ipod shuffle or mp3 player?

[bumpybecky]

dd1 has asked for a decent mp3 player for Christmas (she's had really cheap ones before, but they've never lasted for long). I've looked at the ipod shuffle and also a sanza clip mp3 player and am a bit baffled....

How can you work the shuffle thing if it's not got a screen? do you just press play and hope for the best? (once you've loaded it with filed from itunes first - see I'm not totally clueless!)

I know she'll use the thing on headphones, but I think she'll want to use it for proper loudness in her room too, so...

will the ipod shuffle fit into the docking station that we use for the ipod touch?

can you get external speakers for non-apple mp3 players? (don't want to be spending much)

is there any point me asking these questions when dd1 is 14 and knows everything anyway?

thanks :)

Yep, you press play and the songs loaded on it play in random order (that's why it's called a shuffle) - there's no playlist functions or anything on it, it's intended to be very basic and simple to use. You can skip a song using the forward/back buttons.

It won't fit into a docking station because it doesn't use the normal 30-pin connector, it uses a special headphone-to-USB adapter.

If you want an iPod but don't want to pay out for a touch, you might want to look at the Nano? The older versions are still available (esp second hand) and they have a screen and support playlists etc, plus are compatible with all of the docks using the standard 30-pin ipod/ipad/iphone connector.

None of the nanos have internet connection or anything like that, but the 5th gen one has a camera for taking videos.

Oh, and any speakers with a 3.5mm jack - so PC speakers, or portable laptop/phone speakers, will be compatible with any iPod or MP3 player, but they won't charge it like a real iPod dock does.