Rating: 
Summary: Great player... but headphones stink!
Review: Am having a ball with this player! Did some research and it seemed the best option. It was also on sale where I got it!
However when I first turned it on,I was about to drive right back to the store. Teh sound quality was terrrible (I am a bit of a snob about such things)!
But calmer heads prevailed and I tried some other headphones I had instead (Sonys.. they are the clip on ear ones). WHAT A DIFFERENCE! So in my opinion get it, but get new headphones!
Rating: 
Summary: A River of Bliss
Review: an awesome Mp3 player, im my opinion the best on the market
last year i had a 128MB player and i upgraded to 512 this year.
i recommend converting mp3's to wma's to save space and gettin a set or rechargable batteries is ur a music fanatic like i am.
arm band is sound useful at first but its way to small for my arm... (im a high school wrestler but so i have some muscle but the arm band's size is ridiculous.
anyway, get this mp3 player. if u really wanna have it made sign up for napster when u get it. $10 a month for unlimited, legal downloads. music BLISS
Rating:
Summary: iFP-795 kept me out of the dog house.
Review: Background; I'm a technogeek. I work in high tech all the time and my wife, well she doesn't. You get the idea, she never appreciates the electronic stuff I pick out for her. So here I am posed with providing her with a "CD player she can take to the gym to experciese with" and the lure of "MP3". I don't think she has ever burned a CD so the cheap option which mind you was bulky yet "what she asked for" would hold as much water as being able to "drag and drop" files onto her player. Next was variety. Which in this instance meant capacity and function. I could have gone cheaper with a 128 or 256 flash system but given my experience with my wifes' varying music taste, there would be a bit too much dropping for her liking.
So I choose this unit based on reviews and gut feeling. Had to have good sound range and ability to EQ it to the earphone set being used. Let's face it they all are a bit different. Also the FM radio function. Even if you can fill it with over 70 songs, sometimes you just don't want to be a jockey. Then last but not least which was the hardest in my opinion to take a chance on because you couldn't garnish enough from reviews to tell if the one was better then the next, was "arm band" The standard one that came with this one was pretty good. It functions with one hand easily and doesn't restrict like a tourniquet.
She has tried it and I was given a "Hey, I REALLY like that player" responce to it the other day.
As far as I'm concerned this unit did the trick and kept me out of the "Christmas Present Doghouse"
You have to load the iRiver software to push songs onto the unit but WinXP sp1 had no problem. Remember to load software first then connect the unit to USB. Intially we just placed all the songs on the "root" directory since it shows up first for listing the songs, then we'll ajust to a folder method after she gets used to surfing the units menu.
Sound quality was above average,
Fit and finish was above average,
Display would be nice if it were color for contrast help,
Upload speed was very good,
The Music Manager software is a bit slow to build a list of directory on your computer though. Seems like the software program could be faster on the main computer side,
All in all $200 well worth it.
Rating:
Summary: I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW MUCH FUN THIS THING IS!!!!!!!!!!
Review: I am a huge music lover. I am totally in love with my new MP3 player from IRiver. It is totally compatible with at least two pay for download services (MSN Music and Musicnow). Just download a song from one of these services. It falls into your Windows Media Player library. Then you just "sync" it to your player from there. It takes all of maybe 1 or 2 minutes. The other great thing for me is the in-line recording feature. You can hook it up to any recording source (cd player, casette walkman, computer speaker) and record. You can choose what speed you want to record (64,94,112,128 Kbps and so on). Than you can upload those files to your PC, the software the player comes with will prompt you to convert those .REC files you just uploaded to .MP3 files. At that point you can transfer the music to your player or burn to a CD. SO just subscribe to Napster or any other download service that allows you to play full length tracks and record to your hearts desire. This thing is saving me lots of money, and my music collection has doubled. Once I am tired of a song I just delete from my computer. I am also now able to convert some casette tapes I have to MP3 files. SWEET! I an seriously considering buying a new Iriver with more memory.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the Ipod shuffle
Review: I bought the iriver while waiting for the rumored Ipod flash player. I'm so glad I did. The iriver has many more options- fm play, direct encoding, long battery life, easy transfer of music from my pc to the iriver, high quality sound.
