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iriver H120 20GB MP3 Jukebox
By: iRiver Average Rating: 4.0 Total Reviews: 209
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 On: 2008-05-13
So yeah, the iRiver H120 has its shortcomings and is missing killer features, as laid out in the previous reviews. But there is a little known project that has come a long way in removing all of those shortcomings (and I mean ALL). That project is called RockBox (www.rockbox.org). With it running on this player, I can do everything I wished I could with iRivers built-in firmware - multiple on-the-fly playlists; record from FM as well as the optical SPDIF input or mic-in/line-in/built-in mic; view photos, read text files, or play games (!) while listening to music; have near complete control over my sound with a five-band fully parametric EQ with customizable presets, support for ReplayGain audio normalization, and custom fade/crossfade behavior; extended battery life from more efficient hard-drive and buffer usage; and support for almost all audio file formats, including mp3, wma, ogg, wavpack, flac, monkeys audio, wave, aiff, aac, a52, midi, au, mp4, and so on. Rockbox has perfected the usability on this model such that I spent about $200 to replace the hard drive for it myself when the second one died (the first one was replaced under warranty), and after that H120 was stolen, I bought the exact same model to replace it (again). Theres really no mp3 player (even from iRiver) that comes close.
The killer features for me have been the optical digital output (piped straight into my SoundBlaster Extigy with its higher-quality DACs), and the on-the-fly playlist creation (thanks again to Rockbox). All the accessories you might need come with the device (if you get a brand-new retail model) with no "made for iPod" price premium. And it works as a USB Mass Storage device right out of the box, with an included standard mini-USB cable and Windows (or Macs or Linuxs) standard USB Mass Storage drivers. Only potential drawback: it wont play protected content. But then, it doesnt need to...
On: 2007-09-27
If youre looking for an mp3 player than can take hard hits, this is the one for you. iPods are fragile things. You drop it and there goes your hard earn cash. Ive had my iRiver for about 4 years now. Its been with me through my softball training practices, running, tourneys, the gym, and around the campus. I have dropped it on more than one occassion, but it was in its case so it was completely fine. It has also been through the washing machine AND the dryer at high heat for the whole duration!! And yes, it still works perfectly!
On: 2007-09-26
If youre looking for an mp3 player than can take hard hits, this is the one for you. iPods are fragile things. You drop it and there goes your hard earn cash. Ive had my iRiver for about 4 years now. Its been with me through my softball training practices, running, tourneys, the gym, and around the campus. I have dropped it on more than one occassion, but it was in its case so it was completely fine. It has also been through the washing machine AND the dryer at high heat for the whole duration!! And yes, it still works perfectly!
On: 2006-12-18
I have had this mp3 player since March 2004 ($330), and was the best purchase I have ever made.
I recognize that the firmware sucks, however, there was a firmware upgrade offered a year and a half ago or so, and with it, has significantly improved the product.
I have not had any problems with it. The click-and-drag format is easy and makes for a very organized system. The battery life per charge is amazing, 16 hours. Over the course that Ive had it, it has only decreased to 12 hours or so. So even nearly 3 years later, the non-replaceable re-chargeable battery is still performing at near-top notch.
It has excellent recording (internal or external mic--included), AM/FM radio (another reviewer on 12/8/2004 said it didnt have AM capability but it does), navigation (very intuitive to pc users), "remote control"....I could go on and on. It is bulky compared to todays standards (3 years ago, this was considered "small"), but is well worth it. It also has a sleep timer, so if youre listening to it as you fall asleep, you can make it turn off by itself after 30 min or 60 min, whatever you specify.
It also originally comes with the case, external mic, earphones, remote control, and USB connection. Which is more than you can say for ipods.
I am aware that others have had problems with the harddrive and other problems, but I have not experienced any of these. I have used this extensively during 6-hrs a day studying over the past 3 years, so I can attest to its dependability towards long-term use. Addressing an ealier comment left by a reviewer (on 7/28/06), it most CERTAINLY DOES play other formats than mp3, INCLUDING wav and wma.
Cons:
-You cant make playlists or delete files on the go. But with 20 gigs, who needs to delete files?
-the earphones it comes with are painful. i bought a sony pair for $7.
-It is too bad iriver does not make this product anymore, it is far better than what they offer now.
If you can find this product, I highly recommend it. Apparently others have had problems with it, so I guess the quality between units differs. If you have any questions Id be happy to answer them lizz2424 @ yahoo . com (remove spaces)!
On: 2006-11-27
Ive had my iRiver since early 2005 and have not a problem. The battery holds the charge a long time (I play my player on the way to work and at my desk for a total of over 9 hours and I still have power left to carry me thru for most of the next day (just remember when you turn it off to move the button to the hold position, this will keep the battery charged longer)). I love the radio and all the other features especially the remote control. It comes in handy when your on a long flight with not much space.
On: 2006-11-26
Ive had my iRiver since early 2005 and have not a problem. The battery holds the charge a long time (I play my player on the way to work and at my desk for a total of over 9 hours and I still have power left to carry me thru for most of the next day (just remember when you turn it off to move the button to the hold position, this will keep the battery charged longer)). I love the radio and all the other features especially the remote control. It comes in handy when your on a long flight with not much space.
 On: 2006-07-29
I found that the unit plays only MP3 files, not WMA or WAV, like listed, but it is backlit, and has a remote. I really love this player, just download the MP3s, load them on the unit as if it is a portable hard drive, and it has great sound. Its as easy as copying from the hard drive to a floppy, except that this would be drive f: or something. When the battery finally dies, after about 16 hours of use, just plug it in for about 5 minutes, and it will have enough juice to use it, plugged in.
As it is an older model, I would probably recommend getting something newer, but if you own one of these, they are great. If you cant find what you are looking for in a newer model, definately consider this.
 On: 2005-11-10
Had the player, a little funky to figure out but was working well. Works more like a hard drive than a music player, By that I mean it is not very Windows freindly. It has upgrades for the software, if you have a lot of music, the Moodlogic firmware upgrade is not a very good idea. The firward can really slow down the player.
Sound quality is good.
Warranty is 1 year. My player died at 1 year, 2 weeks. Player was $299 when I bought it.
It took 7 calls, emails, and 1 fax from 9/27/05 until 11/08/05 to get a response, to my request to have it fixed.
Response: It is out of the 1 year warranty, there is nothing we will do for you.
$300 annuanly for a player is a rip off
BUY SOMETHING ELSE
On: 2005-11-09
Had the player, a little funky to figure out but was working well. Works more like a hard drive than a music player, By that I mean it is not very Windows freindly. It has upgrades for the software, if you have a lot of music, the Moodlogic firmware upgrade is not a very good idea. The firward can really slow down the player.
Sound quality is good.
Warranty is 1 year. My player died at 1 year, 2 weeks. Player was $299 when I bought it.
It took 7 calls, emails, and 1 fax from 9/27/05 until 11/08/05 to get a response, to my request to have it fixed.
Response: It is out of the 1 year warranty, there is nothing we will do for you.
$300 annuanly for a player is a rip off
BUY SOMETHING ELSE
On: 2005-09-18
Pros: It plays many formats, including ogg. Its nice that its a usable hard-drive, without requiring special software for the computer it connects to. The radio and recorder are great plusses. The interface is better than average, although still not great.
Cons: If it breaks and its not under warrantee, there is no way to get it repaired. User interface could be better. The fast-forward is very slow, and there is no "bookmark" feature - together this makes the iRiver nearly unusable for long podcasts or audiobooks.
Summary: A good choice, especially if radio, recorder, and ogg playing is required, and if you dont need to listen to audiobooks. Otherwise, consider the Rio Karma or iPod instead.
On: 2005-09-17
Pros: It plays many formats, including ogg. Its nice that its a usable hard-drive, without requiring special software for the computer it connects to. The radio and recorder are great plusses. The interface is better than average, although still not great.
Cons: If it breaks and its not under warrantee, there is no way to get it repaired. User interface could be better. The fast-forward is very slow, and there is no "bookmark" feature - together this makes the iRiver nearly unusable for long podcasts or audiobooks.
Summary: A good choice, especially if radio, recorder, and ogg playing is required, and if you dont need to listen to audiobooks. Otherwise, consider the Rio Karma or iPod instead.
On: 2005-04-13
Some people have been conditioned to think (by the media) that the Ipod is the ultimate jukebox-carry-along-music-whatever-device. WRONG!!!! I am of the opinion that the Ipod is highly overrated, so when I went looking for a hard drive player, I didnt even bother to check it.
But enough of the Ipod; this review is about the incredibly magnificent Iriver H120. The pros outweight the cons by a large and considerable margin: sound, user-friendliness, features, the gorgeously engraved leather carrying case, etc. I managed to equalize my Iriver so now it sounds the same, if not better, than a Bose sound system. The buttons only need 5 mins. to get accostumed to, and in the remote, everything is at your fingers reach, literally speaking.
The only problem I see with this device is the tangled cords between the remote and the earphones (which, by the way, are not that crappy as everybody says, once you equalize the sound to get the best out of them). Other than that, is the best spent US $250 ever.
I recommend this player with my eyes closed; it has been the best Xmas gift I could have ever given myself.
by: Anonymous On: 2005-03-28
I decided to get this player for my christmas, previously thinking of getting the iPod mini because of the cool design and bearing in mind that I had never owned an MP3 player before.
After seeing this "iRiver" i decided to check it out. I was totally astonished at the features this player had to offer ESPECIALLY the fact that it was 20gb and that its battery life surpassed the iPod mini by far.
Heres a tip to buyers who cant decide between the iPod and the iRiver -
If you want it for the music - Go for the iRiver
If you want it for the design - Go for the iPod
-Mike
 On: 2005-03-24
I decided upon the iRiver H-120 after looking at a bunch of various brands. I liked the fact that the player had 20 gig space (I listen to audiobooks mostly) and liked the remote feature; with the ability to pop the player in my pocket with only the remote and headphones hanging out. After having the product for 8 months heres my few observations-
1)Cords are tangly- I spent many minutes just trying to unravel the cords every morning. A retractable cord/headphone would certainly help this.
2) remote is finicky- that is, sometimes the buttons press as you anticipate, and other times they seem to have a mind of their own.
3) Customer service is ABYSMAL. Somehow the hard-drive crashed on me already and Im chalking it up to bum luck. Well see IF I ever get the replacement. Im not sure how it really died, as it was working fine on my commute into work, and that eve it refused to boot. So, I returned it. Seems they dont tell you anything about what is going on with your return- ie: theyve actually recevived it, when a new one is coming out, etc. I sent many emails asking for any update, and they dont even update a website help location they assign to you when you get an RMA. Trying to get through to their 800 number for phone support is equally if not more horrible. Ive called at various times of the day, and have spent from 30 minutes to close to 2 hours on-hold- if I even got though!
In short- the player is good, but had I to do again, Id explore Dell, or an IPod. At least if the product has an issue with them, they have the customer service to deal with the issues.
On: 2005-03-23
I decided upon the iRiver H-120 after looking at a bunch of various brands. I liked the fact that the player had 20 gig space (I listen to audiobooks mostly) and liked the remote feature; with the ability to pop the player in my pocket with only the remote and headphones hanging out. After having the product for 8 months heres my few observations-
1)Cords are tangly- I spent many minutes just trying to unravel the cords every morning. A retractable cord/headphone would certainly help this.
