TS: iRiver vs iPod

most definitely think about battery life. think about the remote control. think about the fm tuner on the iriver. think about the price (iriver's $40 less on amazon). think about file format compatibility. think about whether you are buying something cuz everyone else has it or because you want the best product. hard to believe i'm saying that as an argument against an apple product, but to me the iriver makes sense.

i own neither and have been spec-ing them both out for a near term purchase myself. obviously, i'm leaning towards iriver.

The real selling point of the iPod is its user interface. Every button does what you would expect it to in the way you expect it to. I have something like 2,000 mp3 or aac files on mine and I can find anything in seconds. You can change volume, fast forward, pause/play or skip to the next track without changing the position of your hand or looking at the screen. In terms of form following function it's probably the best designed piece of electronics I can think of.

Nice one Apple.

The battery is about six hours. If this is a problem, then get a hookup to 1)car cigarette lighter or 2)the plug in cable the goddamn thing comes with. I recharge every night. In eight months of ownership, the battery has died twice. Mods are easily available to add battery life if you're vaguely technically inclined.

Now what the fuck is an iRiver?

http://pictures.risukun.com/2002-01%20to%202002-05%20Spring%20Semester/2002-01-13/24%20Kaiwa%20-%20Spence%20and%20iPod.JPG

http://www.mujmac.cz/images/ipod3_dark_l.jpg

Why? Because I like to listen to music when I run. Because occasionally, I like to switch over to the radio. Because occasionally I'll record a live performance off of the radio. Because one AA battery charge lasts three times as long as my 18 month old ipod battery and it doesn't lose that charge if I leave it sitting for a couple of days.

Iriver's user interface sucks completely and totally. That is the major drawback. It's also rather ugly looking compared to the ipod. I'm still a lot happier with it. I'd probably feel differently if I wanted to use it on long distance road trips and things of that nature where the song list capabilities of the ipod would matter. You also can't transfer music off of the iriver like you can with the ipod. If these things matter and you don't mind the potential battery issues, maybe the ipod is the right choice.

After transferring MP3s to my player, tracks that should blend into each other have a tiny and rather annoying gap between them that shouldn't be there. Why is that? Is it just the software I'm using to rip MP3s (FreeRip)? Is there another way of transferring music other drag and drop?

and by the way, fytp

I don't understand, are you saying there are portable battery chargers that charge up the iPod batteries from some other batteries?

If that's so then iPod pics woould look a lot more clunky if they included all this charging paraphenalia.

Had someone also told me that consolidating my itunes library would have organised all my track by artist rather that playlist, meaning that I have to put compilations back together again in order to get them on to my iriver then not only woud I not have consolidated my playlist but I would also have bought an ipod as it was the thought that consolidating the libarary would mean I could just drag and drop the whole thing into the iriver was the cause of me doing so in the first place. :((

Do you live on Mercury?

http://www.iriver.com/html/support/forum/sufr_index.asp

They better, after 3 hours in line.

1. The battery only charges 1500 times or something. I'm not going to drop $600 (I'd only get the 60 gig if I got one, I have way too much music for the 40), knowing itll only last a few years.
2. The warranty seems sketchy. It's only 1 year, and only free during the first 60 months (after that you have to pay for repairs) and only covers problems inherent in the ipod, not stuff like if you drop it. Considering almost all the electronic stuff Ive ever bought can get a full-coverage, that sounds weak.
3. I dont have/dont plan on ever owning a mac. And I am more comfortable, enjoy using Winamp a lot more than Itunes.

That said, I dont know why people are complaining about having to charge the battery on an Ipod. I charge my cell phone every night while I sleep. If you did that with your Ipod, and got 8 hours during the day, even 6, you'd be fine.

You don't need iTunes or any special software at all as you can can just copy songs onto it through Windows Explorer. I'm assuming an iPod can do that.

The only complaint I had is that the charger I got has a European plug on rather than an English three-pin plug, but - as I later found out - you don't even need a separate charger as it'll recharge itself through your computer's USB ports when you sync it.

The FM radio is also pretty mighty as mine pick up dodgy London pirate stations crystal clear without any external aerial - and you can record them. If you upgrade it with the newer firmware, you can even watch videos on it.

The iRiver IFP-7xx series makes some incredible, incredible noises if you go into a subway, turn on the FM, and hit "record." I am going to upload some of the sounds it made soon, but wow.

I just got an H10 and now I have an iRiver family of two, fi you somehow still don't have a DAP, get iRiver over iPod. I can play videos on mine with third-party firmware!

Does anyone know what's going on with Iriver Europe? Their website isn't working and the H140 I recently sent for repair has recently been returned to sender, unrepaired. It looks like they have closed down but I can't find any info about this having happened. I've emailed their UK distributor and the contact listed on the U.S. website but have received nothing back.

Ultimately, where I'm going with this is as follows: where could I get an iriver H140 repaired?

So, it looks like their website has moved to www.iriver.at. Google doesn't seem to be aware of this for some reason.

repairing is an outdated and analog concept. replacing is the new repairing.

That may be, but they don't tend to make mp3 players onto which I can record full quality audio these days so I'm a little stuck. Plus, I like my chunky H140.

http://reviews.cnet.com/sc/30815409-2-200-0.gif