For those who want UMS there is currently a firmware upgrade on the global site to convert the player.
I wear it around my neck and simply plug it into my car adaptor or the computer at work.
The only cons are ones already mentioned. The case, which I don't use, is cheap plastic. I had to refer to the manual several times until I figured out the controls.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome sound
Review: I just got this today so it wouldn't be fair to pop a 5-star rating on it after only having it for a few hours, but I'm listening to the unit as I'm doing this review and the sound quality is better than I ever imagined MP3 was capable of sounding. After loading a few songs on it after initial hook-up to my PC, and playing them back, I noticed a 2 or 3 songs just stopped in the middle and another song would start up. But that was with MP3 files that had been on my computer for a week or more, so I did a fresh transfer of CD tracks to the PC, loaded them to the iRiver and it's played them all like a champ. I think those couple of MP3 files that stopped may have been corrupt. So, hopefully, this won't happen again and I'll be grinning from ear-to-ear every time I play this little thing - it's simply unbelievable the quality of sound something so small can produce. It takes some getting used to the tiny controls and menu but with a combination of trial and error and referring to the proper pages in the manual, you should be fine. Also, please ditch the silly earbuds and get a pair of regular Walkman type headphones. The earbuds have lousy sound and are just irritating to try to wear. Overall, I think this unit is a serious bang-for-the-buck competitor to the iPods.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't buy this piece of junk
Review: I purchased the iriver IFP-795T several months ago. When I installed the software, it causes my keyboard to be disabled... there's some type of a driver incompatibility problem. The only resolution was to reinstall the original driver set. This is a repeatable compatibility problem.
I've tried contacting iRriver multiple times for resolution to get it to work with my PC. They are totally unresponsive.
In the meantime, I have a choice... use my MP3 player or use my keyboard. Some choice!
I can accept that there's an incompatibilty problem. What I can't accept is that iRiver won't help me fix it. They won't even respond to my messages.
This product is junk. Don't buy it if you have any doubts about compatibility with your equipment.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent player
Review: I was looking at this player vs. an HP iPod... it was a tough call. I liked the high capacity of the iPods, but on the other hand -- I really can't listen to more than 6 or 8 solid hours of music anyway! Also, I was concerned about the proprietary batteries and hard disk on the iPod.
I listen to MP3's while camping, so long battery life and easy to replace batteries were very high priorities. Easy loading capability (via USB Mass storage) and at least 4+ hours of music. I actually bought the 256K model first, and then gave that to my daughter who wanted an MP3 player and I upgraded to the 512K model. No regrets - I'm really pleased with this machine!
Pro's:
* Small size - I use the "necklace" attachment and wear it around my neck. It's easy to forget you are wearing it, and it's great while exercising or working around the house.
* Excellent sound, and the headphones are very good
* Built in FM radio
* Uses a single AA battery that lasts a LONG time. I can go camping for a whole weekend and MAYBE have to take 1 spare battery. :)
* Connects to the USB port and acts as just another disk, allowing drag and drop. This required a one time firmware upgrade from iRiver, downloaded via the web, but this was really easy and took only a few minutes.
* Backlit screen when button pressed - easy to see in the dark.
* Ability to record FM radio or voice with no additional accessories.
* Good price - less than $200 in late 2004.
* Sturdy and stylish
Con's:
* Ease of use - VERY confusing multiuse buttons. Once you have them memorized, it's OK, but count on referencing the manual MANY times
* Small screen can be hard to read, ESPECIALLY at the default settings.
* The arm band that comes with is not very intuitive to use or connect.
* The small foam earphone covers come off easily and I haven't found replacements.
If I needed lots of storage space and rarely used the player away from a power outlet, I would probably lean towards the iPod. But if you want a small sized, great sounding player that can play ~8 hours of music that runs on a standard battery, then this is a great one to get! Consider the 1G version as the prices come down...
