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143 of 154 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nano who? (Clix with Cradle Dock Review), August 24, 2006
*I bought the Clix with the Dock as a complete package from iRiver and this review covers both items*
Packaging
iRiver does a good job with their packaging by making it simple and clean, probably taking note of Apple's packaging strategy, though not as refined. All the included accessories are placed in clearly labeled paper boxes making it simple and easy to find what you need quickly. There is no foam padding of any sort to protect any of the accessories or the player itself but I do not think this will be a problem because the Clix is a flash based player. The Clix itself is protected by a sticker with a printed on animation of the "now playing" screen. There is a "starter kit" that comes with the Clix that contains the manual, quick start guide, software CD, various documentations, and a neoprene case with a screen cleaner. The case fits the player very snugly and is padded enough to ensure proper protection. The screen cleaner does a decent job though I sometimes found that it just smeared the oils from my skin instead of absorbing it.
The packaging for the cradle dock contains a series of boxes as well with no foam padding to protect anything but everything came out of the box in perfect condition. The cradle comes with a line-in cable, 3.5mm extension plug, the dock itself, and an IR remote.
I enjoyed the packaging but it did not wow me as Apple's packaging does. I was concerned with the lack of protection for the components though none of them were damaged. I would like it if iRiver included some plastic molds to hold their components to make it seem more professional while adding some protection at the same time.
Design
The Clix is one of the most beautifully designed MP3 players I have ever seen. The button-less screen creates a very clean and sleek look that resembles a flat panel television. Since there are no buttons to press, navigation is done through pressing the sides of the screen. The sides of the screen are tactile buttons and not touch sensitive, which would have made it too sensitive. The rest of the controls are located on the sides of the player which include dedicated volume buttons, a power button, a "smart key," and a hold switch. The hold switch does not only cease the function of the screen buttons but actually locks the screen buttons into place so they can not be pressed. This is a wise choice by iRiver because it will prevent wear and tear on the buttons. The back of the player is made of glossy white plastic and has a clean look to it instead of having a bunch of Windows, SRS, WOW, and other logos. While the screen of the player seems very scratch resistant, the back seems to be more prone to scratching so users should exercise caution. One of my favorite design features of the Clix is its ability to switch between landscape and portrait modes. Portrait mode is useful in allowing one-handed operation of the player, though it is a little more difficult that I would have liked it to be. Since users have to touch the sides of the player to navigate, they will find their thumbs and hands obstructing their view when pressing some buttons. Though it this is a little annoying, it is bearable and does not take away from the overall pleasurable experience of using the player. Another gripe is that the reset button can only be pressed by inserting a paperclip into a pin-sized hole located at the bottom of the player. Both Creative and iRiver have to find a simpler way to reset the player. I really like the simple button combo that makes the iPod reset itself. Creative and iRiver should take note.
Once in the Cradle Dock, the player will resemble a retro-style television which will draw stares and wow your friends. There are tiny speakers on the back of the dock that allow wireless use of your player. The dock gives the player the awesome feature of line-in recording but also disables an important feature, the FM tuner. I assume this happens because there is no headphone lead to act as an antenna, which would have given the player horrible reception. The dock also lets you connect a line-out cable so you can listen to your music on better speakers and there is a mini-USB connector to allow you to sync your player while it is still in the dock. The included IR remote is the only method of navigating the player while it is in the dock. The remote has a very slim profile and membrane type buttons and while this remote provides excellent functionality for the player while it is in the dock, it is poorly designed because the buttons become a little exhausting after prolonged use and the directional buttons are a bit more spread out than I would have liked. The remote also looks quite cheap with an uneven fit and finish and lack of attention to detail. Perhaps I am being nit-picky but I do enjoy the fact that every function can be accessed wirelessly.
One design feature that I find refreshing is the USB cable that is provided with the player. It has a mechanism that locks the player into place on the cable and can only be unlocked by holding buttons on the side. This results in a secure attachment to your computer, making it impossible to accidentally disconnect your player while it is performing a sync which could wreck the player. More manufacturers should take note of this simple, yet ingenious locking mechanism.
Finally, if you are worried about the durability of Clix, worry no more. I gave this Clix to my sister as a present and she has the reputation of having the "touch of death" with all things electronic. It has been over two weeks and I'm happy to report that the player has not scratched. This is truly an amazing testament to the kind of plastic that iRiver chose to make the Clix's screen with.
