I recently got a new iPod (the iTouch, which is way fun!), and so my faithful Shuffle has been sitting in my gadgets drawer, sadly neglected. The Shuffle is the smallest and simplest of all the Apple iPods. It basically does two things with the music, audio podcasts, or audiobooks you download to it: (1) play them in sequence or (2) play them in random order (hence the name "shuffle"). There is no video screen and the controls are very basic. What I used my Shuffle for was listening to podcasts and audiobooks while driving or when I was at work, dealing with numbers or something that required minimal attention.

The specs on the Shuffle are that it is a 1 gigabyte audioplayer and holds about 240 songs, for something like 12 hours of listening. The battery operates quite well and I got by with only charging it every few days. It does have a battery indicator and per Apple, "Green means go, amber means you’re low, and red means you’ve almost hit zero." The best feature for me was its very small size and the very sturdy aluminum casing and clip, which allows you to fasten it to a shirt or belt. The Shuffle requires iTunes to download content to it and iTunes is a free download from Apple which comes in Mac OS X and MS Windows versions.

As for my Shuffle it is in very good condition and a bit more than a year old, as it was a Xmas 2006 present. Thus, the warranty is expired, but I will offer a personal warranty of six months--if it dies in the first six months you own it, return it to me for a full refund. The case and all instructions are included. Price? A new Shuffle sells for $79--my price used is $30--SOLD--mailed first class to locations in the US, $35 with a pair of headphones. About the headphones--the Apple headphones included with this Shuffle did not survive a year's usage. So if you need a pair of headphones, I will supply a pair as good or better than the Apple ones for $35 (total, that is!).

Fine Print: Questions are welcomed, but the first first email to my email address (dacmell@earthlink.net) will claim this item. The item, will be shipped in the US via first class mail, for the sale price of the pen. International buyers are welcome, but please contact me to discuss shipping and payment issues. Payment is accepted via check, money order, and Paypal.

The dog and cat photo? Just for kicks--so much for fighting like cats and dogs!

Thanks for looking!

Dan Carmell