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Rating: 
Summary: Affordable flexibility with good looks
Review: I bought this player primarily because it plays ogg files. For the uninitiated, ogg is an open source (free) format as opposed to MP3 (Fraunhofer labs) and WMA (microsoft). It also is far superior in quality to MP3 at the same bit rate. The installation is very smooth and the program looks just like a windows explorer window. The player is great even though some of the features (like FM radio) are not absolutely intuitive to access. But it is not a problem once you get used to it. The loading of tracks into the player is similar to drag and drop except that you have to use the special window (which prevents you from copying things back from the player... so be aware of this). 256M is enough
to hold about 3 hours of very high quality music (192kbps OGG).
I believe you can use this player to drag and drop non-music files between different computers though (so it can function
as a flash drive as well).Upside: 1. Stylish design, small form factor. Perfect for Sports.
2. Plays OGG/MP3/WMA/ASF
3. Line in recording, FM recording etc.
4. Very affordable for the feature set.
5. Comes with arm band and pendant cord. Included set of earbuds
is also quite decent. Downside:
1. Does not show up as a drive on windows (concession to the
DRM lobby I guess).
2. Controls are not intuitive (different buttons do different
things depending on how long they are pressed and in what
mode).
Rating: 
Summary: Great player with a few design flaws
Review: I should note at the outset that this review is of the 890, which is the newest iriver player, but does not seem to be available from amazon. From what I can see, this model is very similar to the one displayed here. Overall this is a quality product for those looking for a good MP3 player. However, it is on the expensive end, primarily because it has many features. Those who are interested in something that is basically the "porsche" of MP3 players will enjoy testdriving all the doodads, but if you are cash-conscious, try something at the lower end of the cost spectrum. First, the good: The player is sleek and sexy, and the chromed plastic is very attractive. It comes with a grey and clear plastic jacket that protects it from scratches and allows it to be attached to a belt or the included arm clip, which is very sturdy. It also comes with a lanyard to wear around the neck. The player has a dizzying array of features-FM tuner with the capability to preset channels, a sleep timer so that you can fall asleep to music (and wake up to it), playlist creation, and a wide array of recording options-the FM radio can be recorded, as well as voice, and a port allows it to record mic from any device with a headphone jack. files are saved as MP3 and are easily removed from the player using the included software, so that they can be burned, copied, etc. The sound produced is beautiful, and the unit has a very sophisticated graphic equalizer that has several presets for different kinds of music as well as manual configuration options. The Iriver transfer software was easy to install and fairly intuitive-it looks just like windows explorer. Files are easily located and uploaded, and the software displays how much memory is left prominently. Now the bad: The arm strap may be sturdy, but the player itself sticks out-if you want an MP3 player to use on your workout, you are better off getting something like the rio cali sport, which is more flush and less likely to get caught on things, than this one. While the player has a multitude of features, they all share three buttons and a joystick. this means memorizing arcane button holding/pressing routines to access the many menus, submenus, and settings. Figuring out how to play a song is relatively easy, but setting the timed record feature is a nightmare of button pressing/holding. The manual is over fifty pages long, and you will *never* remember how to do some of this stuff without it. The Iriver software is neccessary to transfer files-the player does not show up as automatically as a drive letter. You can transfer data files to the player, but you need the Iriver software to get them out, so the feature is pretty much useless. Theincluded earbuds are awful-cheap and uncomfortable. The first thing I did was toss them and get some real headphones.
Rating: 
Summary: Great for MP3, Bad for workouts
Review: I was excited to purchase the iRiver MP3 player after reading all the glowing reviews of sound quality and features, however was disappointed with its practical use in the gym. To attach it to your person when working out, your options are a neck strap, an inflexible arm band, or a pocket. If you are like me, and have 18inch arms, the arm band was more like a tournaquet. This leaves the neck strap or a pocket in your shorts. For me, I had to tuck the unit under my shirt because it bounced around so much while I was running on the treadmill or was walking. This then precludes any type of adjustment to the unit like volume, or playlist, etc. I just went to iRiver's site to spend another $19.99 + SH for a belt clip for the unit. I am hoping this will solve my problems. Why dont they include a belt clip with the product, like every other portable MP3 player? Even my 5 year old Diamond Rio 300 had a belt clip... So if you like to carry your MP3 player while in the Gym, then this player is for you, if you dont, then expect to spend another $25 on a clip that is worthy of an portable MP3 player.
Rating:
Summary: wait till they fix the white-noise problem..
Review: This product has a white-noise problem, which won't be fixed by firmware upgrade.. Thus, wait for a while until iRiver fix the hardware problem.. One bad news is that the company tried to cover the problem, but is now facing a challenge from many angry customers and zdnet's lab test in Korea.. The noise is less discernable when you are using the bundled 32 ohm earphones. However if you using 16 ohm earphones, you can easily detect the white-noise..
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