MP3 Reviews

This MP3 player is all that other reviewers claim. I looked here in Australia for a CD player and found that I could order the IMP-150 for the same price i could buy a mediocre CD only player in the shops....no contest!
Frustration however when I tried to upgrade the firmware. There are apparently TYPE 1 and TYPE 2 players. That's not in the manual (nor is anything about updating firmware). Much time spent trying to flash the wrong firmware b4 I did some more research and found the difference between the two. (if your model starts up with ""1.03c" then it's TYPE 2).
If you switch off the player before the firmware update is complete the unit is dead...finished. Read the forums for evidence of that. Thankfully the IMP-150 will recognise if u try and flash the wrong firmware (simply doesn't recognise the disk) - but I don't know how reliable that is. There's no going back if you corrupt something.
I mention this only because no-one else has. The ability to update the unit is great - but there is a risk.
**** 4 stars
- the earphones are uncomfortable and don't fit well...buy some padded foam covers or keep them as spares.
- manual is good but needs to cover firmware upgrades.
- build quality is good, features (for price) are excellent.
- In Australia came with charger and 2 Duracell batteries. Nice touch!!

I've just received the ChromeX, and I love it! The sounds from this machine are crystal clear and well-balanced; I hear details I haven't heard from other systems.

The anti-shock protection is very good - I've tried jiggling and shaking the player and it doesn't miss a beat.

The 'remote' is light and has all the functions you could want. Navigating the menus on the CD player and with the remote were easy after looking at the manual, and relatively intuitive.

I haven't had the CD player long enough to know how well the batteries last on average, or to run across any problems (not that I think that I will).

Here is a summary of the pros and cons of the ChromeX from what I've seen so far:

Pros:
* Excellent sound quality
* Easy-to-use
* Plays MP3 / WMA / ASF / regular CDs (including CD-R and CD-RW)
* Stylish design
* Upgradeable firmware
* Handy little remote
* Stylish design
* Head
* Inexpensive, especially for this quality!

Cons:
* No AC adapter included (can be purchased direct from iRiver)
* No rechargeable batteries included (despite what the amazon site is included)

For this price it would be hard to find another player with all of the features and quality of this one!

I purchased this player wanting the most features for a reasonable price (of course, that's relative). When I read the specs on this particular player I felt confident that it would meet my needs - an mp3/cd player w/ navigation, decent-size lcd, random play, fast forward and rewind on both mp3 and audio cd, upgradeable firmware, and decent battery life. When I read through the user manual - it did all that plus MORE! The lcd is backlit, it displays text from cd text audio cds, and when shuffling songs, you can set random play w/in folders or even ALL folders. It supports up to 250 folders, 999 songs, and you can save winamp playlists onto your cdr and use it w/ the player. It scrolls the entire tag name on your mp3s too. A sweet player at a sweet price. I'm very satisfied w/ this purchase. Can you tell? hehe

