New iPod shuffle - Update

As you might remember, this past Saturday I became the proud owner of a 2nd Gen iPod shuffle.

Which began to tank on me; almost immediately.

Bummer.

So Tuesday night, as I wound down in bed, I played with the shuffle some more.

It started out fine and strong, but I noticed that as I adjusted the volume, particularly downward, it would often make a loud, static-like "pop" noise. Additional button pushing would sometimes result in it seeming to turn off. Sometimes I could get it going again by turning it on and off. Sometimes not. Finally, after a somewhat protracted session of song skipping, volume adjustment and switching from shuffle to non-shuffle play, it tanked again.

And it refused to come to life.

Based on my observations, it seemed that the issue was clearly related to a bad contact or switch in the unit itself.

So Wednesday I took it back to the store for an exchange.

I traded my original silver model purchase for a retro-green (Lavie says chartreuse) model this time.

I figured I needed some luck...and maybe picking a different color would help me avoid a bad silver batch...

So I got it home and began to charge it.

Some interesting things I noticed....

When I plugged it into my computer and opened iTunes, it displayed the unit as a green one, instead of the silver one from before. Pretty clever, that iTunes, being able to distinguish between unit colors!

Also interesting were the earbuds. See, the silver model I orignally had came with the old-style earbuds (just like my 4G iPod has) and the two-pair pack of black-foam cushions. I wasn't even aware that there were two models of earbuds. When I pulled the new ones out to put in, I automatically looked on the round bud-back for the "L" and "R" and didn't see them. I was worried I wouldn't be able to figure out which was the right (and left) ones! It wasn't until I spotted the "L" and "R" on the stems that I realized these were different than before...and no foam cushions.

Weird thing #3. When I had been charging my silver shuffle, it would blink yellow (to let me know it was charging while docked) then eventually it would go into a steady-green state. I figured that clearly meant the silver beast was charged.

So when I brought my new green model home and plugged it in, it went to the yellow-blink mode as it charged. It was still blinking when I went to bed, so I left the pc on and let it charge. Then I woke up briefly a few hours later to shut the pc down, and it was still blinking yellow. So I shut it down and then gave it another hour-charge before work. Still yellow-blinking....no steady green yet.

So I took it to work to charge some more.

By lunchtime while it was still yellow-blinking I began to worry. How long does an initial charge take? Most of what I found was just a few hours.

Oh no!

So I double checked the light codes on the Apple site and found a startling thing. The yellow-blinky when docked meant that it was connected and enabled for disk use...don't unplug without ejecting. Oh! (I would have been waiting a loooong time!)

I undocked it and turned it on..bright green which meant good charge!

So I've been listening to it for several hours now...and no issues, pops, tanks or otherwise bad behavior!

Based on my observations (ear buds and the like) it appears that I had originally brought home a very early issued 2nd generation iPod shuffle. Go figure. And a bad-one at that.

My 2nd pick seems to be working great and no issues.

Whew!

iPod Shuffle 2nd Generation Disassembly: Performing Disassembly ... (or) How to skin a shuffle!

iPod shuffle Fast Start: The New User's Guide to iPod shuffle - Since it doesn't come with a "real" manual.

iPod shuffle (Second Generation): Understanding status light behavior - (or) Morse Code for Dummies!

Apple iPod shuffle (2nd gen) -via the Gadgeteer. Nice review.

iPod shuffle Review - via Ars Technica. Awesome review. Technical points, as well as increasing attempts to destroy it by foot treading, 3rd floor drop, beer submersal, and hit-and-run.

Jammin' to my Japanese mixes!

--Claus