Rating: 
Summary: never leave home without it
Review: I have owned the hip zip for about 3 months now, and it is absolutely fabulous! Before I purchased this player, I owned both, the sony mzr-70 mini disc player and the rio 600. The minidisc player took way too long to record a disc, and (though it was very difficult) it could skip. I then bought the rio 600 and thought it was amazing. However, when I tried to upgrade the memory, the entire thing froze up, and I couldn't get it to work. Instead of trying to get it fixed, I got rid of it, sold the memory upgrade, and started looking at the market again. I looked long and hard at all the mp3 players, and researched very carefully. The hip zip sounded like the best player for the long run despite it's higher starting price. The ckick discs are very affordable, and large. Having owned a mini disc player, I was concerned that the hip zip (with it's moving parts) would skip. Let me tell you, IT DOESN'T!!! I could not get the thing to skip. At the begining of every song the player spins and (i'm guessing) loads the next song into its memory. I thought for sure that if shaken during that time, it would skip. nope. Though the hip zip doesn't have some of the lugury features that the rio 600 did, it is a much more practical player. I have read reviews saying that rio makes some of the best sounding mp3 players.....well, obviously those people haven't listened to this player. I have what I would consider good hearing. I've been tested, and can tell the difference between cd quality (don't know the compression rating on it), 128x128kbs compression, and 96x96kbs compression. The hip zip sounds just as good as the rio, if not better. The hip zip also has fabulous bass (much better than rio), and more memory!! I was lucky in that, I have a friend that had click disks lying around his house doing nothing but taking up space. So, he gave them to me. I now have 480mb for the price of the original 80mb. But even if i didn't, at $.. you can't go wrong. The iomega software was easy to set up, and i had the player (partially charged) up and running within 5min. I don't use the supplied mp3 player, instead i use soundjam. Yes I have a mac. This player is much easier to use than the rio, and has never had an error....the rio was very buggy. Another thing I was concerned about, is the size and weight of the hip zip. Though slightly bigger than the rio (only slightly) it is still very small, and fits very well in the palm of your hand. The supplied belt clip makes it very portable, and I take it running four miles with me. A lot of people complain about needing louder mp3 players....well if this player isn't loud enough for you, than you are in desperate need of a hearing aid, because, wow, it can be REALLY loud. At a compression rate of 96x96kbs mono, i'm able to fit about 15 songs, and about 55min of music onto one disc. I don't mean to bash the rio, it was a very good player, its just not in the same league as the hip zip. I do have a friend with the 128mb rio 800, and he loves it, and it has fixed most of the bugs i had with the 600. But this is a better deal for the money, if you are loaded, or someone is buying the player for you....than the rio 800 should be looked into, but if you're smart, go for the hip zip. I hope i've answered any questions you might have about this player....it really is great. In case you're curious at what age group this view point is taken from....i'm 16.
Rating:
Summary: Hip Zip
Review: This is an excellent Mp3 Player. I has a really long-lasting Battery. Depending on how many Discs you have it has good storage. Get extras if you get this. 2 can only hold bout 25 songs. i dunno bout you but thats not ehough for me. Easy to use. But one annoying thing bout this product is that when it starts to access a song it starts this humming noise. Its not that bad but still its there and you can usally hear it though the music. (depending on how loud you play it)(I have it at bout 11 out of 20) But overall this is a great machine and a recomend it completely.
Rating:
Summary: I am so pleased with this product!
Review: This is the first MP3 player I have ever purchased, and I absolutely love it. I find it extremely easy to use. The sound quality is great. The best feature is the PocketZip disks. I love making my own music mixes. Now if [they] starting selling the PocketZip disks, life would be wonderful. Hint. Hint.
Rating: 
Summary: Work in Progress
Review: Excellent ease of use and battery life. Included Music Match software is intuitive and easy to use. Convenience of relatively low cost media (Pocket Zip Disks) and swappable disks is also a plus. Note this unit also doubles as a 40MB storage unit to transport larger files, since it is recognized by Windows as an extra removeable media drive. The minus is that it is impossible to fit a full album on a disk at the default sampling rate of 128 KBS. This is a pain because (a) an entire classical symphony or choral work (such as Mozart's "Requiem") often doesn't all fit on one disk and (b) for pop stuff you are forced to pick and choose individual tracks when copying albums, which hugely slows down the process. Also, in some pieces (I noticed this effect on a recording of Beethoven's Fifth) where there is minimal or no transition from one track of the CD to the next, there is an audible "break" in the music on the Hip Zip as the unit loads the next track, which can ruin the flow of the music. Not disappointing but could be better. 100 MB will be a huge improvement.
