Almost couldn't be better
Written: May 05 '04 (Updated May 05 '04)
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Pros: Size, price, software, functions, battery life
Cons: Earbud headphones, no arm-band
The Bottom Line: Excellent, the best 256MB player with radio around.
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| pcmckenna's Full Review: FID Irock 860 (256 MB) MP3 Player |
I bought an RCA Lyra 256 FM radio for my girlfriend's birthday and tested it out at the gym for about a week before. I got so used to having it that I had to buy something for myself, so I bought the IRock. It was one I had looked at while shopping for her, but the non-brand-name scared me off.
I bought mine for $129 on sale at CompUSA. It's as small as the Lyra, has all the functionality, plus a bit more.
I really liked the Lyra, but one thing that bummed me out was that there was no playlist functionality on the player. You could put multiple playlists on there, but on the player you just have a mass of songs. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the IRock supports playlists as well as multiple folders. You can have as many nested folders of music as you'd like and as many playlists (stored in any of the folders) as well. This is nice at the gym, where you can have fast music in one folder, slow in another, a playlist to play all of them, a Monday playlist, a Friday playlist, etc. Play modes include single random, total random, and repeat.
The Lyra (and a lot of others apparently) comes with MusicMatch software, which works okay, but the IRock software is much, much more intuitive and easy to use. It doesn't have some of the bells and whistles of MusicMatch (i.e. editing mp3 track info, cd burning), but as far as copying music to the player and creating playlists, it's much nicer and totally brainless.
Not only is the size of the IRock great, but so is the shape. The Lyra is a little deep and some others like the Verge have the same problem. The IRock fits snugly and flatly. It uses one AA battery instead of one or two AAA, but this doesn't affect the size and the battery life is three times that of a lot of others, almost 30 hours.
The controls on the IRock are great. No joystick, like many have, but there is a back and forth slide to scroll through songs and menus. All the buttons feel good and the controls are very intuitive. The display is three lines, back-lit blue, and very clear. You can adjust contrast and how long it stays on for. Another great feature is the sleep mode, which can be set from off to 100 minutes in ten minute increments. Good as a timer or for sleep if you hook the player into your speakers at night. It also has a lock button, which is nice.
The FM tuner is nice and works well, even in the gym while running. One really cool thing is that you can program the stations via the software. You just open up a list, type the station you want into the slot you want (there are 20) and there you go. You don't have to (although you still can) scroll through stations and add them one at a time.
I was upset that the IRock didn't come with an arm-band. I had really gotten used to and liked the one on the Lyra, but the extremely small size makes wearing it on the hip almost as forgettable. It comes with a fitted case which has a very good clip built in and allows access to all the cables and buttons and even has a window for the display. Still, an arm-band would have been a nice touch. If you can find something suitable (I tried it with the Lyra arm-band), it will clip to it fine with no waving around or falling off.
The only real problem with the player is the headphones. They're the earbud type. I guess it might depend on the shape of your ears, but I feel like they're always falling out and that I'm constantly playing with them, especially while running or lifting at the gym. I scrapped them and found a nice pair of wraparound large ones. The volume is a lot better with them and the sounds is miles better. Another thing about the earbuds is that any pressure on the wires causes them to slip out, while pressure on the wraparound wires only causes them to seat more firmly. Not a big deal to switch earphones, but it's more money to add.
All in all, I'm thrilled with this player. It's exactly what I wanted for a small 256MB player with radio for the gym. I highly recommend it to anyone.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 129.00
Recommended for: Athletes - Lightweight and Portable, Perfect for the Gym
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Epinions.com ID:
pcmckenna
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Reviews written: 1
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