Do I recommend to iPod, despite the price? The answer is a loud Yes. This product is wonderful. Holds more music then you may ever need. The interface is intuitive and easy to use. If you're the type that needs to read instructions before even attempting to figure things out, well guess what, even you can use this product. The sound quality is great; the size is petite and easy to put anywhere, whether it's your pants pocket or your shirt pocket. The carrying case may seem skimpy but it actually does a good job of protecting the iPod. The case is similar to the hard plastic cases for cell phones where you slide the iPod out to make any adjustments but the case stays strapped to your belt. The remote is great to, again intuitive in use and after only a use or two you'll have no problem hitting those buttons without looking.
When it comes to listening to all those songs on the iPod you have many search options such as search by song, album, and singer. Add all the playlists you want to make listening to what you want even easier. If I have any complaint, it is the shiny chrome surface which is perfect for fingerprints and smudges but after a day or so of use, you will get use to it and no longer notice.
Now to get the music to your iPod you have to have a firewire port. Many computers don't come standard with this so you may have to invest about $35 to get a firewire card. Trust me, make the investment. All those people that complain about not having USB support do not know what they are talking about. The reason you want the firewall card is simple - speed. There is more then a 10x difference in the amount of information a firewire card can transmit versus a USB card. For example, lets say you have 10 Gigabytes of songs to transfer. With USB, you are talking about 8-10 hours to transfer all that information. With firewire you are talking about an hour tops. Time saved alone makes the $35 investment worthwhile.
So you have this wonderful piece of Apple hardware but what about the Windows software - MusicMatch? Well, it stinks. That is putting it mildly. To add songs to your play list you first have to add songs to the MusicMatch library, no big deal there, but no instructions on how to do it either. So you have your songs in the library and you want to change them so after you have the iPod hooked up you click "Sync" and after thirty or so minutes you have 1000 plus songs on your iPod.
So where are the problems? Well after you fire your iPod up you notice some strange things like the same artist listed five times or the same album showing three times. Looking carefully you will notice the difference is only a character or two so Pink would be listed Pink, Pin, and Pi. So you think, aw man, my iPod is defective, but if you check out your MusicMatch library you will notice that it lists the singer the same way. So you correct those entries using the "Tag" option. But guess what, when you look at the album titles, artists, song titles and genre you notice that so many of them have errors, usually the last character missing from each field. Suddenly you don't have to fix dozen or so titles but quite literally your entire library of 1000 plus songs times four fields, using the tag option. On top of that, there is no guarantee that MusicMatch will transfer those changes to your iPod. The fix according to MusicMatch is to add a space at the end of every entry, and this works but again to have to do this to 1000+ songs for four different fields is a time-consuming proposition. Supposedly a fix will be out for this problem but considering what a basic thing it is to read a text field and duplicate that information there is simply no excuse for it.
Also, another problem is the syncing. By syncing the iPod you would think that meant I added a new album to my collection and after hooking my iPod to the computer, just that album will be added. Nope, MusicMatch deletes your entire library from the iPod and re-adds it, in the process adding the new album. Also, before even doing this you have to tell the library to add this album. It does not automatically add it even though that album is in the same directory that the library is compiled from.
A final problem is there is a feature that allows volume leveling so that all the songs have the same volume when played. Sounds like a cool feature till you realize that for MusicMatch to make the changes to level the volume it actually alters the file on your computer then transfers it. So you can't revert back to the way it previously was and also as a bonus, all that information about album, song title, genre and artist are now gone and the only way you can change them is to use MusicMatch's tag ability because the Windows property section no longer contains those fields.
So to sum up, iPod wonderful mp3 player, quit simply the best on the market. MusicMatch, a joke of software that cannot do something as simple as read text fields properly. My recommendation? By Windows iPod, marvel at it. Take that iPod disc that comes with it and toss it back in the box. Instead, use a search engine to find program called ephpod. It is a free program that makes transferring music to the iPod a pleasure. It actually reads the tags right and when it syncs low and behold, the program only adds the new stuff without removing the songs on the iPod and adding them again. On top of that, it supports calender, contacts, Audible functions that MusicMatch doesn't. Basically, it is everything that MusicMatch should have been but isn't. Did I mention it is free? Remember, do NOT use the iPod disc that comes with, because MusicMatch will drive you crazy, instead get ephpod and enjoy the fantastic MP3 player that is the iPod.

I recieved this as a gift three days ago. The iPod itself is a well-designed and high quality mp3 player. It comes with a nice pair of headphones, an economical remote with a built-in clip (I liked this especially), a DC power charger, a FireWire cord, a pleather carrying case (which was also a nice plus), instructions, warranty, and then a MusicMatch Jukebox disk. Stay as far as you can from the disk. Keep it in another room, or, preferably, under Yucca Mountain where nobody will come in contact with it. This software is truly poisonous.
The moment I got the iPod out of its stunning packaging, I plugged it in for four hours to charge, then downloaded all of my music to it. I had small problems with this, when the software wouldn't read discs, but otherwise it was fine. Now, when I try to update the music, MusicMatch won't recognize the iPod. I'm going to get EphPod.

As a long time PC/Windows user, I've always been impressed with Apple's equipment, but also always at a distance. After purchasing my new iPod, I'm wondering why I don't have more equipment from them. This product is one of the first I've purchased in some time that delivers exactly on its promises, worked immediately out of the box as expected, and was just too fun and easy to use. In fact, it took longer to install the FireWire card on my PC, then it did to install, configure and start loading songs onto my iPod.

I'm sure you can read the features this iPod offers elsewhere, but let me tell you that all of those features are indeed included and this device performs extremely well and plays songs as well or better than any other device I've owned. In fact, if you're anything like me, once you start using an iPod, you'll wonder what you did before. Playing music from CDs, even my personal mixes, now seems so antiquated.

Assuming you decide to purchase this, here are a few tips: 1) consider the 40GB model. Now that I have this, I wonder if more might be even better (I'm nowhere near my 20GB limit, but more is always better, right?!), 2) consider adding an auto power kit for recharging from the lighter for long trips, and 3) very seriously consider getting the FM transmitter to play iPod tunes over any FM radio (Belkin makes a great model for about $30).

After that, the hardest decision is which songs to load up and play first. Enjoy!

First of all, let me say that I'm returning my ipod. Why? First the good things.

1. Extremely compact.
2. Extremely easy to use. Really don't need to read the manual. The touch sensitive scroll wheel works like a charm although it's a bit too sensitive.
3. Sound Quality is very good. Volume is more than adequate for most users. Maybe an equalizer would be good (Take a hint from Creative)
4. Fast startup time.
5. Good LCD display although when the contrast is increased,black vertical bars seem to appear and when the song title scrolls, the text is not very clear.

