Customer Reviews

Apple iPod shuffle 4 GB Black (3rd Generation) OLD MODEL

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(33)
1 star:		(88)

 

 

OK, I'll begin by saying that the new Shuffle is, without doubt, one of the smallest, sexiest MP3 players I've ever seen. I love how it looks. It's... compelling. Of course, with this level of form, some functionality is lost. With the 3G Shuffle, it's the buttons (or lack thereof).

Apple decided to move the buttons off the controller and onto the headphone cord. There are two major flaws that I can see:

1. I can't use "any old" pair of headphones anymore. Sure, the music still plays, but if I can't pause, skip, turn the volume up/down, what's the point. I'm now tied into either Apple's headphones or third-party headphones with the controller. Gone are the days of a "headphone catastrophe" where the headphone cord gets pinched while traveling and I have to run out to a store and grab a pair of substitute $10 phones. I now have to either shell out $20-30 and/or find a local Apple store. Not good. (And let's not even talk about using it with my car stereo...)

2. The controls are... in a bad place. It's kind of hard to grab the controller without looking when it's bouncing around near my jaw while running. Today, it took me about 5-6s to actually get a hold of the darned thing and skip ahead. Later in the day, I grabbed it a bit quicker but then accidentally yanked the earbud out. This was obviously designed without testing it "in the field."

To both of the above, some comment: "wait until Apple releases an adapter with controls in a better position that allow you to use normal headphones." Of course, my reply is "I already spent $80 on this thing. You want me to spend MORE?"

In the end, this is one sweet of technology that just screams "impress your friends." Of course, you don't hear it whispering "and secretly dread using me anywhere but in your living room chair."

At least Apple's not discontinuing the 2G Shuffle...

For what it's worth, I actually own one of these.

THE GOOD:

Most people seem to prefer the $50 price tag of the previous model, and I can't say that I blame them. I mean, other than the much smaller size and the higher-capacity flash drive, what does this new model have to offer that the old model didn't? The answer: it supports multiple playlists, which make up the primary essence of every higher-caliber iPod.

Let's be blunt: if you have owned a higher-caliber iPod, such as an iPod Touch or an iPod Nano, how many times have you really used it to watch videos or to finger-pick a song from your list of thousands? My guess is a few...but that most of the time, you have found yourself listening to music via...playlists. My guess is that most of the time, you pop those earbuds in, turn on your iPod, select a playlist according to your mood, and listen to it. Guess what? You can do exactly the same thing with this baby--for only$80 as opposed to $150 and up.

I find the audio quality of this model far superior to that of the previous model.

THE BAD:

The "VoiceOver" feature is definitely nice to have when you're changing playlists; however, if you don't listen to much classical music, you may find the song-and-artist naming feature useless. You can deactivate VoiceOver if you want; but be aware that you will then be unable to navigate through your playlists--which, in my opinion, is the primary reason to buy this model.

THE UGLY:

I admit it: I'm not a audiophile. I don't know, but this may be why I've always appreciated Apple earbuds. In fact, I think the earbuds that came packaged with this model are great! But, if you are an audiophile--or just prefer different earbuds or headphones--stay away from this model...for now. Since the navigation controls for this model are located on a small control pod on the earbud cord, you don't really have the option to use other earbuds or headphones--which naturally don't have this pod. In fact, there is currently only one alternative to using the packaged earbuds: the Apple In-Ear Headphones. They also have the control pod.

2nd Generation vs. 3rd Generation iPod Shuffle Breakdown:

The Weight: 3rd Gen weighs .38 ounces while the 2nd Gen weighs .55 ounces... I promise you that you will not be able to tell the difference. This catergory is a tie.

Controls: 3rd Gen puts the controls on the headphones cord (on the cord that goes to the right ear bud)... this could not be more annoying. To say I hate this control system is an understatement. The controls are so far up the cord that you can not see it when you are looking for it. I can not state this enough I HATE THE CONTROLS OF THE 3rd GEN.

Space: The 3rd gen hold 4 gigs of music, apple has discontinued the 2nd gen 2 gig version so now all you can get is 2nd gen 1 gig... I thought this was a big deal, but I use my shuffle purely for running, and 1 gig is over 12 hours of music! needless to say, 2nd gen 1 gig shuffle is plenty.

Accessories: I know this does not sound like much, but with the 3rd gen, you must use their headphones... they are basically the same crappy iPod buds that fall out of your ear whenever you move that comes with every version. Since I got my iPod Shuffle for running, buds are not sufficient.

Long story short, you don't need the 4th generation shuffle, it is a horrible product. Get the 2nd generation 1 gig version, I promise it will meet most peoples needs.

1st failure:
One hour into a run, I tried to advance a track, go back one track, and select a playlist. All functions failed. On two occasions, a single press of the selector, the volume maxed out instantaneously, and this selector should have no effect on volume. My suspicion was that the controller could not tolerate the moist conditions, as I sweat a lot while running. I went to the nearest Apple Store, and a specialist gladly replaced the earphones/controller, which worked fine, until the next day...

2nd failure:
The controller worked fine before my run. Less than 20 minutes in, the same problems occur. This time, without pressing anything, the earphones instantaneously went to maximum volume. I returned the iPod shuffle to the Apple Store after leaving the gym and questioned why a controller for an iPod, otherwise ideal for working out, would not be sweatproof.

I'm a runner, sometimes I run all day and all night. I was so excited to have a shuffle that could contain play-lists (Books on tape have never shuffled well with music...). On run one, 1/2 hour in, the volume control went out. On run two, all controls have gone out. Likely cause is sweat. it happens as far as I can tell with everyone... runs right down the cord, straight into the controls - what on earth were they thinking !! ??

