Customer Reviews

iriver SlimX iMP-350 CD/MP3 Player with Ultraslim Design

5 star:		(202)
4 star:		(69)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(22)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

There are well over 100 reviews (mostly positive)
for the iRiver iMP-350 (SlimX) on Amazon alone,
so I won't waste too much space writing yet another
comprehensive review ...

Suffice to say, this is a great piece of gear, with
all the bells and whistles one expects from a MP3-CD
player (and more). A real gadget-freak's "dream".
As another review noted, you'd need at least IQ 90 to
figure out all the features (particularly learning
the remote).

The only quibbles I have are: [1] bundled earbuds are
very poor (solution: buy better ones); [2] embarrasing
'carrying pouch' (solution: 3rd-party CD portable case);
[3] remote feels a bit fragile/light (better treat this
with kid gloves, since you lost most advanced functions
if you lose/break the remote); [4] remote LCD is *small*
(you need to hold it really close to your face to make
out some of the tiniest text and icons, the LCD is very
high-res/crisp but only about 1" across -- postage stamp
sized!), [5] clunky auxillary battery pack/tube (although
it's nice that iRiver includes this for no extra cost).

I had a difficult time finding places to buy the special
rectangular NiMH batteries which the SlimX uses, not to
mention a source for an external charger. I figured the
following might be helpful for others in the same boat:

iRiver iMP-350/SlimX uses 2x NiMH "prismatic" (gumstick)
batteries of 1400mAh capacity each. These are the batts
which you install into the flip doors under where the CD
spins. Apparently, these batteries are commonly used by
portable MiniDisc units from Sony, Panasonic, etc. The
following batteries should be equivalent:

- Sanyo HF-A1U
- Sony NH-14WM
- Panasonic RP-BP140H

The lowest price I've found so far [on the net, anyway]
is US$/battery (Sanyo HF-A1U), from TNR Technical
(notice the pricelist posted is already outdated):

http://www.tnrtechnical.com/prismatic-rectangular-cells.html

The Sony and Panasonic batteries appear to be more $$$ (some
places sell the Sony NH14WM for UK$, or nearly US$).
I doubt the Sony battery is 10x better than the Sanyo part,
especially considering they both claim ~1400mAh capacity.
If anyone wants to conduct a comparison please post results
here :)

If you are considering purchasing an extra set (or two)
of these prismatic batteries, you'll want a charger also.
The best (only?) standalone charger I've come across, that
definitely works with all three types of battery [above]
is Sony's BC-7HT:

Ray

After much frustration, and pulling out my own hair, it appears I have finally found a suitable MP3-CD player.

I started with the RCA RP2410 player, which froze every 5-6 minutes, and could only be restarted by removing the batteries. If you don't believe how bad it is, read the reviews. As of this writing, it averages 2 stars. Ouch.

Then came the Memorex MPD8507CP. Don't even get me started.

I thought I had found the one when I got the RioVolt SP250, but I made the unfortunate discovery that its battery life was about 15 minutes to 2 hours - not the 15 promised hours at all. Go look at my review of it for yourself, though.

I had given up on MP3 CD Players. Then, I found the iRiver SlimX. This is, hands down, the best one on the market (I'd know; I bought 3 before this and tried 5-6 others in stores). It comes with all needed accessories - AC Adapter, carrying case, remote, earphones, two special stick batteries for 13 hours of battery life, and an external battery pod which will hold 2 AA NiMH batteries to extend battery life by 10 hours. The instruction manual is great, and anything not found there can be found at their website, and/or technical support.

This player's slim design is ingenius, and the screen is on the remote - and remote can do anything that another CD player can. All the standard features are there, like repeat track/directory, resume, shuffle, program order (I believe that WinAmp playlists can be imported, too), options, and tons more! The screen itself packs all you need onto it in an organized manner (ID3 tags, volume sound balance, file type/bitrate, bass type, and more...even the song's lyrics, which can be done with a program at iRiver's website) and allows easy navigation of your music. You can plug any pair of headphones you want into this remote, and the sound quality will be great. The ones that come with it are surprisingly good.

