Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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224 of 229 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent player overall, but with a few annoyances..., August 9, 2004
I just purchased and received an iRiver iFP-795 a few days ago, after spending a bit of time comparing it to other products. Other potential competitors (in terms of similar storage capacity and physical size) include the Creative Nomad MuVo TX FM and the Cowon iAudio 4 (Note: Cowon has recently announced a newer player, the iAudio U2, but it hasn't been released yet). Overall, I am very satisfied with the iRiver. I had some initial doubts before my purchase, but I've grown to really like the thing. Here are the details...
The Good:
<ul>
<li>Battery. The claimed 40-hour battery life far exceeds the 15-20 hours of the other players. The player uses standard AA-sized batteries You can them in pretty much any store, so running out of juice while you're traveling should never be a problem. You can also use rechargeable AAs, so just go and get yourself a nice set of NiMH rechargeables if you don't feel like constantly replacing the batteries (I'd recommend the Rayovac I-C3 15-minute charger/battery set). Using AA versus AAA might make the unit a little bigger than its competitors, but it's still small enough to fit comfortably in a pocket and the increased battery life is worth it.
Also, using AA batteries means that you never have to worry about an internal battery dying as the player ages.
<li>It's feature-packed. The Hi-Speed USB 2 transfers, FM radio, line-in record and voice recorder are all great. They aren't found in all competing products.
<li>It's very customizable. There is an extensive config system that lets you change almost every little detail of the player, from how long you want the backlight to stay on to how you want the song titles to scroll.
<li>Sound is clear and can be turned up in volume quite a bit.
<li>Direct MP3 encoding is a nice plus. It lets you record directly into a MP3 file (at one of several available quality settings). The iAudio has this same feature, but I'm not sure whether the Nomad MuVo does.
</ul>
Unfortunately, there are also a few bad things about the player. To me, these are more annoyances than major problems, but judge for yourself:
<ul>
<li>The interface is hard to learn. It's very confusing at first and you'd never guess how to access the functions unless you either read the manual or randomly try each and every button/screen combo.
I wish they just used a control-stick based menu instead of having each button on the player perform a different task depending on how long you hold it down for and what screen you're currently on. It's hard to memorize all the combos.
Once you've had the player for a few days and start learning how everything works, it isn't as big a deal anymore... but I still wish they put more thought into the initial design. However, I haven't been able to try the MuVo or iAudio's menus, so I can't say whether they're any better.
<li>No UMS (USB Mass Storage) support yet. This means you can't just plug in the player and use it as a disk drive. You must use iRiver's proprietary software to transfer your files and music. The included software is good, but just not as good or as convenient as regular Explorer. In other words, to transfer files to or from any computer, you have to go through the tedious process of installing the iRiver software first.
Most other players support UMS, and I'm very disappointed that the iRiver doesn't. However, I knew about this before I purchased the unit and was willing to make the sacrifice for its other features.
iRiver is supposed to release a firmware update in early September that will enable UMS functionality for this unit. However, iRiver has a history of being late with their releases, so it may be wise to wait before you buy if you really care about this functionality.
<li>As far as I can tell, the player has no playlist support except a single on-unit list that you can only edit on the player itself.
<li>There's no way to sort your files on the player. The files appear in whatever order they were in when you transferred them using the iRiver software. I think alphabetical order would make more sense.
<li>The included armband is too small unless you're a girl or a guy with thin arms. You can buy a "better" one from iRiver, but I don't know how good it is.
<li>There are also a few really stupid design choices/possible oversights:
Only the filename (or Title/Author, if you enabled ID3 tag parsing), not the foldername, scrolls across the screen while a song is playing. This makes it hard to tell what album you're currently listening to if its foldername is too long.
There's also the fact that you can set a start time for a timed FM recording but you cannot set an end time. The player will keep recording until it runs out of space or batteries. This makes the function all but useless. The September firmware update is supposed to fix this issue, but we'll have to wait and see if it does.
