Customer Reviews

iriver T10 2 GB MP3 Player with FM Tuner (Black)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have an iRiver H10 that I have liked very much (and still use quite a bit). I wanted a player that would also work with Audible, though, and my H10 does not. Because it was convenient (at Office Depot), I first tried a SanDisk 2 GIG model. (see my review of it.) It was so cheaply made, so poorly functioning. Sound on music was so inferior to what I had been used to with iRiver. Took it back. I could not believe how bad it was, and I ordered the H10 right away. (My wive has an Ipod Mini, and I have also a Samsung 1 gig YTP6 or something like that. I like all of these, but the iRiver I have had easily sounds better than the Ipod, and the Samsung model is no longer sold. The newer Samsungs are very disappointing if you are used to the older model).

Okay, to the T10. I love it. It is constructed very solidly. you can feel the difference with many other ones out there. (Esp Sandisk's models that seem like little toys and sound worse.) The feeling is solid, controls are very positive in feel, and logical. Sometimes you hear people complain of iRivers being a bit more confusing to operate. I suppose this could be true, but that is merely because they have many more features you can tweak and control than most other models out there. If you don't like having more choices in operation and sound, I would buy something else. Probably the Creative models are a super choice.

The only thing I would have done a bit differently on this model (T10) is that in making the buttons harder to accidently hit when you don't want to, they made it a little harder to press the volume or advance controls than I would prefer.

Sound is superb. It's a bit better, I think, than the H10. The other review here suggesting the sound it not as good as an earlier model, I suppose, could be important, but my experience with the T10 is quite the oppostive, and the H10 is known as a superb sounding unit. I highly recommend the T10. (I've just returned recently a Samsung (that new 4 gig model) and a 2 gig Sandisk. They were inferior to this T10 by a wide margin.

The iRiver T10/2Gb is perfect for someone who doesn't want to carry around 40-80Gb worth of music they'll never listen to and even more importantly, its truly portable!

When I first went to a store asking to buy an mp3 player which ran on batteries, they couldn't understand why anyone would want something so archaic. I had to find somewhere else with an mp3 player with a battery and that is when I came across the T10. I travel a LOT and to a lot of places where taking my computer and/or power plugs along is (a) inconvenient, (b) heavy and (c) useless as there is no power. I can't begin to describe the relief that all I have to do is throw in a couple of spare AA batteries and I've probably got at least a month's worth of playing time there. Why on earth would anyone want an mp3 player that has a rechargeable battery that at best, can provide about 20 odd hours of music? Each time I've put a battery into my iRiver, I have managed to get about a month's worth of listening out of it - and usually it only runs down because I forget to lock it when I turn it off and the on button gets bumped in my bag. So I have yet to test the battery to see if it is actually about 45 hours play time - all I know is it lasts a long, long, long time! Even the other day, with only 1 bar left on the 'how much charge does my battery have" icon, I still got an extra 6 hours out of it.

As to its other features, the sound quality is superb. I have previously owned an iRiver H10 and thought possibly the sound on the T10 was a little tinny in comparison, but I browsed my way into the custom SRS settings and added a little base and believe me, the sound coming out of my headphones now rivals the subwoofer-enforced base coming out of any souped up ghettomobile. I have nooooo complaints about the sound quality!
I should also add I am pleased that iRiver use a gold plated tip to their headphones - don't ask me why, but that always seems to reproduce sound quality better.

I long gave up on using the iRiver software to transfer music to my T10. The fact is even through the 2Gb works fine for me around town and travelling, I have more than 2Gb of music on my computer. The iRiver software tried to synchronise between your 2Gb T10 and the stuff in "My Music" on your Windows-based computer. Not feasible! So I just transfer songs across using Windows Explorer - much greater control and an awful lot quicker! Blow off the software people. However, if you have an older computer, you may need to at least install the driver to recognise the T10 on your computer, but once that is installed, it is very easy to transfer music just using the UBS cable and Windows Explorer.

I have used the FM radio (once) when trying to find out some news. It works fine, but is defintely fiddly if you don't use it regularly. Reception was as good as any other portable device broadcasting over the airways though.

