using the Shuffle as a USB key

[BuckWright]

My imac will be arriving soon, and I need a way to transport files to print at school. will the Ipod shuffle be able to do this? can I save a word file on my mac with the shuffle and take it to school and print from a Dell? that's my situation and a shuffle would be perfect if it could do that.

Having never used a key at all, I also didn't know if I would have to install some kind of software for them to work on a PC.

 

[RBMaraman]

My imac will be arriving soon, and I need a way to transport files to print at school. will the Ipod shuffle be able to do this? can I save a word file on my mac with the shuffle and take it to school and print from a Dell? that's my situation and a shuffle would be perfect if it could do that.

Having never used a key at all, I also didn't know if I would have to install some kind of software for them to work on a PC.

Yes, the iPod Shuffle would be perfect for you. As long as the PC is running XP, no drivers are necessary.

 

[lasuther]

The Shuffle is amazing deal when compared to other USB key drives:

$99 512MB Shuffle versus $80 512MB USB key drive
$139 (edu.) 1Gig Shuffle versus $110 1Gig USB key drive

If you are in the market for a USB drive, it makes sense to spend a few more dollars for the Shuffle.

lasuther

 

[Xenious]

Here is something odd I noticed. I copied a file to my shuffle on my Mac. Then I went to my pc to put some additional files on it. I noticed there was a file with a . in front of it along with the file I copied.

So:

.mydoco.rtf
mydoco.rtf

It is FAT formatted (the same as all shuffles). Whats in the . file? It's binary and about 89 bytes.

 

[stevep]

These files are created on volumes that don't natively support full HFS file characteristics (e.g. ufs volumes, Windows fileshares, etc). When a Mac file is copied to such a volume, its data fork is stored under the file's regular name, and the additional HFS information (resource fork, type & creator codes, etc) is stored in a second file (in AppleDouble format), with a name that starts with "._". (These files are, of course, invisible as far as OS-X is concerned, but not to other OS's; this can sometimes be annoying...)

 

[ejb190]

Whats in the . file? It's binary and about 89 bytes.

I get that all the time when I move files from my Mac at home to my work PC. The files only show up on the PC. Not sure what they are, but the one time I tried to delete them, it ruined the disk (a Zip 250) when I brought it back the the Mac.

And if you look for sales, you can get USB drives cheeper than that, lasuther. My Lexar JumpDrive (256) only cost about $30.

I love these things! I am never going to lug around Zip Disks again! Had a friend who ran his through the laundry (washer and dryer) with no problems. I wonder if the Shuffle is as durable?

 

[brandon6684]

If you need(or would like to have) an MP3 player go for the shuffle, if you don't just get a cheap USB drive.