Creative Muvo V200 Vs. Ipod Shuffle "clamshell" - A review which is partialy a guide

Creative MuVo V200, 512MB (white)

Two years ago I found it appropriate to finally buy an MP3 player, as a replacement for my ancient Grundig CD player. Being very old, it didn't support MP3 disc, and kept skipping small bits when moved. Pay attention to the word I used - not bumped, not shaken, but moved. And I needed music the most while walking/travelling, i.e. away from home. So, an MP3 player was the logical choice.

So, in the summer 2005, I bought Creative MuVo V200, with 512MB of storage. It has no connection to the iPod in the title whatsoever, but I found it appropriate to explain why I turned to an iPod after all. As you can see from the pictures provided below, this player has an interesting design, being manufactured in two parts - one contains the battery (1xAAA) and a female USB connector, and the other one is used for storing data, as well as controlling playback (with the use of the display). Unfortunately, this makes it somewhat bulky, and the force necessary to separate the two parts is considerable, therefore creating the slight change to damage the device.



And as it always is (according to the Murhpy's Law ), after year and a half of usage, I managed to open the storage part (not willingly, of course), and all the buttons fell out The accident itself didn't cause many problems, as I was able to glue it all together (and it looked OK!), but soon enough another problem appeared, which I believe to be connected with the former. If the temperature of the player is below about 20 degrees celsius, it will turn off imediately after being turned on. This made it impossible to use during the autumn, winter and spring, and during the summer it had to be held in a warm place for some time in order to work. And I just couldn't live with it.

But besides this mishap, MuVo V200 has great functions: MP3/WMA/WAV etc, player, FM tuner, voice recorder, equaliser with severel presets, a separate flash storage device, long battery life (somewhat over 15 hours, from my experience) and so on. However, it is not for people who like outdoor activities (because of its size) nor for those who aren't careful with their gadgets. I was as much as it was possible, but it didn't seem to be enough.

iPod Shuffle Second Generation "Clamshell", 1GB (silver)



So, once again, two weeks ago, I set of on an "expedition" to find a player with more endurance, more space (my needs have increased during the span of two years), and less volume. The first and the third condition are tightly connected to my passion for bicycles and the fact that the summer is the perfect time to ride them Furthermore, I wanted something the I knew would last even if I dropped it every now and then. Also, having more space was a logical step - why would I want to have 512MB again, when it is "below the standard" nowadays?

I read many reviews and opinions about the iPod Shuffle before I bought it, as I wanted to be sure it has everything I need, along with high quality. During some tests, it proved to be very strong and even waterproof (it's not in the player's description, so don't try it), but almost everyone complained about a small hiss during silent song parts. Personally, I haven't noticed it, and I doubt that anyone concentrated on doing something else will.

After buying it (took me three days to find a shop that has it), I was faced with a ginormous (gigantic + enormous, I found out several days ago that this word was inserted in one of the most appreciated English dictionaries in the world ) of opening the package. The Apple company wasn't satisfied with packing their iPod in just the standard plastic wrapping, but they also included a see-through box (I am not quite sure whether it is glass or plastic, I am not very good with material recognition. That's why I decided to include some directions on how to open it successfully and fast (took me about 30 minutes).

First of all, you need to remover the plastic around the box. The fastest way of doing the is to take a scalpel and cut out the rear part. This will allow you to extract the box, which you might have damaged during the process - really not a big deal, since there was nothing inside it to damage (if you used the scalpel on the edge). You will probably, as I did, thing that now comes the easy part, but if you don't know what to do, it isn't easy at all. You will notice that the box opens easily, and will be revealed that the iPod is somehow connected to the part separating it from the manual and the dock. This part, however, is not connected to the outer box, and all you need to do to remove it (along with the iPod) is to separate the box a bit from it with your hands. This job might seem like something you ought to do careful, but don't worry much about breaking the box. It will bend enough to allow you to do what is necessary. With this done, you are on your own, since it is quite obvious what needs to be done.

As soon as I managed to complete this complex operation, I connected it to my computer, and encountered some problems (the player wasn't recognized), which were solved by plugging it into another USB port. After that, it all went really nice, though iTunes is somewhat confusing for first-time users. Note that you aren't supplied with it in the package, so you will have to download it. It charged for four hours, as stated in the manual, and was ready for use (with songs being transfered to the device, of course)! All the commands are really simple, as there is not much you can do, so it took my only 10 minutes to understand everything and be able to use the iPod completely.

When it comes to the battery, it has an in-built one which can't be replaced. This leads to the fact that you will be able to use it less and less after every charge, and end up not be able to use it at all, when the battery dies completely. Of course, it still leaves you with a 1GB flash disk - or that's what I think happens I expect it to last two or three years with my rate of usage, and that is a sensible amount of time for any MP3 player.

I did not find the lack of display important at all, and the clip is so strong that it allows you to attach the iPod to your clothes flawlessly. It is so small that you might be scared of breaking it, but with the aluminium case, it is completely safe. With that being exactly what I need, I am extremely satisfied with what this player has to offer.