I find the buttons are very well placed for 'blind pushing' - because the headphone cord sticks out a bit and the device is triangular shaped, its quite easy to put your hand in a bag, feel the jack, feel the flat face and push the buttons to advance songs or change volume without actually having to see the device.

And lets not forget the price - substantially cheaper than that "in unit" with its white headphones yet more functionality - you not only get an mp3 player with comparable sound quality, but you get a voice recorder and an FM radio as well. For less.

My only quibbles (and they are defintely small things) are:
- The clip is awkward. It's nice that the device clips onto your belt hook, but juts out and because of the triangular shape due to emplacement of the battery, the controls all end up facing your body and its awkward to twist the device to see the buttons to change songs.
-How easily the unit can turn itself on (or off) if you don't use the (very easy to use) lock button.

I'd recommend this to anyone who travels, doesn't want to carry a ton of plugs and cords to recharge, and prefers to carry only their really favourite tunes - there is plenty of space for the best of's!

This is a revised review. This was a great mp3 player. Sound is great, controls are easy to learn. Granted, there's still quite a bit about the menus to learn, but it's worth how many songs you can put on it. Construction is great, although the shape is a little awkward but I don't care. The battery case is a great feature, too. I love the colored screen. This is well worth the money. I love how it uses regular AA batteries than having to use your computer to charge the player. When I go on vacation, this is perfect. The belt clip is useful, too. Thanks, Iriver and Amazon for a great price. Can't beat the price for the 2gb. Highly recommended!!! Easy to download music from your computer, either use Media player or I use my Musicmatch. Now that I had to buy a new computer, I'm having problems installing my Iriver T10 into it. It keeps coming up cannot install driver which it requires no driver. I tried getting a hold of Iriver to no avail. Not happy. I loved my T10 but now I can't use it. Any suggestions? I don't want to buy a new one, but I'm getting more frustrated. Iriver is no help at all, even though I went to their website to download a patch, etc to no avail.

I have a 700 series iRiver. I just bought the new T-10 so I would have more storage space for long distance travel (2GB). My tiny 256 MB one is great for daily commute short distance travel because I like hearing the same stuff, but is limited if flights are across the country or further. Figure in airport waiting time, and you'll see what I'm saying.

While iRiver makes the best portable mp3 player made for use that can withstand actual use (I think iPods, especially Nanos are easily broken), there are some differences between this model and the previous one.

My older iRiver is better than what they sell now. Granted, there's more storage space, and there are frills with the newer model, but I like the "original" more:

1. The iRiver manager doesn't exist anymore. What I liked about this feature is that I could see availability left and everything was within a self-contained Windows Explorer window. Now, you now have to use Windows Media Player to "sync" the music in. It confuses the crap out of me, so to bypass this frustration, I open the player as though it were a flash drive and load everything into the media folder. I think the change is done this way to support an online music platform for purchasing music. Well, for people like me who don't do that, and have all the music on a portable hard drive, it's confusing.
2. The player seems more flimsily made, and buttons are even harder to maneuver.
3. The player doesn't include a skin or case to protect it from the general abuse I inadvertently give the electronic portable music equipment I love. I don't think there's one available for purchase, either. Unfortunately, the shape is different, so I cannot interchange its use.
4. I think the new lanyard is going to strangle me (or give me skin burn).
5. Ability to program radio stations via the iRiver manager is now done directly onto the unit itself. I used to have either option.
6. They now sell the armband I don't use anyway, separately. Thank you, Apple.

On the flip side, there are more features showing iRiver's progress for the better:
1. It can now hold images. Why I would need it, I have no idea, but the option is there.
2. There's a clock/alarm/timer/date feature.
3. There is an SRS and more equalizer flexibility.
4. Battery life is longer.
5. Lanyard setup is better even though the lanyard now will strangle or skin burn me.
6. Color screen.

Despite these differences, iRiver still delivers the best product for my needs. And best of all, I only have to carry a spare AA battery in case the battery within dies. Doesn't taking the iPod while traveling force most to invest in the additional $30 for an adapter? How many people are going to carry their laptops with them? iRiver gets practical with what it delivers and what the user in the end, needs, to be happy.

