iRiver's PMP-120: the Good, the Bad, and the Frustrating
Written: Jan 21 '05
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Pros: Handheld, lightweight, terrific LCD screen, super fast transfer rates...
Cons: Navigation, protected WMA issues, Canon digital camera issues, price...
The Bottom Line: Pay no attention to that required "this MP3 player is best for" line and just read the review.
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| Psychovant's Full Review: iRiver PMC-120 (20 GB) MP3 Player |
Having thought about buying myself an iPod for quite sometime you can imagine my surprise in receiving iRiver’s Multimedia Player this Christmas. Not only does it play music but it also has video capability and file storage – something I had never even thought of as a complete package.
Weighing in at about ten ounces this handheld player has some terrific qualities… as well as a few shortfalls. Right off the bat one of the main problems I had with the unit was navigation. Getting to the audio, video, photo, etc. screen was easy enough but once you got there the controls take on a whole new meaning. The navigation buttons now have multiple uses dependent upon how long you hold them down or how quickly you press them and while I suspect that it would become second nature to someone after a short period of time of continual usage (or an avid gamer) it really became quite frustrating to me, the general user, right out of the box.
Having never really thought about having a portable video player the first thing I took a look at were the audio functions. My main concern with the audio portion of the player (something I would use it for most often) is that while it supports ASF, MP3, WAV, and WMA files, it simply will not play protected WMA files. What does this mean? Pretty much all of the songs I paid for and downloaded from online stores were unable to play on the PMP-120. Because most of my song list isn’t made up of online downloads, however, this was only a slight setback for me and more of a frustration that anything else. For anyone who has a library of downloaded and protected WMA’s, however, this could end up being the bane of their existence and while I know there are ways to remedy this little annoyance, those ways are incredibly time consuming and I can’t imagine even being worth the time and effort to transfer over.
On the audio side the PMP-120 also has a built-in FM radio which proved to be the easiest thing for me to operate (no downloading or searching for files required) and had pretty good tuning capabilities. It also has twenty station presets and sounds crystal clear when you pick up a channel. The downside – you cannot record from the radio tuner.
On the video side the PMP-120 supports DivX, XviD, and MPEG-4 formats. It also has a fairly easy to use Windows utility to assist with converting existing video files (unless those files happen to be MPEG-2 or even protected WMV files). The PMP-120 cannot record video but you can download to it or (using your own separate software) rip a DVD and download it to the player if you have the time and the inclination to do so. Watching video on the player is nice with the 3.5 inch LCD screen, making it perfect for travel or for kids in the backseat of your car on a road trip.
The PMP-120 accepts BMP and JPEG images so viewing photos from my digital camera was a cinch – although I did have to download the photos to my computer first and then transfer them over to the player (I don’t have a complete grasp on this as of yet other than the player simply didn’t seem to be compatible with my Canon digital camera). Now had I of wanted to view those pictures in slideshow mode which is something I have become accustomed to with any electronic photo medium I would have been out of luck (unless I am missing some little handy-dandy way of fast clicking a button somewhere). It also took me a little time to find the photos after I downloaded them but again, first time user, and once I figured out the controls it became much easier to navigate around albeit time consuming.
The battery is rechargeable and takes a few hours of charging before you can use the unit for the first time. I noticed that you can also purchase extra batteries from iRiver which is definitely something to consider (although I cannot seem to find a price for these replaceable batteries at their site). iRiver states that the battery will last through five hours of video playback and ten hours of audio playback but what I got out of it was closer to four hours of video and a little over nine of audio. For anyone using this player as a mobile theater for the kids in the backseat (or themselves) I would highly suggest picking up a spare battery as well as a charger because the only way to charge the battery is via the AC adapter to the unit.
Out of the box the PMP-120 comes with iRiver’s earbud earphones, a nice little black carrying case, a USB 2.0 cable, a USB host cable, an audio line-in cable, a composite TV out cable, the manual, an installation CD, and the AC adaptor – basically everything you need to fire up this little player.
Personally I can’t say that I would have been willing to shell out the $500.00 this multimedia player retails for only because I don’t think I would put all of its features to good use but for anyone looking for an audio/video player with 20 GB of storage capability I think iRiver’s PMP-120 would be a good starting point. As I mentioned earlier there are a few shortfalls and while I will chalk a couple of those up to being a first time user there are a couple others that any consumer should weigh the importance of before handing over their hard-earned cash. If you are willing to purchase a second replaceable battery (which is generally a good rule of thumb for much of your portable gear), if your audio files aren’t solely made up of protected WMA files (and this is something I would also keep an eye on the iRiver site with regard to because I’d be surprised if they didn’t offer up a patch to remedy a few of these oversights), if 20 GB is enough storage for you (iRiver also has a 40GB unit that sells for about $100.00 more), and if you were willing to take the time to learn all of the navigation ins and outs than this multimedia player will take you places. If you are unwilling to deal with all or any of these little foibles then I would steer clear of the PMP-120 altogether.
I am a tough consumer when it comes to electronics. I like my toys. I expect them to do what they say they will and do it when I push this button or that. iRiver’s PMP-120 just didn’t do that for me, personally. It’s one thing to have to learn to use a piece of equipment like this – it is entirely another thing to have to make accommodations for that piece of equipment in order to use it – and that alone is where the PMP-120 failed me as a consumer.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 499.00
Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
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Psychovant
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Member: Shannon
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Who ever thought a little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness?
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