Customer Reviews

iriver Lplayer 4 GB Video MP3 Player (Black)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

PROS:

Good design for such a small size with largely simple interface (manual is on the packaged mini-CD in pdf). Optional UMS is a godsend as it bypasses proprietary software. Just plug it in and your computer recognizes it at as big floppy (have to install the software first for installation though). If you don't like that, there's another option to transfer from Windows Media Player 11.

The sound quality is about par for mp3 players but depends more on the quality of the mp3s. One thing for audiophiles is the option for FLAC, or loss less audio, but they may want to go for the 8 gig if planning on large amounts of FLAC. Headphones that come with it are pretty decent. Transfer rate is quick. Around 3.7 gigs rather than a full 4, but that was expected. The ability to store and read text files is pretty awesome, especially for students.

Video quality depends largely on the video you're adding. Same goes for pictures. Radio comes in loud and strong. Player comes with an area for a lanyard strap for securing it to your body.

The packaged software allows you to manage your music that way and can look up songs to fix the Mp3 tags as well as get cover art off the internet which also appears when you play the song. Personally, I think this is pretty cool, but in practice the software is extremely slow in finding, updating and saving the tag and cover art to the player, so thus I don't use it. That said, the feature is still pretty nice in theory.

Also, there is a capacity to record from the radio and spoken speech like most Iriver mp3 players.

Battery life for the internal rechargeable battery is not really their alleged 12 hours. More like 10, which still isn't bad, but not good compared to other players'.

CONS:

D-Click can be occasionally sluggish to respond.

Artists are not in alphabetical format which is super annoying in trying to find a certain artist however, this may be patched in the future as the software has the ability to update its firmware. This is my biggest gripe. Same goes for sorting by albums and genre.

It reads and shows Mp3 tags, thus improperly formatted ones will not show the artist or the music track title, just whatever was written. Video sometimes requires a converter.

It's hard to find after market accessories though which may result in unnecessary cosmetic damage. There are some, but they are pretty expensive barring auction sites. iPod accessory market this is not.

The player updates its database every time you upload forcing you to wait for it before you can use it. Also, it's slow in showing pictures.

Video battery is not so good at around 2.5~3 hours.

OVERALL:

It's a pretty solid player, it's tiny and most of the issues are essentially firmware that may be patched or for some people hacked. It's not the best mp3 player Iriver has made, but it is a good buy for its price. It seems like they tried to produce a tiny, tiny computer and the slowness of it comes through a bit too often. Good audio, good video, good radio, picture viewing and text? That's quite a package even with some down sides.

This review covers a device loaded with version 1.06 of the firmware.

I bought the 8 GB version back in January. I was debating between this and the Sansa Clip, and boy do I wish I'd gone with the Clip.

I was swayed by pretty looks and a strange thought that I might someday want to watch movies on a tiny 1" screen. Beyond the appearance, I can think of no way to make a worse mp3 player. My basis for comparison is my Creative Zen Micro from 2005, and honestly, with exception to the screen and capacity, it wins hands down.

Honestly, you've got a pretty basic mp3 player here, but there are a couple of things that make it absolutely worthless.

The iriver LPlayer arranges your tracks alphabetically. Want to listen to an album in its proper order? Unless you stick track numbers (01, 02, 03,...) at the start of the file name, you won't be able to. I can't tell you how infuriating this is given iriver has had all the time in the world to fix such a little things. EVERY OTHER MP3 PLAYER ON THE MARKET READS ID3 TAGS PROPERLY. (ID3 tags carry information in the mp3 file that tells artist, album, etc.) There is absolutely no excuse for this, and it's a pretty clear sign that iriver doesn't listen to their customers at all. (I've emailed them on this issue to no avail.)

The next two things are not as infuriating, but still quite vexing. There is no gapless playback, and, at least with the latest firmware, iriver seems to think they can "fix" this by making fade-ins and fade-outs universal. Despite there being an option to turn fading on/off in the options, the option does nothing. And then second, the music quality is only average. If you have high-quality mp3 tracks, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, etc., and a great pair of headphones, you won't be getting anything extra out of your music.

If you want a pint-sized, cheap mp3 player, the SanDisk(R) Sansa(R) Clip+ 8GB MP3 Player (Black) is hands down my recommendation. The LPlayer simply doesn't belong in this generation of mp3 players.

UPDATE, 1/15/10: Not that I use my Lplayer any more than once in a blue moon, but there is still no firmware upgrade to fix the file organization. Even at $50, no one should ever buy this thing.

Hi,

I got this a couple of weeks ago. It is not bad--looks good, sounds good (on Shure 210s, anyway).

Unlike some reviews the d-click seems fine to me.