The general impression

Creative MuVo v200

Pros: A large number of functions, the battery part isn't necessary if you are using it as a flash disk
Cons: Rather big for an MP3 player, can easily be damaged when the storage part is being pulled out of its socket

iPod Shuffle "Clamshell"

Pros: Light, small, has an in-built clip, made from aluminium which makes it very strong
Cons: No display, and therefore little control over what song is played next, has a special dock you have to use for connecting, no FM tuner or voice recording

In the end, you can easily see that both players have something to praise, as well as something to criticise. It basically depends on the type of person you are. People leading a calm life with long walks and other "quite" activities will probably find MuVo better, because of its numerous function and the fact that it can be easily used as a flash disk.

On the other hand, those who are constantly on the move and don't want anything to bother them will choose the iPod. You can clip it anywhere you like without having to worry about it falling of, and then enjoy approximately 240 songs played in no particular order. It's for people who listen to music as a side activity, not those who concentrate only on doing so.

From my experience, this iPod is exactly what I needed, as I never spend time searching for the one song a like listening to at the moment. To me, music is just a background sound easening the other things I do.

 

 

 

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Personally I would never use the shuffle haha. I originally had the predecessor to your MuVo as my first mp3 player, and it lacked a screen. The only reason this was acceptable is that it was back when 128mb was a big mp3 player so really it only fit about 20 songs and it wasn't hard to find what I wanted when I wanted it. Anything at 256mb or bigger, however, I would never be able to stand no screen. Unlike you, I love music for the music, so constantly have headphones in or on with various tunes pumping and randomly decide I want certain songs to play. With screens so cheap and tiny available it still doesn't make sense to me not to at least have a super simplistic screen on the shuffle's.

Its interesting that you MuVo died, mine had a similar fate where it just randomly stopped booting after awhile, I never knew about the temperature issue so maybe that was it, who knows.

Currently I roll with an iRiver (no connection to iPod heh) and love it. I almost did get an iPod mini when I got this one but there was a solid price difference at that time. Honestly nowadays the very large majority of mp3 players are decent or better. I bought one for my mom for $30, holds a gig or more, and has solid sound quality and features. Unless you are a complete audiophile or technophile you should be able to find a player that hits your budget and features required list dead on with a bit of research.

 

 

 

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I don't see what is so bad about the iPod shuffle, a lot of people don't like it because it has no screen. Honestly, if you like every song your shuffle, then it shouldn't matter what you are listening to because you like that song. If you don't like a song, then don't put it on your shuffle. I didn't like the thought of having no screen at first, but I'm trying to collect every single iPod, so I bought a shuffle off my friend, and it's really great. The battery lasts a very long time, it's compact, and a 1 gig shuffle holds more songs than a 1 gig nano.

I have a 5G iPod video, a 1G nano, and a 1G nano, and a 1G shuffle.

I really like how when you plug in your iPod shuffle, it automatically randomly selects songs from your play list or library and it takes the music off your shuffle and replaces it, so you will always have different songs on your iPod, and it's always a surprise.

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First I need to, slightly off topic, say... the idea of someone collecting every iPod makes me very, very sad inside. (plus if you want to do it right, you should be collecting one from each generation of each iPod mwhaha)

Now, I'll explain why I need a screen even with liking all music on my mp3 player. First off, I dont always like it all haha. I often get a new album and throw it all on my player in order to give it a listen. This means I want to listen to it once but not necessarily over and over. Now this is easily remedied just by pressing the next button for the time being and ridding the player of that song at your next convenience, ok sure. Now to the more important thing... a lot of people actually feel like listening to different songs at different times I like a huge array of music, from classical to metal to rap but these are not all musical types that necessarily flow well together. I don't think jumping from big pimpin' to canon in D is a very nice musical flow frankly. Sure if you just dont care or like a certain genre or whatever then the full shuffle is fine but some of us like to have a wide variety of music with us but are not always in the mood for all that music.

My musical tastes switch with my moods on a regular basis and I dont want to have to re-fill my mp3 player on a nightly basis just because they wouldn't put a cheap screen on it.

My 2 cents

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Shuffle = being limited. No information, no changing of settings on the go, no eq and no non-shuffle option ...
If I hear a song I like, it doesn't mean I know the title so I want to check which song it is, this is even more important when the shuffle option is enabled so knowing the artist can be helpfull too.
And as Jeigh has said, jumping from one album to another isn't always a good idea if you listen to a lot of different genres.

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I might have expressed my opinion a bit confusingly I love music, too, and listen to it whenever possible. I just don't need a screen because I transfer only those songs that I like at the moment. Therefore, having "shuffle" constantly on (though you can enable regular play) is not a problem, because I enjoy every song. Even if I do run into one that annoys me, I will just move on



Again, the same thing is above. I know all the songs I put on the player, so there is no problem with this. I guess I should point out that I don't use the auto-fill option, since I have too many songs I don't listen to at all amongst four thousand tunes

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Hehe yea I assumed you meant you only really listen to music to kill time when walking or whatever, and I was in a horrid mood yesterday hence any bitterness in my posts

But yea for you I think the shuffle would be quite fine indeed, you are obviously the target demographic But for most people they buy mp3 players specifically so they dont need to only bring that one small sampling of music they currently like, along with no skipping and a smaller size, the larger music collection was a huge draw towards mp3 players over traditional cd players.

Personally I just dont get why they wouldn't give the extra features. Really they are limiting the product for the 'shuffle' gimick because adding a screen and a few other basic features would barely affect the overall price to them or us.

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