Now the bad part.

1. [Pricey]... is a lot of money for a portable MP3 Player, but the price/storage is very attractive. Compare this to spending [less] for a top Sony MP3 player with 128MB Memory stick. Buy another memory stick and you've just spent about the price of a 10GB ipod which has 40 times the storage capacity.

2. Non removable battery. This may be a compromise done to acheive the incredible size of the ipod, but this has serious implications. In most electronics devices, the life of a battery is much shorter than most other components, so it's a fair assumption that your battery will be dead sooner than the other components in your ipod. Toshiba rates the life of the hard disk in the ipod as 5 years, but the battery will lose much of it's capacity in a period of 3 years.

3. The battery discharges on it's own after a few days even if the ipod hasn't been used. This might be a design flaw or a bug in the software.

4. The case of the ipod is very easily scratched and very fingerprint prone. You have to be very careful in handling the ipod if you want to preserve it's beauty. The mirrored back looks great but it's beauty is short lived.

5. The software included (Musicmatch Jukebox) is terrible. It's sad that Apple decided to include third party software instead of porting iTunes to Windows, because the hardware and software are light years apart. Too many problems with Jukebox to mention it here....Avoid it and use Ephpod...It's much better although you can't save your playlists in your PC with Ephpod.

All in all, when I really think about it, I feel that I should wait till a better version comes out before I fork my hard earned money. Apple has done a great job but there is a lot of room for improvements and a step in the right direction would be to avoid Musicmatch Jukebox (Junkbox???).

I have owner 3 MP3 players and the Apple IPOD is the best I have used. Here's why:
1. The biggest problem in the other players I have used (The Archos and a Samsung Yepp) is the file sorting system. With the Apple IPOD, file sorting is made easy - it's by artist, by album, by song, by genre or by composer.
2. It has rechargeable batteries built in which last pretty long - 10 hours by my reckoning. Other MP3 players use batteries which get over pretty quickly. This player saves you the hassle and expense.
3. It is lightweight - not bulky like one would expect of a 10 gb hard disk drive.
4. It can also be used as a hard disk drive, not just a media for storing music. You can put pretty much anything on it.
5. Lastly, it has loads of extras like a calendar, the ability for you to store contacts (all you need to do is export your contacts from Outlook as vcards and you're set), and even a game.
Trust me, this player is the best one out there. You WILL not be disappointed.

I take my iPod everywhere, I have had it since Christmas, it is the single most useful invention I have ever owned, I have my whole Hip-Hop collection on it. But a few weeks ago it said I only had .5 gb left and I only 800 songs on it, but after a quick reset and reload of songs (it took 5 minutes honest!) it was back to new. You should definately get a case for these, I have kept mine in a case for its whole life and it looks as good as new.

Pros: Holds all but the biggest music collections, great quality in sound and product, long battery life, great software

Cons: Occasionally crashes

For all those people that say by a cheaper mp3 player I used to have the iRiver, and I through it out of my window 1 day because it was so terrible, trust me the ipod is the best designed and for the price you are paying you get more songs.

Ive been comparing Pocket PC's for the last 3 months and decided to buy the casio E-125. It has everything I need in a Pocket PC and more. The 150 mhz. processor gives me fast access to all the avalible programs and web pages. Along with that, the casio offers 32mb which is perfect for storing lots of information without buying an expensive compact flash memory card.

The Active Sync 3.1 is also quick to transfer information and comes with a backup program so save all my valuable information after recording it in the E-125. The TFT liquid display cant be beat and produces vibrant colors and pictures for easy viewing in any environment. The only hang up I can say about this product is that its software is a bit difficult for this first time Pocket PC user. Over all this product is four stars because even though the Pocket PC has come a long way, the Pocket Pc indrustry still has a ways to go before it produces a perfect product.

As soon I first saw a pocket PC, I wanted one. While I saved up for it, I made sure I did my research to make sure I bought the right product. Being in Canada, I had access to the IPAQ, the HP, and the CASIO models. The Casio E-125 has been a blessing. Here's Why:

1) SCREEN: It's screen is rich and crisp. The screen is visible in sunlight. While the IPAQ may be slightly better outdoors, it is not worth how much better Casio's screen is indoors. Casio has 65,000 colours, the IPAQ a mere 4,000, and it shows! The HP screen is horrible!!!! Don't touch HP Pocket PC's (I say this only about their Pocket PC's, I have an HP Pavillion Desktop Computer and it is marvellous)

2) PROCESSOR: OK, I'll give this one to IPAQ, but you can't compare their processors simply by the numbers. Each processor works differently, and the IPAQ's 206Mhz processor ends up being only slightly better that the Casio's 150Mhz. I would tell you about HP's benchmarks, but they are really bad. Again, stay away from HP.

