I'm torn

[oneness]

I love the simple elegance of the shuffle, and am in the market for a tiny flash player to use while running.

I also dig iTunes, it could be better but so far it's the best. Being able to use iTunes with a flash player to go alongside my 4G 40GB would be nice.

The problem is that for $30 more I can buy a Creative Muvo that has the same memory, same form factor, and also includes an FM tuner, built-n mic, line in, and guess what.. an LCD screen.. (plus 4 hours more battery life). That $30 buys a lot of extra. If anything the Shuffle should be priced even more aggressively being that it offers so little.

[jhollington]

But that's where iTunes comes in... Can you quickly and easily refresh the music on your Creative MuVo every time you connect it to your computer? No, you basically have to manage the music on it manually.

The ease of use and automatic syncing of iTunes is what has made the current iPod line the way it is. I think that concept will serve the iPod Shuffle very well also.

[MartyMcPod]

I think I'm a bit in the same boat... I don't know what to do...

[biozombie]

I had a Muvo and gave it away. It not's made that well either. And what's this fascination with "radio?"

[canyonblue737]

for me the soultion will be iPod shuffle because for the last year all of my purchased music has been through iTunes and Creative Muvo etc. simply won't play it. plus i like the simplicity and elegance, AND price of an iPod for my excerisizing... not that I would EVER give up my 3G iPod.

[MartyMcPod]

I think I'll have to get a Shuffle. I really don't want to spend any time converting my entire AAC music collection (which I wish I would have encoded in MP3) into MP3 so some other flash player can actually play it...

[GadgetGuru72]

If the almight $$$ was the deciding factor, nobody would buy an iPod product because at every level there is a competing product with FM radio or other such features for less money than the iPod. However, the iPod has a style and ease of use that can't be matched, and people are willing to pay extra for it. Same goes for the Shuffle.

[oneness]

points taken. a little screen would be nice! (i'll most likely end up buying one though)

[sbono13]

Originally posted by jhollington
But that's where iTunes comes in... Can you quickly and easily refresh the music on your Creative MuVo every time you connect it to your computer? No, you basically have to manage the music on it manually.


Depends if you use Mac or Windows... iTunes on windows only mounts iPods, but Mac iTunes mounts iPods and a lot of other music players, including the MuVo, where it will work as well as a manually-synced iPod. To replicate the autofill function, it is trivial to create a smart playlist in itunes that randomly generates a playlist from your library (or any subset thereof) at the proper size (say 512 MB). Then just drag playlist to your MuVo whenever you mount it.

Also, remember that the MuVo TX FM comes with an armband, which Apple would have you pay $30 for. Essentially, all it's extra functions are free when compared to the Shuffle. Put a piece of white tape over the display if you hate it so much :).

This is how I see it...
For a Windows iTunes user, the Shuffle is really the only choice in a flash player, although I would prefer having no flash player than settling for the Shuffle. For a Mac user, the Shuffle only makes sense if you need AAC support.