Well made and good sound, but too many features?
Written: Feb 23 '05 (Updated Apr 22 '05)
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Pros: Great sound, featherweight, quick access to volume, new improved software, robust design.
Cons: Difficult to remember all the features and how to get to them.
The Bottom Line: This player does everything that I ask of it. I'm pleased with its sound quality and ability to take a beating.
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| tholstar's Full Review: iRiver iFP-790 (256 MB) MP3 Player |
I've had my iRiver iFP-790 for 2 years now. I use it no less than 2 or 3 times a week and almost exclusively for exercising. Keep that in mind while reading this review.
The good:
1. This baby is light and small. It's about the size of a cigarette lighter and practically weightless. When strapped onto my arm, I can't even tell it's there.
2. Feature packed. It can play your MP3's in a variety of sequences, repeat mode, random, etc. It also comes with a built-in radio which you can record from onto the player. It also has a microphone, presumably for jotting down verbal notes when you don't have a pen handy.
3. After two years of running and lifting weights, this player keeps on playing without a hitch. I've dripped tons of sweat on this thing, dropped it a few times (when putting it on), and stored it in my sweaty gym bag which I toss around like a sack of feed. This player takes a beating.
4. The arm band is perfect for exercise.
5. The LCD display tells you the title and artist of the currently playing song, the volume level, and can tell you how much is left of each song, how much has played, or just show a music graph (worthless in my opinion).
6. The navigation joystick makes skipping a song, repeating a song, or adjusting the volume effortless.
7. The software is drag and drop. Simply find the MP3's on your computer and drag them to the iRiverManager program and you're done. Note that this was not always the case. My biggest gripe with this player in the past was cumbersome software. With the latest free software and firmware upgrades, this player is as easy to use as any other.
8. The battery life is great. It takes one AA battery. The manual says that the battery will last up to 40 hours. I can't confirm that, but my batteries have lasted several months. I use it about 3 times a week for 30 minutes to an hour each use. In two years, I've changed the battery twice.
The bad:
1. I bought mine before they came with the arm band. I had to buy it separately. That is no longer the case. The included neckstrap is worthless for running because it bounces the player on your chest. Putting the player under your shirt stops the bouncing, but then you can't change songs or the volume without fumbling around to pull it out.
2. Too many features for me. I rarely use the player to play the radio or record my voice. I can't imagine why anyone would want to play the same song over and over again, etc. I want my player to simply play all the songs from start to finish. I can always use the navigation joystick to skip a song or two.
3. The buttons aren't immediately intuitive. For the first few uses, I often pushed the wrong button and would record the radio or hear the same song over and over. This was annoying and difficult to fix after I've already started running and don't want to stop. After several uses, this problem went away, so it was mostly just a learning curve issue for me.
4. The included headphones sounded okay, but fell off too easily when running, jogging, etc. After a couple of uses, I tossed them and purchased some headphones that wrap behind my ears for better stability.
I'd like to add another comment about the sound quality. I think the sounds quality is excellent in this player, but the sound quality in all these players is more dependent on the headphones than the player. This player sounds exquisite with my Bose QuietComfort II headphones, but I don't wear those when I use this player since I only use this player for exercising. When my feet are hitting the pavement or I'm pumping iron, I probably can discern small differences in sound quality.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199
Recommended for: Athletes - Lightweight and Portable, Perfect for the Gym
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Epinions.com ID:
tholstar
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Location: Texas
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Husband, father of two and a computer programmer and web developer.
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