Gadgets: iPod Shuffle

I've had my brand spanking new iPod shuffle for about 3 days and I have to say I love it! I was determined not to give up on my ever decaying 3rd generation iPod, even after 2 battery transplants! But alas, it is now dead. It has lasted me over 3 years, so I can't complain.

I bought the Shuffle to help me walk to work in the mornings (and I love shiny things), and it works a treat! You don't even know it's there, the sound quality is great, it can go fairly loud too and the battery seems to last forever. The controls are very basic but very easy. It comes with a small dock which is very cute and syncs with your Mac (or PC) without any problems.

The packaging is just lush! It is done in the same style as the new iPod Nano's, with the clear plastic displaying it like it was a prize trophy in your cabinet, you almost don't want to open it.

The only thing that angers me is that they lump it together with old-school headphones, I would buy some in-ear headphones but I find for £25 they break too easily. Updating your tracks does take a fair bit of time, especially if you tell it to down sample your songs to 128kbps AAC encoding. Also it's so small, be careful not to lose it.

Can't complain, top notch product, amazing price and great value.

8.5 / 10 CP