The Ipod shuffle 4th generation -a definite improvement

I love the shuffle. It's perfect for my use, particularly for my exercise routine and walking to work. But up unto now, it was difficult to really organize the material on the shuffle. In the past, I used Itunes to put my pod casts at the beginning or the end of my list so I could use the "3 tap return" (which didn't always work)to get to the beginning of the list. Now with the new shuffle, and its voice-over feature, that announce the pod casts and the song folders' names, you've organized, particularly when using the upgraded Itunes. Now it's very easy to locate the pod-cast or music you want. The voice-over feature also announces the song and artist you selected. It's 2 GB capacity gives you a lot of space for what you need.I currently have 3 books, 15 pod casts and 275 songs on mine. It's size and clip is great, but you have to be careful where you put it. I've lost two 2nd generation shuffles, so I'm going be very careful with this one. It's aluminium body is pretty much indestructible to falls, but don't leave it in your clothing and put it through the wash cycle, it might dry out and work again, but it might not. I keep mine in the same pocket in the backpack. I find the controls are very intuitive, just make sure you orientate the shuffle the same way on your clothing. The 3 way on switch is a bit difficult to set to the play in order setting. I cut about 1/3 off the price to $45 (not $65 in Canada with tax) by buying on Ebay, and found the manual on line. Overall, it's a great idea and a great mp3 player for my use, with much improved organization functions. Just be careful where you leave it. Or you'll be very sad, and keep it out of the wash!

Apple ipod shuffle 4th generation

Best thing since sliced bread. I have a passion for audio books. I get the cd's from my local library and upload them to my Apple ipod shuffle. Everything works flawlessly. The device is small enough to lose easily if you do not keep a close eye on it. Thus it travels in my change pocket easily. It is made of metal and is extremely durable. I have a hearing loss due to many years of loud machinery and wear hearing aids. This device punches out a lot of volume, so much so that I need only slightly over half volume to say it is loud. The voice over feature is simply magic. No longer must you peer into small screens to find what you wish to listen to, the device talks to you and announces the name and track of what is playing with just the touch of a button. When you fast forward or back up it will tell you each and every item so you stop where you want to. This feature is especially important if you are listening before you go to sleep as you can change tracks or play lists without the need to even open your eyes. What luxury! Battery life will last an entire day of listening with a single charge. I enjoyed my first unit so much I could not wait to get my wife one also. She is not a technical person what so ever, and likes the simplicity of one switch to turn it on and it begins playing. Press the center button and it will pause, press it again and it will resume. Shut off the device with the switch, and when you switch it on again it resumes the book right where you left off. Absolutely perfect engineering, flawless performance, a delight to use.

Great Bang for the Buck

Just what the Doctor Ordered ! This lightweight ipod clips onto almost anything and is easy to use. At 2 gb , it holds 500 songs. Battery lasts 15 hrs. The neatest thing is voice over. Tells you title and artist with touch of a button. Tells you playlist when you hold button down. 2 quick taps tells you how much battery left. I am amazed. I am from the 8 track era, this thing is a little bit bigger than a quarter. WOW!!! Highly recommend ! Next ipod almost 3 times the amount.This is BEST BANG for the BUCK !!!
PS: Apple revised firmware and now Ipod buttons can be locked down by holding Play/pause button down for 5 secs. You hear a double click. To unlock, reverse process. Thanks APPLE!!! Now its perfect !

Great music system-great design although proprietary.

Last Christmas my niece purchased one of these for my mother who was 86. It was my job to sort it out and load it with music for her. I was so impressed with what I was working with that I purchased one for myself this spring and have been enjoying it ever since. This compact 2GB music system has one in/out, an on/off switch and the famous apple control dial. Pros-compact, easy to use after your read what everything does, no batteries to replace. Great fidelity, ingenious compact design. Cons-Must have an I-Tunes account to sync and load music onto it. Will accept your CD's but you need to rip them into your I-Tunes library (must be in proper apple proprietary format). Sync cord is about an inch long. If you need longer you must buy one. Overall-A brilliant product but would be better if more compatible with other mp3 formats other than AAC. I do not agree with E-Bays star rating system that classifies anything under 5 stars as bad or failure. 3 and 4 star products are good but not perfect. I gave this product a 4 star rating because it is proprietary. It has performed brilliantly and done everything it said it would, and everything I needed it to do as an MP3 player. The problem is that I am a PC user and don't like that my 1000 + CD collection has to be reripped or converted for I-Tunes to load any of the songs onto this device.

SImply the BEST!!

I have always loved the iPod shuffle --- small, excellent battery life, and easy to use.