$80, less than 1 hour of use, I've attempted to navigate the apple support/repair site and have ended up throwing the thing away. I'm hoping that by writing this I will feel some sort of resolution and can move on (and back) to the several second generation shuffles that I still have.

I am a runner and was delighted to receive this ipod 3G as a gift. However, after runnning with it a few times the headset controls locked up. Apparently moisture (from sweating) got into the mechanics of the headset controls and it stopped forwarding songs and adjusting volume. If you check the apple ipod website there are hundreds upon hundreds of complaints from people who exercised with their ipod 3G and the headset controls completely stopped working.

I own every generation of Apple iPods, shuffles, nanos out there. I guess I am a bit of a collector, so when then the 3rd generation shuffle came along, I knew I would get one. I've had it two weeks, and I can safely say this is the worst of all the shuffles.

Yes, it is beautiful and compact. I love that it holds 4 GB of music, so you can go many workouts without hearing the same song again. This was my main attraction, even the 2 GB 2nd gen would eventually return the same song in a week. Not this one.

But there are two major flaws with this one:
1) I doesn't seem to hold a charge for a long time. The 2nd gen seems to work for 2 weeks before I have to recharge, this one only lasts a few days. Maybe I have a defective one.
2) The headphones, in theory, are a great, but in practice, I find them terrible. Here's why:
a) The controls are in the wrong place, too close to the ear, so makes it awkward to control them when working out. closer to the chest would have been a better design in my opinion.
b) If you sweat (and I assume everyone does when working out) the headphone controls eventually get sweat logged (usually about 25 min into my workout) and one of two things happen: First, the whole ipod shuts itself off. Sometimes it will reboot if I shut it off and turn back on, sometimes not, or two, the controls become unresponsive, so you still have music but you can't control volume, play lists, skip forward, skip back, stop. I typically hope the second happens, but neither should happen at all. My guess is that if the controls were lower on the headset it might work a little better, but who knows.

So great concept, bad design. I will probably go back to an old shuffle. I'd rather have the same song every few days rather than lack of control.

Yes, it looks very, very pretty.
Annoyance #1: you can only use the provided (barely acceptable) Apple ear buds to control the device. Forget non-Apple buds or headphones as you won't be able to control the volume or anything else.
Annoyance #2: beads of sweat roll down the Apple ear buds onto the control, rendering it useless quickly. Not good if you go running or go to the gym with this thing.
Annoyance #3: has a detectable background hiss.
Annoyance #4: the older 2nd Gen Shuffle sorted songs alphabetically by artist, this one sorts alphabetically by song title. No more listening to all your Kings of Leon or Beatles songs unless you've created a playlist.
Summary: don't buy this if a) you plan to exercise, or b) you don't want to exercise but listen to the iPod using decent (non-Apple) buds or headphones. Don't buy it if you want a really functional and flexible iPod. Buy it if you just want to impress your friends with a cool-looking device. Apple missed the target with this one.

After enough walking to work up a sweat, the stupidly placed volume/playback controller dangling below my right ear stops working. Symptoms are either no response to being pressed or a random generation of commands without being pressed. In either case, continued enjoyment of music is impossible. After a few hours in the sun to dry out, the controller may start working again. I had the sweat failure happen twice and also the same failure happen once without sweat on a high humidity day.

About every other online review of these earphone/controllers mentions this failure caused by sweat/moisture. And it's not like there is a remedy. You HAVE to use the stupid Apple-supplied in-line controller and it HAS to dangle right next to your jaw. It is impossible to use without dampness transfer and once a little dampness gets to the controller you are out of luck.

I took my 3G Shuffle to an Apple store to complain and wouldn't you know the genius at the genius bar just gives me the puzzled look and the "I never heard of such a thing" routine. After I wouldn't accept the "go home and restore your shuffle" solution, I was eventually given a new earphone/controller. Now I'm afraid to actually use the shuffle for music while walking since it seems certain that the controller will fail once I work up a sweat. Sure - Apple will probably replace the earphones again, but do I have the hour to spend getting a replacement every few weeks?

I really wish that I had bought another 2G Shuffle instead of this new, flawed design model. My previous 2G lasted a year and a half with no problems and still works pretty good as long as I smack it once in a while. The 3G I bought lasted about a month before the controller failure happened.

The controller really ought to be sweat proof since by design it has to get sweaty if one sweats.

I've been using the 3rd gen Shuffle for a couple of weeks. I love the design, I love the capacity for more songs than I need at the gym, and even though the controls took a while to learn, I love the ability to skip songs and adjust volume without looking at anything or fishing around in my pocket (perfect for exercising). The Shuffle is shockingly small - I'm afraid that I'm going to accidentally run it through the washing machine in a shirt pocket. However, the smallness is really nice because it clips on my clothes without any trouble. The earphones sound okay (weak bass), but they fit very securely in my ears (another plus for exercising). I love the ability to create playlists; this has given me sufficient control over groupings of songs.

I have two frustrations. First, like everyone else, I'm irritated that an earphones adapter isn't available. I want to connect the Shuffle to my home and car stereo, but without an adapter I can't navigate or pause songs. Second, podcasts. They lump them all together like a playlist of songs, which makes it difficult to find what I'm looking for, forcing me to synch far fewer podcasts than I originally hoped for.

Summary: I love it, use it all the time, glad I bought it, but I'm waiting with growing irritation for an earphones adapter for home and car stereo use.