Performance
Once I fired up the player for the first time, I was immediately impressed with the fluidity of the interface and how beautifully simplistic, yet sophisticated the menus were laid out. Everything is laid out very logically and can be picked up without reading the instruction manual, which I believe most people do. The GUI reminds me of Windows Media Center, which makes sense because iRiver worked very closely with Microsoft on the development of this player. The "now playing" screen really impresses me in that it uses its screen real estate to deliver tons of information without searching through a sub menu. Song title, album name, song rating, artist name, year of album release, time, battery meter, EQ setting, number of songs in current playlist, and my favorite, next song. More companies should add a "next song" display on their players. Though this may seem like an overwhelming amount of information to be displayed on one screen, I did not find it confusing at all. One thing that bugged me about the interface was the fact that you could not delete songs or recordings from the player.
Pictures are browsed on the player in list form, displaying a small thumbnail of the highlighted picture. Photos look accurate and fluid on the screen as it would on the computer screen though detail is lost because of the 320x240 resolution. There is no over saturation as with other players, namely my Creative Zen Vision: M. Videos can also be played on this device and look good for 15 frames per second (fps). I expected the video experience to be severely degraded compared to the 30fps that my Vision: M is capable of but I am pleasantly surprised that there was minimal difference. Music videos looked great and the screen provided excellent viewing angles. I would advise against watching anything longer than a few minutes on the Clix because of two reasons: one being that the screen is so small and will fatigue your eyes and two being the fact that the player maxes out at a dainty 2 GB.
My favorite feature about the Clix is its ability to record in several different ways. There is FM recording which is very handy for catching shows or songs you want to save, thought the RIAA will not be happy about the latter. You can also perform voice recordings and line-in recordings. Voice recordings were of average quality and had a hard time picking up sounds that were far away. I would not use the Clix to record lectures or conferences though it is a handy tool for taking notes or to do a casual podcast. Line-in recording provided much more of a use because of its excellent recording quality. If set at "high" recording quality, files are encoded at 256kbps MP3s and 128kbps at "medium" quality. Recording whole albums is a simple process though editing the file names and ID3 tags of the songs is not as fun or pleasurable. I did encounter a few problems when recording, one of which was the recording volume. Even when set at the highest recording volume and max volume from the recording source (my ZVM) the volume of the recorded tracks was still lower than I would have liked them to be. Another problem I encountered was the track splitting function which breaks up the recording when it doesn't sense any sound for 2 seconds. For classical albums, it could not sense the gaps correctly and recorded the album as one huge MP3. My final gripe about the line-in recording function is that the recordings are stored deep in the submenus of the "Extras" section which is irritating when you want to find your recordings and listen to them since they are not included in your library. Hopefully a firmware update will place a folder in the music library for recordings.
With all of these extra features, it is easy to forget what the Clix was designed to do and that is to play music and boy does the Clix deliver. This is one of the best sounding MP3 players I have ever heard. There is also an incredible amount of adjustability with this player. Users can choose from a...
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73 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
With the Clix now available nobody should buy an Ipod, June 5, 2006
This is the best mp3 player / personal media player I have ever owned. It has a large, well lit screen and great sound quality. It comes with some fun games and you can download more at the iriver website. I havent done much with the videos yet but the ones preloaded on the clix are good looking. It also displays pictures quite nicely which you can set as the wallpaper. The interface is very intuitive and works well with the "tilt" screen. You can also make "quicklists" on the go which is very usefull. It also has cool features such as FM radio (which can be recorded), a voice recorder, the ability to view text files, an alarm clock (which you really need the dock for), and it works seamlessly with URGE. The only thing bad about the clix is that it is only 2gb. Otherwise it is a small, reliable mp3 player, well worth the money.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
mp3 player with the least flaws, June 25, 2006
I had researched for months on which mp3 player to buy, and I was really nervous about getting an iPod because of the battery and crash issues. I came across this, and the search was over. Few important things to know.
1. The size is 2GB obviously, so it replaces the nano more than the large ones.
2. You can buy the iPod outlet chargers and use it for this. Simply take out the USB cord that runs from the outlet charger and would go into the iPod, and instead use the USB cord that comes with the clix. Works just as well. I bought the Griffin PowerBlock.
3. I think a review here said that you can't use this as a storage device, but you can. Simply follow the instructions on page 11 of the manual booklet. (All you have to do is add a folder).
4. To convert videos to the acceptable .avi files for the player, go the iriver.com and search for 'iriverter'. The first link will take you to a page to down the program. You can even convert DVD files.
5. When you go to delete files from windows explorer or my computer, delete the free stuff, but don't delete the iriver folder under music. The player just uses this on its own.
6. WMP 11 is fine. It's tries to do more than it should, but you'll be set up within 5 minutes. Also, if you delete songs, make sure to do it from WMP 11 only. All other files can be deleted from explorer, but music must be deleted from WMP (or whatever you use to sync up.)
These are just useful notes about the player, nothing that distracts from it at all. Simply put, this is the worry free mp3 player. You won't buy it and then fret that you are missing a key feature or that it will crash on you. And the interface is so intuitive, the iPod should be ashamed.
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