Yes, I now own two iPods. My Nano has been very good to me over the years, but the armband that I place it in to run has seen better days and I never really did like it. Coupled with the fact that I had received a $100 gift card to the Apple store and nothing that I wanted or needed, a new Shuffle (in red) was the clear answer.

The Shuffle is 1/3 the size of my Nano, has 1/4 the storage space, and a built-in clip that seems to hold pretty damned well. To boot, it shuffles songs just as well as my Nano did (that’s what I do when running). For $79, which wasn’t really even my money, I am thoroughly happy with the purchase. My shins have been hurting as of late, but on the one run I did with it, I could only think good things about my new toy.

A review would not be a review without some gripes:

  •  It cannot be used with any aftermarket speaker systems.
  • There are a lot of controls possible (that I don’t need), but not many buttons. This means some really odd keypresses that one must memorize in order to unlock the full potential of their Shuffle.
  • No EQ settings. I really like to add some treble to my MP3s to get rid of that flat sound.
  • I wanted one in white, but they don’t make one in white. It’s an iPod! What gives!?
  • I could use a tiny bit more space. 2gb would be perfect… When I initially copy my songs, I do it by album. Unfortunately, 1gb isn’t all that many albums so my variety isn’t all that great. I’m going to have to go through and weed out crappy songs in order to get the variety I enjoy on my Nano. Although, maybe it’s just that my Nano has had ~2 years to simmer and it’s to a point where the playlist has been perfected?

Overall, great purchase for anybody who is active, doesn’t want to deal with carrying or strapping something bulky on, and doesn’t mind having their playlist in shuffle form.