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If You're Looking For A Music Player That You Can Run Over With Your Car, Shop Elsewhere

Ars Technica has a nifty photo essay/review of the new iPod Shuffle.

Couple of things jump out at me:

There is no hold button or switch on this thing, which baffled me at first. I thought perhaps Apple just wanted me to clip it to the outside of my clothing instead of slipping it in my pocket and being extra careful not to bump the buttons. After reading the instruction booklet, I discovered that I can "hold" the buttons by pressing and holding the play/pause button for three seconds, at which time the LED on the top will flash at me. From then on, all other button presses will be ignored until I repeat the process. Sometimes you have to RTFM.

I hate the separate hold button on my iPod, makes it hard to use the thing one-handed -- especially on the treadmill, where the effort to hold the iPod in one hand, work the stiff hold switch with the other, and keep walking, makes me think that at any moment I'm going to replicate the pratfalls in one of those old silent movies where the star goes to a spa to get physically fit, and hilarity ensues.

Tested battery life came to 11 hours, 45 minutes.

Also: Fun photos of stress-testing to try to break the unit: The Shuffle is dropped off a third-floor balcony, into a glass of beer. (Those are separate tests, by the way -- I'd be really impressed if someone could drop a Shuffle from a third-floor balcony into a glass of beer. Especially if they could do it blindfolded).

Alas, the Shuffle does not survive being run over by a car.

Ars Technica also performs an autopsy and runs photos of the Shuffle's innards.

(Via Digg.)

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