My issues are:

a) it doesn't order songs well. There is no (easy) way to order things by Artist and then Album for example. Ever worse, Albums are not in alphabetical order. This is a real pain!

b) it doesn't play nicely with linux...you can get it to work, but out of the box it needs a little tweaking

I purchased this player about a month ago, and so far I am more than pleased with it's performance!

It's FM recording feature is excellent, with three quality settings(Low, Quality, Medium Quality, and High Quality), you have choices in how much space is taken up when you record. Nor does it take up much space at all on high. Especially compared to my previous player(SanDisk Sansa Clip 2 GB MP3 Player (Black)), Which filled up quickly when recording FM.
FM reception is good most of the time, though fitful in buildings.

Interface is easily learned, and not complicated.

My only complaint is that the hold switch is difficult to activate without pressing on the edge of the screen/button. Especially while recording, which, if you press a button while recording, will pause the recording.

Besides that, fantastic product! Very happy with it.

Product is so cool, I bought it for my wife and it is everything a tiny MP3 Player should be. Forget the PODs get iRiver!

1.This player does not have strong bass sound. The music sounds flat and uninspired.

2. This player does not sync ratings and playcounts with windows media player 10 or 11, EVEN though it is listed as "mtp."

3. The artists, genres, and albums stored on the device are listed in RANDOM order. You will NEVER find the music that you are looking for especially if you fill it up to more than a gigabyte worth.

4. The d-click interface is not responsive. you will usually end up having to click twice for it to recognize that you clicked at all.

I am not angry about my purchase, just unsatisfied.

I bought this from Tigerdirect.com and you can not return it using the website. You must call the customer service number and wait to be put on hold, and hung up on before you get through to someone to help you. The from they send you with the return address on it says there is a 15% restocking fee if the item is not "defective" and you must pay return shipping.

This was my experience and I just wanted to share.
Thanks for reading.

I'm a big fan of iriver products, so I did not hesitate to replace my worn out iriver fm-recorder with an 'upgraded' model. I purchased the iriver mp3/fm/recorders because I am able to record fm broadcasts with excellent quality. This product is likewise remarkable in its ability to give great quality when recording on the FM band. I recommend replacing the earphones with a longer cable and better set because it also acts as the antenna, which will give greater reception and effects recording quality. Unfortunately, the battery only lasts a few hours (3-4 hours) on a single charge when recording. Since the only means of recharging the battery is via USB port I cannot wholeheartedly recommend this product. Sorry Iriver. :(

Once I worked through the player setup, I was glad I got it. The biggest pluses are the sound quality, sound customizing options, ease in navigation, and not being stuck with the whole iTunes racket :) Additionally it will search for your radio stations on its own and let you set them in memory with one action. That is nice for travel.

Transferring music files from your PC to the device also is not too painful. You can drag and drop and they load pretty quickly. Also you can create and organize folders on the device through your PC. You do NOT have to use Windows Media Player to do this, though setup gives you that option.

I have not tried storing any text or video on this yet. The screen is a bit small for watching anything, and I primarily got this device for music. I would be more inclined to load pictures on it instead of video.

My main criticism is the presentation of the instructions that come with the player. A 'quick setup' pamphlet is in the box. It is not very useful.

What they neglect letting you know is that the setup disc has an Adobe file with more detailed instructions. Not realizing that critical detail might lead a newbie to inadvertently set something they would not have wanted- had they known. Before you do anything, you are best off loading the disk and reading that file to acquaint yourself with the player.

Yet I did not find the format/layout of the directions in the file to be very logical or intuitive. I did a lot by instinct based upon setting up other mp3s. For a newbie, the directions would be frustrating. A flowchart that actually walks the user through setup and decision points would be a nice feature to include with the directions. That is just me; I'm used to creating descriptive and instructional items and therefore extremely critical of such media.

Aside from that, I'm pleased with the player!

I bought this product some months ago and I'm very happy with it. What surprises me is that all the people I show it to really likes it, but none ever heard of the iriver brand.
I use it to play music and also uploaded some family pictures, but it also has FM radio and other features. I would definitely recommend this product, and for the price there is no better option.

I purchased this product to record lectures broadcast over an FM station at the lecture hall. Lots of available memory. Battery lasted for the 3 hour am sessions. I was traveling and had no access to an outlet during the day.
Now all the reviews I read only delt with the music, video, & pictures. These are great features and easy to use. The only reason I purchased this was for the FM recorder feature. So very easy to use. The only problem I had was where I set the unit I would have trouble with reception. An easy fix. Now transfering to WMA was very easy and once it was transfered the files were not automatically deleted. A bonus for me. I wish there was a charger available that would recharge using batteries for travel. Maybe some day. When I contacted iriver they were very helpful and quick to respond to my questions;this was before I purchased the unit. You can set the record quality. The higher the quality the more memory it will take up. I would recommend practicing with it before you have a special recording to do. If you are looking for an easy to use mp3 player and FM recorder I would recommend this one for the price. I am very happy with my purchase.