a story of tough love
Written: Apr 11 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: size: compact and low profile
shock resistant: doesn't skip
easy transfer: via iTunes
Cons: water shorts the device
bugs and I/O errors
limited storage and functionality of hardware
The Bottom Line: Basic compact mp3 player, used with shuffle sport case, this is the perfect player for runners
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| daperlman's Full Review: Nokia N73 Smartphone |
Prologue: Let me first confess that I am very hard on my mp3 players. I use them almost exclusively for running and I run hard and at high rates of speed. Since the advent of the portable mp3 player, I feel as if my life's work has become looking for an acceptable model for my workout. I have tested every brand / model of player you could ever imagine:
Here are some of the highlights:
-Original iPod (I fell in love with the functionality and storage capacity...but alas this lasted 1/2 half of a 3 mile run and then stopped and never turned on again)
-Phillips 256mb drive based player (never broke... but often stopped and didn't start again until a hard reset... and loading music on this thing sucked)
-Phillips Rush 128 MB internal (256MB rem stor)(this one was/ is a faithful little soldier... never skipping... working under any conditions. But loading music on this thing sucked and lugging the SD memory cards around was problematic)
-G3 iPod (20GB w/ click wheel)(While this held my entire collection of music and then some... like it's earlier release it couldn't hold up to strenuous activity)After all this mp3 malarkey, I was ready to just give up.
After all after using iTunes to organize and transfer music, I couldn't go back. Yet it appeared none of Apple's devices could survive more than a few days in my hands. Then along came the shuffle.
What it does
The iPod shuffle has two modes play and shuffle. Play allows a user to play the songs in the order in which the songs are organized in iTunes. Shuffle... well...shuffles your songs
About iTunes
iTunes allows you to buy or import m4p, mpg, and wav music files. iTunes biggest virtue, in my opinion, is the ability to organize music by any attribute (artist, genre, title, etc...) and reference the songs by any attribute in playlists. For example a smart playlist can include any hip hop and any heavy metal. The preferences are stored and the list constantly updates no without user having to do anything. I find this interface much easier to use than most (such as Windows Media playlists). Plus iTunes will quickly and easily convert your music on CD to digital (including all title/artist/genre) info. Suffice it to say I have grown comfortable using iTunes to organize my music and search and buy new songs. With iTunes and an iPod shuffle users can autofill the device with random music from their library, a playlist or (my preference) simply order songs in one window and drag selection of songs to the shuffle window. Once you have updated the songs you can yank the iPod out of your USB 2.0 slot and you are ready to go. Once charged the shuffle lasts 12 hours of playing. The functionality is pretty simple and limited. The face of the shuffle has forward (ff or skip) and back, volume up and down, a play/ pause button and a 3 position switch (off, play and shuffle). In addition to the aforementioned functions, holding play for 3 seconds locks the buttons.
What it does not do
Compared to the full size (HDD based)iPod, you are only getting 1/20th of the storage capacity. Using a flash based player (like the shuffle) you are losing a ton of space, but getting a much more durable and compact player. The shuffle stores your music but not much else. Whereas the full sized iPod has playlist functionality built in and the ability to store photos, the shuffle does not. The glaring difference with the shuffle and many other mp3 players is the lack of a screen. Although this may be hard to accept at first, I have grown used to this and count it as a blessing given that I constantly break anything with a screen. The shuffle comes with crummy headphones and a usb cap (piece of plastic goes over the usb connector) and a lanyard (necklace with usb cap to wear shuffle around the neck).
Shuffle, trial by fire
When I got my shuffle I was ready to try it out on a long run. The first software release (iPod updater V1.0) had some bugs in it and forced me to reformat and re-update the hardware several times. Once I finally got it working (i.e. I could load songs from iTunes onto it), I was quite pleased with the transfer speed and ease of the process. 1 GB is about 12-18 hours of music depending on the format and quality of the songs. Loaded up, I took the shuffle and snapped it in to my lanyard and I was a runnin with the music blasting in my ears. As of yet there is no really pleasant way to hold the shuffle. The necklace dangles and flops around, and the armband is too small for my arms. The only way I was comfortable was tucking the necklace down my shirt (big mistake which I will get into later). The sound is pretty impressive and I much prefer the hard buttons to the click wheel.
Trouble in paradise
(the sad tale of Rocky the iPod shuffle)
So I had worked out with the iPod several times and I can tell you it NEVER skips. You can drop it and step on it without missing a beat. Then I took my shuffle to Las Vegas, where I ran for a few minutes in a musty gym with the shuffle tucked down my sweaty shirt... and then disaster struck. The shuffle stopped...and wouldn't restart!? I had that awful feeling, I'd had so many times before...the shuffle had failed me. Given the none of the lights on the device would so much as turn on, I had shorted the device out.(and now a moment of silence for iPod#1... so long Rocky, I know you are in a better place now). Since I was so hooked on the shuffle, I scrambled for a replacement and found myself in line at the 'genius bar' at the Apple store where I almost strangled the genius (for making me wait 1 hour to tell me what I already knew... Rocky was dead and then he told me they didn't have a replacement!) Had I not spent an hour sobering up from the pool at my hotel, it very well may have gotten ugly.
I ended up leaving the LV fashion show with an Apple case #, a chocolate bar, a sweater and a 512 MB shuffle I'd paid for (we will call this one Pablo).
Replacement 1 GB
(The sad story of Hank the iPod shuffle)
Apple support is great, they replaced Rocky in one day with a refurbished iPod (which I named Hank). Hank was ready to go and made me forget all about Rocky, plus I'd had Pablo to tide me over (to use in the gym for the rest of my trip). Then one night Hank went off the deep end. I began noticing Hank was pull a disappearing act on my computer. More specifically when plugged in to USB the device would turn on and off (disappearing from device manager and iTunes). After another round of troubleshooting with Apple, we'd determined that Hank was born with a defective USB connector. And Hank was playing rap music at the great gig in the sky, but Apple again overnighted me a replacement free of charge. When I got the 3rd 1GB shuffle (we will call him Bruno), I couldn't get it to write music. But a wonderful Apple technician went through some troubleshooting with me and we determined that Bruno was suffering from a lack of identity (specifically I had to remap it to a new drive letter).
Verdict:
Given my traumatic experience with these things, you might suspect that I'd be soured on the iPod shuffle. Quite the contrary, IMHO the shuffle is the quintessential mp3 player for running. Let's not forget that Pablo has been with me from almost the beginning problem free. And of course you get a 90 day warrantee and excellent support.
Tips for using your shuffle
-Don't chance getting the shuffle wet, it will short out. Buy the sport case, it is water tight.
-Don't use the stock headphones, they suck. When I get real sweaty, I can barely hear them.
-When lifting weights, lock your shuffle to avoid jamming buttons inadvertently
-Charge multiple shuffles in the same computer, if you have more than 1 usb port you can charge multiple shuffles at the same time. Depending on your drive mapping managing more than 1 at a time can get hairy.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
daperlman
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Reviews written: 51
Trusted by: 7 members
About Me:
Mission: Find recipe for Nabisco Space Foodsticks. Foil conspiracy responsible for disappearance of Foodsticks.
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