Rating:
Summary: An Audible.com User
Review: I bought this for one use: to listen to Audible.Com audio books. Iomega does not tell you this (nor Audible)but you need to download firmware to enable the Hip Zip to recognize audible files. It took me about 2 hours of phone calls to figure this out. The sound quality is good but not great. For audible books, the quality is not as good as a cassette player. I hope this improves.
Rating:
Summary: Great Player
Review: I recently went out looking for a solid MP3 player and after much research I decided on the Iomega HipZip. I know I made the right choice. I'll go over the pros and cons:Pros: 1. Cheap memory: The player comes with 80 MB, which is about 8 songs in 128 bit MP3s. This is better than 64 MB as in most others. Plus, memory is much cheaper. Memory is about $10 for 40 MB, other than "Memory Sticks" which is like $70 for 64 MB. 2. Great software: Easy to install, easy to use, no more to say. 3. Skip-less: I have tried so hard, and I cannot get this thing to skip. Shaking it, hitting it softly with your hand, driving with it on the floor on a bumpy road, this is un-skipable. 4. Good sound: After using some new headphones (Jensen curved-style) the sound was perfect. 5. Clear display: Nice LCD, nice backlight. It displays the song title, artist, time (etc.) beautifully. 6. Nice Case: 'nuff said. 7. Rechargable battery: Great feature, saves you hundreds on batteries. Cons: 1. A little heavy: This is one of the heavier players on the market, it doesn't make a big difference, but it's not easy to jog in. 2. Shut off: The shut off after 30 seconds of stopping is a bit annoying. This is something I'd like Iomega to change. 3. Horrible headphones: Everyone says it, so will I. But, you can get a good pair for $7.99. So that's it. I think that this, overall is no doubt the best player you can buy. I'd suggest this over Rio, Compaq, Nomad, anything!! If you need a good, reliable player, get the Iomega HipZip.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Player!!!!! too big
Review: This is one of the best and inexpensive MP3 palyers out their it has great cheap memory and fast downloads from the PC to the player through a USB connection. Remember to convert your MP3 files to WMA files it will allow you to put 2x as many songs on a disk. the only problems I have found are that it is too big and it is not as loud as I wished but all around a GREAT BUY.
Rating:
Summary: Little Player Runs With Me, Not My Wallet
Review: When I decided to run a half-marathon, I realized that I was going to need to find a way to listen to music during my ever-lengthening training runs. Once I get over an hour, it's really nice to have some pick-me-up music to keep my legs pumping. The thing is, I have always found walkmans too heavy or awkward to carry and the skipping of the music drove me CRAZY! Enter the HipZip player. I love this little one. It fits perfectly into my hand and I don't find it heavy in the slightest during runs. The sound quality is great to my ear, and although I'm not an audio snob, I think I'd be able to tell if it was substandard. (I can't comment on the headphones that come with the unit since they don't stay on my head when I run-- but with my own, it sounds terrific.) The player comes with a rechargable battery inside which the Iomega people say will last 3-5 years. One charge seems to last a pretty long time-- several hours. (I haven't been keeping close track, but I've gotten a few hours out of it since the last time I plugged it in, I know.) When it needs to recharge, you plug it in to the wall just like you would your cell phone. Easy as pie-- no batteries to replace or remember to change. And in 3-5 years, I'll probably have been wooed into buying some new technology anyway... (music beamed directly into my head, perhaps?? :) ) The 40 MB disks are fine-- I've filled both with songs and I alternate them on training days. They last about 45 minutes, I'd say, which is still pretty good when you've got the player on random. I wish there were larger disks, but these are more than sufficient. And it's great that it comes with two off the bat. Data is quick and easy to transfer-- I've already changed my mixes several times. The quality and convenience is well worth the quite reasonable price.
