Random, of course, being a relative term
Written: Jan 06 '05
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Sound: |
 |
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
| Portability: |
 |
|
| Battery Life: |
|
|
|
Pros: Great sound, multi-purpose, decent range of peripherals
Cons: Terrible software, battery life
The Bottom Line: Merry Christmas, belatedly, to Epinions.com.
|
|
|
| 32_Footsteps's Full Review: iRiver H340 (40 GB) MP3 Player |
I'll give Apple huge credit for making themselves go from being in computer industry dead pools to central in today's technology market. They've done so with just one simple word: iPod. Apple's portable media player is ubiquitous, to the point that many people often don't think of any other brand of portable mp3 player.
Of course, they're not the only one on the market, as I happily found out when Epinions sent me this unit, the iRiver H340, as a Christmas present. And as my present in return, as they asked, here's a review on the item, hoping to be the David to Apple's Goliath. Although, all things considered, they probably should be happy to become RC Cola to apple's Coca-Cola.
First of all, the unit is not very compact at all. It does still fit in my pockets, but that's only because I intentionally buy clothes with much pocket room (hey, do you think an arsenal of portable games take up no space?). It's twice as thick as an iPod, and weighs noticeably more. It will make clothes, belts, and pockets sag when inside, and it will bounce around if you move too quickly. This unit is meant more for carrying in a backpack, and people that want to attach it to their belt, such as myself, will quickly get frustrated with it.
The interface buttons are fairly solid, although they could be much larger. Much of the unit's face is empty space, while the buttons are generally thin strips that remind me of the really cheap litmus paper my high school always bought for me in chemistry class. See, Ms. Kessler, I did more than discuss "The Simpsons" in class. The unit isn't so bad if you have slender or spidery hands like myself, but in the real world, anyone with any thickness to their fingers won't be able to use the unit well at all. Going back to my days in chemistry class, most people don't want to use a special dialing wand, obtainable through the phone company, to play with their new technology.
The input ports on the machine, thankfully, are quite easy to access. The ones you need for casual use, including ports for feeding audio equipment into or out of the unit, are all at the top, and quite easily accessible given how the unit is weighed. The access ports for computer/cradle linking, as well as the spot for the recharger, are all at the bottom, and it's easy to use them while still using the top ports. Each port has enough room for the appropriate cables to fit in snugly, move around a little without damaging the plug, and hold items properly.
Of course, I know what you're all thinking - when will I cut to the chase and describe the playback capabilities? Simply put, they are incredible. The crispness of the sound cannot be believed. You will literally hear everything that could have possibly been picked up. Take, for example, an mp3 version of Weezer's "Across The Sea," from the album Pinkerton. Did you realize you can hear the studio door close as the opening piano keys are played? You can pick that up on this unit with just the earbuds that come with the system. I've probably listened to that song a hundred times on CD and mp3, and didn't realize that was there until now. It is, without a doubt, the best audio player in my house in regards to clarity.
For the most part, it backs up its ability to play files by including a wide range of files that can be played back. True, I don't know many people who use .wma files to listen to music. I'm not even sure what format .ogg even is, but this player works with them just fine. About the only flaw you could point out in the range of playback options is that the player cannot handle anything from Real. This is nitpicking, truth be told; I know of even fewer people that have used this than Windows Media Player for music. The only format that might be common not represented is simple .wav files, although most don't use those for songs as they're too massive. In general, if you have it on audio, you can play it on this device.
However, to warn you, it can be cumbersome to get some songs to play on it. For files you've ripped yourself, it's just a matter of hooking up the iRiver to a computer's USB port, and moving the files into the unit like it's another folder or hard drive. However, if you want to use a service like iTunes, you have to go through a multistep process that feels like pulling teeth if you don't know any workaround. This could be a bit naive of me to question, but shouldn't the system work the same for all mp3s, however you acquired them?
One significant problem you'll find while playing music, though, is the shuffle feature. The system's randomizer is one of the most horrendous I've ever seen, and it regularly repeats several large blocks of songs. I mean, I like Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart." That's why it's on the playlist. Despite what the player thinks, though, I don't need to hear it five times in a 7-hour time span. I threw on over 300 songs right off the bat for a reason - I at some point want to hear all 300 of them. It's not hard to make a solid randomizer - I've talked to several people who got degrees in computer science, and they all agree that you can get a solid randomizer with one line of code written. I'm sending along a "C++ for Dummies" book to iRiver in the near future.
Hopefully, they'll use it to incorporate into the next software upgrade for the system. iRiver Limited provides free upgrades to the operating system for their various product lines from their website, but these have been mostly cosmetic issues. They've been well-noted by many long-time users to have useless updates, to the point that many refuse to download new patches mostly out of disgust. While I like the potential for vast improvement for the system, iRiver seems reluctant to offer significant changes. I foresee this changing about the same time I start seeing these in the bargain bin, to be honest.
The other features of the system are much more smooth, though. In addition to audio file playback, the system also has a radio tuner and the ability to record (either the radio or anything connected via the Line In port). These abilities are quite useful, particularly in tandem. However, the radio tuner isn't all that precise, and it never gets solid reception. If you actually like listening to the radio, this unit is not the one for you. However, if you're just interested in the recording quality (as I was), then you can use this without a worry.