3) SIZE: The IPAQ is definetely smaller than the Casio, but once you start adding expansion packs to the IPAQ, it is just as bulky, so no real difference here.

4) GAMING CAPABILITY: Problem with the IPAQ here. While it is faster, the IPAQ does not support pressing two buttons at once, which is bad if you want to play a game where you have to jump and shoot (or any two actions) at the same time. So if you want to play a lot of games, go with the Casio. The HP supports multi-button, but because its processor and and screen are so bad, stay away!

5) EXPANDABILITY: The Casio E-125 accepts MMC and CF type 1 and 2 cards. So does the IPAQ, but you must buy separate expansion packs to do so. The HP is similar to the Casio in this regard. As well, you can plug in a digital camera (sold separately) to the Casio E-125, something to think about if you want to get a digital camera in the future.

So that's why I told my friend who workd at a computer store to give me the CASIO E-125, even though he just got in a shipment of IPAQs. The Casio is not only better, but it has much less bugs than the IPAQ. As well, the IPAQ's battery CANNOT be replaced by the user, it must be returned to the factory. So for those reasons, go for the Casio!

This is actually very good handheld here, i recommend you to buy it because it has a very bright screen when i sychronise it doesn't crash like other TOO complicated machines. I added compact flash and had some of my movies in my computer transformed into window CE 3.0 usable movie item in windows media 7.1. REAL‚‡‚‚‚„II

Much and enough has been said about this unit. Was very happy with it for the 18 months I used it. Suddenly, without warning, (as with others) the on/off button ceased to function. Iriver responds with, "oh well, out of warranty and we do no repairs." Do their newer products still have this issue? Who knows, so I am moving on to iAUDIO CW300.

Just got this player last week. First thing I did was download the UMS firmware update so I could use it as a USB hard drive and not bother with the propietary transfer software. What I like:
1) small and light
2) sound is good, default setting of 20 is loud enough
3) uses cheap, easy to replace aa batteries
4) 256 MB holds 5-6 cd's at 128kbit/sec
5) can be used with linux or any OS after firmware update
6) fm reception is surprisingly good
7) battery life is pretty good (20 hour rating)

8) firmware can be updated, hope for Ogg Vorbis support
9) no restrictions on file transfer after UMS update

However, apparently iRiver just released a 700 series of players, which has the following advantages over this model (similar price point):
1) 40 hour battery life rather than 20 on 1 aa
2) built-in Ogg Vorbis support (higher quality sound, no patent issues)
3) USB 2 interface rather than 1 (MUCH faster)

If you want a player for the subway or the gym, don't need to carry your entire music collection with you at all times, this is a very good choice.

I researched MP3 players for weeks before buying one. I read professional reviews, and customer reviews like those on Target, and Circuit City websites. I found MP3 players break down into two basic types:large-storage, and small-storage. If you are one of those people who wants to store 10,000 songs on a player, your gonna spend around $500...i suggest the ipod. If you're like me, and you come home at least once a week, you probably don't need 700 cd's at your fingertips at once. A few cds, and a radio will do you well at the gym or during your commute. Then your looking for a quality MP3 player with the following:

1. Good sound quality
2. Good Radio Reception
3. Intuitive buttons
4. Ample Storage (128MB - 512MB)
5. Reasonably long Battery Life
6. Durrable

This is the ONLY MP3 player on the market that has all those at a reasonable price. It is exceptional in design, and has FM Radio, Recording of voice or radio, plays MP3s, WMA, and WAV files, and can double as a mass storage device.

Tips: If you are not technically savvy, call a friend who is to help you get set-up on your computer. If you download UMS firmware it will convert your player into a mass-storage-device...you 'll never have to use the iRiver software again. You can download it at www.iRiver.com. Go to Firmware updates.
Convert all your MP3s from 128kbps to WMA 64kbps. You will not notice a difference in the quality, and you can fit twice as many songs. I suggest JetAudio to do this. It's free, and easy to use. I have the 128MB player, and I fit 3 CDs + 25 Favorites (total of 60 songs), and I have 10MB free for radio recording.

Lastly, when reading reviews. Be scheptical of those who say "it works great, but the battery life sucks"...and like phrases. I don't know who grows these people, but we can't defy the laws of physics. The battery will run out, and a device can only use so-little-power. It's like buying a car and being dissapointed because you have to buy gas once a week. Go to Costco, buy a 100 batterys for 20 bucks, keep a spare in your pocket (like change) whenever you take out your mp3 player, and you'll never curse the player for needing energy to run. Go to ZDnet.com for professional MP3 reviews. This IS the best small-storage player on the market for the money.

worked great for 7 months, then died. Only 90 day warranty. Very few are still working after 9 months from what I've seen.