Rating:
Summary: More than just another mp3 player
Review: Okay, Im gonna try to pack in as much information as I can in the least amount of words. Here are the things that matter in an mp3 player and this is how the HipZip stacks up: Size:Now the hipzip is quite large for an mp3 player, but youve gotta realize that it actually plays disks! So instead of comparing it to an mp3 player, try comparing it to something like a cassette player, its much smaller than a cassette player and about as thick (actually a little less). Also, since it is large you also carry it like a cassette player, on your waist with a clip. You could put it in your pocket, but it gets in the way when your running and you'll have a huge bulge in your pants (no hidden connotations). Memory: This is where the hipzip dominates, my old mp3 player had 32 mb and could only hold 8-10 songs, the hipzip has 40mb per disk! and it gives you two, totalling 80mb. That is more than enough ample storage space for running a few miles. Not only that, but you can get extra ones for [...] dollars each (but they only come in pairs so youll end up paying [$]). The disks really make this mp3 player a true value. Functionality: Hipzip has some of its highest and lowest points here. First of all, it has a beautiful display and Iomega should have allowed it to display text documents, but instead it only gives the usual, track title, track number, modes, and other stuff, the screen is still very clear and there are some good graphics on it. Iomega unfortunately uses the screen in other ways, such as menu based equalizers and other programs. The equalizer is not changed at a touch of a button, rather you have to go into the menu mode and scroll down to equalizer and then pick what you want. I personally switch the EQ settings for every song i hear, so i rather have all the presets available as buttons on the player, but the hipzip does make sense because it has A LOT of EQ options, much more than any other player Ive seen. Although the menu driven EQ makes sense, other menu driven things dont, such as backlighting, you have to go through the menu system and turn on the backlight. Now if I could see the screen well enough to navigate through the menu, why in the world would i need a backlight!!!! This is a big mess up. But for its downfalls, hipzips menu system does have its ups; you can see the properties of the songs you play and the software in the hipzip can be updated through the internet, pretty cool. Also, since the hipzip is essentially a click disk drive, you can use it as a storage device for files. This is great cause I have a laptop and i need to sometimes transfer files from it to my main computer, the hipzip really helps out since it works with the usb port available on my laptop. So its like buying an extra drive for your computer AND a mp3 player, what a value! Oh yeah, i dont like the batteries, you cant change them on the fly and have to wait for the thing to charge. Sound quality:Once again there are privelages and downfalls. The EQ is great and really allows us finnicky (spelling?) listeners to tune it to our choice. However the bass on this player is harsh to most of my headphones, youll need a strong pair if you plan to put the bass on this thing to full power, I use sony streetstyle headphones, the ones that wrap around your head, they are perfect for this player. The included headphones will get you nowhere, switch immediately. Besides the strength of the bass (which is a good thing) this player has great quality sound. Setup: extremely easy, just plug it in. You dont even need the included software (which is just an mp3 player for the computer). The hipzip will show up as a drive letter (like your hard drive), just drag drop and your done. The easiest system I have used to date. Never has it frozen in between a download and the downloads are extremely fast. Fact: the player DOES NOT SKIP AT ALL, NEVER NEVER NEVER!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: HipZip = Solid digital audio player + portable zip drive
Review: The HipZip 31311 is a nice solid gadget for audio listening and digital file storage. The HipZip comes with an excellent elastic cover, which is better fitting than the Rio line since the transparent areas actually line up with the buttons. Rechargeable battery life is remarkably good compared to the Rio 800. This was surprising since the HipZip has moving components for the PocketZip disks, but you can actually get 10+ hours of life with a reasonable 2 hour recharge. The HipZip is bulkier than other MP3 players, maybe 1.5 times the width of the Rio 500 and somewhat larger than the Rio 800. Operation of the HipZip is different than other MP3 players due to the removable media. Bookmarks and stop positions are limited to one per track, and these positions are stored on the disk; so when you put a disk in the player, you start back up from the stored position. Setting of bookmarks is a bit strange, since it requires you to use the play/pause button and not the stop button. If you hit the stop button, you could easily lose your place and start from the beginning of the track. The Iomega software was easy to install and allowed the HipZip to come up as another drive. Deleting and adding files are easy. The current HipZips will read/write 40 MB disks, and there is a 100 MB HipZip due to come out soon. This is why they are discounting the current 40 MB HipZips aggressively. But since I'm using the HipZip mainly to listen to Audible.com audiobooks, the 40 MB disks are sufficiently large and already provide capacity for 5 to 10 hours of spoken audio!
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