The super-small footprint, integrated clip, and anodized aluminum casing make the new a href="http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/sync.html" iPod shuffle /a hott (that's with two 't's). However, the new suffle dock leaves something to be desired. br/ It's included, which is nice, but it's required, which is not. I'd like to get a MacBook in the near future, so my computing will become mobile. That means if I want to sync a new shuffle, I'll have to connect the USB dock before dropping the shuffle in the dock--with the older shuffle, you could just slap that sucker into a USB port. Of course, if you have a desktop, like I currently do, it's no big thing; a dock might even be nice; indeed, I spent USD30 to buy the old shuffle dock so I could stop having to reach around the back of my Mac and find a USB port. br/ A more glaring flaw is with the shuffle's ability to store files. If you want to use the new suffle as a USB drive, you'll now have to cart around the dock, too, to connect to other systems. That's a serious drop in usefullness. Of course, I don't use my current old shuffle as a USB drive because doing so causes a major loss of stability (I'd have to do a system restore almost weekly when it started locking up). br/ One of the major selling points of iPods is their ease of use. Other mp3 players I've owned have been a real hassle to use. These little issues are only slightly nagging, but still, that's a step backwards for Apple. br/ xposted on a href="http://www.hipsmart.com" HipSmart /a ...read full story