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iRiver SlimX iMP-400 CD/MP3 Player (Silver)

iRiver SlimX iMP-400 CD/MP3 Player (Silver)

List Price: $199.99
Your Price: $129.80
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: On the Road Again...
Review: For those who, like myself, have become addicted to storing and playing their music in mp3 format, this player is just about the best thing on the market. No other player except iRiver's own 350 model seems to be able to handle the combination of mp3 format and CD-RW media without problems. This model is an improvement on the 350 model in this area, as it does not seem to be subject to the sensitivity to temperature that occasionally plagued the 350.

The remote has been re-designed from the 350. While I find the new arrangement of buttons and switches to be better looking, the controls are not as easy to handle in 'sightless' mode, as when I'm using it in my car. Their positioning versus the spring attachment clip is also a problem, making it difficult to attach the remote without inadvertently hitting one of the switches. But when trying to go through multiple directories of songs, navigation is much easier than with the 350, and you don't really need to refer to the manual to figure out how to do this or to get to any of the other option settings.

Skip control has also been improved (not that the 350 was a slouch in this area), so it is now almost impossible to make the player skip, even when jogging with the player in a vertical position. And while jogging, the included wrap-around headphones are just fine, remaining on the neck and ears without bouncing all over the place, although their audio quality is only fair.

As my main usage for this is in my car (car manufacturers, take note - cd players need to know how to read mp3s!), the included car kit is nice, and helps justify the extra cost of this player. The small size and slim outline of the main unit means that I can keep the player inside the central armrest storage area, out of sight and not subject to slipping all over the place on sharp curves. Running on the car accessories power adapter also means I don't have to worry about battery consumption, though that seems to be just fine at about 8-10 hours per charge.

When running this player through either my car or my home stereo, the best feature of this player becomes obvious, its absolute clarity of music reproduction, absolutely perfect for classical music while also doing just as good a job on everything from Pink Floyd to Blink182. Some may find this clarity annoying, as every imperfection in the original recording becomes obvious - given the production quality of some modern day songs, this may show up more than you might think. The provided equalizer modes seem to be more than adequate, but you can create your own if feel the need.

In short, this is the player for those whose life just wouldn't be complete without having their music with them, regardless of where they are or what they are doing. And for this type of person, the relatively high price of this player is small compared to its net benefit.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: awesome mp3 player
Review: great sound quality, superb design, easy to use remote. --This text refers to an alternate option.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Why this is the CD/MP3 player for you.
Review: Heres the skinny. The Cdplayer is skinny, the LCD controller can play game(s), excellent radio frequency and sound compared to other CD/radio players,-10/+10 track skip to shorten time to switch ahead.

Basically its a very state of the art CD/MP3 player. To the people that complains about short battery life, did you know that the battery included are only about 1/3 charged? I used it all, charged it overnight, and it lasted the promising hours it said it will. As for damaged headphone included or any other broken part are impossible. The SlimX come in a BOX, unlike other CD players which usually come in some hard-plastic covering. You probably bought it used if you have damaged parts.

The SlimX delivers what it promise's. Great sound, great radio, great battery life, and great protection with antiskip. And for the people that say there players cannot work on the first try, or skips alot, try turning on the ROOT fucntion, if you dont know what that is or dont know how, then you probably dont even own this product.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great, especially now with the %25 rebate
Review: I bought my cd player at J&R and it came with the cd player, earphones, AC adapter, cassette adapter, car adapter, and cd case. The cd case and earphones (meh plastic wrap around T-T) arnt exactly the best and as far as I'm seeing, amazon doesnt offer the car adapter and cassette adapter (which isnt very important to me). Anyway, so far there were there were no skips even when i bring them into the NYC Subway--which i can promise, is far from a smooth ride. The only complaint I might have is that the sound is not very loud even when i approach the maximum (note: this is when im on the subway, when I am in a quiet enviroment it is loud enough). This might be due to the earphones so I wont complain yet till I buy better ear phones. Also a unique feature that I havent seen in other reviews is the fact that it includes the game snake after you upgrade the firmware (sorry you need a cd burner to do this.)

Summery:

Good:
1) There are actually firmware upgrades
2) Snake :D Even though the screen is small, if you are not blind it should be ok. It is simply something to do while there is nothing to do.
3) I dont know where the short lived batteries came from but I played with the snake game (which causes the leaves the back light on) for ~40 minutes--while i listed to music--and I listened to the player for about 2 hours total today when I brought it out. Unless the battery indicator was lieing, It had not decreased by 1 box out of 4 which is good considering some reviews claim that the cd player only lasted 2 hours.
2) There is a line out in addition to the normal one used for the remote+head phones. I believe line out and the headphone line are exactly identical and interchangable. I was able to plug two headphones in and they both work except the sound was a little softer which--to me--is acceptable.