Here's my opinion compared to the iPOD, it's main competitor:

1. Sound is superior, equalizer, environment, spatial settings.
2. Once you get used to the menu system, you'll love it -- allows so much more functionality than the iPOD. Anyone with a 6th grade education should be able to handle it! Build playlists on the fly while listening to tunes!!
3. Solid build, very impressed, metal case.
4. Smaller display than the iPOD, but not worth [the money]for a bigger one! About all you get with the iPOD for the extra [cash].
5. Software is usable, but I'd recommend Audiograbber for ripping and Notmad for interfacing to the Zen (do a google search to find these)... elegant!
6. Tons of volume! Almost hurts at max.
7. Keep the backlight off and EAX off and you actually can hit the 14 hour battery life that is spec'd.
8. Comes with a very nice leather-like case.
9. Everything is customizable: contrast, times, backlight, off time, etc.
10. Weighs more than the iPOD, but I love the solid feel as a result.

It's such a good feeling to know I got my moneys' worth!!

Kudos to Creative...

The Creative Labs NOMAD Jukebox Zen has absolutely everything you could ever want in an MP3 Player.

Sound: Wonderful sound quality. It's clear with surprisingly rich bass, not to mention the volume can get extremely loud, even with the cheap included headphones. The EAX Audio Settings are also very nice if you are a true enthusiast interested in dialing every song in for the perfect clarity and ballance. There is virtualy zero distortion (98db) which sounds much better than the IPod.

Size: It will fit into any pocket... sure you may see the slight outline of the jukebox in your pocket, but it doesn't bother at all.

Design: The Zen looks much better in person than it does in the box or on the website. It's solid and has a nice feal with the buttons placed perfectly for using, but also tucked away enough to ensure they never get bumped. The scroll wheel is a god-send.

The Nomad Zen can pick apart your music 2 ways: one is by disecting the file name to determine artist, album, track number, etc (good for those who download all their music). The other way is very useful if you enjoy listening to full albums in the correct order. Using Music Match or similar software you can rip CD's or modify exhisting tracks to contain all the information needed to allow perfect album re-creation. Once all your tracks are transfered/modified to your Zen, you can choose to view all tracks by an artist or view all albums by the artist. choosing all tracks will list tracks in alphebetical order... sorting by album will give you all tracks sorted by track number. I was having difficulty finding a player that allowed for both of these options, and this one does it flawlessly.

To begin with I'm not a techie and I don't know a tweeter from a woofer. I just wanted to copy my CD collection (and possibly my cassettes) so I could listen to them anytime, anywhere. I researched all the choices and read everyone's reviews and decided on the iRiver IHP-40 primarily because of its memory size and comments made by manufacturers that they don't think people are interested in large memory capacity (worried they'd stop making this size).

The first thing to do when your iRiver arrives is to find the hold button on both devices and change its position. It is shipped with the hold "on" which may explain why some people couldn't get it to work from the get go.

You should also go to the main menu and under display change backlighting battery and adapter. They're set for 3 seconds and you can't navigate fast enough before it turns off.

The data management system shipped on the disc only works if you're going to use MP3 files. Its useless if you're going to copy WMA files. But that's OK, I'm using a computer with Windows XP and you don't need the disc at all and the data management system already on the IHP-40 works just great. But if you are going to use MP3's and installed the disc you have to go into the main menu and under 'general' turn on the DB scan in order to use it.

Another thing to know is that a friend tried reformatting per page 3 and the IHP-40 is too large to format using FAT32 (at least with Windows 2000 and Windows XP) so don't go down that road.

You can get help online. You may have to wait, but they will answer your question. The phone number they give connects to a machine that takes your name and number and someone will call you in two days.

It isn't THAT difficult to navigate, after a few minutes you start getting used to it. The case is brown and ugly. I use a generic CD waist belt holder when I'm listening. That way its' secure and doesn't advertise the fact that I have something expensive to steal.

I really wish it could record from the radio, but that's my only complaint.

I've copied 172 CDs so far (classical and jazz) and haven't had any problems downloading additions everyday. Have more CDs to copy. I've also copied a radio program recorded by my Crane recorder (its like a radio VCR) directly from the Crane to the IHP-40. Only complaint is you can only record in MP3 or WAV format and I'm trying to conserve space and use WMA files as much as possible.

Had concerns about the life of the battery (a lot of money if it isn't going to last forever), but there are places online that sell replacement batteries and instructions for most all of the hard drive jukeboxes. I wouldn't have purchased any of them if I couldn't replace the battery, just too much money for throw away technology.

So far I'm very pleased with the iRiver-IHP0-40. No more messing with CD cases, CDs in a different location from where I am when I want to listen, changing CDs or being connected to a large disc changer (listen with earphones) when I have to move around. I would recommend buying this if a friend asked me. I'd suggest reading all the reviews, because you learn alot about how to work the machine before it arrives.

Would give it 5 stars, but that's perfection. Think it should be rated 4 1/2 stars (because of not being able to record from the radio).

