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

Rating:
Summary: this is awsome!!
Review: when i bought this, i just expected this thing to play mp3 cd's and have some regular fuctions. When i looked at the instructional manual, i was surprised. It can play almost everything that you can put on a cd, and it has loads of fuctions that i never thought a cd player could have. 9 modes of repeat and shuffle, 6 types of EQ, 480 sec of protection etc. you can control litterally everything on this cd player including beep volume, language, lcd contrast, b.light time, sleep mode, Left and right Balance.
You should really consider buying this cd player.

Rating:
Summary: More like 4.5 stars
Review: This is a great product and I'd recommend it to anyone who (like me) hates to waste money on batteries. With rechargable batteries that last for a pretty decent time this player surely saves you a whole lot of money.

The only disadvantage is, and thats an understandable one because this is not a hard drive based player, there are chances of jumps and skips sometimes. But that does not happen a lot.

The sleek design sure makes it a head turner. All in all, a great deal.

Rating:
Summary: bacillus sphaericus
Review: i have recently got this mp3 player. i think this is the excellent deal that i have ever got for the MP3 players. its nice and handy. it operates on AA as well as given rechargeble batteries.nice voice quality.i have got it for 99 $ from best buy --- 30 $ mail in rebate.before that i had SONY MP3 player that was excellent too but that was for 130 $ and with less features.

Rating:
Summary: sharp aesthetics, admirable battery life, buy headphones
Review: Perhaps the best thing about this player is the fact that it ships with the rechargeable batteries and AC adapter. I've gotten roughly 5-6 hours continuous play from my unit thus far on a full charge, which is more than enough for me. The upgradeable firmware offers more advanced remote options with each update, yet one wastes a CD-R when I burn a paltry 600Kb file just to update the player. CD-RW's a not recommended for this procedure since the player seems to have trouble reading them.

Nevertheless, I've found the iMP-350 a solid buy. The remote unit is snazzy, intuitive and easy to read. The player also has amazing buffer protection. I've shaken it, dropped it and thrown it onto my bed without hearing a single skip. The included earphones, however, should probably be replaced with something a bit more comfortable.

Overall, a most excellent mp3-CD player. It's stylish, it's comfortable and it works well.

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat disappointed but I'll still keep it....
Review: Before purchasing a new music player, I had a few criteria for it to meet.

<> First, it had to play CDs AND MP3s.
<> Second, it needed to have some kind of extra bass feature.
<> Third, it would need to have good anti-skip protection.
<> Fourth, it had to cost less than $$$.

I took my time sifting through mountains of on-line reviews in search of the player with the highest average rating. Units from iRiver, Rio, Sony, Panasonic, Aiwa, Creative, and many others were evaluated. In the end, it seemed like the SlimX 350 from iRiver was the winner.

It received accolades from editors at all of the big online computer and electronics publications. It had tons of great reviews from customers of Amazon.com and other e-commerce sites. Most of the other players had just a few reviews, but the 350 had HUNDREDS!

Enthusiastically I placed my order with great confidence that my purchase would turn out to be a great buy.

Now, I've had my player for about four months. The verdict?

Disappointed but I'll keep it.

First, the positives:
<> I love the look.
<> The remote control is quite handy, as it lets me use all of the controls with one hand. Because of other electronics I've owned, like cell phones and video cameras, I found the interface to be very easy to learn and use.
<> The SlimX also handled every disc and file type I threw at it.
<> I didn't have any problems with long access times, although it usually takes about 15 to 20 seconds to play the first track of a disc, which is only a little longer than other CD players I've had.
<> The software accomodates the naming of folders and tracks, which gives me added incentive to burn discs with MP3s. It's so easy to organize my music!
<> The sound is clear.
<> The build is quite solid, so I feel confident that it can sustain some abuse. I've dropped the unit a couple times onto hard surfaces without evident damage. Compared to my last Sony, which died within a year even though I babied it, this is a huge improvement!
<> The battery life is fine. It lasts at least as long as other units I've used, perhaps longer. One thing people should keep in mind when measuring your unit's battery life to manufacturer's claims is that the manufacturer doesn't base their setting on the unti being played at the highest volume, whereas many users do play their units at maximum volume. More volume consumes more power. Of course if this unit had more power, fewer people would listen at max volume.
<> The FM receiver. The reception seems to be fine and since I really wasn't looking for a unit with this feature, it has been a pleasant bonus. Now I can actually check the news on my way to work.

