Rating: 
Summary: awesome player
Review: I previously owned the iAUDIO 256mb MP3 player. I lost that one, so I upgraded to the iRiver iHP 120 20 GB MP3. I basically use my player for listening to music and recording lectures. After reading comments on Amazon and other websites, I still wasn't sure about the iRiver, but decided to take the chance. Here's my take on the features.Things I like:
- more (free) features than the Ipod
- ridiculous amount of memory
- awesome remote control; I keep the main unit locked and just use the remote
- FM radio
- recording capabilities that allow you to save recorded files in .mp3 or .wav format (maybe other formats too; allows you to record up to 5 hours per recorded file)
- easy to transfer any type of file from your player to your comp (and vice versa). u don't need to download a special program to your computer. the iriver just shows up as another drive. this is a very unique feature among mp3 players. basically, it doubles as a data storage unit. Things I don't like:
- takes some time to learn how to operate; buttons are not so intuitive
- when you record, every so often u hear the whirl of the hard drive in your recording
- not as pretty as the Ipod (but more than makes up for this w/ functionality)
Rating: 
Summary: Ipod Who?
Review: After doing extensive research on MP3 players to try to purchase the best bang for my buck, I decided on this Iriver. Ipod was definitely a choice, but not enough features and too much money. Let me start with the basics:
Price = Ipod $400 Iriver - $360 Features of Iriver:
16 Hours of battery life - Ipod's 6 hours isn't getting it done. They've had time to fix this problem. The Iriver has a much better battery (lithium polymer). FM Tuner, Line Out, Line In: Ipod should of considered the FM tuner. While not the biggest deal, it should still be part of the package. LCD Remote Control - FINALLY!!! When you have one, you'll understand why it's so nice. Being able to see what's playing, and what will be next, is a major plus. Sound Quality - While the earbuds aren't the best (stock ones never are), they are decent. The sound quality is still phenomenal. Many adjustable EQ setting make it sound great. I will soon invest in better earbuds, but at the moment, the stock ones will do. Removable drive - No 3rd party software. Drag and drop. Simple as that. Voice Recorder - Excellent quality. Apple sells this as an accessory. I'd rather have it all built in. Upgradeable firmware - Always a plus. Magnesium body - Seems much more durable than Ipod's plastic exterior which scratches very easily. There are a couple cons, but not many. The stock earbuds are ear sensitive. Some people they fit fine, others may just want to get another set of earphones. Interface - Some people not used to being more on the technical side may have trouble getting used to it. It is not that hard though. The manual included has plenty of illustrations showing step by step how to do each function. After about a half hour of messing with it, i got it fine. On The Fly Playlist - One thing I wish they'd add. Maybe they will upgrade the firmware. (hint hint) Carrying Case - Makes it a bit bulkier but can still get into your pocket with ease. All in all, if you want a great MP3 player with almost everything included, for less money than an Ipod, this is your winner. Remember, just because it's popular, doesn't mean it's the best.
Rating:
Summary: Best Quality and design, Poor Wiring management!!!
Review: Today is the 3rd day since i received the Iriver iHp-120. I think the title says all about my feedback for this precious portable player. Notice i used the word "portable player" in stead of the mp3 player? Because this iRvier player not only those common wma and mp3, it also play a bunch of other formats. One of which, it plays the Ogg format, which is the new format, newly made available, with better file compression (smaller than mp3 and even smaller than wma format). Impressively, the sound quality of this "Ogg" format is somewhat better than the conventional mp3 format! Is it because of the type of file format, or is because of the iRiver portable player? The answer is BOTH!! I love the iRiver design, timelessly and painlessly file managment on desktop. It shows as an additionl hard drive on your window. Then, folder can be created, and files could be created within! Those folders will be shown on the player as exactly as it is on the desktop!! The battery? I said this is my third day since i have this! I played with it approx 3 hrs a day in average, I have not yet removed the charger from the package!!! Nothing is gone without cretitism! Although the remote control is nice, but to me it is somwhat huge! Besides, often time, i find myself with all the wires runnong around my body! iRiver, com on? You can do better than that, can't you? You can produce the best portable player in the world (well, one of the best!), and you left with this mess of wiring that are not appreciated by consumer like me? Also, the case and headphone are not to be expected to come with this precious player! We are talking about the wrong stuff here! Again, iRiver, can't you come up with a belt clip, with better looking case and better headphone for your "GOLDEN" iRIver player?? I am sure you can, but you just careless! As consumers, we care more than "less", especially with the over $300 portable player!