2) remote is finicky- that is, sometimes the buttons press as you anticipate, and other times they seem to have a mind of their own.
3) Customer service is ABYSMAL. Somehow the hard-drive crashed on me already and Im chalking it up to bum luck. Well see IF I ever get the replacement. Im not sure how it really died, as it was working fine on my commute into work, and that eve it refused to boot. So, I returned it. Seems they dont tell you anything about what is going on with your return- ie: theyve actually recevived it, when a new one is coming out, etc. I sent many emails asking for any update, and they dont even update a website help location they assign to you when you get an RMA. Trying to get through to their 800 number for phone support is equally if not more horrible. Ive called at various times of the day, and have spent from 30 minutes to close to 2 hours on-hold- if I even got though!
In short- the player is good, but had I to do again, Id explore Dell, or an IPod. At least if the product has an issue with them, they have the customer service to deal with the issues.
On: 2005-02-03
I bought this baby almost 2 years ago after doing extensive research on all the mp3 players out there. Im convinced that people only buy the ipod because it is the best advertized and, therefore, trendiest. However, the iRiver puts the ipod to shame. Not only is it an mp3 player, but it is also an external harddrive. That means you can hold any files you want on it. If you want to transfer 10 movies from one computer to another, just drag em onto the iRiver and its that simple. For those of you who want to know about the recording function (that the ipod does NOT have), I just bootlegged a concert last week. I was in the middle of the audience and I just used the external microphone it comes with, and the recording came out great for an audience recording! I had to boost up the volume a bit with a wav editing program, but the sound quality was good and clear without any maxing out. And you can record it either wav or mp3 format. Besides that, the battery life is great. The size is basically identical to the ipod, except the ipod is all white and feminine, while the iRiver is black and cooler looking with a sick blue LCD screen. All in all, if you want the best price for the best player out there, get the iRiver.
On: 2005-01-17
i bought this mp3 player for 3 reasons
1. the voice recorder
2. the built in radio/ gigage
3. its something different (other than an ipod)
things that are wrong about this product
1. the catagoization of the songs. an iriver is a drag and drop system with a DB scan that will enable you to browse through artist, album, ect. the only problem is if you dont have your mp3 files properly ID Tagged it wont even recognize it. (dont get scared they will still go on the mp3 player just it will be slightly harder to find which is a slight inconvience that is noticible) and even if your files are tagged sometimes the Iriver
still wont recognize it. that was frustrating, where as the ipod has a system through itunes i believe that is somewhat better.
2. the voice recorder. it comes with an external mic and a built in mic. the problem is with the interal mic. about every 30 seconds the iriver will sahy, "load" or "refresh" and that produces a noise. so if you listen to your recorded work about every 30 seconds a distinct wizzing sound will appear. and that was extremely annoying.
3. the button control is much more complex and at sometimes confusing. i applaud the ipod for staying simple.
4. the remote gets in the way with its LONG cord. plus if it is a remote why does it have a cord at all??
5. the earphones/carrying case is a piece of crap
6. although i havent timed it out i find hard to believe that the so called 16 hour battery life actually lasts 16 hours. dont get me wrong it lasts longer than my ipod. but not 16 hours.
THINGS I LIKED.
1. its not an ipod
2. the quality of the sound is DEFINATELY improved. much more than the ipod
3. the radio works great!
4. the radio/recorder combo if you want these in an ipod. you will have to pay extra $$
4. so some of my songs that skipped the iriver elliminated it.
5. its unique! if you buy this people will notice it and you can brag about it.
6. tech support always answers my questions within 24 hours
all in all i am pleased with this product
i would recommed it if you are a man who is very familiar with technology. if you a clueless simple guy go with the ipod. i still like it more than the ipod because it does more for me.
On: 2005-01-16
i bought this mp3 player for 3 reasons
1. the voice recorder
2. the built in radio/ gigage
3. its something different (other than an ipod)
things that are wrong about this product
1. the catagoization of the songs. an iriver is a drag and drop system with a DB scan that will enable you to browse through artist, album, ect. the only problem is if you dont have your mp3 files properly ID Tagged it wont even recognize it. (dont get scared they will still go on the mp3 player just it will be slightly harder to find which is a slight inconvience that is noticible) and even if your files are tagged sometimes the Iriver
still wont recognize it. that was frustrating, where as the ipod has a system through itunes i believe that is somewhat better.
2. the voice recorder. it comes with an external mic and a built in mic. the problem is with the interal mic. about every 30 seconds the iriver will sahy, "load" or "refresh" and that produces a noise. so if you listen to your recorded work about every 30 seconds a distinct wizzing sound will appear. and that was extremely annoying.
3. the button control is much more complex and at sometimes confusing. i applaud the ipod for staying simple.
4. the remote gets in the way with its LONG cord. plus if it is a remote why does it have a cord at all??
5. the earphones/carrying case is a piece of crap
6. although i havent timed it out i find hard to believe that the so called 16 hour battery life actually lasts 16 hours. dont get me wrong it lasts longer than my ipod. but not 16 hours.
THINGS I LIKED.
1. its not an ipod
2. the quality of the sound is DEFINATELY improved. much more than the ipod
3. the radio works great!
4. the radio/recorder combo if you want these in an ipod. you will have to pay extra $$
4. so some of my songs that skipped the iriver elliminated it.
5. its unique! if you buy this people will notice it and you can brag about it.
6. tech support always answers my questions within 24 hours
all in all i am pleased with this product
i would recommed it if you are a man who is very familiar with technology. if you a clueless simple guy go with the ipod. i still like it more than the ipod because it does more for me.
On: 2004-12-09
I love the iRiver H-120! The sound quality is very good, both in digital files (e.g., mp3s) & the FM tuner. It has a ton of features not found in the iPod, including recording in a compressed format, FM tuner, mounting like a hard drive (so you can back up ordinary computer data on it), and more. The unit lasts forever on a single charge, and it charges very quickly. It also comes with extras, including an external microphone, a wired remote unit, and more. Its pretty small too -- roughly the same size as an iPod or maybe a tad bigger. Having reviewed user complaints about the included earbuds, I went out and bought some Sennheiser portable headphones -- they sound much better than the earbuds included with the unit. Note that I have higher-end Sennheisers too and the iRiver can push the volume very loud on them without distortion; this is impressive because my higher-end headphones have a lot of resistance and require a lot more power to drive than earbuds or my portable Sennheisers.
The drawback is the interface, which really stinks. Ive had it for about 8 months, and I still havent gotten it down (I havent tried to master it though). No question that the iPod has a better interface. Another bummer is the lack of AM radio. It offers FM, but not AM. This is probably only relevant if you like to listen to ballgames. Due to the interface & lack of AM capability, I am giving it 4-stars.
Note that iRiver has a new model with picture viewing capability. I havent checked it out yet, but it looks like they may have modified the interface. Its worth checking out if you are seriously considering the H-120 (aka iHP-120). Enjoy!
On: 2004-12-08
OK. There are only TWO units that support the line in WAV file
recording. The iRiver H-120 (or H-140) and the Creative Labs
Nomad Jukebox 3. I am not interested in the MP3 features
of ANY of these devices. The new iRiver models, to replace the
now discontinued H-120 and H-140 do NOT allow optical line-in
recording, and do NOT allow UNCOMPRESSED AUDIO format (WAV).
This matters to me, and to some of you, Im sure. I connect this
device to the soundboard output of my band (or any band or any
music I wish to record live)...It blows the old Mini-Disc I used
out of the water!
I wish they (iRiver H-120 / H-140) allowed WAV recording up to
48 kHz (DVD or DAT audio quality) as opposed to limiting it to
44.1 kHz (CD audio quality). The C.L Nomad JB3 allows up to
48 kHz recording quality, and man does that sound nice!!!
So, if you want an "MP3 player", go buy one of the myriad
lossy options (IPOD, Dell, Rio, etc..). If you are interested
in live audio recording, to uncompressed audio format
(IE, .WAV format at 44.1 or higher D/A sampling rate)
then your options are VERY limited.
Between iRiver and Creative Labs, I believe iRiver is a better
company, and supports their product more honestly than Creative
Labs. Creative Labs was offering "refurbished" JB3 units (20G
or 40G hard drive) with only a 30 day warranty! The new units
had only 30 or 60 day warranty. Not a good sign....That product
is now discontinued, and it seems no solid replacement has been
planned by Creative Labs.
I have asked iRiver tech support about the inclusion of WAV
format, and optical input on their new models, have not
received a reply yet. I will post their response when I get it!
So, I am getting an H-120 for Christmas, not sure if its used
or new. They are tough to find!
Check eBay, check Amazon.com, check Google "Froogle",
check online mostly.
iRivers online store says "sold out" and no more are expected!
On: 2004-12-07
OK. There are only TWO units that support the line in WAV file
recording. The iRiver H-120 (or H-140) and the Creative Labs
Nomad Jukebox 3. I am not interested in the MP3 features
of ANY of these devices. The new iRiver models, to replace the
now discontinued H-120 and H-140 do NOT allow optical line-in
recording, and do NOT allow UNCOMPRESSED AUDIO format (WAV).
This matters to me, and to some of you, Im sure. I connect this
device to the soundboard output of my band (or any band or any
music I wish to record live)...It blows the old Mini-Disc I used
out of the water!
I wish they (iRiver H-120 / H-140) allowed WAV recording up to
48 kHz (DVD or DAT audio quality) as opposed to limiting it to
44.1 kHz (CD audio quality). The C.L Nomad JB3 allows up to
48 kHz recording quality, and man does that sound nice!!!
So, if you want an "MP3 player", go buy one of the myriad
lossy options (IPOD, Dell, Rio, etc..). If you are interested
in live audio recording, to uncompressed audio format
(IE, .WAV format at 44.1 or higher D/A sampling rate)
then your options are VERY limited.
Between iRiver and Creative Labs, I believe iRiver is a better
company, and supports their product more honestly than Creative
Labs. Creative Labs was offering "refurbished" JB3 units (20G
or 40G hard drive) with only a 30 day warranty! The new units
had only 30 or 60 day warranty. Not a good sign....That product
is now discontinued, and it seems no solid replacement has been
planned by Creative Labs.
I have asked iRiver tech support about the inclusion of WAV
format, and optical input on their new models, have not
received a reply yet. I will post their response when I get it!
So, I am getting an H-120 for Christmas, not sure if its used
or new. They are tough to find!
Check eBay, check Amazon.com, check Google "Froogle",
check online mostly.
iRivers online store says "sold out" and no more are expected!
On: 2004-12-01
I got to try both of these (the iRiver and a recent iPod) recently. Without re-hashing what others have said here, a few impressions:
1) I have to say that, despite the supposedly simple "drag and drop" music transfer to the iRiver, I dont want to manually manage my playlists on my audio device. I go through a lot of new music and have a number of so-called "smart playlists" in iTunes that automatically synchronize with the iPod. For example, I have a playlist that contains only "songs rated 4 or 5 stars" (I can rate them right on the iPod, or in iTunes, and the information will transfer the next time its hooked up) and a playlist that contains "songs added to the library in the past month that I havent listened to completely yet". And a bunch more. You have no idea how cool this is until you try it, and the iRiver doesnt supply the goods. This is the kind of thing that everyone is talking about here when they say the iPod software is better.