This latest generation is the best yet!! Buttons back on the device itself (thank GOD!), smaller size, 2GB of storage space and voice-over and playlist selectability. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

If all you want is portable music, then this is absolutely the right MP3 player. Simply the best!

I love the simplicity, features, price, fit & finish, and sound quality

The Ipod shuffle is the best shuffle ever made to date. I love the simplicity, the variety of features, the affordable price, fit and finish, and sound quality. The product's simplicity is due to the lack of a screen. However, this shouldn't detract from the device because it tells you the song's title and musician via the headphones. You can arrange playlists via Itunes and you can scroll through them on the device. I love the features such as the larger scroll wheel, the tiny button on top which allows you to track battery life and title info of the song. Press the top button once and the title and track information is told to you via the headphones. Hold down the top button and you access the playlist and you are able to scroll through the playlists via the the scroll wheel forward button and choose the track either by pressing the play button or tapping the top button on top once. Of course there is the shuffle and continuous play switch on the top right of the device as well. You use this to power on and off the shuffle. In addition, there are actual controls on the body which were lacking from the 3rd generation model in which you used the proprietary ear buds to control the device. You get the best of generation 1 through 3 combined in one device. Yes there are mp3 from other companies that contain more features, a screen, and greater storage capacity. However, for a device the size of about a dollar coin with all the usability within this device, there is no equal. This device's tiny size, extremely light weight, with a large scroll wheel is great to use for on the go types especially those who enjoy running. As Apple's smallest and most entry level mp3 player, most people can afford price of around $49 new. However, you can find one for a much lower price used or refurbished. Still $49 is pretty expensive for value minded people but overall worth the money. Fit and finish are excellent. There are no gaps on the device and the build quality is top notch. I love the variety of colors the shuffle comes in. All the scroll wheels on every model are white in color except in silver model which is black. All are made of a annodized metal which isn't prone to fingerprint smears. The clip is made of the same metal amd is very durable. The clip is very firm and secure when employed. One thing to note is the fact that one must be careful when clipping the shuffle as not to accidently press the front buttons due to small size. This is usually not an issue once you get used to clipping the device. The scroll wheel appears to be made of plastic however but still well made. This is about as small as I would like an mp3 to be now as any smaller may be difficult to use. I'm sure they can make an even smaller shuffle in the future if Apple wanted to. Maybe in the future you can implant an mp3 under the skin and power it with your electricity from your nervous system and simply manage the device with your mind. Who knows? The buttons on the scroll wheel are very firm to the touch. The sound quality is good to outstanding but no integrated eq for on the fly adjustments. I use my bose on the ear headphones and listen to jazz and reggae music mostly and I must say that I've enjoyed the audio experience at this price point. There are probably better sounding devices out there at this price. However, I'm thoroughly pleased with the sound quality and reproduction. Overall, I'm very satified with the shuf

iPod Shuffle

I love this shuffle- light weight, clip and go. No need to worry about your screen scratching when working out because its all buttons. I love the voice over, easy to navigate songs- sync with your itunes and ready to listen. Large value in a small package! Pink is beautiful too.

Cute and easy to use

I decided to buy the iPod shuffle 4th Gen 2 weeks ago because i like to listen to the music,especially when travelling or working out at the gym. It's very light and easy to use Voice Over button and control pad. It's also basically the combination of iPod shuffle 1G and iPod shuffle 3G.I clipped it on my t-shirt so I won't feel any burden to change the songs and control the volume. Transfer from PC is also not a problem at all. I love it.

Small piece, Large impact

Best buy I've ever made on ebay! Could not be more happy with the product! I bought it to get me pumped before football games and I find myself using it every! Even in the car where I have an incredible stereo. I like how easy it is to use and how quickly I can take songs on and off. I'm always doing that sense I put a new playlist on each day. My only dislike is that you can't lock the buttons and still listen to music because when I try to clip on somewhere, I always press the back button. (Clipping it everywhere is another like of mine!) I've had nearly every other ipod and this is by far my favorite, music wise. No regrets about buying it. unlike other ipods, I got it very cheap. I'm addicted to internet shopping and this is my best buy yet!

The iPod shuffle deserves a big hand!

I am amazed at how much music can be stored in a device the size of a postage stamp! After "plugging in" to iTunes, it is quite easy to customize your own music menu. You just check and uncheck boxes. A new 4th gen. iPod shuffle comes with free phone tech support from Apple (a time limit which I can't recall-- 30 days perhaps). This handy little gizmo incorporates a robotic sort of voice over feature, allowing you to scroll through your playlist. The battery life is about 5 hr., not bad! The 4th gen. iPod Shuffle also includes a little clip-- so you can continue on, hands-free. The clip is a bit awkward to handle due to the unit's size, but, with some practice, it will really grab you.