This system goes a step further, though, in offering two visual-only features. It includes a picture viewer, which allows you to store and view many formats of picture files as well. Although it can't view very large pictures, the picture is quite sharp and solid, with good color quality and clarity. The only problem I foresee is that not many people will actually care. Most people I know would just rather carry around pictures. For digital pics, they just carry around a camera, so they can take more pictures as well as look at old ones. Finally, the system can only view bitmaps and jpegs. This does cover much ground, but they don't support .gif files at all, and we're not talking about an obscure format: Epinions' logo is a .gif for a reason. Converting an image file isn't difficult, but you shouldn't need to bother.
Similar to the image viewer, the iRiver comes equipped with a text reader that could use much improvement. I know, the idea sounds great: you could even take one of my own virtuoso reviews (editor's note: the proper word for the author's attitude is hubris) and read it wherever you go. Save the effort: the system can only handle .txt files. Granted, they have the advantage of being small and easy to store, but they are terrible at formatting and you don't get any fun extras like color. If you're like most happening people of the modern day, you probably read mostly HTML or your favorite word processor's files. Converting these to text files is again simple, but again, why should you need to bother?
Of course, you might not immediately find these extra features. The system's navigation is not at all intuitive, unless you intend to use it merely as a music player. Even after reading through the manual twice, I still can't remember which buttons do what and when. It took me a full minute to figure out how to set the time on this machine - as opposed to the five seconds it took me to program my Nintendo DS's internal clock. I know that its primary use is to play music, but I like to set the options to my personal preference while doing so. This should not be nearly as onerous as the system makes it out to be.
The system does manage to pass the "inadvertent damage" test quite well. Due to the weak belt clip (more on that in a bit), mine managed to fall out and hit the ground. Actually, let me amend that: it hit the streets of downtown Boston while a driving sleet was coming down. I only had to wipe some grime off with my hand and the system was fine. Mind you, I'm not recommending that you try this as well. Just that it can survive a fall in nasty conditions without a problem.
The biggest issue with a media player, though, is its battery life. For the iRiver... I suppose it really depends on what you're trying to use it for. If you're content to just press play and listen to your music as it organizes the files, then you can get the sixteen hours the company dangles in front of you. However, the unit's backlit screen eats up battery life like someone who hits a doughnut shop after leaving the Atkins Diet. Even if you turn down the intensity to the lowest possible level, you can only keep the system on for about 3 hours of continuous use of the backlight. Hope that .txt file you spent so much effort converting is short.
But even the minimal amount of time the screen is on (by default) for switching songs eats into the system's power. If you like browsing through your various libraries at all, expect less than 6 hours of battery life before you have to spend 3 hours (according to the manual, and quite accurate) recharging the system. This is absolutely inconceivable. The Nintendo GBA SP can last twice as long when you keep the backlighting on the entire time; why can't this system do the same, when it's doing less complex computing actions? If it could run only on batteries, I'd say it was a Copper-topped conspiracy.
Though that's a perfect segue to discuss the peripherals for the system. It's pretty bare-bones out of the factory. Beyond the iRiver unit itself, you get a recharger, a line in/out cable, a belt clip, a USB cable, and earbuds. Most of these are solid - the cords are solid and have decent length, and the earbuds are even made by Sennheiser (the only company that could get me to drop $100 on headphones). The only complain is that the belt clip has absolutely no tensile strength. You'll have to move carefully, or the player will come unclipped from a belt or pocket. It's not that hard to make a solid clip. My cell phone's clip cost five bucks, and it's stronger than the Jaws of Life. Beyond the cheap clip, though, the pack-in products are solid.
The system does have several useful peripherals you can pick up, including the ubiquitous cradle and remote control option. As you'd expect from a device that can record, there's also an official external microphone you can use, which I'll probably pick up to use for interviews I will conduct in the future. But one nice bonus is the external battery pack that you can pick up. I know that many people have complained about replacing the rechargeable batteries on these devices, and this allows you to simply use 4 AA batteries to delay such a time, or for emergency power during long trips. It's not a perfect solution, but at least it is a solution. Sometimes, like relying on me for a media player review, any solution is all you can do.
Finally, there's one bonus for people like me that look for every possible use for their system: even if you can't actually use a given file on the iRiver, you can store it on the machine. Hey, sometimes, even burning a DVD isn't going to cut it when you have to get files from point A to point B. Or maybe you just want to transfer a bunch of files from your old computer to your new one. I, personally, am not above using the iRiver as an overgrown thumb drive, and I bet others will get the same use from it.
The system is quite solid as it goes, but here's the ultimate question: we're talking about a unit that's 30 bucks more than an iPod that's the same size. Is it really worth the extra money? To be honest, for most people it isn't. Audiophiles will love the quality of the playback, and some technophiles will enjoy messing around with the other available options. But if you only really want a device to play mp3s, then you will want to go to Apple. In order to compete with a brand like the iPod, you need to either be appreciably better at what it does, or be appreciably more affordable. The iRiver, while a solid media player, can't pull off either one. The potential is there, but never quite realized.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 430
Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
32_Footsteps
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Member: Rick Healey
Location: Boston, MA
Reviews written: 234
Trusted by: 278 members
About Me:
Back from E3 - tiring, but worth it.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.