2) WMA and OGG support. OK, I really do wish that the iPod had OGG support- the iRiver does- I suppose Apple didnt want it competing with AAC (which, by the way, is about as good, and also a standard, specifically the MPEG4 standard). But who in their right mind would use WMA to encode their precious music and thus subject themselves to vendor lock-in? "Windows" Media Audio? Do you really think "Windows" is going to be around forever? (I should hope not, being a user of "other" operating systems myself). Have you really let Gates brainwash you *that* much? Its not like AAC stands for "Apples Audio Codec" (the first A is for Advanced)- Id have to be drinking some serious Apple kool-aid to rip all my music using a codec with a single companys name in it. Same goes for WMA. Stick to standard formats!! Stay away from crappy WMA!!
3) Many people seem to be under the mistaken impression that you cant mount an iPod as a hard drive. Uh, you are all wrong.
4) Even though the battery life of the iPod (12 hrs) doesnt match the iRivers, it charges a heck of a lot faster, and it also will charge through the FireWire/USB2 connection, which is very convenient.
5) Those of you who think USB2 is "plenty fast" obviously have never used FireWire. It is not just slightly faster, it is practically an order of magnitude faster.
6) the stock white iPod buds do suck, as do the stock iRiver buds. Get a pair of those new in-ear Sonys- they rock.
7) Many people are leaning towards iRiver simply because its "not the overpopular iPod" or "not Apple". To these people I say: If you want to pander to an underdog, Apple was always the original underdog product maker. While youre buying an iRiver for the underdog-ness, why not check out a Mac to see if it has anything more to offer you than the ever-present horde of Windoze machines do?
On: 2004-11-30
I got to try both of these (the iRiver and a recent iPod) recently. Without re-hashing what others have said here, a few impressions:
1) I have to say that, despite the supposedly simple "drag and drop" music transfer to the iRiver, I dont want to manually manage my playlists on my audio device. I go through a lot of new music and have a number of so-called "smart playlists" in iTunes that automatically synchronize with the iPod. For example, I have a playlist that contains only "songs rated 4 or 5 stars" (I can rate them right on the iPod, or in iTunes, and the information will transfer the next time its hooked up) and a playlist that contains "songs added to the library in the past month that I havent listened to completely yet". And a bunch more. You have no idea how cool this is until you try it, and the iRiver doesnt supply the goods. This is the kind of thing that everyone is talking about here when they say the iPod software is better.
2) WMA and OGG support. OK, I really do wish that the iPod had OGG support- the iRiver does- I suppose Apple didnt want it competing with AAC (which, by the way, is about as good, and also a standard, specifically the MPEG4 standard). But who in their right mind would use WMA to encode their precious music and thus subject themselves to vendor lock-in? "Windows" Media Audio? Do you really think "Windows" is going to be around forever? (I should hope not, being a user of "other" operating systems myself). Have you really let Gates brainwash you *that* much? Its not like AAC stands for "Apples Audio Codec" (the first A is for Advanced)- Id have to be drinking some serious Apple kool-aid to rip all my music using a codec with a single companys name in it. Same goes for WMA. Stick to standard formats!! Stay away from crappy WMA!!
3) Many people seem to be under the mistaken impression that you cant mount an iPod as a hard drive. Uh, you are all wrong.
4) Even though the battery life of the iPod (12 hrs) doesnt match the iRivers, it charges a heck of a lot faster, and it also will charge through the FireWire/USB2 connection, which is very convenient.
5) Those of you who think USB2 is "plenty fast" obviously have never used FireWire. It is not just slightly faster, it is practically an order of magnitude faster.
6) the stock white iPod buds do suck, as do the stock iRiver buds. Get a pair of those new in-ear Sonys- they rock.
7) Many people are leaning towards iRiver simply because its "not the overpopular iPod" or "not Apple". To these people I say: If you want to pander to an underdog, Apple was always the original underdog product maker. While youre buying an iRiver for the underdog-ness, why not check out a Mac to see if it has anything more to offer you than the ever-present horde of Windoze machines do?
On: 2004-11-16
You can read all the reviews about the specs and technical stuff, but in my opinion the ONE thing that makes this player worth every single penny is the Optical Line Out... Grab a toslink cable and connect directly to your Optical line in to your receiver! The sound is incredible! I no longer need to rummage thru my cd collection -- this is absolutely the best feature in my view and until other players include it, Im sticking to my IHP!
On: 2004-11-10
Alright, we have this little hard drive MP3 player market that seems to be getting a lot of attention these days, and lord knows the minute you utter "MP3 player", youll be hearing iPod this and iPod that. Are there any other choices, or is it just useless to fight fate?
I, for one, was lucky enough to stumble upon the H120 in my quest for answers. The bottom line here is if youre looking for a slick, sexy MP3 player as some sort of status symbol, the iPod should suffice. However, if you really care about the music youre going to put on your new gadget, the iRiver is your ticket.
First up, Id like to address the database difficulties. I, for one, dont see a problem, because the folder tree system works like a dream. Simply copy your CDs to appropriately prepared folders, and youre ready to roll. I have all my music arranged according to genre, with each artist occupying a sub-folder. This insures that even friends foreign to my music collection can easily find something theyll be into.
The number of file types supported by the player is staggering. OGG file support is a huge advantage over iPod, or you could copy your CDs with Windows Media player and transfer the WMAs to your player. What could be easier?
For a college student like myself, the recording feature works beautifully and is a huge boon. I record all my lectures for future studying (which is made even easier with the cool "study" playback feature), and the sound is crisp and clear.
Sound quality is absolutely staggering. Any self-respecting music lover should already have a decent pair of headphones, so toss out the ear buds and enjoy the H120 unchained. All the levels are customizable, and the volume is very good, with a 10 out of 40 working just fine in areas with little outside noise.
In terms of design, I have no qualms. I find the player to be quite sleek, and while the provided case does detract from its visual appeal, Id rather keep the device well-protected. The joystick is sufficient for navigation, though not as intuitive as the iPod wheel.
I have very few problems with this player, but if you let me nit-pick, then by God, I will. For one thing, the joystick can be a bit slippery, and it might have been smart to coat it in a substance that would provide more friction. On-the-fly deleting has since been taken care of in a firmware upgrade, but on-the-fly playlists are still missing (but seeing as how iRivers announced this feature and has come through with their other promises, I have no worries). And, if you insist on navigating by tag, you may have the troubles of which others have complained.
But nit-picks aside, I just dont have time to get into the great 16 hour battery life, or touch on the handy FM radio, or boast of the excellent connectivity, as there simply too many wonderful features to scrutinize in one amazon review. All I can say is that the H120 is not only one of the few products that has meet all my expectations, but has even surpassed many of them. If you care about your music, this choice should be simple.
On: 2004-11-03
Ive had my current iRiver for 5 months now and love it! The original player I bought 2 months prior refused to turn on shortly after I started using it. I called iRivers customer service department and they gave me all instructions on how to return my player for a new one. Turn around time was quick! My replacement player works great and I love all the features. It may not be as slick as the iPod but Im not one for looks over functionality and value. Im also pretty techno savvy so I dont need as simplistic a player as the iPod. Unless youre one of those die-hard Apple fanatics (all the more power to you), I would highly recommend purchasing the iRiver Jukebox and get more bang for your buck.
 On: 2004-11-02
I read reviews before I bought this, and many of them warned that customer service at iRiver was awful. I didnt listen, and I bought the unit. First one stopped operating after two days. I got it replaced, second one stopped working in less than 24 hours. I asked customer service for help, they refused to issue a refund. I finally contacted the BBB (other complaints against iRiver have been filed with the Silicon Valley BBB), my credit card company, and my states attorney general. After a while, my credit card company got me a refund. This was not worth the hassle in any way. Please, dont make the same mistake and let the features entice you. Bad customer service and poor quality products will make you miserable.
On: 2004-11-02
Ive had my current iRiver for 5 months now and love it! The original player I bought 2 months prior refused to turn on shortly after I started using it. I called iRivers customer service department and they gave me all instructions on how to return my player for a new one. Turn around time was quick! My replacement player works great and I love all the features. It may not be as slick as the iPod but Im not one for looks over functionality and value. Im also pretty techno savvy so I dont need as simplistic a player as the iPod. Unless youre one of those die-hard Apple fanatics (all the more power to you), I would highly recommend purchasing the iRiver Jukebox and get more bang for your buck.
On: 2004-10-26
iRiver is known for poor quality. Buttons break frequently. You will be happy for one year(sound quality is good) but, then the device will break. iRiver does NOT stand behind their product. They, apparently, depend upon breakage to generate new sales. Additionally, they sell at higher prices than their competitors - and give lower quality.
Look at Consumer Reports November 2004 issue. It will be clear to you which products you should be considering.
On: 2004-10-23
Ive had this player for about 6 months now. It is absolutely fantastic and holds up tremendously well. I got this because Im a commuter and I needed to occupy my downtime. I also have the availability to listen to music at work too. This player lasts all day long with hardly a dent in battery life. Transferring music from your hard drive to this player is easier than learning how to snap your fingers. And it plays everything! No proprietary software necessary or converting files to play. The best part is the built in radio. It works fantastically and its a pleasure to change up my music tastes from my own collection once in a while. Personally, the radio capabilities is its biggest sell for me. I love listening to morning radio talk shows and then my stuff in the afternoon. The included remote is awesome too. What other company includes a remote this good? You can control everything on it and never need to take the player out of your bag. It comes with its own case although I dont use it anymore. The plastic and metal is very strong and scratch resistant too as Ive inadvertantly tested it by mistake a couple times. The last thing I have to say is customer service for iRiver is top notch. I had a problem with the remote after a while of heavy usage and they sent me a new one, no questions asked. Everyone was so professional and polite. See if you could get that from Apple after youve taken the product home.
On: 2004-10-23
Critique:
Ive had the unit for about a week. I have LOVED it the entire time. Unlike many people that have posted negative responses, I have done my research PRIOR to purchasing this item, especially considering the price; about $340 with taxes. Using my Pros/Cons as guidelines, I will give you my opinion on this great item.
First, the File Transfer. People have suggested that it is slow. I dont understand this critique. It is USB 2.0, and without the faster Fire Wire transfer, Im not sure what people are wanting?? I listen to Drum and Bass (DnB) (keep this in mind as this will be a recurring theme in my critique), many of the DnB files that I have added to the unit are 50, 60, 90, 200 Mb in size. They are live shows that are gathered using StreamRipper for WinAmp during the Live Show Broadcasts on various DnB websites. So the files are HUGE and they take no more time to transfer to the H120 unit than it would to write to CD-R or to transfer from one folder to another on the PC hard drive. Grouping many of these files together and then transferring them to the unit takes the time anyone with any computer savvy would expect a large file transfer to take. The database is supposed to need to be updated by going Start-> Explore -> then right click on the drive and select "Update DB." I had to do this the first time, but I did notice the 2nd go around I didnt have to do this, as it updated on its own. Also before, you werent able to remove the files from the unit, but this has been remedied and it now works just like a regular PC HD and this alone is a MAJOR advantage over other players. Also, I dont have to add any silly proprietary software program to my PC. The LAST thing I need is to have space taken up on my computer by another program. Winamp, a FREE 4mb program can organize my playlists and functions quite nicely for assigning ID3 tags.
