A little MP3 Player with BIG sound
Written: Dec 27 '03
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Pros: Small and easy to use. Long battery life. Excellent sound (with your own ear gear).
Cons: Included earbuds lack bass.
The Bottom Line: Excellent sound with your own ear gear. Small size and easy to carry. Easy to use controls. Long battery life.
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| skybird1's Full Review: FID Irock 830 (128 MB) MP3 Player |
The Irock 830 MP3 Player has 128MB of internal memory, which is approximately two hours of playback for 128kbps bitrate mp3 files. There is no expansion slot for a memory card; but, 128Mb seems more than adequate for any full Music CD or two, or a compilation of 20 to 30 songs. It also has an FM tuner with 20 FM radio presets. The 830 is about 3” wide x 1.5” in height and .5” thick. It is very compact and fits nicely in the hand or slides easily into a pocket. It is compatible with a PC and MAC.
The 830 comes packed with a Quick-Start Guide, earbuds with spongy covers, a USB transfer cable, a neck strap, a carrying case, a AA battery, and a CD of the required software to load the unit with music.
Sound is what counts in an MP3 player and the 830 produces excellent sound. It is amazing that such a small package can produce such clear, big sound. However, to get the excellent sound, I discarded the included earbuds and use my own headphones (Koss KTX/PRO at $20). The earbuds produced good sound but were very weak in bass to the point that the bass seemed nonexistent. Additionally, I find earbuds uncomfortable and annoying because they are in the ear. I prefer headphones on the ear. The included FM radio works well and is a nice bonus.
The Irock controls are very simple, straight-forward, and are easy to use. They are easy enough to start using the 830 immediately. There are basically five controls on the unit.
Circular Button – Touch it and the unit turns on, touch again and the MP3s or WMAs will play, touch again to pause, and hold it down and the unit turns off. This control is located next to the easy to read backlighted LCD display.
Mode Menu – Allows moving forward or backward through the MP3 or WMA songs by moving and releasing it in the direction you want. During play, it serves as a fast-forward or fast-reverse control. Holding down this button will switch between MP3/WMA play and FM radio. In FM Mode, moving the button left and right will tune the FM frequency. Once a station is tuned in, pressing the A-B button will save the station. Pressing the button in quickly in MP3/WMA Mode allows setting the order of play to repeat one, repeat all or random. You can also adjust the contrast of the LCD display and adjust how long you want the display backlight to stay on before it auto turns off. A sleep timer of 100 minutes or less in ten minute increments is included.
Volume Control – Two buttons are used to raise or lower the volume.
EQ/FM Preset - Pushing the button in will sequence through five equalizer settings of Flat, Rock, Jazz, Classic and Pop. When in FM Mode, it will change between preset stations.
A-B Control – Allows repeat of a portion of a song and also saves FM stations.
Hold Switch – Locks the controls to prevent accidental changes of the settings.
The interface to a PC or Mac is by USB 1. A cable is included. The Irock software is basic and easy to use. You can make playlists and store them. Additionally, you can program the FM stations through the software by inputting the station frequencies. I found that to be very convenient.
The back of the 830 has the battery compartment. The unit uses a single AA battery (included) instead of a AAA one. That is why it has such a long battery life. The claim is for 30 hours between battery changes and it has lived up to that claim. The battery is most of the weight of the unit and actually adds a solid feel to the unit.
The 830 includes a Quick-Start Card that gets you going very quickly. A full manual is available on the included CD and at Irocks Web Site. The CD also contains Musicmatch 7.5. Musicmatch recognizes the 830 as a separate memory device; thus, MP3s can be exported to the 830 without any special add-ons in Musicmatch.
The carrying case has a belt clip and the neck strap includes a quick disconnect to quickly remove the 830 without pulling it over the head.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 80
Recommended for: Beginners - Easy Enough for Tech Newbies
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Epinions.com ID:
skybird1
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Location: Albuquerque, NM, USA
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 1 member
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