From the official iriver forum on July 19,2004, I see someone has translated the Korean iriver's announcement of H Series firmware update schedule. (If it turns out that there are mistranslations/misrepresentations, I'll update/delete this review here as soon as I hear). In late July/early August, they expect to have these features/fixes: 1. OTF File Deletion, 2. Propriety Format Support, 3. Playback Speed Control (not as flexible as IFP series, but will be supported)4. Gapless 5. Unicode Support in DB, 6. OGG Support for DB, 7. Hebrew Support, 8. Sub-dir support for Text Folder,9. Enhanced Shuffle Mode,11. Line Automated Lyric Support 12. A bug that occured to the remote when NAVI button is pressed in the PLAYLIST... is fixed,13. Programmable OTF Playlist,14. LCD Screen Bug in Radio Mode Fixed,15. Reduced Noise on the LCD Screen While Using the Remote,16. External Battery Support.

Due in October they are claiming: 1. Volume Control in Record Mode, 2. Recording Without the Infamous "Pauses," 3. Mono recording Support,4. SAD Support 5. Auto Sync Support (??)6. Korean Menu Support

First, for newbies/potential customers, note that iriver easily supports OGG (I'm listening to an ogg file now). The " OGG Support for DB" mentioned above merely refers to the accompanying PC software which apparently doesn't catalog ogg files correctly. Second, let me mention that I can't read Korean, so I can't vouch for the translation. Also, the firmware is really late (and owners are getting exasperated). Still, all of these are significant improvements, and even if we assume schedule slip and the usual marketing puffery, these would be significant improvements. I'm happy to see that they are updating firmware regarding recording for the October firmware update. I would feel good if this second firmware update comes before Christmas. If it comes earlier, so much the better. People on the misticriver forum are speculating that the "external battery support" that either ihp will be offering a battery pack or at least allow thir d parties batteries to be used. Pure speculation.

I think this must be the best MP3 player on the market, but it's clearly not for everyone. If you have a huge music collection, if you use both PCs and Macs, if you record voice and sounds, and/or you like to frequently back up all your stuff, this is the one to buy. Amazon has the best price, especially with free super saver shipping. I've found the sound to be excellent, both from downloaded MP3s and tracks copied directly from CDs, across the spectrum of music: opera, jazz, rap, spoken word, and punk. The advanced features of this device are nothing short of amazing, too many to list here. I am thrilled by the FM radio and the internal and external microphone recording capabilities as well as being able to read text files. (These options alone add over [$$$] to the cost of an iPod!) You can hear the whirring of the hard drive only if you are sitting a silent room and put the player up to your ear, something which you probably will never do. Transfer time between Mac and iRiver is great. Mac OS 9 users take note: Although Apple doesn't care about you, because the iRiver is an external hard drive you can easily download your CDs to it directly via iTunes. You can even manage your Mac's MP3 collection and your iRiver's collection through iTunes without much difficulty. I dumped over 1000 songs (about 4 GB) in one swift move onto the iHP-140. The battery life is fantastic, very important if you take long airplane trips. The clip-on remote control is great. I like the black color of the iHP-140 and remote control. It looks like a very expensive cell phone. Too bad the brown clip-on carrying case is definitely not as sexy. I very much admire iRiver's technical service department: I got a super-intelligent techie on the phone in under 20 seconds who very smartly answered several detailed technical questions. (In contrast, it took me four calls to finally get a live human at Apple, who ultimately refused to answer a simple technical question, to refer me to someone else, or to get back to me.) What is ultimately so incredibly cool about this player: you can easily attach it to almost any PC or Mac and transfer files...not just music, but pictures, documents and other files...because it's a hard drive. However, if you don't need any of these features or you are technologically challenged, this player is not for you. My only complaints: If you're a Mac user, forget about your iTunes playlists. Especially if you've got 2000+ songs, instead spend the time to make ten or twenty major lists and subcategories within those lists directly on the IHP100 hard drive. Also, it's too bad the instruction manual is not so good. But this is quite a complex and technically advanced MP3 player, and it's worth the low cost and high value to spend the time figuring out how to use it.

So my Rio MP3 player died, and my old Sony Discman was starting to skip on lots of CDs (that played fine with other players). Time to replace it with a new Discman... that is, until I found this little electronic marvel.

Sony's got a real winner with this player. I listen to music a lot while working, and I'm always having to haul CDs to work. Now I'm going to just make personal mini-discs of my CDs and carry those around.

Lots of other reviews have covered all the cool features and complaints about this unit. The obvious pros (to me) are: the 56 hour playback on one AA battery, the ability to fit hours of music on one little minidisc, even editing minidiscs with the player itself. Very cool.

