So much feature and superb sound I'm very happy!
Written: Nov 24 '03 (Updated Jan 25 '04)
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Pros: Lightweight, slick design, small, easy to use, superb sound, good price.
Cons: Green LCD, cheap earphones
The Bottom Line: I'm VERY picky about my electronics and usually buy name brands only but this player has exceeded my expectation. Just get one and you'll know!
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| aki1's Full Review: iRiver iFP-180T (128 MB) MP3 Player |
The reason why I purchased this:
- Needed at least 128MB of RAM
- Get rid of bulky CD players
- Don't have to worry about skipping
- No moving parts
- Plenty of features
- Slick design
- 1 year warranty
- Good price
I go to the gym, jog and basically do a lot of physical activity & CD players just didn't cut it. I do have a minidsic player but recording them got very annoying until I found this iRiver 128MB mp3 player.
We all want to know the features so here we go.
Structure
The body is plastic. But it's built really well and as you probably seen them in a picture already, it's triangular shaped. It fits nicely in your pocket or you can carry it with the attached silver necklace (very nice). The earphone jack is on the same side as the USB and necklace loop is. The display LCD is slightly small BUT the display is very crisp. I'll tell you about the LCD in details later. I love the menu adjusting control, works just like a vide game pad that allow you to go up, down, left, right and push down to select an item. You can fast forward, go back, search and do all the functions just as if you had a CD player. The volume can be adjusted on the same control as well. On the other side of the player is the play/stop button along with memory/equalizer and the mode button. The equalizer button will allow you to quickly switch to classic, bass, rock, jazz and user EQ instantly. The mode button will allow you to switch to the radio, mp3 or into voice recording mode. The last side has the HOLD button. This is nice if you don't want to accidentally push a button during an activity. It's hard to accidentally turn it on with the slick & slim design!
Battery
It lasts long time...there are no moving parts which consumes less power! It uses 1 AA alkaline battery. It should last you 20 hours of continuous play. It's easily switch on the other side of the earphone jack. Pop it in, close the case.
LCD Display
Here are some details. The LCD has a backlight which is nice but lights up the ordinary green light which I thought it could use a white or blue/purple color for more updated look. In either case, the backlight can be adjusted. It'll tell you the track number, the time left, battery indicator, the directory of the music, the name of your mp3 song that's playing (scrolling effect can be adjusted in both speed & direction!!!), type of format (mp3, etc), frequency, format (128kbps, 192kbps, etc) and also has an option for you to change the type of effect you want on your screen like a waveform. You can access the mode by pressing down the main control button for 2 seconds and you'll see tons of options. You can control the speed of scanning songs, timers, sleep mode, LCD contrast, back light on/off 1-30 seconds, sound balance (left, center, right), beep volume and so much more!
Sound
This mp3 is amazing with the amount of adjustments you can make. The bass/treble can be manually adjusted as well as the volume obviously. How loud? VERY LOUD. You don't want to put it at level 40 or else you'll have ringing ears the next day! But even at the maximum volume, the sound is very crisp without any distortion! This is good especially if you're picky about your sound and music. (Make sure you have a good earphone like Sony's, I didn't use the earphones that came with the package) The tracks can be shuffled, repeated, and will hold the memory so you can resume where you stopped the music. Don't forget, this mp3 player has a nice radio tuner if you ever get bored with your music. The microphone is also nice to record notes quickly.
Transferring music
It's just TOO EASY. Connect the USB cord to the mp3 & to your computer. You pop in the software, load it, and run the program. It's like having Windows Explorer screen. You just need to select the song you want, go to the 2nd frame at the bottom & click on download. With a standard 128kbps 3 min song, it'll only take you about 4-5 seconds to load into your mp3. The screen will also tell you at the bottom how much memory you have. 128MB model is more then enough for most users unless you want to pack as much as you can, then you should buy the 512MB version :)
Overall Play
This is the best part. When I want to listen to it, from the time I put the earphones on & click on play, it's INSTANT. You don't have to wait like a CD player or even a slow computer. BAM, you hear the music. When the music goes to the next song, it's instant also. With a touch of a button the music can be stopped, resumed from the same place, skip back or forward, search the song with x1, x2, x4, or x6 function and it'll even shutoff itself automatically if the player idles too long. When I go to the gym and use this mp3 player, whether I'm working out or just running, the sound is never distorted and plays VERY loud. It's like having a little concert in your own hands. I still can't believe how much volume it can crank up!
UPDATE!!!
I've been using this mp3 player at work and everywhere I go, and purchased Energizer Titanium battery and guess how long it lasted? It's been little over two weeks on a single AA battery listening to the player at least two hours a day and it's still going! The battery meter is finally blinking to let me know it's almost dead... Of course if you have a rechargeable battery, it'd save you money but buying bulk package of batteries will last you awhile :)! Amazing!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 100.00
Recommended for: Athletes - Lightweight and Portable, Perfect for the Gym
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Epinions.com ID:
aki1
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Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 1 member
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