This iPod Shuffle is a very basic and easy-to-use iPod. There is not much to it. You can't make playlists; you can't sort by artist, song, album, etc. You can't tell what song is playing or how long it is. What you can do is go through all your songs one by one and find the song that you want to listen to. You can adjust the volume easily enough. With all that said, this iPod was a great starter iPod. When I first got this iPod, many many years ago, I received it for free when my mother went away with her husband at the time on a business trip. So, I really can't complain too much. Being that it was my first iPod, it worked pretty great. The battery life sucked, though. You had to charge it constantly. Sometimes it didn't give a warning when it was about to die and then I would think that the entire thing died on me. On occasion, this iPod was dropped. And it surprisingly held up very well. I had this iPod up until 2010 and then I sold it on eBay for a decent amount. I would not recommend this iPod to anyone who is use to using advanced technology. Basically, this iPod is great for young children that just want something they can easily mess around with. Sound Quality It played music very loud Performance Worked as good as you could expect it to Battery Life OK, had to charge frequently if you listened to music everyday Durability Held up to many falls Ease of Use Pretty basic and simple - not many buttons.... can't really get confused Design Basic, beginning of "technology" when it came to iPods

aecharlebois

USA

I have owned one of these ipods and didn't like it to much I have owned Multiple ipods in the last 6-8 months: A Shuffle 2n gen 1 GB, a shuffle 1st gen 512 MB, a nano 5th gen 8 GB, a touch 1st,2nd,and 4th gen 8GB! This was the worst because because its lack of Space to put Music on it My little brother bought it from me because I was upgrading from my shuffle to a nano, but at least he enjoyed it...for a while anyway, he now has a nano too! I rate this 3 out of 5 Stars because i think the Ipod shuffle 1st generation 512MB didn't have enough space like I said "Good for children/good starter ipod" and i guess if all your looking for is a light ipod to play music and GOOD battery life which you can exercise with or listen to while doing chores then this ipod is for you

Jburic09032

Travelers Rest, SC

I got this as a gift when it first came out. I used it for over a year until it died on me. I liked it because it was small and could be used as a flash drive. The battery seemed to last pretty long before I needed to recharge. I didn't like the player cause it scratched easily and didn't have a screen so I couldn't check the title or artist of the songs. It also seemed to play in the same "shuffle" order. It would play the same songs over while I had other songs on the shuffle that wouldn't be played. Another problem was that it wouldn't register on any of my Dell computers. My cousin got me a usb extension cord in order for it to work. He figured out the problem because he had the same shuffle. This Shuffle also stopped working way too early! It refused to charge or turn on after a year. I couldn't even get into the flash drive to retrieve some photos that I stored in there! Not very happy with that.

arose4me

New York, NY

I bought the first generation apple ipod shuffle when it first came. I thought it was the best thing in the world, but look back, it's not that great. I used this during my high school years and it was pretty good I guess. It scratches easily and has many dents after a while. The only funciton is listening to music. The pros were that it was small and compact, which made it easy to carry. At first the battery life was pretty long, but after awhile i had to charge the shuffle frequently to the point it only can play for two hours straight. What was bad was that there was no screen, sometimes i don't even know if its on or off. Another thing was that sometimes itll freeze on me and i had to bring it to the apple store to get it fixed. The cap became loose and the cap broke apart into two pieces so i had to superglue them together. THe buttons broke or just got loose, i have to smash the buttons really hard for it to work. Also, it was over priced for something so small..

winschang13

Milpitas, CA

I was looking for a basic music player for my son's seventh birthday and was researching mp3 players when I stumbled across the iPod Shuffle.  I was hesitant about buying iPod because I thought it would be overpriced (because it's iPod brand) but turned out that this was very affordable.  I can monitor what music my son will be listening to and when he listens to his music on roadtrips he can sit in his seat and just be in his own little world.  At one point the iPod was accidentally left in his jeans pocket and went through the washer and dryer.  After letting it sit for a few days we tried it and it still worked!  This is a great investment and seems to be able to "take a licking and keep on ticking."  I highly recommend it!  For adults with a larger music library I would suggest at least a 2GB iPod.  The slim and sleek size of the shuffle is great and is extremely appealing!  If you have a smaller music library or have a child that is starting to listen to music - it'd be a great gift!

