iPod Shuffles - Help

[Leah]

DH and I are thinking that this is what we are going to buy for our girls (8 and 6) for Christmas. Why I always leave it till the last minute is beyond me, but here's my dilemma...

They've got a new style and the controls are on the headphones. This limits which headphones you can use (right?) and to me, would limit the ease of use for young kids (right?).

So my questions are: Do any of you have the newest generation of iPod Shuffles and what do you think of them?

And where, if any, can I find the older generation?

[Robin Carlton]

Our girls (9&6) have nanos and the nanos are small and get "misplaced" all the time. I cant imagine having to hunt for the tiny little shuffle. I would definitely stick to something that has the nav wheel if you're concerned with making them easy for their little hand. Here are some shuffles with the wheel...

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=ipod+shuffle&oe=UTF-8&show=dd&cid=3616606819443100928&sa=title#p

Looks like ToysRUs has them :)

R

[DawnMarch]

I don't have one and I don't know anything about the controls on the headphones, but we bought our kids ipods for Christmas last year when they were exactly the same ages as yours and while they have taken very good care of their ipods, they go through headphones like crazy. The cords get tangled and broken, they get lost or snagged on things. I would not want to buy special headphones all the time!

[Leah]

I checked at ToysRUs and they've only got the newest Shuffles.

What about other brands of MP3 players?

I'm looking to spend approx. $60 for an MP3 player.

[jocelinsmommy]

Leah- we bought my SIL (she's 12) a SanDisk one that I found at best buy. It was like 30 bucks (I told her I wasn't going to buy her a super expensive one until she learned to treat her things better..her last mp3 player got painted with nail polish...self explaintory?) LOL.....PM me on yahoo if u want a link to the one I bought her. It works really well and is cute...at least I thought so for the price :) <3 Laura

[Paula]

I have a new generation iPod shuffle. You can listen to them with any headphones you like, you just can't control the song you want to hear. You have to listen to it the way it synched if you don't use the headphones designed for it.

It's easy to operate. I LOVE it!!

[lovely1m]

WHen I looked a couple of months ago, Best Buy still had the old generation ones, but they were highly recommending the older ones for the same reasons you are thinking the new ones might not be good, so maybe they are all gone by now.

[Paula]

Oh and Apple should have some of the older generation ones too. I think the last time I looked, they were only $49. Plus, if you have an older iPod, Apple will give you 10% off on a trade in.

[Stacey42]

I got DS1 a SanDisk last year. It's great & plays Audible audiobooks so I can load it up with books for him as well as music. he likes audiobooks

[starxlr8]

We bought our 5 yo niece a non-Apple mp3 player from Target for ~$30. She's just too young to really know how to take care of anything more expensive than that.

[Jennilyn]

Shuffles also don't have a screen that shows you which song is playing either. (unless the newest version does). I got my daughter a Philips GoGear (http://www.amazon.com/Philips-SA2925R-37-Player-Rhapsody/dp/B001RCUGKY/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1259256493&sr=8-17) and she loves it! It only cost about $40 CAD.

http://www.pmptoday.com/wp-content/uploads/philips-gogear-color_sa2940.jpg

[newfiemountiewife]

They are so tiny...I have the older generation Shuffle that I use while running, and it only has my running songs on it (my regular Nano has different song). I was so nervous when Tony gave it to me, that I'd wash it out or something!

We got Amelia a Disney Mix Stick:
http://store.digiblue.com/Disney_Mix_Stick_MP3_WMA_Player_Princess_Flowers_p/ds17014.htm

She does though, have to have different headphones, the ones that come with it are super big, they are ear buds but they were way too big for my ears! So we got her a pair of regular outside the ear ones.

ETA Amelia is 6