What else? Tons (I know that's pretty clichéd, but bear with me)! This can handle VBRs (variable bit rates), meaning you can decrease sound quality slightly to reduce file size - very useful with data-format audio files. I have managed to fit 275 80 kbps WMA files onto a 650MB CDRW CD for over 18 hours of music! This player also supports MP3 and ASF files, and can read from CD-Rs and CD-RWs. I reccomend CD-RWs, so you can remove songs and put new ones on the disc. On an unrelated issue, the player also has firmware upgrades which add new features to the player, available for download and burning at iRiver's website. And unlike other players with 8 minute antiskip, this player allows you to turn that off, to save battery life!

Then there's the option screen. This lets you do the following: enter your name into the player's memory (in case someone steals it or it is lost, you can identify it), change the backlight contrast/brightness on the screen, the function of some of the remote's buttons, choose the audio CD's antishock length, turn several functions like resume, fade in, repeat and shuffle on and off, create your own bass setting, change the length of inactivity until the player turning itself off, language (35 of them, from Afrikaans to Ukrainian), change display of time remaining in song or time elapsed in song, fast foward on/off and speed, directory skip, sound balance between ears, auto-pause, and more.

I highly reccomend that if you buy this product, you buy a set of Palm Pilot stick-on screen protectors, cut one to the right size, and stick in onto the screen to avoid scratching. Hey, it worked for me!

To summarize, this is the greatest CD-MP3 player on the market. If you can afford it (took me a while to earn the money), this is the one for you.

I had done alot of researching and searching around for a good all in one media player(You should too). I saw the 350 in a best buy catalog and decided to check it out. I was planning to get the slim sony model, i dunno what it was called... but when i saw all the features of the 350 slim x, i was blown away. I went to the store to see it first hand. I saw the slim 400 too but i thought it looked kinda boring, not as good as the 350 with that sharpish curve on the top and they both had almost the same features so i decided to get a 350. OMG it is awesome. People say it takes a while to load songs, it really doesnt. I have my super mp3 disc with 165 songs on it, over 16 hours of music, and it takes exactly 6 secs to load, which is great considering all the stuff it has to read. The firmware update works great. You get updates at iriver.com, the new update even puts the game snakebyte on to play on the remote which is great to kill some time in a train or bus. Theres even a program that lets u put lyrics on your songs which will display on the remote as the song progresses. I found the program a little hard to figure out... but i got it after reading the intructions at iriver.com. The radio sounds great. I would recommend getting better headphones, not that they sound bad, but they kinda look cheap. I have to agree with some other reviewers that say the remote is a bit hard to use at first. IT is for about the first 2 days but this is because the remote controls so much different things, i swear there are like over 80 different things u can tweck to suit your listening needs, u can have ur nam displayed on the remote, u can change the visuilzations(yes it has 3 differnt ones)Considering all the remote can do id say that it is really simple to use and the font size is just right. I have 20/20 vision but my mom has really bad vision and wears these thick lens glasses and she could read the remote fine too. My bro owns a new panasonic cd player and its so funny to put the slim x next to his. The slim x is literally half the thickness of the panasonic. and it is smaller and yet the slim x has so much more features on it. I got mine for 120. I bet if u shop around, u can get it cheaper, the 550 is coming out also, or it did, but it still has relatively the same features and i still think the 350 looks better than the 400 and 550. Well i hope this review helps u alot. I highly recommend this all in one player.Im sure there is nothing out there that can beat these slimx player, i think its all about thich of the 3 models u think look the best. O and some people worry about the brand name, iriver, its a great brand, they specialize in making mp3 players, maybe u have heard of the rios, iriver makes them. Well i again hope this review is helpful.

There are well over 100 reviews (mostly positive)
for the iRiver iMP-350 (SlimX) on Amazon alone,
so I won't waste too much space writing yet another
comprehensive review ...

Suffice to say, this is a great piece of gear, with
all the bells and whistles one expects from a MP3-CD
player (and more). A real gadget-freak's "wet dream".
As another review noted, you'd need at least IQ 90 to
figure out all the features (particularly learning
the remote).

The only quibbles I have are: [1] bundled earbuds are
very poor (solution: buy better ones); [2] embarrasing
'carrying pouch' (solution: 3rd-party CD portable case);
[3] remote feels a bit fragile/light (better treat this
with kid gloves, since you lost most advanced functions
if you lose/break the remote); [4] remote LCD is *small*
(you need to hold it really close to your face to make
out some of the tiniest text and icons, the LCD is very
high-res/crisp but only about 1" across -- postage stamp
sized!), [5] clunky auxillary battery pack/tube (although
it's nice that iRiver includes this for no extra cost).