Rating:
Summary: Best flash player ever bought...
Review: I was willing to pay extra for extra features w/ this player and those extras are worthwhile. What the descriptions and iriver site doesn't tell you that this player has a clock and timer. Joystick does not look like the picture on Amazon or iRiver's US site. It looks like the iRiver North European site: irivernordic.com You can also get a USB Mass Storage (UMS) firmware from that site but I haven't tried it yet. Alarm function just plays the last played MP3. The timed radio recordings work great but I don't know how to stop it, yet. Look at the manual from iriver's website and see the features for your self as I'm limited to 1,000 words on this review. Sound quality is great and volume even greater. Can go up to 40 but plays loud enough at 20 setting. EQ settings and 3D settings sound really nice, even on the included headphones. The headphones don't have too much bass so I used different ones. Can also adjust battery display setting for alkaline or rechargeable. I hated how previous players displayed inaccurate battery life because they base it on alkaline batteries. Line-in and radio recordings sound great because I am able to record up to 320bps compared to others like the Samsung that can only go up to 128bps. Recordings are in *.rec format that the included windows utility can convert. The windows utility shouldn't be taken lightly. You can enter,label,& save all your radio station presets from it to save time. The radio reception is alright but what do you expect from such a small device? PLL? I use my home stereo which gets great reception from a Cable TV adapter and use the line-in recording. The supplied armband is very well made and looks nice. People w/ humangus muscles or just fat arms can't get it around their arms though. The only cons I see are:
If hold is not in place it is easy to accidently delete radio station presets and other settings. Once you set it don't forget to lock it as there are many options to change.
Can't copy songs from player to computer w/ the included software since there is no official US UMS support. Their version of DRM?
Rating:
Summary: Awesome! ...but, the earbud covers! LOST! Where are they?!.
Review: Okay! Got this player at circuit city a few weeks ago and I couldn't have been more excited. I had to go straight to school after I bought but that was okay because the thing comes with a battery and a few songs that aren't terrible. So I get home it takes a few minutes to install the software. Then I just go to "my music" on my computer where I have all my uploaded CD's. Plug in the USB cord and then it's just a matter of drag and drop. I currently have 13 full CD's on here and I love it. Good sound, light weight, the included case isn't made out of kevlar or anything but it will prevent your player from getting scraped up(other reviews complain that the case is a piece of junk), I can wear the head phone wires underneath my clothes and just take out the ear buds at the start of class, LCD is backlit blue(nice looking) and the text is NOT hard to read(complaints that make no sense). Another idiotic complaint that I would like to lay to rest is the" it's too easy to hit the record button on the player" what a bunch of whiners...that's what the button lock is for! I've never researched something so extensively before purchasing this player. It is THE BEST you can get for the money! A few facts about hard drive v.s. flash players. The Iriver being flash, it is lighter than the iPod(hard drive), it takes less power to operate as there are no moving parts, it can take rigorous abuse and jostling(excercise). Additionally, iPods and other popular hard drive players are infamous for crashing, i.e. freezing up, or just plain losing all of your songs. Another thing about the iPod v.s. this iRiver player is the battery life. You get 40hrs per AA battery out of the iRiver. The iPod will give you 12 on a full charge. And, eventually the iPod battery will stop accepting a charge and you have to send it in to apple for a replacement battery(READ THE REVIEWS)!
I highly recommend this player. I've been listening to it for a week at work on my computer speakers on the same included, AAx1 battery! 8 hrs for 5 days straight.
No problems with file transerring. The included software is almost identical to Windows Explorer.
And you are able to get firmware updates for your player as they are introduced on the iRiver website meaning that this player will never become obselete.
The only thing that I could possibly find to whine about is that the foam covers on the earbuds keep coming off and I've almost lost them twice. But the Sennheiser! earbuds that come with it aren't altogether, uncomfortable without them.
BUY THIS AND ENJOY IT, you won't be sorry!!!!!
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