File capacity is massive. I know that this issue is dependent on requirements by the particular user. In my case (DnB, in addition to my CD and other MP3 collection) this 20Gb HD was a definite requirement.
The battery life of this unit is amazing. Many of the DnB shows that I listen to and Stream are 4 HOURS LONG!!! Meaning, in order to listen to the entire thing, Id need time as well as battery life. I ride the train to and from work, so I am able to listen on the train, at work, and then on the way home again. The first day I owned the unit, I played it for AT LEAST 12 hours. I noticed that this is less than the stated 16-hour claim. I have discovered reasons for this: The MORE you play with the unit (changing tracks, adjusting audio, surfing etc.) the less battery life youll get. Much like cell phones, keep them closed and use when necessary, the battery lasts a lot longer. I also discovered that the Backlight is a MAJOR battery drain. Fortunately, this can be turned OFF. I figure, Im not listening to this in the dark for the most part, so I can see whats on the face of the unit, what do I need a backlight for? Other than for looks, its pointless. I turn it off, in turn; the 2nd day of usage put me 14-15 hours. Also, the bit rates of the files have an impact. All of my MP3 files are 128 and above so this uses more battery power. Still 12 hours is NOTHING to frown upon.
Since the reason I bought an mp3 player is for music, I needed one that would sound good. With the music I listen to, it was important to have lots of power to the headphones. The H120 delivers big time. Everything is crystal clear, and powerful and LOUD! The way I like it. The system offers an EXCELLENT EQ that really does change the sound of the music. It sounds great "stock" but the tweaks for your likings make it absolutely incredible. But, as nothing is perfect, there are a few quirky things to go over, to give a fair and balanced review.
People have been complaining about the "joy stick" more than anything else. It really isnt all that bad of an idea. It takes a bit of getting used to but once you get it down, its easy as anything else. Holding it down will get you to the settings menu for sound adjustments and the like. Its about practice with the "joy stick" and once you learn the navigation technique it will be fine. Also, the SCROLL SPEED is FINE. Sure, its not a touch pad and doesnt go flying through the tracks, but can people even read that fast anyway? Furthermore, most of the time, you go PAST the track you want and have to backtrack to the proper selection (when using a touch pad) and the time it takes to do all of that, the H120 has it already selected via its method. What I dont like is that it sticks up a bit and so when you try to remove it from the carrying case, it gets caught. Not cool, since it isnt exactly made of billet aluminum. So, its more of a nuisance than a fault.
The unit comes with a remote; a remote that I used ONE TIME and was appalled by it. Yes, due to the size of the H120 the remote with the clothes clip would really come in handy. Except for one MAJOR detail: YOU LOSE HEADPHONE POWER. You have to plug your headphones into the remote unit, and it has about 60% of the power of the base unit. Trust me; I went back and forth a ton of times with the same part of the DnB song to verify this. There is NO WAY that I can use this unit because it detracts from the most important part of the music... the quality.
It is a little large, thats all I can say about that. But I was aware of that going in, so that really isnt a critique, more of a restatement of a known fact.
The ear buds supplied are WORTHLESS. ALL ear buds are worthless, for that matter. There is NO NEED for ear buds, unless youre working out or running and thus rendering regular headphone useless. Again, back to my DnB, it has TONS of bass, which is the point of this music genre.
Ear buds: Scarcely even have a tweeter, let alone anything that could be considered a "woofer." So there is NO SUBSTANCE in the ear buds and I find it quite hard to believe that any person that enjoys music would use ear buds, no matter which mp3 player you choose. They are uncomfortable despite the padding. The last thing I need is an oversized Q-Tip that plays music. So, people should deep six the ear buds and spring for a set of decent headphones. I have a $45 set of Sennheiser HD 457. Let me tell you *(and I know this isnt a critique for the headphones, but it applies), save for the vibration, and sheer volume of my car stereo speakers, these headphones pump some serious bass. Bass that you can hear AND feel! So, I lose nothing when listening to my DnB. Point is, dont complain about the supplied ear bud, go buy something that was MADE for music. Using ear buds is like trying to listen to music from your cell phone ear piece speaker. Im SURE theyre using the exact same technology, not designed for music as much as just for "sound."
The unit costs $300 or more. You can get it for cheaper, but factoring in any shipping costs, youre in the same boat. Is this a complaint? Yes and no. Yes because we all would like such nice items and not have to pay so much for them. However, no, because I couldve just as easily spent $199 for a RIO 512mb unit or $249 for a 4mb iPod Mini, just slightly less cost wise than my unit, but WAY less in terms of storage and functionality which is the purpose of this player.
On a final note, people that have bought this unit and in turn, have spouted off asinine complaints and comparisons to iPod are clueless in every sense of the word. The reason is simple: They did NOT buy an mp3 player for music, they bought it as a status symbol or because it is socially popular right now. I mean read their complaints: "Not as sexy", "the iPod is just SO much prettier!" "Ugly looking", and "iPod SOFTWARE is better than Windows Drag and Drop"??? Youre kidding right? How HARD is it to drag and drop? Even 90 year olds with NO PC savvy are able to drag and drop. It just goes to show the focus of the people that are obsessed with this iPod craze. I am attempting to steer clear of criticizing the iPod crowd, but lets be frank. iPod is for the McIntosh/Apple crowd. It is the same crowd that drives Saabs and ties sweaters around their necks.
All in all, this is a FANTASTIC player and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to have an mp3 player that is priced in the same range as the rest, offers awesome power to the headphones, stores lots of music and plays on and on and on!
Thank you.
On: 2004-10-22
We can read a 100 reviews on the quality of the player. This review is for people like me who have an iriver that may not always work as well as it did the day they got it.
I bought my iriver in January and by June the battery life was a measly 2-3 hours at best. Also, the unit would not work at all when it was plugged into my wall or the car adaptor I had purchased from iriver.com. So why four stars? Taking the advice of another amazon.com reviewer, I blew off the dust that had been collecting on my ihp and wrote iriver an email, then two days later I got a response and within a week I was shipping my unit back to iriver. I never even had my ihp registered, so dont let that stop you.
Yesterday I recieved my brand new unit, accessories and all. I have a sneaking suspicion that iriver has a whole warehouse full of ihp120s now that they have their new unit out. Also, I have seen the ihp for as little as $175 at a major retailer. Even so, Im sticking with my iriver and am planning on downloading irivium, which seems like it will make it an entirely new machine.
Overall I am very impressed with the customer service and very excited about getting my new iriver and giving it another chance.
On: 2004-10-22
Critique:
Ive had the unit for about a week. I have LOVED it the entire time. Unlike many people that have posted negative responses, I have done my research PRIOR to purchasing this item, especially considering the price; about $340 with taxes. Using my Pros/Cons as guidelines, I will give you my opinion on this great item.
First, the File Transfer. People have suggested that it is slow. I dont understand this critique. It is USB 2.0, and without the faster Fire Wire transfer, Im not sure what people are wanting?? I listen to Drum and Bass (DnB) (keep this in mind as this will be a recurring theme in my critique), many of the DnB files that I have added to the unit are 50, 60, 90, 200 Mb in size. They are live shows that are gathered using StreamRipper for WinAmp during the Live Show Broadcasts on various DnB websites. So the files are HUGE and they take no more time to transfer to the H120 unit than it would to write to CD-R or to transfer from one folder to another on the PC hard drive. Grouping many of these files together and then transferring them to the unit takes the time anyone with any computer savvy would expect a large file transfer to take. The database is supposed to need to be updated by going Start-> Explore -> then right click on the drive and select "Update DB." I had to do this the first time, but I did notice the 2nd go around I didnt have to do this, as it updated on its own. Also before, you werent able to remove the files from the unit, but this has been remedied and it now works just like a regular PC HD and this alone is a MAJOR advantage over other players. Also, I dont have to add any silly proprietary software program to my PC. The LAST thing I need is to have space taken up on my computer by another program. Winamp, a FREE 4mb program can organize my playlists and functions quite nicely for assigning ID3 tags.
File capacity is massive. I know that this issue is dependent on requirements by the particular user. In my case (DnB, in addition to my CD and other MP3 collection) this 20Gb HD was a definite requirement.
The battery life of this unit is amazing. Many of the DnB shows that I listen to and Stream are 4 HOURS LONG!!! Meaning, in order to listen to the entire thing, Id need time as well as battery life. I ride the train to and from work, so I am able to listen on the train, at work, and then on the way home again. The first day I owned the unit, I played it for AT LEAST 12 hours. I noticed that this is less than the stated 16-hour claim. I have discovered reasons for this: The MORE you play with the unit (changing tracks, adjusting audio, surfing etc.) the less battery life youll get. Much like cell phones, keep them closed and use when necessary, the battery lasts a lot longer. I also discovered that the Backlight is a MAJOR battery drain. Fortunately, this can be turned OFF. I figure, Im not listening to this in the dark for the most part, so I can see whats on the face of the unit, what do I need a backlight for? Other than for looks, its pointless. I turn it off, in turn; the 2nd day of usage put me 14-15 hours. Also, the bit rates of the files have an impact. All of my MP3 files are 128 and above so this uses more battery power. Still 12 hours is NOTHING to frown upon.
Since the reason I bought an mp3 player is for music, I needed one that would sound good. With the music I listen to, it was important to have lots of power to the headphones. The H120 delivers big time. Everything is crystal clear, and powerful and LOUD! The way I like it. The system offers an EXCELLENT EQ that really does change the sound of the music. It sounds great "stock" but the tweaks for your likings make it absolutely incredible. But, as nothing is perfect, there are a few quirky things to go over, to give a fair and balanced review.
People have been complaining about the "joy stick" more than anything else. It really isnt all that bad of an idea. It takes a bit of getting used to but once you get it down, its easy as anything else. Holding it down will get you to the settings menu for sound adjustments and the like. Its about practice with the "joy stick" and once you learn the navigation technique it will be fine. Also, the SCROLL SPEED is FINE. Sure, its not a touch pad and doesnt go flying through the tracks, but can people even read that fast anyway? Furthermore, most of the time, you go PAST the track you want and have to backtrack to the proper selection (when using a touch pad) and the time it takes to do all of that, the H120 has it already selected via its method. What I dont like is that it sticks up a bit and so when you try to remove it from the carrying case, it gets caught. Not cool, since it isnt exactly made of billet aluminum. So, its more of a nuisance than a fault.
The unit comes with a remote; a remote that I used ONE TIME and was appalled by it. Yes, due to the size of the H120 the remote with the clothes clip would really come in handy. Except for one MAJOR detail: YOU LOSE HEADPHONE POWER. You have to plug your headphones into the remote unit, and it has about 60% of the power of the base unit. Trust me; I went back and forth a ton of times with the same part of the DnB song to verify this. There is NO WAY that I can use this unit because it detracts from the most important part of the music... the quality.
It is a little large, thats all I can say about that. But I was aware of that going in, so that really isnt a critique, more of a restatement of a known fact.
