Apple 2G iPod Shuffle
Two years on, still going strong
Review The tiny Shuffle remains the iPod Apple makes the least of a song and dance about, but it's no less a player worthy of buyers' consideration than its label-mates.
The second-generation Shuffle Apple revamped last week remains almost entirely the same as the version announced way back in 2006. The colour scheme has been changed again, but in essence a Shuffle bought, say, September 2006 will do exactly what one bought in September 2008.
As we noted in our 4G iPod Nano review, it it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Apple's latest iPod Shuffle: clipped
One difference between then and now is the price. A 2GB Shuffle will set you back today £45/$69 - £10 and $10 less than a 1GB model would have cost you two years ago. Then, the 1GB Shuffle was priced at £55/$79. Now it's £32/$49.
It's not the best-value iPod. The new 2GB Shuffle works out at £22.50 a gigabyte, compared to £13.63 per gigabyte and £9.31 per gigabyte for, respectively, the 8GB and 16GB Nano. The Touch is £21.13 per gig (8GB), £13.69 (16GB) and £9.03 (32GB). That's the Flash line-up - the HDD-equipped Classic is £1.12 per gigabyte.
We had hoped that Apple might have been able to eke out a few more hours from the Shuffle's tiny battery, but no, now, as then, the manufacturer reckons you'll get about 12 hours' continuous playback out the gadget. Our testing over the past week or so gave us no reason to doubt that figure.
COMMENTS
Re: Paul
> cheap enough to be practically disposable
£45 is practically disposable? How the other half live, eh?
I think the shuffle looks like a great piece of kit but couldn't possibly justify the cost. £45 for a 2GB player is appalling. I can buy a 16GB MicroSD card for (just) less than that and stick it in one of those USB-Key style MP3 shufflers that catalogues give away free when you place an order over £10!
Okay, it might look shit, not have the "tactility" of the Shuffle or whatever else but, hey, I'm carrying nearly all my music for less than a shuffle that can only carry a tiny fraction and it will take a AAA Battery.
I got one as a gift
Gave it away. Crap sound, average battery life, and limited play options. A player for people that hate music basically. I really don't see the point, you can't choose what to listen to, and when it plays something it sound crap.
Re 2G huh?
the G increment, refers to the fact that the 1st gen shuffle, some time back now, was a glorified USB mem stick, in nasty white plastic, which went grey very quickly. Pop the cap off, stick it in ur USB and it filled its (meagre) memory with a random choice from your library, available in 512mb and 1gb, if memory serves (which it sometimes doesnt)
So, these are still the same 2G models, but with some 'funky' new colours and a bit of a price drop. A review to tell us nothing has changed, a little unnecessary maybe, but there would be more complaints if we'd had nothing
RE: Mmmm.....
"My only issue is having to keep two seperate libraries, one for the classic and one for the shuffle. If they'd let me have two different ipods on a single library it'd be even better."
I don't quite understand your problem, I have my classic set to sync the entire iTunes library and then have the shuffle sync from a playlist I've created. Or you could get it to pick randomly from your entire library.
Great product,
Bought a day glo orange one some time back for the gym and jogging and just have in syncing what it can fit from my '5 star' rated songs. Battery life is good normally stick it on charge once a week (never seen the battery warning light). Sound quality is good enough considering the listening environment.