I had a difficult time finding places to buy the special
rectangular NiMH batteries which the SlimX uses, not to
mention a source for an external charger. I figured the
following might be helpful for others in the same boat:

iRiver iMP-350/SlimX uses 2x NiMH "prismatic" (gumstick)
batteries of 1400mAh capacity each. These are the batts
which you install into the flip doors under where the CD
spins. Apparently, these batteries are commonly used by
portable MiniDisc units from Sony, Panasonic, etc. The
following batteries should be equivalent:

- Sanyo HF-A1U
- Sony NH-14WM
- Panasonic RP-BP140H...

The Sony and Panasonic batteries appear to be more $$$ ...
I doubt the Sony battery is 10x better than the Sanyo part,
especially considering they both claim ~1400mAh capacity.
If anyone wants to conduct a comparison please post results
here :)

If you are considering purchasing an extra set (or two)
of these prismatic batteries, you'll want a charger also.
The best (only?) standalone charger I've come across, that
definitely works with all three types of battery [above]
is Sony's BC-7HT...

Ray

Let's face it: there is today a dizzying array of cd players, MP3 players, and combination cd/MP3 players available on the market, and most of these are a lot cheaper than the SlimX. So why spend the money for this comparatively pricey unit? First of all, the bottom line when evaluating any music player should be sound quality, and this machine is first-rate in this respect. A tragedy in recent years (in my opinion)has been that manufacturers have diminished the output levels of portable units for the sake of being able to boast of longer playback time per set of batteries. They have figured (rightly, I guess) that most users are not all that concerned about sound quality.
By contrast, the Slim X provides stronger output than just about all other current players available, and this does translate to improved sound. Furthermore, one of its best features is a customizable equalizer that allows users to set their spectrum of bass/treble boost. This also includes a series of preset EQ settings that are optimized for classical, jazz, rock, dance, metal, etc. (there is, of course, also a "neutral" setting).

One of the principal annoyances of portable disc players generally is that they invariably skip when users engage in vigorous body movements (e.g., running). The SlimX includes different antiskip settings, including one for *eight minute* antiskip. This is sufficient to ensure that the machine virtually never skips, period.

Operation of the SlimX is handled through a small and well-designed remote control. The many (!) various functions available to users are mediated through "firmware" that is upgradable through iRiver's web site (upgrading requires a small bit of knowledge about downloading files and burning-to-cdr or cd-rw disc). This firmware feature is important, since the people at iRiver have shown an admirable willingness to respond to user feedback/complaints in the form of regularly improved firmware. For example, up until the most recent firmware upgrades, the SlimX was not capable of providing "gapless" playback for cd's that feature nonstop music (for example, dj mixes). Version 2.10 of the firmware solved this problem.

The SlimX actually has many features related to MP3 tracklisting/sequencing, track ID text/tags, etc., that many owners will never bother to use. Those options are available, however, to those for whom such features are important.

The design of the SlimX unit itself is slender and elegant. It's not as tiny, obviously, as some current MP3 players, but for a disc-based unit it's about as "slim" and light as is possible.

Are there flaws? Yes, a few. For example, the small size of the remote makes it difficult to read the display in some cases (especially for those of us who are over forty :-) ). The power supply options, while good, are not ideal. The unit comes with a set of two rechargable batteries that don't really last all that long (I find that they last about 3-4 hours and that they require more time than this to recharge). I suppose this is the "dark side" of the unit's strong musical output, so I shouldn't complain. Thankfully, there is a small attachment in which users can load two AA batteries, and this extends playback time considerably. This is useful, but ergonomically a bit clumsy.

The provided FM tuner is good, but some of us (in the older generation?) still would like to listen to AM radio for sports, news, etc., and this option is not available. Making the tuner feature both AM and FM would have seemed a fairly simple addition.

As is ALWAYS the case with portable players, the tiny headphones provided are not very good. To make use of the excellent sound quality available through the SlimX users are advised to invest in a good quality headset. My own earbuds of choice are the pricey but absolutely incredible Etymotic-4P's. These buds come at a steep price, but provide years of fantastic sound quality.

Given the complexity of the many functions available and the potential confusion involved in navigating through the many user menus (this involves distinguishing "long button pushes" from short ones, etc., and for me required a certain learning curve), it's important to add that there is a pretty good user manual included with the SlimX. It's a good idea NOT to lose this booklet!

