I've got a 6Gb Zen player which is fantastico and I tote just about all my music around on it. However the headphone jack has become a bit wiggly and the sound is compromised, there's a loose connection in there somewhere and as long as it's in one position it's fine. I can live with that, just not for running.

So I was thinking about getting one of the second gen Ipod shuffles to bung all my running music on. Anyone got one? Love it? Hate it? Too little? Does it take usual headphones?

Thanks!

Ipods are the best quality mp3 players that you can buy. I have a Ipod mini and I love it, and my buyfriend has a nano and he loves it. 75% of the mp3 market share can't be wrong. Go for it.

Ipod ALL the way! The new shuffle is TINY, with a CLIP (so no tricky gadgets to hold it onto your clothes!), and you can load it with around 50 or so CD quality tunes. I know that the ads say that it holds more, but it depends on the music quality that you like. I personally would recommend the shuffle if you were using it for travel, or exercise, as there is no screen that tells you what is playing. It simply stores tunes for "immediate consumption". If you were looking for something more, there are other iPod options, all of which are terrific.
To use the iPod, you will need to download iTunes from the net (all the details will be in your info pack you get with the iPod). iTunes is a music management system, and I find it really handy. There is a bit of "advertising" to make sure that you buy all of your music for a buck a song, but anything on your computer that is a music file will be identified and used by iTunes, so you aren't stuck.
Finally, the shuffle is relatively cheap, so if and when it wears out (usually a battery problem), it usually will be replaced rather than fixed. Keep your receipt, and buy from a big-box store. If you have problems, they do offer customer service links between you and Apple (the battery died on one of my larger iPods last year - I took it to the big box store - they shipped it to Apple who made sure that I hadn't abused the iPod (!) - and then, since it was an OLD iPod, had the store give me a coupon for products in the equivalent replacement value - hence the TWO shuffles and other great stuff in my home right now!!!).
Best of luck!

I love the ipod! we are an ipod family, we listwn to a ton of audio books (get them from Audible) so we need the screen.

If you are loading and going, the shuffle is a good inexpencive option. you can suffle the songs or not and there is a jump tp skip a song. it is tiny and requires no arm band etc. $79 is a good price for a little gem like this!

My son has an iPod shuffle and we hated it! We had to send it back twice and even then it still didn't operate well. My daugher has an iRiver, which a friend stepped on and cracked and it still works like new. I have a Sanyo mp3 player that also is great. Apple has got their last dime out of me cause I took a bite and only got a worm.

Tiki

I love my ipod mini and my DD loves her big ipod (30gig?). The only problem I see with ipod shuffle is that it doesn't hold a lot of tunes and there is no screen to see what is playing. But it is tiny and you can strap it just about anywhere.

I like my suffle there is a deal right now at best buy that if you buy the suffle you get $15.00 itunes with it. Not a bad deal here is the link:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....&ref=39&loc=01

Or if you are looking for something cheaper check this out:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...nclm=Certified

i love my shuffle! even more like i like my others, the others are not the easiest to go running with - sure you can buy clips or arm banks, but they are still bulky. the shuffle clips anywhere and it adorable. it doesnt hold tons and tons of songs, but i can usually fit about 200 songs on it which more than enough for me... AND its CHEAP!

I use a Creative Zen Vision M because I am a Napster to go subscriber and your player must be DRM enabled to use it, which IPODs aren't. I know it doesn't matter to most people, and if you intend to buy songs from Itunes, it won't matter to you. I love my MP3 Video Player though! So it's another option if you were happy with your Creative Zen.

I lurve my shuffle, but if you've already got a load of music saved make sure that you will be able to play it on the ipod before taking the plunge. I've actually got one of the old ones rather than the new style clip on ones, and even though it doesn't hold many songs it's more than enough for a few days workouts (I've got a big ipod I have all my music on, but wouldn't take it running). Mine takes normal headphones (the ones they sell with it don't stay in my ears when I'm running so I bought some of the ones with ear hook thingys on). I've had it over 2 years (I bought it as soon as they released the first version) and it's not given me a single problem in that time.

I love my nano I don't think I could do cardio without it.

We got our daughter an ipod nano 1GB (250 songs) for her 16th b-day last July. Three months later everyone and their mother was coming out w/mp3 players so Apple lowered their prices (naturally!). We decided we wanted one and checked out Apple's website for refurbished models. We bought our (Dell) computer like that. It's a model that has been purchased and returned; frequently the return is because the owner just didn't want it or didn't like the color, etc. They (Apple) goes over the thing inside and out b/4 they re-sell it. We bought a black nano 2 GB (500 songs) for just $99.00. So far, so good. Works/looks/sounds like new. We also looked around for a system to play it on. Lots of big, bulky systems out there or else they just play the ipod but w/nothing else. We were looking for mp3 support, cd, am/fm tuner w/big sound in a little package. After much time spent looking around (all on the web) we found an iSymphony from Radio Shack. It was $150 bucks; supports all ipods and mp3 players; has a cd player; am/fm digital tuner; EQ presets (you can choose from a variety of settings like Rock, Jazz, Classic, etc. and it sets the bass/treble, etc for that music. You can also leave it off); USB and memory card inputs in the front (additional music storage -- for example you can put all your Christmas cds on a USB memory stick instead of taking up space on your ipod and then have all your Christmas music in one spot for contiuous playing); speakers that can stay w/the unit or separate; 50 watts (25 each speaker); remote. And it charges your ipod just by docking it -- you don't even have to turn the unit on. GREAT sound; great system; great price. Sorry, I know you were just looking for something for running but I really, really like the ipod nano and the isymphony.

I use the nano for running too. You can create many playlists (warmups, walking, running, cooldown, etc.); you can move your songs around in the playlists; controls are uber easy to use. It's nice and small. I sometimes clip in onto my top (through the bra strap) but frequently just hold it. I'd recommend it!!



Jo

Helen - so do all my songs have to me in mp3 format? I'm guessing it doesn't take wma files I think most of mine have been convertered or already are mp3s. I shall have to check though

My iRiver takes mp3 or wma (and a bunch of other file types)....it is about the size of a bic lighter..has FM radio...is easy to load songs onto and works great!