The ear buds supplied are WORTHLESS. ALL ear buds are worthless, for that matter. There is NO NEED for ear buds, unless youre working out or running and thus rendering regular headphone useless. Again, back to my DnB, it has TONS of bass, which is the point of this music genre.
Ear buds: Scarcely even have a tweeter, let alone anything that could be considered a "woofer." So there is NO SUBSTANCE in the ear buds and I find it quite hard to believe that any person that enjoys music would use ear buds, no matter which mp3 player you choose. They are uncomfortable despite the padding. The last thing I need is an oversized Q-Tip that plays music. So, people should deep six the ear buds and spring for a set of decent headphones. I have a $45 set of Sennheiser HD 457. Let me tell you *(and I know this isnt a critique for the headphones, but it applies), save for the vibration, and sheer volume of my car stereo speakers, these headphones pump some serious bass. Bass that you can hear AND feel! So, I lose nothing when listening to my DnB. Point is, dont complain about the supplied ear bud, go buy something that was MADE for music. Using ear buds is like trying to listen to music from your cell phone ear piece speaker. Im SURE theyre using the exact same technology, not designed for music as much as just for "sound."
The unit costs $300 or more. You can get it for cheaper, but factoring in any shipping costs, youre in the same boat. Is this a complaint? Yes and no. Yes because we all would like such nice items and not have to pay so much for them. However, no, because I couldve just as easily spent $199 for a RIO 512mb unit or $249 for a 4mb iPod Mini, just slightly less cost wise than my unit, but WAY less in terms of storage and functionality which is the purpose of this player.
On a final note, people that have bought this unit and in turn, have spouted off asinine complaints and comparisons to iPod are clueless in every sense of the word. The reason is simple: They did NOT buy an mp3 player for music, they bought it as a status symbol or because it is socially popular right now. I mean read their complaints: "Not as sexy", "the iPod is just SO much prettier!" "Ugly looking", and "iPod SOFTWARE is better than Windows Drag and Drop"??? Youre kidding right? How HARD is it to drag and drop? Even 90 year olds with NO PC savvy are able to drag and drop. It just goes to show the focus of the people that are obsessed with this iPod craze. I am attempting to steer clear of criticizing the iPod crowd, but lets be frank. iPod is for the McIntosh/Apple crowd. It is the same crowd that drives Saabs and ties sweaters around their necks.
All in all, this is a FANTASTIC player and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to have an mp3 player that is priced in the same range as the rest, offers awesome power to the headphones, stores lots of music and plays on and on and on!
Thank you.
On: 2004-10-18
Got it off of eBay for $289 (free shipping too). Dont get it twisted; this is the iPod alternative for those who want to get deep into this kinda hardware. iPods, like their PC iMac counterpartz, are popular becuz they come preformatted for people who like thingz organized for them. If youre not willing to learn and adapt to interfaces and do a little homework, then stick to the Apple camp. However, if youre like me and prefer to be at the helm in every facet, Id def opt for this player. The USB transfers are incredibly fast, and if you have Windows XP then using this device will be almost too easy. The adaptability of that operating system allows it to assimilate hardware automatically once itz connected to the CPU, recognizing it as a "USB Mass Storage Device." No annoying software to install, no waste of time registrations or anything like that. Just plug in, drag and drop. Id also head over to their official site to download the easy to install firmware updates and such. All of its free and keepz your iRiver up-to-date with cool stuff. Though I dont, never have and never intend to own the 20 Gig iPod counterpart, Im gonna go out on a limb and make this overgeneralization for anyone wishing to compare the products from an inclusive perspective:
iRiver: Sufficient mp3 Player meetz External Hard Drive . . . A Portable Storage Device for the Computer Savvy and those Wishing to Become Them
iPod: Preformatted mp3 Player meetz PDA . . . Tailor-Made for the Lazy Liberalz who want to "make a fashion statement no one wantz to hear . . . i mean just look at their commercialz and Steve Jobs . . . they just REEEEEEK left-wing self-expression".
"Just Break Thru . . . Buy an iRiver . . . "
On: 2004-10-17
Ok, first lets get this straight: look NO MORE for options. This is the one you need, or maybe the 40 GB version. But its iRiver the right choice.
The great things about this product are: excellent quality of audio, extremely great battery life (about 16 hours), it has a FM radio that works really well, it appears as an external hard disk drive in your computer (you dont need any software to install, just drag n drop music files into it), its software upgradeable, handles WinAmp playlists and it plays OGG, MP3, WMA! Also it comes with a really cool leather case.
A feature that I really like is the Line Out feature. It has dual output: analog and digital output. And since its used as an external hard drive, I use it to transfer any data file to one computer to another, its a removable HDD! iRiver H120 also has a database feature if you want to browse your music through the artists, albums, titles, genres, etc. (I personally dont use it, I like the files and directories browsing).
But of course it has some flaws: right now with firmware "1.60 US" the shuffle is not "that" random and some people complain about the gap between songs (1 or 2 seconds gap between songs). I dont really care about the gap but there are some people out there that listen to live albums and hate it with a passion. I listen to live albums too but to me its not that bad. Those are the only flaws I have found in about 2 months.
Anyway iRiver agreed to solve these problems (BOTH: gap and randomness) in a future firmware release, nothing to be worried about for too long. People will get their bugs fixed in no time. I registered my product in iRiver site and I sent an email about these bugs, they answered it the same day. If you register your product youll see iRivers support is just great.
Dont worry: iPod has its flaws too, go read the reviews.
The only thing I would suggest if you get this product and want the best of it is to get good headphones. I got some Isolating Sound headphones (kinda expensive) and I know I cant get a better sound than the one Im getting now with my iRiver H120. The iRiver headphones are ok but I hated the short cable (the remote has a long cable but I like to put my remote in a belt strip).
Why would you choose an iPod instead of this one? I havent find an answer yet. iRiver is not only way cheaper than the iPod: its BETTER. Some people only have to say: "iPod looks cooler", and youre gonna pay a hundred dollars more just for THAT? get REAL!
On: 2004-10-16
Ok, first lets get this straight: look NO MORE for options. This is the one you need, or maybe the 40 GB version. But its iRiver the right choice.
The great things about this product are: excellent quality of audio, extremely great battery life (about 16 hours), it has a FM radio that works really well, it appears as an external hard disk drive in your computer (you dont need any software to install, just drag n drop music files into it), its software upgradeable, handles WinAmp playlists and it plays OGG, MP3, WMA! Also it comes with a really cool leather case.
A feature that I really like is the Line Out feature. It has dual output: analog and digital output. And since its used as an external hard drive, I use it to transfer any data file to one computer to another, its a removable HDD! iRiver H120 also has a database feature if you want to browse your music through the artists, albums, titles, genres, etc. (I personally dont use it, I like the files and directories browsing).
But of course it has some flaws: right now with firmware "1.60 US" the shuffle is not "that" random and some people complain about the gap between songs (1 or 2 seconds gap between songs). I dont really care about the gap but there are some people out there that listen to live albums and hate it with a passion. I listen to live albums too but to me its not that bad. Those are the only flaws I have found in about 2 months.
Anyway iRiver agreed to solve these problems (BOTH: gap and randomness) in a future firmware release, nothing to be worried about for too long. People will get their bugs fixed in no time. I registered my product in iRiver site and I sent an email about these bugs, they answered it the same day. If you register your product youll see iRivers support is just great.
Dont worry: iPod has its flaws too, go read the reviews.
The only thing I would suggest if you get this product and want the best of it is to get good headphones. I got some Isolating Sound headphones (kinda expensive) and I know I cant get a better sound than the one Im getting now with my iRiver H120. The iRiver headphones are ok but I hated the short cable (the remote has a long cable but I like to put my remote in a belt strip).
Why would you choose an iPod instead of this one? I havent find an answer yet. iRiver is not only way cheaper than the iPod: its BETTER. Some people only have to say: "iPod looks cooler", and youre gonna pay a hundred dollars more just for THAT? get REAL!
On: 2004-10-16
this is a reasonably good mp3 player. the only things i didnt really like about it were the facts that u couldnt make a playlist right on the mp3 player. The sound quality is great and i f you get yourself a really good pair of headphones(i cant use earbuds anyways so the horrible quality of the provided ones weremnt a huge deal to me.) its wicked loud. Its got a great fm radio. Me i personally like its looks over the ipod but whatever floats your boat. Another thing i didnt like was the remote. When i bought this i heard great things about the remote but its very flimsy and is much harder to get used to that the actual unit. Plus the earphone hole thingie is in a really weird place and at times the music can only be heard in one ear. thats on the remote. All in all its a good Mp3 if all u really care about is the music. Its most definitely worth it.
On: 2004-10-04
I got an iRiver for myself and an iPod for my fiancee. setup on mine was easy- hers was a pain. adding music? click and drag. hers? deal with iTunes.
controls take a couple minutes to get the hang of, but even that wasnt any different than the iPod.
ogg vorbis codec shrinks mp3s way down; also plays wma and mp3. iPod only has AAC and mp3.
iPod batterys life is half what they say. ive gotten the full 16 hours out of mine.
i HIGHLY recommend this product, it was so simple and ive been enjoying it ever since.
On: 2004-10-01
This is the best HD player on the market today in my opinion, but is not for everyone. It is a bit advanced in comparison to the IPod with its numerous extras like a builtin FM tuner and the ability to encode mp3s on the fly. There is a few things I dont like however. The software that it comes with doesnt do a very good job of indexing your music files so that you can find them easily. I tried both the initial software and the Moodlogic software that they recommend, but neither of them indexed my .ogg files into the DB. (I recommend Irivium for $25). Also, the headphones are a little short in length w/o the remote and a little to big. But dispite this drawbacks, a great player nonetheless.
On: 2004-09-29
The iHP-120 does exactly what it needs to do and no more. The display is functional, but unimpressive, and at times just difficult to read. In addition, the overloading of buttons is confusing at first, but eventually one can be convinced that it is actually convenient.
The battery life is great, probably as a result of the poor display.
Finally, the device does not support any media device functionality to manage (synchronize) the device with a media library. It pretty much looks and acts like a storage device, which is great until you are trying to manage 1000s of songs.
Dont plan on having your computer jukebox and iHP-120 work together,they wont.
And dont waste time with support, there is none. If you buy one, I hope you dont have any problems.
On: 2004-09-16
I purchased my unit in July of this year (04) and love this thing. I use the file tree method rather than the database method for locating/playing my files. I have structured my files by genre, album, artist and it works well for me. It is easy to locate my songs. I am a daily walker and set my player to shuffle the entire hard disk. I am amazed at how well this works. It is like having a new album(s) every day. If I want to play any particular album/artis I can do so easily. I will not bore you with all the details but I must dispell the myth that iRivers customer service doesnt exist. I had problems with the battery in my unit, it would last only 4-5 hours. I called their support line and in turn advised me to send them an email describing the problem. This email would be re-directed to their return department that would immediately get back to me with an RMA number and instructions for returning the defective unit. The next day I received the email. I returned the player on a Thursday and I was literally amazed that I received a brand new player in its sealed plastic case with all the accessories on the following Monday via UPS. I live in the Bay Area and the return location is also in the Bay Area so this is much faster than had I lived on the East Coast. However, what it did tell me is that the unit was packaged and mailed within 1-2 days from date the unit was received. I did not have to send them the accessories, only the player. They may be slow in updating their firmware but the service I got was outstanding. Please do not believe everything you hear about their customer service department (800 number). Hope this helps.