This is way better than any ipod gimmicks man
the sound is nothing that ipod delivers or can even thik of ....
And its a tough player for tough people not like the fragile ipods which break open when falls.
Moreover this is a player which no other mp3 manufacturer in this world can beat.....
Im a audiophile and would never compromise with cheap sound man...

so test it ur self guys....

I chose the 2GB T10 because of the battery. One provides up to 45 hours of playtime. So, I can carry a spare and never worry about running too low. I am a weekend biker (bicycle) and am gone from the car on the Katy Trail for 3 or more hours, usually riding by myself. My former music was via a CD player strapped to my waist in a carry case. Good music, but only holds 1 CD and carrying more is a bother. This MP3 has sound quality approaching my Panasonic cd player and it holds a lot more music in a very small size. I did replace the earbud speakers - they fall out and also hurt my ears after an hour. I repaced them with a set of Koss over the ear speakers. For a reasonable cost they are plenty good enough for my bike rides. I am very pleased with this purchase. And, I am known to be a "picky person."

I have two, T10-1GB players. They are great in all respects, except for VBR support. This is OK if you use music ripped from CDs where you can choose the format and bit rate. However, if you download music from MSN, it comes in VBR format.

Songs downloaded in VBR format have a tendency to skip in places - most annoying. If you look at the firmware history on their web site, they specifically say they have added support for VBR in firmware version 1.53. The latest version is 1.70 and it's not working.

I have had a case open with iRiver for 4 months. I have not heard from them in the last two.

It's a great player -- no doubt about it. The sound quality is one of the best among mp3 players. The radio is topnotch. That said, one has to be out of his mind to pay $150 for this aged player considering so many other options on the market. I picked up a 2GB version on Ebay 3 years ago for $80.

What can I say, I bought fantastic mp3 player. Excellent sound, very good design (maybe player is a little bit too big for some people, but i think it's fine), battery life about 50 hours (unfortunatelly uses AA batteries which make it a little bit bigger than expected but i don't care), excellent SRS and equalizer. One minus is maybe play/stop button, which is also used as cancel, so when you are in the browser menu and you want to play the file you have to press the center button, because play button in the menu is used as cancel, and when you play the file play button is used as play and stop. Next time iriver - make more logical context independent buttons. My firmware is 1.73, the official page says the latest version of firmware is 1.70 ???, however you get a program iRiver Plus 2, which you can upgrade to version 3 now. I like it more than Windows media player. My firmware is also UMS (drag and drop). I heard some people bought mp3 player with MTP, but that can be changed. What is the big deal about that anyway. I have flash memory stick of 2 GB where I put data, and on iRiver I only put music. iRiver Plus can be also used for transferring files to mp3 player and it is very nice, I use it all the time plus for creating playlist etc. It automatically checks for new firmware and it says that the latest is 1.77, unlike what the official page says, but i didn't upgrade since everything is working fine right now. Don't change horse that is winning - that's my motto. Some guy says that he can't play VBR mp3s (variable bit rate). Maybe because his firmware is 1.70, i can't be sure. He buys mp3s at MSN, I buy them at mininova. I think mp3s are better at mininova than MSN. I have many VBR mp3s and they all work great! Also one guy complained about 1 second pause between files. How about man you connect mp3 files that you want to play and there will be no pause. Ok once connected you can't change the order in which they are played, but hey nothing is perfect. Also There's a clock/alarm/timer/date feature. What can I say, buy it. When you are going to vacation, you don't need to bring any adapters like with Sony or iPod, just bring 4 batteries pack and they will last all your vacation. Enough said.

btw. the price at amazon is $250 and $200 at discount. What is that ??? I bought it for $150, and I live in Croatia, which is in Europe. In Europe, electronics is usually more expensive, like 30% or sth. :lol:, I got a better deal then americans, he, he. :)

btw2. sometimes when i say buy, it can also mean "buy" (mininova)

This is a compact MP3 player plus FM tuner and recorder. Many of the MP3 players on the market have their batteries charged by connecting them to a USB port. Lets say you are on vacation and you don't have your laptop or a plug-in charger with you. You are out of luck for a charge unless you have a T10 which runs on a AA battery. AAs are small, easy to pack and are sold all over the world. So the T10 is the obvious chance if you travel.

The menus are logically laid out, and the sound is crisp. One drawback: It is advisable to read the manual before you try to operate it.