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iRiver SlimX iMP-350 CD/MP3 Player with Ultraslim Design

iRiver SlimX iMP-350 CD/MP3 Player with Ultraslim Design

List Price: $129.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Holy [cow]
Review: This is the best MP3CD player I've ever seen. I litteraly spent 5 min straight banging it into my leg and it would not skip. The batteries are amazing, I charged mine up and ran it for like, four hours and the meter didn't even go down. The Firmware Upgrade, available on the website, is cool. The earbuds are sort of...[bad] but other than that. I kind of wish the CD player had more buttons and that the thing charged faster, but still, it's freakin' awesome. Buy it, it's the greatest thing ever...It's the best thing I've ever seen.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Still the best
Review: There's a bewildering array of MP3 players out there. Compared to those that uses RAM or a harddisk for storage, I think MP3/CD players offer the best bang for the buck, for the following reasons:
- Cost. MP3/CD players cost less than most RAM-based players. Furthermore, CDRs cost next to nothing nowadays, so you won't have to spend extra money for RAM. With CDRWs you'll also get almost infinite reusability.
- Capacity. You get 700MB of storage per CDR. That's a lot more than what the average RAM-based player packs. Face it, even 256MB of RAM just isn't enough. I suppose you could increase the capacity by settling for less than CD-quality. But why would anyone want to do that?
- Speed. With a fast CD burner, you could crank out a new CD in 3-4 minutes. That's a lot faster than it would take to download all your music to RAM.
- Versatility. Not everyone has all of their music in MP3 format. With this, you can play an occasional music CD as well.

I've owned the Slim-X 350 for several months, and it appears it's still the best MP3/CD player out there. I need a unit that's compact enough to be worn or held when I jog and rollerblade. And something that has a remote control so that I won't have to reach behind my back to operate it. The Slim-X fits the bill perfectly.

True to its name, the Slim-X is very compact, just barely larger than a CD, and ultra-slim, just 0.6in thick. It barely weighs anything at all. The silver metallic lid is stylish, unlike the cheap plastic job of many other players. Overall, the unit has a tight, well-made feel. Plug in the earphones and you're good to go. You don't need the remote control unit to operate the player, but you will want to, because the remote is nothing short of brilliant.

Some have questioned the utility of a wired remote. Well, portability is the name of the game here. It comes in very handy if you stash the player in your backpack or strap it behind your back. The remote unit, which comes with a spring-loaded clip that attaches to belts or clothing, contains all the functionalities you'd ever need and is a lot of fun to boot. It's about the size of 2 fingers put together and comes with an LCD screen, 3 jog dials, 2 buttons and a hold switch. The buttons are Play/Pause and Stop, respectively. One jog dial adjusts the volume and selects the built-in Equalizer mode (Rock, Jazz, Classic, Bass, or custom). The other jog dials let you select menu options and navigate the file structure. You can also toggle between CD and FM Tuner mode (yes, it's also a radio). The LCD screen is backlit with a very cool blue light; the text and icons are large and legible. The LCD displays the actual ID3 tag (it automatically scrolls left to right if the tag is too long), the directory name, the bit rate, time played/remaining, battery life, other assorted indicators, and a spectrum analyzer. It's a wonder these aren't all shown in other players. The setup menu is ingenious in its compactness and lets you adjust everything imaginable. Lastly, the firmware can be upgraded just by popping in a special CD.

The Slim-X is very suitable for outdoors exercise. I seldom notice any skipping at all, and furthermore the anti-shock buffer can be set to 45sec or 180sec. Battery life is respectable; I get around 3 hours with the provided batteries (your mileage may vary). Battery life can be extended with an external plastic tube holding 2 AA batteries, but obviously this is not practical if you desire portability.

I've only got a few minor complaints thus far. The player takes a little while to read the CD when it starts up. To its credit, it has read all the CDR/Ws I've thrown at it. Nevertheless, it has difficulty reading dirty or scratchy CDs and would be stuck on the same spot for a long time. . The earbuds that come with the unit sound rather weak and tinny, but they're easily replaced. Recharging the supplied batteries also takes a long time. A while ago, while I was traveling abroad, the AC input stopped working. After an few emails to technical support, they provided an RMA and I quickly received a replacement. The unit has worked beautifully since then. I'm happy with their warranty support.