Overall, this is the best cd/mp3 disc player I've encountered, and I've been very happy with it. It was/is not the cheapest machine out there, but for me, the user flexibility, long antishock time, and (especially) the high sonic quality have rendered the price issue unimportant.

If you're looking for a lightweight, portable CD player that really knows how to play MP3 files, this is it. This is the only one that I've found (and I've tried several) that can handle the combination of MP3s and CD-RW media without hiccuping. As I'd already converted most of my music collection to MP3, and really wanted to able to hear it in my car without changing discs every 10 songs or so, this one filled the bill.

Although the provided earbuds are pretty hopeless, the audio quality is superb when you use it with a decent set of headphones or hook it into a good stereo system, whether listening to classical or heavy metal, with distinctive bass and clear highs that don't drown out the middle frequencies. The audio equalizer does provide a fairly wide range of presets appropriate for widely varying types of music.

The in-line remote control takes a little bit of getting used to (and the manual is not a great help in figuring out how to get to all the various menus), but once you get the hang of it, it's not only simple, but someone did a little thinking and made the most commonly used commands of Pause, Stop, Forward/Backward one track, Forward/Back 10 tracks, and Repeat Mode all available via no-sight touch control, great when I'm in the car and can't take my eyes off the road. Full navigation by directory or by search of MP3 ID is also very useful on a CD with 200 tracks, and though the print size on the unit is very small, it is quite clear and readable.

Battery consumption, however, does not live up to its advertised value of 23 hours. I find that using both the built in rechargeables and my own external rechargeable AAs I get about 8-10 hours of playing time in-between recharges. This is not really a problem, as this amount of time is more than adequate, but indicates the marketing department got a little carried away (or the engineering department didn't test it under real world conditions).

The unit itself is very rugged. I've inadvertently dropped it several times - it not only has merrily kept on playing (without skipping), it didn't even show any dents. The only operational glitch I've observed is that it sometimes can't recognize a CD_RW disc (whether burned as an audio or MP3 disc) if the disc is cold (say at about 50 degrees).

Although a little on the expensive side versus other players, this unit definitely delivers value for the price.

The SlimX is my first mp3 cd/player and from the looks of it probably my last (unless Iriver can make something better than than the slimX)!

Iriver is the sister company of RioVolt so for all of you RioVolt lovers out there you will feel right at home. First I must say in terms of costumer service Iriver handels this very well. I bought the SlimX straight from them before all the major websites had any news about the SlimX and Iriver was with me every step of the way.

Now the SlimX is a wonderful, amazing, piece of equipment. I am still truly shocked that I am able to carry 11 and a half hours of music on one cd! Now other players out there can play mp3s, but anyone really serious about music should own the SlimX.

Why? Well Iriver offers firmware upgrades. You can just download the latest upgrade burn it on a cd and pop it in the SlimX and it will self install. There are so many benefits, with these upgrades, like better radio reception, better graphical user interfaces, the ability to personalize your SlimX to suit your needs.

The sound is awesome. I find that when i custimize the EQ settings i get a richer fuller sound. So far i have not had any skipping problems, with any regular music cd's or my own burnt cds. You get the 8 minutes of shock protection with mp3s burnt at a 128 bitrate, so i always burn all my files with this bitrate. However the SlimX can handle various bitrates well. Also a very excellent feature, when you go to iriver [website] you can download The Iriver Caption Editor program. This allows you to synchronize lyrics with an mp3 file so you can read them on the awesome SlimX remote!

Now about the remote you can't help but notice it! I have heard some say its too big, its not ergonomic, the lcd screen is too small. I say its not true. I find that it works just well. The text and lyrics are easily legible, and things like contrast of the lcd screen can be fixed through the control menu. I find that the remote is very easy to use. In Fact I was up and running with my SlimX right out of the box, I played with it first and read the manual later, its real easy to use.

The construction of the SlimX is awesome and durable.

What I love is that Iriver will always keep the SlimX fresh with the firmware upgrades, and you will never stop learning about your SlimX. If you are planning to buy an mp3 player save up for this one, it is well worth it! I use it everyday, but is even better when you have a long trip! Everyone will have 50 cds, you will have one!

