I recall some time ago Kas bought a Creative Zen Micro hard disk MP3 player, and was terribly disapointed with it. I kept that in mind when searching for a hard drive MP3 player of my own, and it came down to three units: the iPod Mini 4GB, the iPod Mini 6GB, and the iRiver H10 5GB.

I went with the iRiver for a few reasons: good reviews on the FutureShop website. Silly me, I normally check Amazon for reviews, but didn't do so this time. Big mistake - there are some telling reviews there. Second reason: price. The iRiver retails for $329.99, but I had the oppertunity to buy it for $279.99. Big savings, enough in fact to pay for the FM transmitter (more on that later). The last reason was entirely superficial, but it was the coolness factor. Everyone and their dog has an iPod Mini, I wanted something different. I also like the colour (gray) as opposed to iPod white or iPod Mini colours... I love the black U2 iPod. :)

The Verdict? I will be returning the iRiver tomorrow, after less than 48 hours of ownership. But first, the good: It's a great looking unit, with some neat features: built-in FM receiver, voice recording, photo viewing, and text viewing. Navigation is straightforward and effective, although it takes some time to begin playing once a song is selected. Strangely, it has both a song view mode, which lets you access songs by artist/album/title/genre/"playlist", and it also has a "browser" mode, which lets you see into the files themselves. As they accomplish the same function, I don't know why the browser is included.

Now, the bad: syncing with my computer is a nightmare. It only works with Windows Media Player, and by works, I mean it barely functions. The player claims to offer playlist capability, but no matter how hard I try, I cannot get WMP to load a playlist to the player. I can set up a "quick list", but nothing more. Entirely unacceptable, as I need to be able to import playlists for different things, and you can have only one "quick list". Too, no matter how I arrange it, the player insists on ignoring ID3 tags my computer recognizes. Despite the folders being organized on my computer, when I import them into the player I end up with songs sorted into "Unknown Artist" folders and "Uknown Album" folders. Again, totally unacceptable. Being an iTunes fan, I love how simple it is to operate, and iRiver/WMP is a terrible idea.

The player is difficult to turn off, and I found it consistently stayed on when I thought it had shut down, draining batteries.

The charging mechanism is poorly thought out, as the USB transfer and charger are combined, and it is a non-standard USB link, so you must have the cables, together: no charging via USB at home and using the power cord at work (for example).

Now, the piece de resistance (imo): I went today to buy the iRiver FM transmitter, which would plug into my cigarette lighter and be very convient in the car.

And you know what? Defective. Didn't work, didn't even turn on. Utter garbage, the entire iRiver brand, as far as I'm concerned. And I'm rather upset at this, as I've waited some time for this player to arrive only to have to return it. What a waste.

There is a glimmer of hope, however: surfing the FutureShop website to look at the iPod Mini again, I came across this: http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/

I had heard about it previously, but not paid it much mind. Mistake! It's more expensive, retailing at $299.99 (for a 4GB model), but I've decided the plethora of accessories that iPod spawns will be worth the extra cost now, and it comes in black (finally, a cheaper black iPod!). It's got a colour screen, which displays album art (as if I'll look it all up and upload it, but hey) and having played with everyone and their dog's iPods, I know they're good devices.

Plus, no one is going to have an iPod nano for a while, so I get that coolness factor. I'm still debating a bit between this and the 6GB mini (which costs $20 more, but carries more music), but I'm liking the nano.

Plus, I'm hoping they'll have it on sale to celebrate its release.

So, if you're looking for a hard disk MP3 player and iRiver is on your list, I suggest looking elsewhere.

After returning my Zen Micro I picked up a one gig iRiver iFP-799. I couldn't be happier. ~30 hours of use out of one AA (get good batteries, low-ball ones last maybe a third as long), and with the newest firmware update it's plug-and-play on any modern computer. Not to mention basically indestructable, line-in recording, FM tuning and voice memo's.

