Lambasted by critics for a supposed oversight in missing out on an LCD screen, the iPod shuffle certainly lacks the usual display options when compared with more LCD-inclined players like the Muzio JM-200 and Creative MuVo Micro N200. Yet the shuffle does have certain merits that should not be discounted simply because there is no way to view a song.

Design
Not as groundbreaking as the rest of the iPod cartel, the shuffle weighs 22g, measures 84 x 25 x 8.4mm and comes without the all-important Clickwheel interface, which begets the question: Has Apple lost its design savvy?

The common misconception among people we showed off the shuffle to is that the device is a wireless remote control for the iPod. It's a creative assumption and we think it is justified since the only noticeable controls on the longish device are the circular rocker switch with tactile buttons on all four compass points and a Play button in the middle. We like the fact that the pseudo Clickwheel is positioned on one end of the shuffle which makes it easy to determine the controls from within our pocket without the need to take it out.

Removing the cap at the end of the shuffle reveals the USB jack which allows the device to be connected to the computer or to other shuffle accessories such as the battery extender and the supplied lanyard. However, what we didn't like was the white facade of the shuffle which is just as liable to be scratched as the metal back of an iPod.

On the back of the shuffle is a sliding switch which determines whether the player is off, in random or linear play mode. We had initial teething issues with switching from one mode to another as the smooth surface did not exactly make it easier to get any friction going. However, a couple of minutes' practice soon had us applying the correct pressure. On the same note, this reliance on pressure will make it difficult to change the play mode with any digit other than your thumb.

Since there is no display option, Apple has incorporated the idea of an LED battery indicator, similarly used in its iBook laptop series; a press of a button and an LED bulb will light up in response. Green means you have plenty of juice; orange, you are losing it; and red will tell you that things are looking bleak. There is also a hidden LED bulb in the front of the shuffle which lights up in green whenever the playback controls are activated and turns orange when the Hold function is activated (holding down the Play button for 2 seconds).

We did not exactly miss the LCD during normal usage, allowing the random play to do its thing. It did get a little irksome when we wanted to skip to a specific song. It was like finding a needle in a musical haystack, especially when there are over a hundred songs to run through.

Yet overall, the unostentatious facade of the shuffle does live up to the Apple dictum of making uncomplicated devices.

Features
On first look, features seem to be desolate on a player that was designed to be as simple as possible. Besides USB 2.0 connectivity, basic playback controls and an excellent music management software (iTunes), the shuffle has a dearth of features, unlike other more well-armed MP3 players. What does it lack? For a start: FM radio, FM/voice/line-in recording and equalizer controls. If you feel you don't need them, then the shuffle is a great choice for an LCD-less MP3 player especially when compared with the Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 2 and the BenQ 102R in terms of storage value.

This iPod also works as an external USB thumbdrive, though music files are not playable through the drag-and-drop interface unless it is uploaded via iTunes. The shuffle supports only AAC, MP3, WAV and Audible files

The ace in the hole for the shuffle is the iTunes 4.7.1 software which has a new feature, the Autofill, which caters specifically to the player. Each time the Apple unit is connected to the computer, iTunes will automatically detect the device and start refilling the device with MP3s from the computer's library according to user preferences such as random song selection, from a specific playlist or more highly rated tunes. As the whole process works in the background, it did offer us new surprises in terms of MP3s that we had not hear in a long time, though the fact that we could use only one playlist at a time dampened the mood a little.

Performance
Despite the rated 12 hours of playback time, we managed to garner 15 hours and 39 minutes from the shuffle, an impressive showing against its battery-guzzling predecessors, though it's not much compared with other flash MP3 players.

We hit a transfer speed of 1.32MB per second when we synced songs through iTunes and reached 1.46MB per second for pure data transfer, which is pretty mediocre for a USB 2.0 device.

On the sonic stage, using our test track Coralie Clement's Samba de Mon Coeur Que Bat, we found the mids to be good with a clear rendition of the instruments in the background. With the Chemical Brothers' Come Inside, the bass was meaty enough for most headbangers to groove to, especially since the shuffle was loud enough to drive our Bose Triport headphones with aplomb.