Apr 17, 2004 02:17 PM
4301 Views
(Updated Apr 17, 2004 02:17 PM)
Don't go by brand name alone. Iriver - makes nothing but devices that play back compressed music. And they know how to make them well. Their Ipod equivalents (Hard disk based players) also have very good reviews and I might get one myself one of these days.
I own the RioVolt equivalent of the Iriver 350. It has worked flawlessly for me, plays back MP3 and WMA's. Got one so I don't have to turn on the computer to listen to my collection of compressed music. Plus - when travelling - don't have to carry anything more than a CD>
A 700 MB CD holds approx 25 hrs worth of WMA coded music at near CD quality. Beat that!
Nice dot matrix display that scrolls to show you the track/artiste name and so on.
Good sound - but get a nicer pair of headphones. The ones that came with my RioVolt were anemic.
Can recharge batteries inside the unit itself (My Rio does it - not so sure about the Iriver version).
Built in equalizer - including a user adjustable one.
Does not skip at all - the disks spin every once in a while to fill up the internal RAM buffer - then the music continues for a few minutes with the disk at a standstill.
Has line out - to connect to your home stereo.
Sorry - can't think of anything that I don't like. After I bought this I asked myself - why didn't I get this earlier? One minor quibble is that it takes a little bit of time to boot up and go from one track to another (disk has to start spinning up again you see). Wish it had a radio too.
I paid $40 for mine at a sale in the US. Quite Inexpensive.