I did ALOT of research before purchasing an MP3/CD player and I made an excellent choice with the IRiver 350. Here's why:

1) Batteries that recharge IN the player.
2) A backup adapter for two AA batteries (that can also be rechargable)
3) IP3 Tags are displayed on the remote
4) The remote works great w/clip to belt or strap
5) The player is ultra-slim
6) You can easily place the player in your suitcase/bookbag and simply use the remote exclusively.
7) They have already updated the firmware once and the product directions as well.
8) The sound is great and a built-in equilizer allows you to change tones for different music types.
9) NO SKIPS YET!

The only downer:
1) Bad earbuds (they hurt)

If you are going in the direction of an MP3/CD player, I highly recommend this baby.

This product is for those people who enjoy having LOADS of music at their disposal, you can play your usual music CDs as well as burned CD-Rs or CD-RWs with MP3 or WMA files, and as an added bonus it has a built-in FM receiver to listen to common radio.

That's a lot more than any portable CD player will do, and with a competitive price. To make it even more desirable, it has all the features (shuffle, repeat, program, resume, power off timer, and hold -button lock-) and functions that the best CD players feature as well as a back-lit LCD screen remote control that has full functionality, and a line output so you can plug it to a stereo, pro-amplifier or car-stereo (adapter cables not included) and share the wonders. If you are worried about skipping, you need not to, because it has an excelent anti-shock protection system (you may turn it off to save battery life), 180 sec on music CDs, and 450 on MP3s, I haven't been able to make it skip with normal shaking.

In terms of power it works with long-life rechargeable batteries (included) common 2xAA common alkaline battery in an external cilinder-shaped adapter, or you can just plug it to the wall outlet with the included AC adapter with so many options, you can never run out of juice.

In the downside.. I can only say, three things:
1) The included earphones are in my opinion extremely unconfortable, but that is easily solved, and you can use any kind of earphones you get your hands on (you can even use two earphones at once, by plugging them into the line out jack).
2) It has no belt clip, and it comes with a string pouch, which is completely useless for jogging and training, so you'll have to find some other way to carry it around, but it's so small and light that thats not too much of a problem either.
3) The third issue is with the instruction manual... it seems there was a shortage of english-speaking people, the time it was translated, so don't expect it to be too clear. Anyway, it has so many functions, that you'd have to use it for some time to learn them all.

I've been using my iRiver Slim X for 2 weeks and its awesome. I've had no problems at all. I've burned my whole MP3 collection in common CDs (each disc will hold 650Mb worth of MP3s, which is about 160 to 180 songs). And haven't had any problems with any of the files, even if they are in different bitrates (quality).
The startup spin, will obviously take longer than with ordinary music CDs as it has to read the whole directory, but it is really quick, less than 10 seconds, which is better than any other mp3-player I've seen.

I am an extremely satisfied customer.

I've search high and low for a quality cd/mp3 player that was high quality and relitivley inexpensive. On amazon alone, I spent over a month trying to find the right player and I think I've found it. I've had my iRiver iMP-350 for four months now and it hasn't skipped once! For those who don't like reading, here's a list of pros and cons for this product:
Pros:
1. Absolutly 100% skip free
2. High quality product for the money (competitor riovolt is twice as large and doesn't come standard with an lcd remote, which costs an additional $30)
3. Cool slim design can fit in your pocket and is half as thick as most CD players
4. MP3, WMA, WAV reading capabilities, upgradable firmware, as well as being CDRW compatible and having an FM tuner, all in a nice little package.
Cons:
1. Not very comfortable earbuds, but tolerable to those who aren't too picky about sound quality
2. The case that it comes with is pretty much worthless as far as protection for such a pricey item
3. Rechargeable batteries need to be "broken in." At first, their charge only lasts for a couple of hours, but after discharging and charging (an option given when plugged into AC adaptor) they last the full 15 hours that are promised
4. Remote cable is a little long, which can be both a help and a hinderance. It's great if you have the player hidden in your backpack (perhaps hiding from your teacher in class) and the remote in your pocket, but when the player is also in your pocket you're left with a tangled mess
Well, I hope this review has helped your descision. If your looking towards the Riovolt, don't be fooled. The lcd is on the player, so you have to be holding it in order to easily navigate, plus if you want an lcd remote for it, it'll bump the price up 20 or 30 dollars! All in all, the iRiver delivers the most bang for the buck, this is one great cd player!