The apple ipod shuffle 2gig is a great little mp3 player. It is way more portable than any of the other ipod versions of these product because its so small and compact. You can literally put this in your pocket and have no worries about it breaking or having anything happen to it. You can store hundreds of songs on it and load them on there from your computer with itunes on it. Itunes is a free software you can download to manage your songs on your playlist. The Shuffle doesn’t use a usb cord like the other versions of ipods do. The downside of the ipod shuffle brands is that there is no screen, so there is no way that you can go from the song your listening too and go to the song you want to hear without clicking through each song individually. The other ipod brands have the big screen and you can scroll through and pick and choose which song you want to hear, also on other brands that have the screens you can even make a playlist right from the device without it being connected to a computer. The ipod shuffle is a watered down version of other ipods and it’s the very most basic one that you can purchase so if you can get a little more money together purchase the upgrade. But Its definitely worth the try with the shuffle. Its great for using it when your working out or shopping and you want to pull your shuffle out of your pocket and listen to some tunes right on the spot. The other ipods are pretty bulky and big and wont fit into your pocket. The price of the shuffle is a great price, not high at all and it works great and wont freeze up on your or crash. Give it a try you wont be disappointed.