navigate to a specific song is to keep forwarding to the next song until you find the one you want! Not good onstage, believe me!

Apple marketing have tried to put a positive spin on this saying that "Random is the new order" and calling the player "the iPod Shuffle" but quite simply, that just doesn't wash with me. Just about every other flash-based player on the market has a display to help you quickly navigate among the tunes on the player so in my opinion Apple have failed big style by omitting this essential feature. I know that the screens on some of the other players are tiny and can be difficult to read but, many have highly readable and useful displays like the iRiver MP3 players for example.

There's no FM radio tuner or voice recorder but I don't feel that this should be a disadvantage of the iPod Shuffle - after all, mp3 players are designed to play mp3's, not listen to the radio. However, it must be noted that many other flash-based MP3 players have these features and they're not as inexpensive as the iPod Shuffle. Also, the battery life is rated at "up to 12 hours" but this isn't as good as other manufacturers achieve (others typically achieve 15-20 hours playing time from a single battery charge). Mind you, the other mp3 players usually require you to use AA or AAA batteries which adds to the weight of the device and to be honest, the sound quality of the iPod will always be worth the extra poweer it uses to achieve it.

Despite the name, iPod Shuffle, it doesn't force you to listen to your songs in random order. Using the iTunes software on your computer, it's easy to create a playlist / set list or download specific songs you choose to your iPod shuffle and then listen to them in that order.

There are two ways to charge the iPod shuffle's battery - you can plug it into your computer's USB port, or you can use an external adapter, which is not included in the price. So if you plan on taking your iPod shuffle on the road, but won't have a computer handy, then you'll probably need to factor the cost of the adapter into your purchase decision.

Conclusion
In conclusion, you could buy another MP3 player by any other manufacturer which will give you loads of extra features, but accessing many of those features is awkward, and you may find that in the end you don't use them very much, if at all. So, if you do decide to buy another type of flash-based mp3 player, don't be surprised if a couple of weeks down the road you wish you'd bought the iPod!

Product Features
- 1 GB model holds up to 240 songs
- supports MP3, MP3 VBR, AAC, Protected AAC (from iTunes Music Store, M4A, M4B, M4P), and WAV
- up to 12 hours of battery life, with approximately 4 hour charge time
- USB 1.1 and 2.0 compatibility through integrated USB connector
- Compatible with Mac OS X v10.2.8 or later (Mac OS X 10.3.4 or later recommended for use with low-power USB ports) and Windows 2000 with SP 4 or Windows XP Home or Professional with SP 2
- Earbud headphones, lanyard, and USB cap included