Apple iPod shuffle 4 GB Silver (3rd Generation) OLD MODEL
by Apple Computer
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Our Price: $85.98 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Apple iPod shuffle 4 GB Silver (3rd Generation) OLD MODEL
Customer Review: 3rd generation bogus
Summary: 2 Stars
I had to buy several option extras like the (Scosche tapLINE inline control adapter for: volume pause, ff or rr controls), just to have it perform the way my 512MB 1st generation iPod works. What a rip off!!!Customer Review: Ackward iPOD control button
Summary: 2 Stars
The position of the control is too close to ear bud. In order to make changes, you often have to take the ear bud out to do it. This design is a step backward compares to earlier generations of iPODs.Customer Review: The rotten apple that spoiled them all
Summary: 1 Stars
It's awful - and not like You're Awful, I Love You - more like Tear You Apart - not that this thing could play either of those songs with any sleekness. Did Apple designers just phone this one in? I am blinded by the shiny glory of the silver apple, but no more. At first I thought it was cute - looked like a pack of gum. I named mine Wrigley. Yet, this one unfortunate device has made me rethink Apple's "it just works" philosophy. Because, this, whatever it is or was supposed to be, it just doesn't work. At all.
I am going to steal my 4 year old's SanDisk Sansa Clip 4 GB MP3 Player (Silver) that I got respiffied from Woot for twenty bucks and pawn this off on her (not that she'll probably go for it).
Why? Here goes:
Sansa Clip------3rd Gen Shuffle
Screen:
Identify Playlists:---Yes (Screen)------Sort of* (Voice over)
Name Songs: ---------Yes (Screen)------Yes (Voice over)
Skip Sort of**
File
File
* I get a generic voiceover for my playlists: Playlist 1, playlist 2... This is not helpful. I have 1 GB free space and have tried all the troubleshooting. It. Just. Doesn't. Work. Grrrrr - No problem with the Clip because it has a screen - I can SEE the names. It is durable too - having survived the 4 year old and another surviving a 10 year old who regularly rolls over it in his sleep
** You can jump ahead but it requires memorizing a series of click sequences. Click once for pause, click and hold voice over, move ahead a song double-click, fast forward double click and hold. Previous track - triple click (within 6 seconds of start or else it restarts). Did you get all that? The previous interface was far more user intuitive.
*** The hinge region on the Shuffle's clip seems like the weak point of this whole endeavor. The Sansa Clip has a detachable clip, so with any strain (that could break it) it pops off. This is inconvenient, but at least it does not get broken. That said, the Clip's clip is plastic, so the weak point would be the clip itself. With 3 in the house, zero have broken.
***I hate the headphones. They are awkward in every respect - the controls are right at my mouth, the buttons don't always engage when I want them too, the volume control is sticky, and the voice over button does not always work properly (although at least it isn't a robotic voice).
I love Macs. Really. But, seriously get the 2nd gen shuffle (which side by side is not that bigger) - or better yet - get a Sansa Clip for the extra storage. It really doesn't matter how cute and sleek it is, if it is attached to clunky Apple headphones. The 3rd gen shuffle is just a rotten apple.
Customer Review: A complete disaster and I'm not afraid to call it what it really is
Summary: 1 Stars
I was one of the numerous fans of the last ipod shuffle, excellent design and ease of use made it worth every penny. I wish i could be as forgiving with this new ipod shuffle. There are three pros i can see in this device at all, one it looks a bit sleeker and two, the bump in storage is appreciated, and the voice is useful for overcoming it's lack of a screen but wouldn't a small led screen have accomplished the same goal of informing users of the current playing song and maybe enabled the possibility of more features on the shuffle? It's all downhill from there as the lack of an led screen is certaintly a minor quibble for a sub series of ipods that haven't had a screen before, but i just view the voice feature as a little unnecessary, sometimes trying something new for the sake of trying something new isn't the best idea. The biggest flaw is the controls, for one this is NOT intuitive, the last shuffle was a breeze to use, hand this to a friend who isn't aware of the controls and watch the confusion ensue. seriously tap 3 times to skip a song? seems unnecessarily complex, old cd players were easier to control and if apple was deadset on this set up the new shuffle isn't so small that they couldn't have snuck these buttons onto the shuffle itself and not forced everyone to use the included headphones (which suck, you don't have to be an audiophile to recognize this) and charging for the adaptor is ridiculous, we get it apple, your products are cash cows but keep milking them for all their worth and they'll start to dry up. And one thing that bugs me is the cost, people are raving and acting like the price is exceptional, it sure as hell isn't. For the same price i can go on newegg and get a very small mp3 player with a screen, more features (competitors attempting to cut into apples monopoly usually tout extra features absent from ipods as reasons to buy their products) and actually for once, simpler controls (something apples always one upped the competition on and i've always admitted.) I mean why get this when i could score a sansa player with the same storage and more features for less? I don't quite get the 2-3 star reviews people are leaving here, i'm a huge fan of apple and i'm very dissapointed with this trainwreck and reputation killer of a product, it's the windows vista of mp3 players.Customer Review: Wanted to love it
Summary: 1 Stars
I've owned multitudes of iPods over the years, from the sturdy, brick-like original, to the slimmer Mini, to the solid-state Nano, to the minimalist Shuffle. The first generation Shuffle was lovely -- never an issue, other than the (relatively) cumbersome form factor.
The second generation was a big improvement form-wise, although I had issues with the two I owned (they'd occasionally stop working mid-run), for which I'd never gotten a satisfactory explanation. In fairness, my good friend has also had two second generation shuffles, and he's never had an issue, so maybe I'm just cursed.
I thought the third generation would be a fresh start, but sadly, about 30 minutes into my very first run with the fully-charged device, the Shuffle locked me out. The volume went way up and I was unable to access any controls. No volume, no skipping songs -- nothing. I patiently turned off the device and counted to ten, then removed and re-inserted the headphone plug, and got... nothing. I ran home, re-charged the device and tried again the next day. I got about 20 minutes into a run, when the thing simply stopped playing, mid-song.
My first inclination was that the play controls (located on the headphone cord) had gotten sweaty or something, so I tried a different set of working headphones (the shuffle starts playing automatically when it's turned on and headphones are inserted). Nothing. Then I considered that the headphone access area (a 3.5-mm mini-jack which doubles as access for the USB charger) had gotten sweat on it, which could very well be the case (I'm talking normal sweating here, not prolonged submersion in water or anything). However, as this device is marketed to the active set, I hope Apple would've considered this as a normal use-case.
I haven't mistreated the device at all. I've lovingly made sure the software's all up-to-date. Maybe I just have bad luck with Shuffles, but the last few have seriously burned me, and I'd recommend looking at non-Apple flash-based mp3 players if you're going to be regularly active while carrying the device.