jenalr

Moncks Corner, SC

I love to listen to music when I'm exercising, folding laundry, doing dishes, etc. It gives me an escape from daily life, a chance to dance around and act like I did in college in my dorm room, etc. However, I was fooled into thinking this first-generation iPod Shuffle was a good idea, and I suffered through using it for several years before finally giving up and buying an 8GB Nano. Yes, it plays music, so it gets the general gist of a mP3 player. But it's impossible to do anything other than shuffle through the big library of 75 songs. If I had known this at the time, I would have just shelled out the money for a bigger iPod because it's really a waste of money. The one thing I did like about it was that I could wear it around my neck on the lanyard (as opposed to the armband I have to put my Nano into) but that's hardly a reason to laud this product. Like I said, it's a waste of time, and when you consider its limitations, it's not a good value, either.

GKNexton

Tacoma, WA

The original generation ipod shuffle most people thought was so cool at the time. Well i never had a liking for it. It was big and bukly and you could never really conceal it as well as you would think. It didn't have a clip and you had to put it in your pocket. They're not many cases made for this verision of the shuffle. But i guess it is true when they say that the original version always has the biggest downfalls and most kinks. Thats probably why some things stay in the testing phases and versions for long. 512MB holds about 200 songs. Which use to be a lot but these days we have 160 GB ipods that can hold up to 40,000 songs. I mean think about it, you will never need another ipod as long as you live. No one can download that many songs. It would be extremely hard to do that. But this version of the ipod shuffle wasnt all that great. If you're looking for one go with the new. It has better features and better sound.I give this one a C

aliciarenee317

Baltimore, MD

I purchased this iPod Shuffle in spring, 2005, when it was a new product. I had a regular iPod as well, and purchased this as a second iPod, to use when the battery died on my regular iPod and because I wanted a smaller and lighter iPod for times when I didn't want to carry my regular, slightly larger and heavier, model. I was living in New York at the time, so I walked everywhere or used public transportation, and used my Ipod almost everytime that I went out - sometimes it was easier just to take the little iPod Shuffle with me.  I was also traveling to Europe a few times a year, and the battery on my regular iPod didn't last for an entire flight. This was a pretty good product - it was small and light, and the sound quality was good. The battery lasted for a long time. I did have problems with it freezing up from time to time, though. I tried to sync it with my computer a few months ago, after having not used it for a couple of years, and it was no longer working. I think that the larger iPod models last longer than the Shuffles. This is a decent product - I would recommend it to someone who meets the following criteria: 1. Someone who does not have a lot of music in mp3 format. 2. Someone who just wants an iPod to use occasionally. 3. Someone who is not tech-savvy and  wants a "simpler" iPod. 4. Someone who does not want to bother with carrying a larger iPod in their bag 5. Someone who wants a second iPod to use for whatever reason.

mnaghotte

Cincinnati, OH

I received one of these as a hand-me-down from my wife. With Apple's iTunes software this little mp3 player can be loaded with about 10 albums worth of music (about 150 songs). You can either choose what music or have iTunes randomly select songs from your library. I got my best use from this iPod in the gym because it is very small. The only downside is that the iPod will only play the songs in random order so you can't set up any custom playlists. It is very durable and will not break easily. Since it uses flash drive technology you can drop it multiple times and not worry about damaging your music data because there are no moving parts! The eabuds that come with the iPod are Apple's standard issue; they aren't top of the line but they aren't cheap either. The battery also lasts for man hours in between charges so if you forget your charger on those long road trips you can still listen to your favorite tunes!

machairan

Marietta, GA