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[TimB]

I know someone who's thinking of buying an iRiver.  Can y'all owners review the pros and cons?

Thanks!

-=Tim=-

[crowfan]

Are they thinking of buying a hard drive player or one of the flash players?  I have a flash player (iFP-380T, 128 MB) and I love it.  It works with the WMDM support in MC. I can't really think of any cons. It's got a very extensive feature set.

I don't know about the hard drive players, but I've heard great things. I've owned a number of iRiver units, and they've all been great. I would imagine the hard drive players wouldn't be any different.

Hope this helps,

crow

[TimB]

Are they thinking of buying a hard drive player or one of the flash players?

hard drive player.

-=Tim=-

[JimH]

We're talking with iRiver now, so the integration should improve.

[ph_bradley]

i too am looking of replacing my 10gb ipod with an h120

any words of warning?

i know its style is less good, but asides that?

[MarSies]

I have a iHP-140. What I find disappointing is the navigation system. I have almost 3000 songs on the device and it takes too much time to find the song you want.

Also the navigation system starts from scratch again if you want to find a new song. For me that's very disappointing. Maybe it's the same with other handhelds ?

Other thing I don't like is that you can only store 20 radio stations and you can't delete files without a PC.

There are a few more but I don't know if it's better or worse with other players. Oh there's one thing I really don't like. The navigation system only support MP3 files. Why the hell is there OGG support when it's not support in the native iRiver database.


MarSies .....

[madom]

I too own a iHP-140 hard drive player:

pros:

• long battery life (up to 16 hours)
• radio
• recording (wav & mp3, optical in/out)
• remote with lcd display
• firmware upgrades (coming up: delete/playlists otf)
• shows up as harddrive on pc and mac
• great sound quality

cons:

• no real equalizer (only bass and treble and a few presets)
• 52 character limitation to filenames and folders
• only songname scrolls on display (both device and remote)
• remote display doesn't show artist
• in db-mode (id3-tags), very long boot-up time (35gb = 90 seconds)

[MarSies]

Madom, your list is much better to read. I will make my list again

Pros  

• Small and light device, easy to carry
• Beautiful desgin (yes, that's my taste)
• Built in mic for recording to wav and mp3
• Remote control with display
• Ability to connect to external audiosystem
• multi codec, also ogg vorbis
• USB2.0 (yes, it's fast)
• Good sound quality
• Firmware upgradable
• It can play loud

Cons  

• batterylife is much less then the claimed 16 hours
• extremely long startup time with much files
• No support for ogg files in native database
• Navigating through songs is timeconsuming and ineffective
• No possibility's to delete (recorded) files
• Remote control is not always so easy to use
• Expensive device
• No effective use of the display
• Jog knob not easy to use when the device is in it's case
• You cannot record from the radio

Wishes  

• Fully supported by MC
• Bigger display (with 3000 songs that's useful)
• More PC software to control the device (things like systemchecks)
• Even bigger harddisk
• Ability to connect to digital camera to store pictures
• Color display and ability to show pictures or small movies

MarSies .....

[ph_bradley]

con - price

but it is cheaper than the equivalent 20gb iPod?

[madom]

@ ph_bradley

in Switzerland, the iRiver is slightly cheaper. you'd find out quickly if you want to  

@ MarSies

Looking at your wishlist: a Media Center Plugin will come soon, for the other features, you will need another player. Maybe this one?
http://www.irivernordic.com/products.php?pid=36

For the ability to store images directly from the cam, check out Syncbox by www.macally.com - still too slow though, only 1.1-speeds. But I agree, card-slot would be great. This little thing has one, but it's crappy handlingwise.
http://www.archos.com/products/overview/gmini_220.html?lang=en

mario

[ph_bradley]

sorry, i know it is cheaper. £25 in fact, on Amazon.co.uk

the direct link to the syncbox is http://www.macally.com/spec/usb/input_device/syncbox.html

that multimedia handheld looks incredible - apart from integrated didgital tuner and Bluetooth sync there isnt much it can't do!

[Galley]

The iHP-120 sells for about $350 at http://www.newegg.com/

[tombo77]

IRiver HP 120

Pros
SOUND!
EQ is decent many options
FM Radio is nice to have
Recording good to wave and MP3
Rip to player from PCDP
Can operate while in pocket
Uses M3U playlsts
Battery life 14+ hours in play mode
USB 2 faster than Firewire version on Ipod
Can change EQ with one button to all settings
Seemless integration with PC
Operates as external HD for Date
Can read text
Use as address book
All accesories included (leather case, External mike, all cables)
option to use db feature or not or both

Cons
Need MC interface
No playlist or deletion on player firmware coming this month to do so)
Not great for one song at a time playing, Need to use playlists rather than tedious search
would like a mid freq EQ setting
Would like battery replacement options


I had an Ipod and i would not go back. Too many nice features and no Itunes propietary software, or  need to buy accesories to use all features. A great value.

[ph_bradley]

thanks everyone, went out and bouight the 20gb model today, having solde my 10gb 3G iPod to my sister.

will do a comparative review at some point.

[MarSies]

tombo77,

All accesories included (leather case, External mike, all cables)

No external mike here in Holland.

Not great for one song at a time playing, Need to use playlists rather than tedious search

I wonder if iPod's do better on this point, because it's really a pain when you have over a few thousand songs on your iHP-140. I know that SteveG is working on the better interface, I mean playlistss

Battery life 14+ hours in play mode

I wonder who has ever reached over 10 hours off playtime with headphones, not connected to an audiosystem and only the radio playing. Using 320kB MP3 and if possible when playlists are there the ogg codec I managed to squeeze about 6 to 7 hours out of the device.


Any idea how much the new PMP-100 will cost ? Eventhough I might seem negative on the handheld I'm not. ph_bradley you made a good choice. Only for me I would have taken to 40GB version. I'm waiting for your review.


MarSies .....

[tombo77]

No external mike here in Holland.

Yikes. Wow I wonder why not?

Not great for one song at a time playing, Need to use playlists rather than tedious search

Firmware is fixing the playlist issue.

I do get quite a bit more time, nearly double that of my iPod. I have clocked easily 11  hours in playback mode most files are 192 MP3.. However when ransfering files and connected I got only 6 hours.

I bought the 120 instead of the 140 because I hardly use 20GB. I have it partitioned 10/10 for Music/Data.  When they come out with 80+ GB I will go there so I don't need to bother with lossy music.