If you're looking to haul all the CD's you've ever listened to, and more, I've heard a lot of good things from Zen owners (the full size Zen's). The Micro was a good player, but it had some pretty big problems for me.

Update: I upgraded the Firmwear on the iRiver this morning, and resynched all my music. That basically solved the problem of not recognizing ID3 tags, but the unit will still not accept playlists. And it's been far more trouble than its worth.

I've been considering the 6GB iPod Mini some more, mostly because it will hold all my music and then some - the 4GB nano will just barely hold what I have now. I've also been looking at the 20GB iPod photo (and wishing they still offered the 20GB iPod without colour screen).

Not entirely sure what route I'll be taking, but the iRiver is definately going back. Shame, too, as it seems like a nice unit, just poorly programmed. With the exception of the battery issue, iPod seems bulletproof.

get rechargables... AA batteries I mean.. smartest thing we ever did, considering the amount of batteries we were buying for headsets, cameras and dvd portables. 15 minutes in the charger and the rechargables are ready to go again...

I have a 20 GB Apple/HP iPod and it doesn't have a color screen (granted I could be misinterpeting what you mean here). After having to exchange it for one that wasn't defective I haven't had a problem with mine at all *knocks on wood*.

Yeah, you've got a second generation iPod, I think - first gen was 15GB, second was 20GB... third generation is still 20GB, but with a colour screen.

Anyway, lucked out today: went down to London Drugs to talk to the folks there about options, and they had exactly what I wanted/needed.

Special Edition U2 iPod. 20GB, regularly retails for $419.99, they had an old display on sale for $349.99. Amazing value, considering the retail for the iRiver is only $20 less and it has a quarter the memory. And the nano is only $50 less and has 20% of the memory.

Unfortunately, Apple's advertisements weren't entirely honest: you do not get the U2 library free, you get $50 off a sticker price of $150. I like U2, but not for $100.

Anyway, I think I'll be very happy with this unit. Though I might have to look into a battery pack.

Titus

If you're looking to haul all the CD's you've ever listened to, and more, I've heard a lot of good things from Zen owners (the full size Zen's). The Micro was a good player, but it had some pretty big problems for me.

I've got the full size Zen and haven't had any problems with it. A friend of mine has the same thing, only a later model, and had it freeze up once - but that was nothing a quick reset couldn't fix. Overall it's been excellent. No need to use any of that bloated iTunes software, and non of the unreliable battery problems generally associated with iPods.

Demos

(and wishing they still offered the 20GB iPod without colour screen)

*waves 2nd gen 20gb pod boastfully*

Seriously though, best piece of kit I've used, as long as you don't like smashing it with a brick or go deep sea diving, its pretty solid and stores all my music and has enough space left over to store all my documents for college.

I've borrowed one of my friend's Zen's before, it seemed to function fine and do everything I wanted, allthough compared the Ipod battery (which is average) it was pretty crappy.

I just recently (about a month or so ago) bought a 20 GB Ipod, and it doesn't have a color screen.


Of course, I bought it at Sam's Club, so it may have been there for a while.


I love it BTW. Much better than the knock-offs I've seen my friends with.

I agree... Apple did it right with the iPod, and no one has been able to match it thus far. If you bought a 20GB iPod w/o colour, it may well be a refurbished unit: the FutureShop website was offering refurbishd second gen units for $300, but I prefer to buy instore when possible.

Plus, it wasn't black with a red click wheel. That alone is worth a couple extra bucks.

Also took a look at the new iPod nano - it's TINY. Smaller than I expected, about the size of a Bic lighter, but half as thick. Amazing. I'm disapointed it doesn't offer better battery life, though - other flash based players on the market are getting 30+ hours.

I think iPod is missing one crucial device, though: a mid-range device with 10GB of storage. For a lot of music fans (like myself) 4GB nano is not enough, and a 20GB Photo can be too much. With the 6GB Mini being discontinued, I think iPod is going to see some lost sales to iRiver and Zen, who offer 5GB models.