Also, you cannot upload MP3s from the player to a computer using the iRiver software. This is supposedly an anti-piracy measure, but it's very annoying. There is a workaround, though, which is renaming your files to *.REC before uploading. The UMS firmware, if ever released, would also make this a non-issue.
</ul>
It may seem like there are more bad points than good, but most of those are really just minor issues. Ultimately, I still really like my iRiver.
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38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best flash player ever bought..., June 22, 2004
By A Customer
I was willing to pay extra for extra features w/ this player and those extras are worthwhile. What the descriptions and iriver site doesn't tell you that this player has a clock and timer. Joystick does not look like the picture on Amazon or iRiver's US site. It looks like the iRiver North European site: irivernordic.com You can also get a USB Mass Storage (UMS) firmware from that site but I haven't tried it yet. Alarm function just plays the last played MP3. The timed radio recordings work great but I don't know how to stop it, yet. Look at the manual from iriver's website and see the features for your self as I'm limited to 1,000 words on this review. Sound quality is great and volume even greater. Can go up to 40 but plays loud enough at 20 setting. EQ settings and 3D settings sound really nice, even on the included headphones. The headphones don't have too much bass so I used different ones. Can also adjust battery display setting for alkaline or rechargeable. I hated how previous players displayed inaccurate battery life because they base it on alkaline batteries. Line-in and radio recordings sound great because I am able to record up to 320bps compared to others like the Samsung that can only go up to 128bps. Recordings are in *.rec format that the included windows utility can convert. The windows utility shouldn't be taken lightly. You can enter,label,& save all your radio station presets from it to save time. The radio reception is alright but what do you expect from such a small device? PLL? I use my home stereo which gets great reception from a Cable TV adapter and use the line-in recording. The supplied armband is very well made and looks nice. People w/ humangus muscles or just fat arms can't get it around their arms though. The only cons I see are:
If hold is not in place it is easy to accidently delete radio station presets and other settings. Once you set it don't forget to lock it as there are many options to change.
Can't copy songs from player to computer w/ the included software since there is no official US UMS support. Their version of DRM?
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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing sound, great battery life - 4.5 stars, March 31, 2005
I've been shopping around for a flash-based mp3 player for awhile now, and have weighed my options between quite a few players. I ended up finding the iRiver iFP-795T for a good price, so I went for it...and couldn't be happier! It's everything I could need in a player.
Pros:
- best sound I've heard from an mp3 player - clear and rich, with high output
- long battery life (I got 30+ hrs. off a single 1800mAh rechargeable AA)
- easy to use, efficient interface
- large, clear screen
- quality radio tuner
- LOTS of user-preference settings
- fast transfers via USB 2.0
- line-in recording up to 320kbps
- streamlined, useful software
Cons
- slightly bulkier than the competition (such as the Creative Muvo N200, or iAudio U2)
- even after flashing with the latest firmware, Windows doesn't recognize it as a removable drive (something that may be fixed in the future)
The other 512MB flash player I was leaning towards was the Creative Muvo N200. Seeing as my roommate already had one, I got to directly compare it to the iRiver. Here's what I found:
Sound
- the sound on the iRiver 795T was far superior to the Creative N200; the Creative sounded muffled and dull compared to the iRiver, which sounded clear and rich, with a good separation of frequencies
- the iRiver also has a much more advanced EQ system, and more customizable sound options
Size
- the N200 is smaller in size, and seems almost weightless
- the iRiver is larger and heavier (mainly due to using a AA battery), but still isn't really that large
Interface
- the N200 uses a clickable scroll wheel, which I found kind of a pain to use; has a small screen which displays minimal info
- I found the iRiver's joystick controller a lot more useful for navigating (and it has a quality feel, unlike the N200's wheel); the screen is twice the size as the Creative's
Accessories
- the Creative's belt clip and arm band were perfect...good quality and very functional; the ear bud headphones are mediocre
- the iRiver's arm band is cheap and useless; neck strap is nice; mediocre ear buds though as well
So after much deliberation, I'm glad I ended up with the iRiver over the Creative. For my personal preferences, sound quality and interface functionality matter more than accessories and size. Nice work, iRiver.
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