The OpenMG software *is* confusing until you get used to it, but I found it to be very flexible, and filled with little touches that make things go faster. One in particular is that when ripping a CD to ATRAC3 format (the MD-specific format) and copying to minidiscs in one shot, OpenMG will multitask and copy completed tracks while it's ripping away... very nice, Sony!

However, OpenMG takes FOREVER to install and actually runs about 10 different installers behind-the-scenes. If you are running Norton Systemworks (or some other package that monitors installs), you are going to see a lot of warnings about installers starting.

Several other people have mentioned (and complained about) the SDMI locks the software uses. This basically limits you to making 3 copies of any song you have. You can gain back the copy by "checking it back in" to OpenMG (essentially erasing it from the MD). I understand about the need to prevent piracy, but this one feature is what keeps me from giving the unit 5 stars. I bought the music, and I should be able to make personal copies, not deal with some check-in/check-out process.

Otherwise, this unit rocks... definitely recommended!

If your trying to decide if you should get this or not. I say yes. I personally bought one of these used, one of the refurbished ones, about 2 years ago. Since then I have bought an IPod, but when I travel I still use this thing. Why is this? Because the single AA battery on this thing (Yes, its AA not AAA) will last for a very very long time. I beleive the number they say is 50 hrs and this sounds about right. A single minidisk will also hold a lot, maybe 70 to 90 songs. If you need more space you can simply buy more minidisks which are fairly cheap, and are quite durable. The device definately deserves a 5 star review, but the software that comes with it is a little weak. By comparison to most mp3 player softwares it is very bad software, and after using ITunes it certainly is a pain. You can basically do everything you want with the software, but it will take about two or three times as long as it would with ITunes for instance.

When my MP3/CD player fell to its death, I needed a replacement. I first purchased a RCA Lyra, but the software made my computer hang, so it was quickly returned. Then I saw this MiniDisc player, and it's been a joy listening to music since then. Why they haven't caught in the United States (they're EVERYWHERE in Europe) I'll never know.

PROS: *Low price compared to other models, *easy to use, *excellent sound quality in SP mode (thanks to ATRAC Type-R), *phenominal battery life, *up to 5 hours of music on an 80-minute disc (about $2), *supports MP3 and WMA, *small size, *the "coolness factor"

CONS: *Software is kinda buggy, *remote and other important accessories not included, *artifacts can be heard when listening to songs in LP4 mode (ESPECIALLY when converted from anything non-ATRAC or .wav), *included headphones are unimpressive, *no MIC-in

So why did I give it 5 stars if it's not perfect? Despite the buggy software, it's pretty easy to use. I run XP Pro, and have had no major problems, except for the occasional program crash. OpenMG has yet to cause me to reset the computer. And if you don't like any of the commercial management programs, you can find freeware or use Nero to copy songs over. As for the accessories, battery life is so good an A/C car adapter is pretty unecessary. A remote, as well as tape adapter, can be purchased for cheap if you don't mind eBay. And as for artifacts, anything recorded at 66Kbps is going to sound a little off, but it sounds much better than an MP3 recorded at a similar bitrate. If you want your songs to sound the best in LP4 mode, I've found it works best to convert the file to be recorded back into a .wav file. There will be some loss of data when you decode the MP3, but it should hardly be noticable in anything 128Kbps or better. You'll get the best sound if you use an audio ripper to get a song from your favorite CD and then convert that .wav into ATRAC.

To sum it up, I love this gadget. I have been fascinated with MiniDisc players since I saw one in a movie in the early 90s. They don't cost the $750 like they used to, thankfully. In any case, if you want a recorder/player with live recording capabilities, it might be worth your while to invest the extra money. If you're like me (meaning you don't care about live recording), then this just might be the device you're looking for.

(And if nothing else, it's a great tool to use to meet people. Seriously! Strangers will come up to you and ask about it, I kid you not. It's happened to me more times than I can count on two hands.)

I've had mine for 1.5 years, and it's very useful, except for one problem. I can't sync. At all.

At first it synced fine, but after a while, I had occasional problems and would have to spend hours getting it to work, because my comp would not be able to find the device (I've found many reasons for this, and trust me - they are a pain to chase down - even fluff in the connector and an iffy signal to the interface will do the trick). This time, I've spent a week of evenings searching for the solution. When I checked the HP Web site, this item was totally lacking in help, I believe because it is no longer sold. My comp is fine, the device is fine, and the Activesync is there - they just are not speaking. I call this the "family feud PDA" - they are close, they are family - they won't talk.

I've given up on it - bought a Palm-based product for a bit higher cost. So easy, plus it has a camera, an MP3 player, and it syncs!

My trusty Handspring died recently (dropped from a height of 4 feet onto a tile floor) and it was time to replace and upgrade.
After looking at the Palm and Pocket PC devices available, I settled on two: the HP iPAQ 1910 and the Dell Axim. I chose the HP. The two main reasons that I chose the HP were size (it's the smallest Pocket PC PDA that I found) and the gorgeous color screen.

