Call me slow or passe, but up until a month ago I considered MP3s and downloading music a fad that would go the way of 8-tracks and mini-cassettes. That's when my husband begged me to buy him an iPod Shuffle. Apparently, his friend at work had one and convinced him that it was the best thing since sliced bread. It's small (Apple's iPod Web site states that its smaller than a pack of gum), lightweight (the site states it weighs less than a car key), fits directly into a USB port for music transfer and to charge the batteries, and can hold a ton of music. Since my husband was about to go on travel for work, I agreed I'd buy the iPod Shuffle, transfer his favorite songs, and get it all ready for his trip.

Being the procrastinator I am, I waited for the day before he left. So I went to Target and picked up the 512 MB model of the Shuffle. When I brought it home and unpacked it, I was happy to discover the minimal amount of gadgets and papers. In fact, the enclosed wallet-sized card illustrated all of the functional things I needed to know in order to operate the iPod Shuffle. The enclosed CD was labeled with a sticker that said to install it before plugging in the Shuffle so I knew just where to begin. The installation process was simple. iTunes, Apple's music-organization software, was saved onto my computer as well as the newest version of QuickTime.

iTunes prompted me to connect the Shuffle to my PC, so I uncapped its end and plugged it directly into an empty USB port. The software checked to see if it needed to be formatted and with a couple more clicks of my mouse I was ready to store my music.

So I went to my alphabetized (I used to work with librarians) shelf of CDs and pulled out all of the ones my husband likes. I juggled about 20 CDs to my desk, placed the first CD into my player, and sat down. Although I read in the manual that iTunes would automatically open, it didn't (I now know that I didn't set it up to automatically open) so I clicked the icon on my desktop.

Once it opened, it found my CD and displayed all of the songs in the open window. There were checks next to each song, and I simply unchecked the songs I didn't want to transfer. Then I clicked "Import" and waited. It only took a couple of minutes to upload 6 or 7 of my songs, and in the meantime, iTunes played the first of those tracks in the background. The whole process was painless and I was able to store around 150 songs (it only claims to hold 120 songs, but I guess my tracks are short) into the "Library" folder of iTunes in about an hour. The most time-consuming element was choosing the songs.

The next step was to actually transfer the "Library" songs onto the Shuffle. I simply highlighted the songs I wanted to transfer (in this case, all of them) by clicking on the first song, holding down the Shift key on my keyboard, clicking on the last song, and dragging and dropping the highlighted selection to the Shuffle icon in the Source list. And that was it. Done.

The Shuffle comes with a pair of earbuds, two sets of earbud covers (I guess they know those things never stay on), and a spare cap for the USB end of the Shuffle that has a rope (a lanyard) around it to be worn around a person's neck for easy mobility. The Shuffle itself is indeed smaller and lighter than a pack of gum and has very simple controls. A directional keypad on one side allows you to raise (press up) or lower (press down) the volume, or fast forward to the next song (press right) or rewind to a previous selection (press left). The center button is play. On the back, there's simply a sliding bar that you move in order to turn the Shuffle off, on shuffle mode, or on regular play mode. The playback time lasts anywhere between 10-12 hours. I'm sure we'll need to replace the batteries at some point, but so far they're holding their charge well.

Before purchasing the 512MB model I debated whether to spend the extra $50 for the 1GB model (double the storage capacity). I was feeling frugal at the time so I didn't splurge on it. Now looking back, I'm glad I made that decision. The 120 songs that the 512MB holds are plenty for my husband's travel needs and I'm able to store more than that limited amount on my computer through iTunes. I can listen to the music all day while working at my PC, my husband can listen to about 10 hours of his favorite songs, and when he gets bored of those I can always click and drag some of the other selections I already have saved on iTunes.

There's also an iTunes music store where you can download individual songs for $.99 each (or for free if you've saved any of the promotional Pepsi caps). They seem to have a wide selection, although I was disappointed to find that they didn't carry the classic Led Zeppelin song, Stairway to Heaven, or the Radiohead favorite, Creep.

BOTTOM LINE: The 512 MB iPod Shuffle is affordable, easy to use, stores a good amount of music (about 120 songs), and is very portable. The earbuds it comes with don't stay in my ears and it is more expensive than other comparable options. But the iTunes software is very user-friendly and makes this (and other iPod products) worth the extra money. iPod had recently redeveloped the Shuffle so that it clips onto clothing. The model I own does not.


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 99
Recommended for: Athletes - Lightweight and Portable, Perfect for the Gym