Bad:
1) As said before, the without the remotes the cd player is almost useless
2) The cd player makes sounds resembling ones of remote control toy vehicles. This is ok for me but to other people this might be a problem
3) Not enough bad problems to deal with j/k(joking) ;D (had to put this here)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Alternative To the iPod!
Review: I bought this mp3 player while in Canada. I have heard much about the slimX line of mp3 players and I am very pleased with their newest one. I have a pair of Sony MDRV700DJ headphones that run really well in addition to the supplied Sennheiser earbuds, the preamp on the player was able to do a moderately good job in powering my Sonys. The sound quality is excellent, with so many EQ options. However, I must warn that the remote is pretty confusing to use and requires a steep learning curve. I also think that it is pretty scary if you should lose the remote since the majority of the options are located on it. The CD player itself only has the basic play/forward/reverse/stop buttons and does not reveal the complexity of the SlimX. It's wonderful to know that when you buy this, you have the added benefit of playing new file formats as it comes along since the SlimX is firmware upgradeable, unlike many of the mp3 players out there. That was one of the main reasons I bought this player. Iriver did a really good job in recognizing the fact that what you listen with is just as important as what plays your music, the Sennheisers that come equipped are excellent and provide good bass response and clear treble. This is one of those mp3 players that you can simply buy and use forever and still get the most bang for the buck even after a year or two.
Definitely buy this!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It's the same old song....
Review: I bought this player while I was in Korea on a trip to see a friend.

I had heard much about the qualities of Iriver and their mp3 players, and with their new IMP-400, I expected an even better product. Bear in mind that this machine definitely deserves 5 stars, IF AND ONLY IF the IMP-350 never existed. As a mp3 player that is over 70 dollars more than the 350 model, I don't think the player itself is any better in functionality and quality. What does separate it from the IMP-350 is the fact that the headphones are much more better and that the design of the lid is different. However, would I spend 70 dollars more? No, I would rather get the IMP-350 and a pair of nicer headphones such as a Sennheiser 570 or Grado SR60 that are far superior than the supplied Sennheiser earbud phones. I do have to give credit to Iriver for the battery-overcharge feature, however I have heard that the 350s do the same.

You might be asking why I didn't get the 350. Well, I got the 400 in Korea with American currency, which pretty much means i got the 400 for about the same price as the 350, so why not? =)

All in all, if you want the nicer-looking CD player, get the IMP-400. Bear in mind, it's only the looks. As far as functionality, it's the same as the IMP-350, which I think is the better value.
All of this is my opinion of course.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The Good... And The Bad
Review: I did a lot of research and decided that this would be the best MP3 player for me. It was against my existing cassette walkman and NetMD.

Pros
----
The sound quality is pretty good, a lot better and louder than my walkman and plays at the right speed too.
I can play all my exsiting CD's + new MP3 ones.
Sexy looking.

Cons
----
Battery life is terrible, I get about 3 hours for CD's on batteries, so I have to charge it every other day. I expect the battery life playing MP3's will be close to 10 hours. Don't believe their site.
Bulky, too big to fit in my pocket, I had to buy a bag for it.
They've just realesed the iMP 550 and it looks sexier.
Skips like on most damaged CD's.

All in all, seriously consider you options, it's ...a bit of a pain to transport if you are travelling because you can't fit it in you pocket.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I use it Every day
Review: I did lots of research before choosing this. I wanted an MP3 player that would allow me to recharge the included batteries with the adaptor, was little and sleek looking, and had lots of cool features. The player has exceeded my expectations.
1. The remote is small, and sometimes my finger accidentally slides off when I'm in the middle of fast forwarding or rewinding the track, so I accidentally move to the next track. But, I just go back and start over. (I listen to a lot of audio books, so tracks can be an hour long, so I'm holding my finger on the button for a while to get to my place.)
2. The screen is tiny, but it's not that difficult to read. (My vision is far from 20 20.)
3. It has many cool features that are not in the features list, such as fading in right where you left off (it saves several CDs), ability to change the ff/rw speed, interval repeat, auto shut-off, autopause, visualization, time, beep tomes to aid the visually impaired, and contrary to what the features list says, it does have a sleep timer.
4. I've had mine for almost four months, and it's definitely worth every penny. (I am a graduate student, and money is hard to come by.)
5. There are many other features that I have not listed. Almost everything can be set or adjusted.
6. There are many features that I haven't even used yet.
7. When hurricane Isabel came through, we listened to the radio. It was clear and the batteries lasted nearly two days.
8. I accidentally spilled a cup of water over it this morning. I thought I was going to have to take advantage of the one year warranty, but after a couple of hours, the remote dried out. Now it works just fine. No water went into the CD part.
9. If you don't mind extensive menus, this is an excellent player.
10. Plugging the headphones into the jack on the remote provides a much better sound than plugging them into the jack on the player. Headphones can be plugged into both jacks at the same time, but it cuts the volume almost in half.
11. I bought some Panasonic T70 Travel Speakers for about 20 or 30 dollars at my local Circuit City. They are the perfect compliment. When I move from room to room, I can carry the player and the speakers in the same hand.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Technical data displayed is confusing
Review: I have a question: the technical data list for the iRiver SlimX iMP-400 CD/MP3 Player said that it didn't include the remote control in the box. Is this true? I read a review where was mentioned that without the remote control the CD player was really difficult to use, yet other reviews talk about the remote. Please tell me if the remote control is included with the CD player, and if not tell me if you sell it and at what price. Thanks for your assistance.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: IRiver does it again
Review: I have an IMP350 and now a 400 (yes, I admit it, I'm a gadget freak). The 350 was and is outstanding, but my biggest complaint with it was the remote, whose design is counterintuitive at best. IRiver has redesigned the remote for the 400 and now it's nearly perfect, easy to use without needing to check the manual every few minutes. I love both players but I recommend the 400 for the sake of the easy to use remote. The sound is outstanding on both players, and the upgradeable firmware is great. IRiver has really done it right...again...


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