On: 2004-09-16
I absolutely loved the iRiver!
The interface is awesome, specially made for tech geeks like me ;p the acessories are excellent(except the headphones which came with uneven cables, but I bought new ones anyways, since i read the reviews) the options are varied, and the equalizer has no limits, you can change it to your exact desire.
I also loved the display!
The battery life is maybe the best(well, the zen has 24 hr battery life, but this mp3 player has more quality in other aspects)
Simply, flawless...the iPod has met its match, and I can say..that the iPod doesnt stand up to it.
I gave it 4 stars for the crappy headphone, besides that, excellent buy, I recommend it a million times over the iPod!
On: 2004-09-15
I have owned my iHP-120 (same as the H120, just a different name) for a little over 6 months now. I just upgraded the firmware last night to version 1.60 which gave me the ability to speed up/slow down .mp3s which will work great for some of my audio books (havent tested it yet). It also gave me gapless playback, something I am currently testing out, I haven¡¯t listened to a live album since turning this setting on so I cannot comment. It gave me other stuff that I have little interest in as well.
I bought this unit after considering the competition (there were two other competitors who I now forget and it isnt really important at this point).
I would really like to have an iPod because of the Database functionality (helps to organize/rate your music). I also like the styling and the ease of use of the iPod.
This jukebox does it all, however, effectively blowing away all others. It has a built in FM tuner (important for me because I use this on my Motorcycle and like to get local news/events/weather where I go).
It has an included remote (important for me because of my motorcycle, the remote unit clips on nicely to my tankbag and has a long enough cord to hide the actual unit).
It has a surprisingly nice leather carrying case. From experience, I have found that the leather carrying case helps protect the unit when dropped on the pavement from a height of about 4 (about the height of the tank bag on my motorcycle). The carrying case really helps to keep the unit clean and scratch free (I am anal about that).
The sound is outstanding. I am using a cheap pair of Sony (MDR-G52) headphones and they sound great. Ive used this with a pair of the latest generation Bose Noise-Canceling headphones and the sound was incredible.
The level of detail that is displayed on the playing song is very good, if you follow the Windows Media folder structure, you will be able to identify your songs quite well (if you use .wmas like I do).
This unit acts as a mass storage device when connected via USB to your PC (very nice).
Basic operation is adequate and somewhat intuitive. The unit has a lot of functionality that I just haven¡¯t used. Unfortunately some of that functionality involves those two really cool optical ports (one reason for buying this unit). I had dreams of connecting this to my home stereo, something I have yet to do. . .
One thing that I was real upset about was the database functionality. During my research I didn¡¯t uncover the fact that the database only pulls ID tags from .mp3 files only. If you use .wma (like me) you are out of luck and have to rely on your folder structure (which isn¡¯t all that bad after all). The latest firmware added .ogg Vorbis tags to the list which doesn¡¯t help me as I don¡¯t use that format.
I¡¯ve used this mainly for music, however, on a few long trips I have used this for audiobooks. The 16 hour battery life really helps on long flights/layovers/etc. If all you are doing is listening to one audiobook, you¡¯re fine. Shut the unit off and when you start it back up it will pick up where you left off. If you want to listen to some music in the middle of an audiobook, you have to remember where you left off (wait for the end of a chapter) so you can get back to it. The addition of bookmark capabilities would be very helpful.
If you have a LOT of music, make sure you are certain 20GB is enough. I have about 30GB of music which means I have to ¡®prune¡¯ 33% of my music to fit on this. That is NOT an easy task if you are eclectic like me (you simply have to have it all). For that reason, this unit will be going on eBay some time soon and I will be purchasing the 40GB model (either the H140 or the H340). I like the extra space for more music¡¦
Firmware updates are few and far between, release dates slipping by months at a time. If you buy this make sure you buy it for the capabilities it has and not for something you think will be added in the future (bookmarks, etc).
All in all, this is well worth the money. I am happy with my purchase and am planning on upgrading soon.
On: 2004-09-15
I purchased my unit in July of this year (04) and love this thing. I use the file tree method rather than the database method for locating/playing my files. I have structured my files by genre, album, artist and it works well for me. It is easy to locate my songs. I am a daily walker and set my player to shuffle the entire hard disk. I am amazed at how well this works. It is like having a new album(s) every day. If I want to play any particular album/artis I can do so easily. I will not bore you with all the details but I must dispell the myth that iRivers customer service doesnt exist. I had problems with the battery in my unit, it would last only 4-5 hours. I called their support line and in turn advised me to send them an email describing the problem. This email would be re-directed to their return department that would immediately get back to me with an RMA number and instructions for returning the defective unit. The next day I received the email. I returned the player on a Thursday and I was literally amazed that I received a brand new player in its sealed plastic case with all the accessories on the following Monday via UPS. I live in the Bay Area and the return location is also in the Bay Area so this is much faster than had I lived on the East Coast. However, what it did tell me is that the unit was packaged and mailed within 1-2 days from date the unit was received. I did not have to send them the accessories, only the player. They may be slow in updating their firmware but the service I got was outstanding. Please do not believe everything you hear about their customer service department (800 number). Hope this helps.
On: 2004-09-15
I absolutely loved the iRiver!
The interface is awesome, specially made for tech geeks like me ;p the acessories are excellent(except the headphones which came with uneven cables, but I bought new ones anyways, since i read the reviews) the options are varied, and the equalizer has no limits, you can change it to your exact desire.
I also loved the display!
The battery life is maybe the best(well, the zen has 24 hr battery life, but this mp3 player has more quality in other aspects)
Simply, flawless...the iPod has met its match, and I can say..that the iPod doesnt stand up to it.
I gave it 4 stars for the crappy headphone, besides that, excellent buy, I recommend it a million times over the iPod!
On: 2004-09-14
I have owned my iHP-120 (same as the H120, just a different name) for a little over 6 months now. I just upgraded the firmware last night to version 1.60 which gave me the ability to speed up/slow down .mp3s which will work great for some of my audio books (havent tested it yet). It also gave me gapless playback, something I am currently testing out, I haven¡¯t listened to a live album since turning this setting on so I cannot comment. It gave me other stuff that I have little interest in as well.
I bought this unit after considering the competition (there were two other competitors who I now forget and it isnt really important at this point).
I would really like to have an iPod because of the Database functionality (helps to organize/rate your music). I also like the styling and the ease of use of the iPod.
This jukebox does it all, however, effectively blowing away all others. It has a built in FM tuner (important for me because I use this on my Motorcycle and like to get local news/events/weather where I go).
It has an included remote (important for me because of my motorcycle, the remote unit clips on nicely to my tankbag and has a long enough cord to hide the actual unit).
It has a surprisingly nice leather carrying case. From experience, I have found that the leather carrying case helps protect the unit when dropped on the pavement from a height of about 4 (about the height of the tank bag on my motorcycle). The carrying case really helps to keep the unit clean and scratch free (I am anal about that).
The sound is outstanding. I am using a cheap pair of Sony (MDR-G52) headphones and they sound great. Ive used this with a pair of the latest generation Bose Noise-Canceling headphones and the sound was incredible.
The level of detail that is displayed on the playing song is very good, if you follow the Windows Media folder structure, you will be able to identify your songs quite well (if you use .wmas like I do).
This unit acts as a mass storage device when connected via USB to your PC (very nice).
Basic operation is adequate and somewhat intuitive. The unit has a lot of functionality that I just haven¡¯t used. Unfortunately some of that functionality involves those two really cool optical ports (one reason for buying this unit). I had dreams of connecting this to my home stereo, something I have yet to do. . .
One thing that I was real upset about was the database functionality. During my research I didn¡¯t uncover the fact that the database only pulls ID tags from .mp3 files only. If you use .wma (like me) you are out of luck and have to rely on your folder structure (which isn¡¯t all that bad after all). The latest firmware added .ogg Vorbis tags to the list which doesn¡¯t help me as I don¡¯t use that format.
I¡¯ve used this mainly for music, however, on a few long trips I have used this for audiobooks. The 16 hour battery life really helps on long flights/layovers/etc. If all you are doing is listening to one audiobook, you¡¯re fine. Shut the unit off and when you start it back up it will pick up where you left off. If you want to listen to some music in the middle of an audiobook, you have to remember where you left off (wait for the end of a chapter) so you can get back to it. The addition of bookmark capabilities would be very helpful.
If you have a LOT of music, make sure you are certain 20GB is enough. I have about 30GB of music which means I have to ¡®prune¡¯ 33% of my music to fit on this. That is NOT an easy task if you are eclectic like me (you simply have to have it all). For that reason, this unit will be going on eBay some time soon and I will be purchasing the 40GB model (either the H140 or the H340). I like the extra space for more music¡¦
Firmware updates are few and far between, release dates slipping by months at a time. If you buy this make sure you buy it for the capabilities it has and not for something you think will be added in the future (bookmarks, etc).
All in all, this is well worth the money. I am happy with my purchase and am planning on upgrading soon.
On: 2004-09-14
I have this jukebox for almost a month and Ive been using it every day ever since. In my opinion, the overall performance is great! Id recommend it to other people simply because its not as pricey as ipod, great features, and it comes with built-in voice recorder that works great. I also find it easy to navigate with the joystick.
Unfortunally the battery life for mine is more like 10 hrs (not 16 hours) and they couldve came up with a better design for the earphones.
On: 2004-09-11
I think anyone who is a tech and music junkie will love the IRiver iHP 120. There is a small learning curve to using the controls for the iRiver. For the first few times keep the instruction booklet handy and you have this player mastered in no time. The PC interface is simply windows explorer and the file transfer speed is exceptional. Being able to search your music by artist, title, genre is great but it does come with some overhead. All of your music files must be neat and tidy. By this I mean the tags should be correct and up to date. This makes the process much easier when it comes to organization of the files. The sound quality is just amazing! Recharge time is minimal and I have yet run the battery down to nothing in one sitting. Now I need to find a great car stereo with a line in port on the front because I have NO need to take my CDs with me anymore. I just love this player and recommend it. Worth the money!
On: 2004-09-06
I recently purchased an iHP-120 after researching many different types and brands of MP3 players/recorders on the market. It isnt too often when a product exceeds your expectations and its advertised claims -- this one does. The build quality of the unit is very high, it comes with a generous assortment of accessories, the OS is well thought-out and easy to use, the feature set is exhaustive, the battery life is impressive, the OS is upgradeable via flash ROM, it supports multiple codecs, and the sound quality is awesome. Ive been using the unit daily for the past week, and I have no criticisms to speak of. Although it may place a close second in comparison to an iPod for industrial design, I think that this baby is the best of its kind on the market -- period -- in terms of its design and function as a high capacity MP3 jukebox. You wont be disappointed.