Got it?
Rating:
Summary: You can't go wrong with the iHP-120
Review: I don't usually write reviews, because most of the stuff is generally "you get what you pay for". The iHP-120 is a delight. You can stop comparing hard drive based players; This is the one to buy. It's the one you won't have to send back. It won't disappoint you and it is EASY TO USE.
Rating:
Summary: Will not play music downloaded from Music Match or Napster 2
Review: A fantastic machine in every way. Small, voluminous capacity, great sound, extremely convenient remote, reasonable FM reception, ability to record records and tapes. the USB 2 connection really does transfer about one song a second.
The learning curve is a little steep, but once you get it, the IHP-20 works very well. It's slick.
BUT: if you expect to listen to music you've downloaded on MusicMatch or Napster 2, you will be disappointed. Iriver does not have a digital music rights agreement in place. Their website insists they are "working" on it. If you have a lot of music downloaded from the above two services, this is not the machine for you.
Rating: 
Summary: great jukebox ... if you don't intent to record
Review: Possibly one of the best jukeboxes available today, but a total failure if you intend to use iriver for voice recording.
depending on the bit rate you select, the machine generates awful screeching & scratching sounds for 15 seconds every 2 minutes, these get recorded into all voice files over any sound you wish to record.
the worst part is that iriver is well aware of the problem, yet is not recalling these jukeboxes.
Also, be aware of iriver poor customer service. Both units sent to use had the same exact flaw.
We tried to contact iriver by phone and e-mail... no answer.
Their customer support number listed on iriver website is NOT their customer support, it is simply a voice mail box. Leave a message and they promise to call back within 24 hours. Don't hold your breath. After numerous attempts, they called us back about a week later. The woman on the phone was very unsympathetic, though she finally admitted that iriver was aware of these problems with recording, That was it, no apology for knowingly selling flawed products and charging over $300 for them. Her attitude was "It is what it is"
FYI - iriver customer support not listed on their web site -1.800.399.1799 if you use iriver for playing only - enjoy !!! if you are thinking of buying iriver for its recoding capabilities as well - forget it !!!
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy until update is provided
Review: I spent a week downloading and trying to listen to music I bought from various websites. Then I went to the iRiver technical support website and discovered that: "Currently the iHP and iGP do not support music purchased from download sites (e.g. Napster, BuyMusic, iTunes, etc). These music files are provided in a WMA copy protected format and the iHP and iGP cannot accept the license files required for transferring these songs to portable devices. iRiver is working on providing this support with a future update, please watch our web site should any details arise"
Rating:
Summary: mp3tastic
Review: Thinking about an iRiver? For my use I rate it better than ipod because of the battery, the recording, and the remote. I have both iRiver and iPod - at least I do until I sell the Apple.
Sizewise it's very similar to ipod. Feels marginally deeper, lighter, narrower. iRiver Pluses
- it has a much better battery
- it can record direct to WAV or MP3 (at configurable bit rates) from either the built in microphone (includes voice activated) or the optical/electrical line in.
- it has optical line out
- it has an FM tuner (not that I ever listen to the radio)
- it doesn't require any additional software
- it has a full function remote (including navigation, record, LCD, etc)
- it has more audio configurability
- you can plug it into as many computers as you like an it doesn't care about being shared around
- it has a nice leather case that exposes only the controls and has a see through panel so you can see the screen
- it comes with the USB cable (iPod, you gotta buy it)
Minuses
- it is only about 75% as beautiful as an ipod (still much better than any other HDD music player I've seen eg Nomad)
- the remote isn't as "solid" as the ipod (trade off for function)
- the standard ear phones are pretty rubbish
- it doesn't have an organiser, or text file reader, or clock like the ipod (do you care? I never used them anyway)
- navigation is a little fiddlier (but you get used to it). Particularly setting preferences and things. Many of the controls are context specific. i.e. they may do different things depending on what mode you are in and holding them down does something different from pressing them. If your user is a technophobe this might be an issue. iPod is extremely clean and easy to operate. This not so much.