The Slim-X packs a lot of punch in a very stylish, compact package. With prices recently dropping (I had paid $200 for mine), it's an even better deal than ever.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing Product Indeed
Review: Absolutly amazing. To all those who complain about it, you either got a defective one or you didn't treat it properly. After 23 hours of use, the batteries are still at 4/4 bars on the meter. Playback is amazing. LED remote r0x0rz. The headphones you get are rather nice. I Love this thing! BUY IT!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great CD/MP3 player....
Review: This is a great product. I can get 160 songs on average on the CD, make playlists with Winamp, listen to my favorite radio station when I want, not worry about the CD skipping while I walk and half jog across the campus and the player safely placed in my bookbag. The batteries included still work after a month very well...I just carry the bystanding power just in case, but only need it after not charging the batteries after 2 days (I listen to the player more than 5 hours in those 2 days). The lack of a good carrying case was annoying at first, but I just place it in my bookbag's Laptop case and its safe and sound. ...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What more c ould you want?
Review: Looking for a Cd player with this option open, why look any further. The Slimx 350 does it all. When I first got it I required little, just to listen to the radio and play MP3 songs, but the more I had it, the more I learned. You can shuffle about 8 different ways, Scan the radio for that areas stations and store them into preset, get firmware that can even flash the text of the song. The music quality is fantastic, the ear buds provided are great, they fit nicely into yout ears, you can even jog with them. You can go into a menu and select how long you want the Lcd to light up, to design you own equalizer, and even what visualization you want plus much much more. This machine is so well built that there are now 3 in the house, My dad, brother, and I all have fun. Perfect product, Perfect price, what more could I want, don't spend you money elsewhere...

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Inadequate volume
Review: I'm only commenting on the audio quality of the player, because after I discovered that the volume just wasn't loud enough, I didn't bother investigating the other features. I received the SlimX yesterday and am returning it today. At the highest volume setting, it would be adequate if you were sitting still in a perfectly noiseless environment, and even then, the volume would certainly not be considered deafening, but that's not the situation in which I would normally use it. The earbuds, as everyone else comments on, are pretty much worthless, but I tried the player with two other sets of headphones and still wasn't satisfied. Even with a set of Koss over the ear headphones, I could still hear people around me talking with the volume turned up full.

I'm sure it's a fine product (I've been buying from Amazon for years, and base most of my purchases on customer comments, as I did with the SlimX), and is definitely eye-catching with its techno good looks, but this isn't the MP3 player for me.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Steer Far Clear!
Review: I have a college degree in Engineering and can not get this worthless player to work. It has such a bewildering array of menus and options that it is often impossible to tell where you are. Often times I give up and remove it's batteries to clear out it's memory, and that seems to work. (Hint: you need to keep the batteries out for a few hours).

I purchased this player because I wanted one that has a shuffle function. Unfortunately the designers went with the more functions are better attitude when they designed this thing, and went far, far overboard. There are six main menus with up to eight submenus within. Navigation is difficult with only four buttons that must be pushed in just the right way for just the right fraction of a second in order to get the desired function and not something unexpected. It can be a nightmare when you get lost among all the menus.

My advice is to steer far clear of this rediculous thing and try to find a simpler, more basic player.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good product--not so good battery life
Review: I bought the Slim-X last year and with the exception of the so-called 11 hr. battery life have enjoyed it. I have not contacted the company about this problem, but at full charge I get tops 4 hrs worth of CD player life. That can get pretty aggrevating when you consider that it takes about 12-hours to charge, and there is no separate charger to purchase. Of course, there is the option of the external battery pod, which just makes the entire compact deal a little less compact.

Outside of that it bangs out mp3 cds with no problem, and with the right set of headphones (I bought the Koss Sportapro collapsible) and your favorite music you can't go wrong.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Comprehensive and thorough...
Review: I purchased my SlimX iMP-350 2 weeks ago. This has been plenty of time to assess the product. Cheers to iRiver for so many features in a product.

I wanted an Frequency Modulated Tuner in my CD player, so that narrowed down the choices. As far as shock protection, anything around 45 sec to 1 minute was enough for me. iRiver surprised me with significantly more. Here are my opinions:

>Excellent sound quality for a portable device.

>A sufficient read-ahead buffer for even the most active individual...up to 16 minutes with WMA formats.

>Batteries, charger, and external power pack included.

>Firmware upgradeable for future formats...something to boast about with your buds. :)

>Preset and User EQ. Very handy.

>Sleek design...I'd much rather have a remote to access features instead of all the buttons on the unit.

Cons:

>Lower battery life than expected. Only around 6 hours with 45sec shock and without external pack enabled.

>Less than adaquate earbuds...It would have been better if iRiver didn't include them; most people already have a pair of headphones they prefer.

Other comments: About the readability of text on remote: It's fine. You don't need 20/15 to read it.

About the manual: Someone said you need at least an IQ of 90 to use the manual...forget the manual. If you have an IQ of 90, don't buy the unit. You won't understand it. Get something more simple.
To those techie-nerds out there [me included ;)]You can figure out the unit without the manual.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Unit Great, CS not
Review: I purchased this back on 11/29 for my wife as a xmas gift. Wife loves it, first CD/MP3 player she's owned that actually DOES NOT SKIP while walking.... Buttons are a challenge at times and it took a bit to figure out controls, etc. And make sure you FULLY charge the batteries before using first time. Thought it was broken at first......So if you are looking for good player, this one is it. ....


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