On: 2004-09-06
After about a month of endless research online (on CNet and the reviews here at Amazon) I decided on the iHP-120 for my new mp3 hard drive. I had previously owned a Dell DJ (which I found to be utterly and completely useless junk), and what drew me were all the features, the reliability, and the great sound. Well, I have tried 3 of the most popular mp3 players on the market now (the Dell, the Apple iPod, and now the iRiver) and let me just say that the sound is better on the iRiver than any other player available. The detail that came through even through the bad included ear-buds (I have a pair of Philips but will be upgrading to Grado SR-60s) was astounding--I had no idea such a complex and sophisticated sound could come out of a portable mp3 player, especially one so small (the player is tiny--the same size as the 4th gen iPod, but a little thicker). The included case gets the job done, although I will be upgrading to the Vaja leather case, or the iSkin when it is released. Another amazing feature is the connectivity/transferring of songs. The USB 2.0 is a joy, especially when coupled with the freedom to use Windows Explorer instead of MusicMatch or that piece of flaming s*** iTunes. But, if youre the sort of person who needs more guidance in the form of software, RedChair has made a download called IRivium Explorer that should do the trick. Also, the remote is good as well. Its much much much smaller than i expected (about the size of your thumb) and its really handy, except for the cord, which is too long, and has the tendency to get tangled with the cord of your headphones. The equalizers that can be set up on the iHP-120 are amazing, too, and the volume that the player can go to without distorting the sound is very impressive. The FM tuner works great--no static, and the internal mic also fulfills my needs. The layout takes some getting used to, and, if you havent already done this and your collection is small, I would recommend converting your files to mp3 format--the database function is a joy (although the recent firmware upgrade may support ogg/wma database files, im not sure). The controls arent impossible to learn, though, and once you do, they make sense. Also, the player just looks great. It has a big screen and a very shiny black surface that feels as if it cost much more than it actually did. In my opinion, it looks much better than the Dell or the Rio Karma, and just as good as(if not better than) the iPod and the new Creative Zen Touch. I havent found the joystick button to be a problem--on the contrary, I think its a cool and unique feature. I have only 2 bones to pick with this player: the playlist feature and the shuffle feature. Im sure youve read this before, but the shuffle isnt really shuffle (it plays the tracks in the same "random" order each time) and you cant create playlists in the field (you have to use winamp or IRivium, which I havent tried yet), but these are minor gripes considering iRiver has promised to fix these in firmware upgrades--it cant be long now. But overall, I think this player has everything you could want in a portable digital audio device--room for 5000 mp3 songs, great features, and great sound, all packed into a very attractive package. So forget the repulsive and oppressive iPod franchise and say hello to iRiver!
On: 2004-09-05
After about a month of endless research online (on CNet and the reviews here at Amazon) I decided on the iHP-120 for my new mp3 hard drive. I had previously owned a Dell DJ (which I found to be utterly and completely useless junk), and what drew me were all the features, the reliability, and the great sound. Well, I have tried 3 of the most popular mp3 players on the market now (the Dell, the Apple iPod, and now the iRiver) and let me just say that the sound is better on the iRiver than any other player available. The detail that came through even through the bad included ear-buds (I have a pair of Philips but will be upgrading to Grado SR-60s) was astounding--I had no idea such a complex and sophisticated sound could come out of a portable mp3 player, especially one so small (the player is tiny--the same size as the 4th gen iPod, but a little thicker). The included case gets the job done, although I will be upgrading to the Vaja leather case, or the iSkin when it is released. Another amazing feature is the connectivity/transferring of songs. The USB 2.0 is a joy, especially when coupled with the freedom to use Windows Explorer instead of MusicMatch or that piece of flaming s*** iTunes. But, if youre the sort of person who needs more guidance in the form of software, RedChair has made a download called IRivium Explorer that should do the trick. Also, the remote is good as well. Its much much much smaller than i expected (about the size of your thumb) and its really handy, except for the cord, which is too long, and has the tendency to get tangled with the cord of your headphones. The equalizers that can be set up on the iHP-120 are amazing, too, and the volume that the player can go to without distorting the sound is very impressive. The FM tuner works great--no static, and the internal mic also fulfills my needs. The layout takes some getting used to, and, if you havent already done this and your collection is small, I would recommend converting your files to mp3 format--the database function is a joy (although the recent firmware upgrade may support ogg/wma database files, im not sure). The controls arent impossible to learn, though, and once you do, they make sense. Also, the player just looks great. It has a big screen and a very shiny black surface that feels as if it cost much more than it actually did. In my opinion, it looks much better than the Dell or the Rio Karma, and just as good as(if not better than) the iPod and the new Creative Zen Touch. I havent found the joystick button to be a problem--on the contrary, I think its a cool and unique feature. I have only 2 bones to pick with this player: the playlist feature and the shuffle feature. Im sure youve read this before, but the shuffle isnt really shuffle (it plays the tracks in the same "random" order each time) and you cant create playlists in the field (you have to use winamp or IRivium, which I havent tried yet), but these are minor gripes considering iRiver has promised to fix these in firmware upgrades--it cant be long now. But overall, I think this player has everything you could want in a portable digital audio device--room for 5000 mp3 songs, great features, and great sound, all packed into a very attractive package. So forget the repulsive and oppressive iPod franchise and say hello to iRiver!
On: 2004-08-27
Ive had the Iriver H120 for a couple of months now. Bought some Sennheiser MX500 earbuds and improved sound quality by 50 percent. Noticing some complaints on various forums about recording problems with the H120 & 140 I would like to put my own experiences into the melting pot. I have used this little machine in our Buddist Centre (Jamyand Buddhist Centre, London) to record (using the tape out on a mixing desk) from a lapel mike pinned on the teacher, directly into MP3 format. The results so far recording at 128 bitrate are exeptionally good and so far we have not had any glitches in recordings of about an hour and a half in length. We also record onto CD but the MP3 is much more functional.
Hope this is useful.
On: 2004-08-26
Ive had the Iriver H120 for a couple of months now. Bought some Sennheiser MX500 earbuds and improved sound quality by 50 percent. Noticing some complaints on various forums about recording problems with the H120 & 140 I would like to put my own experiences into the melting pot. I have used this little machine in our Buddist Centre (Jamyand Buddhist Centre, London) to record (using the tape out on a mixing desk) from a lapel mike pinned on the teacher, directly into MP3 format. The results so far recording at 128 bitrate are exeptionally good and so far we have not had any glitches in recordings of about an hour and a half in length. We also record onto CD but the MP3 is much more functional.
Hope this is useful.
On: 2004-08-24
They player looks VERY good and works just as well. All the pictures Ive seen online of the H120 made me expect to see quite a large player when I opened my package, and I was astonished as to how small the player was. Overall I am quite satisfied with the player, but my only problem with it is difference with the volume when playing from the hard drive and playing from the FM Tuner. I am in Jamaica, and the fm tuner feature works excellently even without the remote being attached. The stations sound rich and full and the volume of the fm tuner is what i expected from the player when playing from the hd but its not. The volume of the player is adequate, but I would have preferred it to be louder or even as loud as the fm tuner. HOWEVER, as it is the player is tops. The quality of the audio is superb and dispite all the problems with iriver and the firmware updates, the player is good enought to beat the ipod AS IS. The player looks great and works great. I have never used the Database function because of how I organise my music I dont need it so i cant comment on that.
All in all, the best player out there.
On: 2004-08-20
I have iRiver for 3 weeks now and its amazing. After a extense web research and read a lot of reviews this is the best player you can buy. Forget the expensive iPod.
On: 2004-08-19
There are more than enough reviews raving about this MP3 player, and I have to agree with all of them. This is a great hard drive player with an incredibly simple interface. A few things to consider though:
1) iRiver advertises this player as playing wma files and yet many user-written reviews say that they dont. I was really confused by this until I bought it and realized that for some reason, it plays some wma songs, but not all. I have no idea why, but thats how it seems to work. So if you plan on copying CDs thru Windows Media Player, it would also be wise to get file conversion software if you dont already have it. Once converted to mp3 files, you should have no other problems.
2) If youve read enough iRiver reviews, youve probably seen a lot of gripes about their customer support. As an owner of an iRiver CD player that fell on the floor and broke (it worked wonderfully before that...), I can tell you that their customer service really is useless unless you register your product. I emailed them at the regular support@iriveramerica email address before registering my products 2 weeks ago and still have not gotten a response. After reading from others that they dont respond to emails, I registered my product and sent them my question from my new account with them. It was answered in about 2 business days. That seems to be the easiest way to get your questions answered.
3) iRiver, as I found out from the previous experience, does not carry parts or do repairs. For defects covered by warantee, they replace the item. If its broken though, they offer no services. So if youre the type of person who constantly and inadvertantly breaks things, this might not be the company for you.
Hope this has been helpful, and like I said, I would highly recommend this product.
On: 2004-08-19
I have iRiver for 3 weeks now and its amazing. After a extense web research and read a lot of reviews this is the best player you can buy. Forget the expensive iPod.
On: 2004-08-19
Just about everything you read in the reviews here is right on. I love this player. So most of what I can add to the discussion are minor flaws: theres no equalizer in FM mode; radio reception is poor when the remote is used in-line (maybe due to my headphones?); you cant go from OFF to RADIO in one step--the device has to spin up the disk first; the charging port hole in the (otherwise perfect) case is misaligned--the plug still fits but doesnt go all the way in. Pluses: the battery life indicator is surprisingly linear for a lithium rechargeable device--awesome!; the internal mic has amazing quality! You wont believe it. (based on v1.30 firmware).
On: 2004-08-18
Ill admit it, the iHp-120 wasnt the first HDD player I bought...I opted instead for the Rio Karma - and dont get me wrong, its a solid little player, but when compared to the iRiver, its easily trumped in terms of features and durability. Anyway, I have no regrets whatsoever about exchanging it for this fantastic piece of equipment. Mp3 player, AM/FM tuner, portable USB hard drive, e-reader, personal recorder, you name it, this baby can do it, and do it better than any other player on the market.
The Good:
- FOOLPROOF. With all the features youd think it would be difficult to use the thing...however, thats the furthest thing from the truth.
- PLUGNPLAY. No software needed! Just drag & drop. Nuff said. However, adding the database function can be useful. Also, all that extra space can be put to good use holding files you dont want cluttering up your hard drive on your PC.
- WHOA DAMN! Customize the sound to your liking, this thing sounds awesome...but the SRS and WOW EQ effects sound horrible and are useless in my opinion.
- BLING BLING...everything you could ask for and a whole lot more...including an in-line remote (the best of the bunch), line-in cable, adapter, case, & external mic.
- SAY WHAT? Record music or voice from almost anywhere! Just use the mic or plug the unit into a headphone jack or optical out!
- JUICE IT UP. Battery life is pretty close to what iRiver claims, and among the best in its class.
- TOO MANY TO LIST...
The Bad:
- The player uses Winamp (*.m3u) playlists, which is great, but lacks the tools to create or edit a playlist on-the-fly. A minor gripe.
- You need to connect to a PC to edit or delete any content. Again, minor.
- Joystick works well for navigation but its a bit slippery.
- The included earbuds actually sound pretty decent with good bass response, but they are too large and dont fit well. And besides, theyre grey and dont match the player at all! Id recommend the Sony MDR-EX71SLs. Not only do they sound awesome, they have a shortened cord for use with the remote, theyre dirt cheap when compared to high-end models like Grado and Shure...and they complement the iHP-120 perfectly!
