Apple iPod shuffle

Small and silver

iPod shuffle Manufacturer: Apple
System requirements: Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP SP2, or Mac OS X 10.3.9

Apple announced the second incarnation of its budget iPod, the iPod shuffle, at its widely-anticipated "It's Showtime" event in September. The new shuffle is notably smaller, thinner, and lighter than the original, with the addition of an aluminum case and a built-in clip. The second-generation iPod shuffle was set to ship in October, and after a lot of noise about delays, customers finally started receiving their tiny flash-based digital audio players at the beginning of November.

The 2G shuffle is now only available with 1GB of flash RAM, whereas the previou

s version came in 512MB and 1GB flavors. It's also cheaper than its first-generation predecessor at $79 vs. $99 for the 512MB and $149 for the 1GB versions, making this not only the most affordable shuffle yet, but the most affordable iPod ever.

What's in the package?

The 2G shuffle's new packaging is similar to the packaging of the iPod nano: it comes in a small, plastic case that suspends the iPod in the middle with all of the extras tucked underneath. The iPod shuffle comes with a USB 2.0 dock with cable, a little packet of instructions with two small Apple stickers, a set of headphones, and foam pads for the earbuds.

Yes, you read that right. Pads for the earbuds. You may remember that the new headphones that Steve Jobs announced at the "It's Showtime" event no longer come with pads, and we confirmed that when we did our review of the second-generation iPod nano. For some inexplicable reason, the 2G shuffle comes with the old earbuds. Some users have speculated that the old earbuds have a better bass response than the new earbuds, which is easily compensated for by the EQ settings on the iPod nano or full-size iPod, but not on the EQ-less shuffle. I prefer the new earbuds to the old, which I don't fid to be as comfortable.

Size
The 2G shuffle is pretty darn small. It's 1.07", 1.62", and 0.41" deep including the clip. For comparison, the old shuffle was 3.3 x 0.98 x 0.33, with no clip. The old shuffle weighed approximately 0.78 ounces while the new shuffle weighs 0.55 ounces. Since I don't have an original shuffle to compare to and I seem to have misplaced the dismantled casing of the 2G nano, I compared the shuffle to the 1G nano:

The shuffle is slightly larger than the iPod nano's screen.

Durability

You knew this section was coming, right? We received many an e-mail asking for such a review. One reader pleaded, "come on, you know you want to prove me right and show that the iPod Shuffle Gen 2 is the most resilient and resistant iPod ever made!" You guys asked for it...

I walked, sat, stood, and rolled for a couple of days with the shuffle, someti

mes clipped to my jeans and sometimes in my pocket. Nothing bad happened—despite some reports that the clip is flimsy and would not be able to withstand this kind of use. That

was not the ca

se for me.

I then took the shuffle out running with me. Clipped securely to my Ars hoodie, there was little danger of the shuffle falling...

...so I removed it from the hoodie and held it in-hand. After nearly six attempts to drop it with the headphones in my ears, I realized that the shuffle is too lightweight to even detach from the headphones when dropped. It just falls and dangles, never coming into contact with the cold, hard pavement. I was forced to be creative, so I simply draped the headphones over the back of my neck and dropped the shuffle. It hit concrete this time; when I checked the headphones, it was still playing. Everything functioned as expected.

What happens if you drop a shuffle in, say, a busy park where there are a lot of runners? Would a pack of joggers trample it to an early grave? Stepping on the shuffle did nothing, so I decided to run from a distance, making sure that one of my strid es landed on top of the fallen shuffle. I'm no tiny geek, so I worried that the impact of my foot and all of my weight behind it might do some damage.

Not so. The shuffle was still playing and all controls functioned as expected. The only trace left on the shuffle was some tread marks from my shoe.

What happens when you drop a little, portable electronic device from say, your third-story balcony? We had requests to do drops from lower heights such as the first and second story, but we live on the third floor. Is it plausible? If you're careless, yes.

I ran downstairs to check on the shuffle (which I had left connected to the headphones—luckily the cord didn't get caught on a tree branch or my entire review would have been foiled). It had hit the sidewalk below with a not-so-pleasant "thwack." I would estimate it fell about 35-40 or so feet (my building has very high ceilings—think classic Chicago three-flat), so this was no little fall. This was the real deal. Some of you may remember that a similar fall is what put the nail in the coffin for the original iPod nano when we stress tested it, but not for the sh

uffle. Much to my delight, the shuffle survived and was fully functional, but with a few dings.

I got out, picked up the shuffle, and plugged in the headphones. I was sure that I was going to hear music playing... but it was not to be. Nothing was happening at all. I turned the shuffle off and back on and pressed the play button again. Still nothing.

I had killed the shuffle.

Why did it die? I'm really not sure. The casing was slightly dented in a few areas, but looked mostly intact. Apparently, the shuffle isn't designed to be run over by a car. Oh well, time for the autopsy.

Conclusion

The second-generation iPod shuffle is much cooler than its predecessor in most ways. It's cheaper, smaller, lighter, clips to your clothing, and holds more songs. It's also pretty darn durable, although in some respects, it did not last as long as the original iPod nano (then again, neither did the second-generation iPod nano). Not having used or tested the original iPod shuffle, it's difficult to make any comparisons based on personal experience, but it certainly seems that the new shuffle is a welcome improvement over the old.

My one complaint about the 2G shuffle is that it's slightly less intuitive to use than most other iPods. Obviously, its lack of a screen presents some design challenges, and its new, tiny form factor probably limits the number of switches and buttons that can be crammed onto the exterior. I can understand all that, but I would have still appreciated an actual hold switch somewhere on the body, as well as some easier way to be able to gauge battery life than trying to decipher the flashing color of the LED on the top when I press some combination of buttons.

Pros:

• Best value iPod yet
• Can survive nearly any real world situation
• Lightweight and small enough that you can clip on or put in your pocket

Cons:

• Special dock required, "Universal" dock need not apply
• LED morse code indicator patterns hard to discipher
• No separate battery indicator
• No longer doubles as a USB thumbdrive
• A display would be nice