- you don't get the cool database software for more serious searching scanning etc if you run it with a mac. If you do want to use this with you PC you have to update the database separately and that DOES require software to be installed on the PC.
- it doesn't do playlist creation (iPod does)
- the display is more cluttered than the iPod.
- the case has a belt loop instead of a clip so it isn't easy on/off if you like belt carrying (I use a pocket).
- the play/pause, stop, record buttons on the player are pretty small. They are fine on the remote.
- if you use it with a mac (like me) you suffer the idiosyncracy of a second .file being created for every file you write using the Mac file mangler "Finder". The iRiver displays these and will attempt to play them.
Rating:
Summary: Solid Product, but just miss being Awesome
Review: Solid product, does what it says it will do. If your a computer hacker kind of guy, then this by far is the product for you. If your a casual user, get the iPod. Great features: Built in FM tuner, remote display, no proprietary format needed, Great size, Large HD, easy to hook up to PC and nice leather case. These features on a iPod add up $$. However, the interface is absolutely terrible! Not intuitive what-so-ever and the button layout is in-efficient also. I used the iPod and it is music to your fingers to use compared to the iRiver. However once you learn and train yourself on what buttons to use and when your fine. I couldn't figure out how to turn the radio on easily, had to look at the manual. Nothing on the device is layed out in a way a person would think and use it. I handed it to a friend and ask him to play the radio, he got frustrated after 10 minutes and gave up. Asked him to play a selection of tracks for replay, took him a while to figure out. My friend handed me his iPod, within seconds I could do whatever he requested. I'm a techie and fairly inteligent person that loves technology, but on the other hand I'm a simplistic person. This device is not simple to use, if you get frustrated quickly with computers or like a beautiful user interface get a iPod. OH! make sure you load the driver that comes with it and load the dB interface (follow the manual, it is easy). That way it indexes your music. But for the price, the features, non-proprietary issues, this was for me. They do have upgradable firmware so hopefully they will work on the interface better.
Rating:
Summary: Yet Another Happy Owner
Review: I bought this nice MP3 player from amazon.com for 270 bucks (330 - 30GC - 30MIR). Since then I have been listening it for about two weeks and I am very happy with the money I spent. I had been researching on a hard drive based player for a long long time. Never really thought about iPod because it lacks a FM tuner, which is a must for me. There was one time a slick-looking Rio Riot 20GB player became quite attractive to me, but many negative reviews from CNET made me give up. When iHP series came out, I totally fell for it because it has all the features I wanted. The 20GB hard drive is large enough to hold my favorties songs out of my 40GB+ collection. The black body is very lovely with the babyblue back-lit LCD screen, and the size is smaller than I expected. The LCD remote is a great plus since it can do everything the machine can and it's just beautiful. The battery life is even better than it's advertised: I left it on randomly playing MP3s (volume 24 out of 40 and no EQs or WOWs), and it lasted an amazing 18 and half hours. Yes, 18.5 hours! I've not tried an iPod, but I heard that it lasts no more than half of iHP. There are many other great features about iHP, but there are a fews things I don't like much about. The song database feature is good, which allows you to browse music by albums, artists, genres. But after I build a database of about 1200 songs with its windows software, the player spends more than 10 seconds to startup. I would expect the loading time to increase since I am only using half of the 20GB right now. Also, the players looks a bit bulky with its leather case on. I really hope it could be even smaller. All in all, with lots of pros and only a few cons, I'd say I really love this player. And the 1-year warranty (unlike 90-days from many other brands) really make me reassured of this investment. Oh, FM tuner, how can I forget the FM tuner, iHP-120 stores 20 stations and the reception is quite good. It will bring me out of boredom when I have listened to all the songs in my player 10+ times.
| 