The Ugly:
The worst thing about the iHP-120 is that it looks too damn good! Im always wiping my fingerprints off the chrome, lol!
The Bottom line:
If youre looking for a HDD player then look no further, unless youre a conformist or if supporting Apple is some weird political trip for you. iRiver all the way!
On: 2004-08-17
Ill admit it, the iHp-120 wasnt the first HDD player I bought...I opted instead for the Rio Karma - and dont get me wrong, its a solid little player, but when compared to the iRiver, its easily trumped in terms of features and durability. Anyway, I have no regrets whatsoever about exchanging it for this fantastic piece of equipment. Mp3 player, AM/FM tuner, portable USB hard drive, e-reader, personal recorder, you name it, this baby can do it, and do it better than any other player on the market.
The Good:
- FOOLPROOF. With all the features youd think it would be difficult to use the thing...however, thats the furthest thing from the truth.
- PLUGNPLAY. No software needed! Just drag & drop. Nuff said. However, adding the database function can be useful. Also, all that extra space can be put to good use holding files you dont want cluttering up your hard drive on your PC.
- WHOA DAMN! Customize the sound to your liking, this thing sounds awesome...but the SRS and WOW EQ effects sound horrible and are useless in my opinion.
- BLING BLING...everything you could ask for and a whole lot more...including an in-line remote (the best of the bunch), line-in cable, adapter, case, & external mic.
- SAY WHAT? Record music or voice from almost anywhere! Just use the mic or plug the unit into a headphone jack or optical out!
- JUICE IT UP. Battery life is pretty close to what iRiver claims, and among the best in its class.
- TOO MANY TO LIST...
The Bad:
- The player uses Winamp (*.m3u) playlists, which is great, but lacks the tools to create or edit a playlist on-the-fly. A minor gripe.
- You need to connect to a PC to edit or delete any content. Again, minor.
- Joystick works well for navigation but its a bit slippery.
- The included earbuds actually sound pretty decent with good bass response, but they are too large and dont fit well. And besides, theyre grey and dont match the player at all! Id recommend the Sony MDR-EX71SLs. Not only do they sound awesome, they have a shortened cord for use with the remote, theyre dirt cheap when compared to high-end models like Grado and Shure...and they complement the iHP-120 perfectly!
The Ugly:
The worst thing about the iHP-120 is that it looks too damn good! Im always wiping my fingerprints off the chrome, lol!
The Bottom line:
If youre looking for a HDD player then look no further, unless youre a conformist or if supporting Apple is some weird political trip for you. iRiver all the way!
On: 2004-08-12
I own this player for probably over half a year. I defiantly recommend this over the Ipod, and that includes the forth generation Ipod, and their mini Ipod. Theres much more feature in this player then the Ipod, and from hardware to interface, youll get more then what youll pay for if youre deciding between this and any Ipods. For all the time that I had this player, it never fail me, expect when I shook it. With 20 GB of space you will never run out of room for storing music, I can duplicate all my music, and will still have enough room left over for installing Windows, not that I would recommend it though. One of the many features that this player has that Ipod lacks is the ability to record your voice and a FM tuner, may not be much use but who knows. You can also read text file from this player with the clear display. The interface is easy to use and has all the details. Theres also other features that enhances sound quality, and I did notice a big different when it was turned on. It comes with a remote that can access all the features without taking out the player, even though I never use it, because I dont really mind taking out the player, and I memorized the keys on the player. It also comes with a case that I find really useful, since my player is kept in there 95% of the time; in fact Im more use to seeing the case then the player. The only time I take it out of the case is when I want to look at it. All buttons can be access when its inside the case, and I dont find it bulk when its inside the case. The battery is out standing; I only charge it once every week if I need to, and charging the unit is extremely quick. Transferring files from computer to player is also very fast thanks to USB 2.0. This player can double as a backup drive, and no driver is needed for most Windows, just like a USB flash drive. This is rarely the only thing that I own that I have absolutely no problem with. The only thing Ipod has over this player is the looks, other then that I strongly recommend this player over all other players thats currently out there, buy it and you wont be disappointed.
On: 2004-08-12
I never really considered the iPod because it didnt have as many features as some of the other ones. I very nearly went with the Nomad but I was scared off by the reports that it breaks so easily.
After purchusing this mp3 player, I would say that I am fairly happy with it.
Pros: Good amt. of storage space, easy to charge, easy to navigate, easy to organize, good sound quality, great quantity of options, tracks do not skip, device does not break after being dropped several times
Cons: You have to play the playlists in alphabetical order, you cant delete tracks without being hooked up to a computer, you cant create playlists without being hooked up to a computer. Also, this is probably the fault of the CD ripper I downloaded, but in case it isnt Ill include it here: the last few seconds of the songs are cut off. Im not sure if thats true for every song, but I sure notice it for tracks that "lead into" one another
Other comments: Why do you need the remote control if you have to plug it in for it to work? Maybe I got the wrong idea. LOL. Doesnt that kind of defeat the purpose of a REMOTE control? Oh well. The size is fine too. Some people say its a little bulky, but you can still fit it in your pocket.
Overall, it sure beats the other players that have such high price tags! Very cool.
On: 2004-08-12
About six months ago I bought an ihp-120 after a lot of research. While I consider the reviewers from the online publications a useful resouurce, I put far more store in the opinions of actual users. After looking around, I narrowed down my decision to the iRiver, the Ipod and the Rio Karma.
I decided against the ubiquitous Ipod because of the relatively poor battery life and lack of functionality when compared to the IRiver. The Rio Karma was very interesting but there were so many negative comments about its reliability and supposedly poor customer support that I thought it was too much of a risk. The decision was therefore straightforward. The iRiver is easily the most feature rich MP3 player out there with a 20gb hard drive, over 16 real hours of battery life, compact size, very solidly built, remote control, FM radio, voice recorder and, it is most importantly, highly reliable. The only small downside was that the included DB software was quirky in that it didnt accept long track names; this was alleviated by manually truncating the titles.
A month ago I did someting really stupid and left my ihp-120 on a plane. In looking for a replacement I looked to see whether any advancements had taken place in this space. I took another look at the players I previously considered but the only change was that the Ipod had slightly better battery life but no additional functionality. I also looked at the Zen Touch which looks very sleek and has good battery life but, again looking at user reviews - there are already reports of it freezing up and there are numerous comments about the historical lack of support from Creative Labs.
So, with very little persuading I bought my second ihp-120 and, in addition to all the above benefits, I found that there is new Mood Logic software on the iRiver website which does away with the truncating issue!
If you look around, you will see, as "cynic1" has mentioned, that this is just an excellent player which is head and shoulders above the rest of the competition.
On: 2004-08-09
Since Amazon wont let me update my previous review of the iHP-140, Ill list it under the iHP-120
Further evaluation of the iRiver iHP-140
Four months ago, (in April) I posted a review of iRivers iHP-140 MP3 jukebox on Amazon. Since then, I have received many emails and questions about this great device. If this review is still on line, I would urge you to read it as a preface to this review.
Three weeks after mailing the email letter (sent to support@iriveramerica.com), and after sending it again recently (2004 August), I have not received an acknowledgment of the inquiry, let alone hope of pending solutions to the issues which I have discovered with the iHP-140.
Unlike other companies, iRiver lists no phone number or mailing address, either on their website or the user manual.
Therefore, I am hoping that readers who notice the same problems with this device will send email to support@iriveramerica.com to ask for support and solutions.
My evaluation of the iHP-140 may be summarized as follows
Hardware Awesome! Robust, compact and very capable. Not only is it a nice toy, but a 40 GB HD which connects to your computer by USB, encodes analog audio to MP3 and has a quick-charging, long-lasting battery built in.
Firmware Needs improvement! The issues are described below.
Support Poor!
Dear sirs,
In April, I purchased the iRiver iHP-140. Since then, I have recorded over 300 hours of microphone and line-in sound, and have done USB data transfer, becoming acutely aware of its strengths and weaknesses. Each is a separate issue and they should be assessed by your technical management and addressed separately, and hopefully improved with a firmware upgrade.
My background It might be helpful for you to be aware of my extensive experience in sound recording. During the `60s, I did considerable recording using reel-to-reel tape, in both stereo and 4-track. When sound quality became adequate in the `70s, I switched to cassette tape, recording in stereo including Dolby NR technology. In the late `90s, my medium for recording sound became the Minidisc with Atrac compression, using the Sony MZ-R50 recorder. This device failed recently, and after extensive research, I decided to purchase the iRiver. I wrote an evaluation of this recorder for Amazon (which is apparently still posted) and have received and replied to numerous email questions about the iHP-140, based upon my (not completely satisfactory) experience. This puts me in a rather awkward position of being both a critic and supporter of your product.
Programming issues
MP3 compression The algorithm used for MP3 compression is defective. Below 128 kbps at 44KHz sample rate, the sound quality is damaged by artifacts which sound like phasor-flanger effects, becoming worse as the bit rate lowers. Using computer WAV to MP3 conversion, I have extensively used 80 kbps satisfactorily, but the sound quality is not acceptable at that rate using the iHP-140, and is much worse at lower rates. The artifacts include frequencies which are NOT part of the original sound. This must be corrected!
Record pause indication As programmed, the iHP-140 indicates "pause" by flashing the tiny "elapsed time" figure. This is difficult to see under low-light conditions. It would make a lot more sense to flash the large RECORD indicator.
Record file-name indication When placed in record mode, before recording begins, no file name is shown. Because the recorder was built without any time-date indicator, I must write this information down, in order to maintain the dates of my recordings, and do not have the file name information available unless I hit the record/pause twice. This change should be exceedingly easy to implement. (It would certainly not matter if the track of that filename was not used)
[From information available to me prior to purchasing this unit, I did not recognize that it did NOT have an internal clock (as my computer, digital camera, cell phone, camcorder and MD recorder contain). The reasons for this are understandable, as iRiver did not choose to add the small amount of extra hardware to implement an internal clock, and felt the extra power consumed by it merited this decision. This was certainly the WRONG decision for my purposes, and I would not have purchased this unit if I have realized this omission.]
Playback error If the units function, using the record button, is changed directly from RECORD to PLAYBACK, after playing for a few minutes, occasionally the track being played will skip to the next track or just stop, even though the current track has no record errors. If the recorder is powered down and restarted, the track will play correctly. Bug!
Backlighting of display It was good design to allow the duration of display backlighting to be selected by the user, but when the unit is first powered up, the display backlighting duration is fixed, shutting off just a moment before the Record Setup screen appears, making it difficult to ascertain when the record button may be pressed to begin recording in conditions of low lighting.
Playback fast-forwarding Many of my recordings are over an hour in length, and the fastest rate available is much too slow to get to the middle of that recording session in a reasonable time. This is a tough one. I cannot suggest how to make this function manageable.
Volume control I discovered that the volume control affects not only the headphone output but also the line output. On all other audio devices I have used, "line out" has a standard level, unaffected by any volume controls. Somebody in your design team seems to have missed this.
Flow chart in the user manual would be useful It would be easy for an engineer (and useful for engineer users like me) to present the functions of the iHP-140 with a flowchart, showing which function results from which button pushes. I could suggest one, but would not offer this effort without a | | |