I use my PDAs in an intense business environment and for far more than as an electronic replacement for a Daytimer. For me, it's a briefcase replacement. With the larger PDAs, I ended up carrying them in my hand since they were uncomfortable in a suit pocket. Not so with the 1910. I can't tell that it's even in my pocket.

The screen is wonderful: very legible and I love the backlighting. I get several days out of the battery, and that includes spending a fair amount of time reading AvantGo content.

I interface the PDA with Outlook and have had no problems. I use the cable rather than the cradle. Just plug it in and the PDA automatically syncs.

Someone mentioned that HP does not make a case for this model. That may be true, but HP cleverly styled this one to match the size of the smaller Palms. I found a case (for the Palm M105??) at my local Best Buy that fit the iPAQ beautifully--inexpensive but sturdy. I use the case for transporting to and from the office but carry it out of its case in my pocket during the day.

My only gripes: I'd like to experiment with 802.11b wireless. The Dell Axim has that capability (as an add-on), but the iPAQ does not, to my knowledge. Another complaint: I'm very used to the Graffiti text entry from the Handspring. I used it to transcribe notes at meetings, etc. I'm having problems getting the hang of it with the iPAQ. It has been very hard to get the hang of it on the iPAQ and I may try switchin to the block method instead. The onscreen keyboard is definitely not made for heavy duty data entry.

In short, I'm extremely pleased with this PDA. There are a few little compromises, but size, screen, price, and overall quality are superb.

I received iPaq as a birthday gift from my fiance.I know quite well about electronics.
My initial impression was Wow..
The Display/Graphics is extremely pleasing.Navigation is very simple..so any starter who is not very techno savvy can operate this PC with ease.Since the operating system is Windows CE,its very simple to browse thru(as many are familiar with Windows GUI).The best feature ofcourse is Outlook Syncup (must for all Pocket PCs ofcourse) but its easy and quick.The software installation is not too difficult either.The sound quality is good and works great with a Secure Digital card as well.

Now for a few Cons,
The conventional "CROSS" at Top,right hand corner doesnot stand for "Closing" of the program but it means "Minimising" the screen.That leaves your program still running in Backgroud.So even if the display shows your "desktop" (Today screen) there are functions running in backgroud...This will make your PC freeze often if many programs are running.
This PC freezes very often and I have to reset it then.
If it freezes real bad then you will have to Hard reset it which means your data is lost.
So I would suggest that "Stop" all the running programs at certain intervals..You have that option in "Settings".

But overall I am very happy with the performance...
I would advise one to buy it.

I purchased this item over the Rio 600 Model. I ordered before the set date, so I will get a free 32MB SmartMedia Card for it. I should start by saying that if you are the type who can throw down cash like it's going outta style on things like this, skip over the rest of the review. This review is for the careful buyer, who likes to save some dough.

Pros-

Good quality sound
Nice Included Headphones
Fairly Simple Software
Small Remote
Good Battery Life
Fast PC to Device File Transfers (about 40 sec. a song on a good PC system)

Cons-

Too Light, Needs More Strength
'Bad' Battery Cover (includes two of them, I guess it makes up.)
'Bad' Belt Clip Pouch (the one on the remote is cool)
Way too small memory (7-9 songs, depending on size.)
Remote and Headphones Lines Get Tangled Often

I should add this unit is very cheap, and is well worth every cent. If you want a good MP3 player with out dropping mad cash, go for it. I highly recommend a Smart Media Card of 64MB unless you want to change songs frequenly. I would give it 5 stars, but it has some weaknesses.

well ive had my yepp for about 2 years now, its been dropped many times and the paint has worn off in many places. but there are no cracks on the case and the sound quality is just as good as the day i got it. i do suggest getting a new pair of headphones. And you should also use the yepp explorer instead of the realjutebox. overall a good product for the prrice i got it for.

Looked all over the net for a simple mp3 player that would allow me to take some music or audio book recordings on my 40 minute walk/bart commute and this was perfect. The 32MB limits the quality of files that I listen to, but I got the player while the coupon for an extra 32MB SmartCard was still in effect, so it'll be perfect for my needs (i.e. don't need to fit my entire CD collection on my player). I'd echo some of the concerns I've read on other reviews (battery door likely to break after some use, remote somewhat clunky, belt clip poorly designed and virtuously useless, the silver doesn't look as shiny and metalic as in the pictures, it's just plastic, cannnot transfer files from player to pc) Overall, though, I'm pretty happy with what I got (lightweight player, fast USB connection, cheap price, and free memory card). I've plugged this into computers running on Win 98 and Win ME. Both worked flawlessy. Can't vouch for other platforms. If you already having ripping and converting software, I highly recommend bybassing the included software and download Yepp Explorer from the Samsung Web site.