Unfortunately, there are some substantial negatives as well:
<> The sound, while clear and fairly smooth, is rather thin. The EQ/DSP really doesn't help this at all. I could barely notice any difference from one setting to the next. This was very disappointing since one of my main requirements was a player with an added bass feature. The Sonys I've owned all had much punchier, more detailed sound.
<> On a related note, the sound isn't nearly loud enough. It's adequate for quiet conditions, but most of my use is during my commute to and from work. The sound from the bus or train combined with traffic and people talking invades and distracts from the music. Fortunately, I can burn MP3s at a louder volume to compensate, but this adds a little distortion to the mix. It's not bad, but still less than ideal.
<> The cords are out of control! I had to ditch my preferred headphones because the cord was too long when combined with the remote. Not only was I constantly getting them tangled, but on numerous occasions, the long length of extra cord got caught on things.
<> The anti-skip is not adequate for certain activities. While it's fine for the most part when holding the unit in your hand while walking, or in a backpack when riding a bike, it skips badly if placed in a pocket while running or even walking. Obviously this makes the remote control kind of pointless if you have to hold the main unit in your hand all the time. It also subjects it to more potential abuse.

Overall, considering the cost, it's a good unit. I just wish I didn't have to compromise so much on the sound and anti-skip features. Mainly I think that if iRiver wants to really make their players the best, they have to refine the sound quality.

In the end, I would probably have gone to a store to test this and other players personally, even if I wound up paying more than at Amazon.com Even if I still picked the SlimX 350, I wouldn't have this lingering sense of doubt that I have now.

Rating:
Summary: No problems yet..
Review: ...Battery problems: Sorta wierd for me, I've yet too have decreased battery output ( for those of you have, you could be overcharging, storing it in a hot place, etc, get some info on this stuff.) The only problem I had was some of the battery usage info for me appeared wierd. At times it would say I was half done, but then work it's way back to full, but ...

As for sound quality, great, everythings fine. The remote really does get handy, but don't lose it or else your player will become pretty useless.'

Now, here's the hard part. The main reasons I bought this is: A)Ipod does not support Wma files B) I don't want to shell out the money for Ipod ( I hate apple :))

Now I am saying if you do have the money, and you use mostly mp3's and you'd like soemthing now, go with an Ipod. IF you can wait a little longer, the yp-900 looks to be pretty promising. If you do have the money for the Ipod, but you'd rather go with an mp3/cd ( like me after a few bad mp3 experiences) This is great. It's really great. I spent some of the money I saved on a nice pair of sennhiesers after...

Rating:
Summary: Very Good Value For The Price
Review: The iRiver iMP-350 is a good choice for a slim CD player.

Pros:
This CD player can play CDs, MP3s, ASFs, and WMAs. Upgrading the firmware was very simple, if you have a burner. I downloaded the file, burned it to a cd, and it took 30 seconds. The display is great for a CD player this size. It does play 8cm as well as standard size CDs. And it also has a backlight to make it easier to read.

Cons:
The LCD is a little small but do-able if you have good eyes, but the backlight makes it easier to read. The FM stereo memory system is hard to do and if you don't be careful, you could wipe them out. And please get better headphones because the ones included are not very comfortable.

Overall, the iRiver iMP-350 is a great choice for a slim CD/MP3 Player.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic! Great buy with excellent sound and features
Review: I just got my iRiver SlimX iMP-350 player and started working with it today. It has tons of features and options for using the CD, MP3, and FM Radio Tuner functions. The sound quality is crisp and rich. The player itself is very lightweight.

This is my first portable CD/MP3 player; it has met all of my expectations so far. A few pros, cons, and discoveries:

I use my own Sony headphones with the player, so the quality of the earbud headphones is not an issue for me one way or the other, although it is for some.

The remote that comes with the player is extremely lightweight, is well lit with good contrast, but has very small writing. The remote has a good, strong clip on the back of it for attaching to clothing and that is usually how I wear it.

You can play CDs without the remote...you'll have the basic features - play, forward, back, pause/play, stop, volume control. However, to take advantage of the player's many CD, MP3, and FM Tuner features, you will need to use the remote.

The instruction manual that comes with the player is sometimes a bit hard to follow in learning the more advanced features, but I found that if I followed it step by step for a particular feature I wanted to use, I was able to understand it after a few tries.

In particular, I found phrases in the instructions such as "long click" and "long press" vs "click", and the phrase "pushing the jog lever" to be a little confusing at first.

The idea for programming or using the advanced features is that there are 5 buttons on the remote, 2 of which are the play/pause/mute button and the stop button. The other 3 are jog levers that have 2 types of movement...the first type of movement is left to right and vice versa - without pressing down on the button - , and the 2nd type of movement is a downward pressing or clicking down of the button. The duration of how long you hold a button down activates certain functions (short "click" vs "long press"/"long click" in the instructions). You use a combination of the jog levers and their movements / 2 other buttons to operate all of the features/functions.

The remote can be confusing at first, but don't let that throw you. It is simply a matter of clicking/moving the jog levers to activate various features, similar to using menus on a cell phone. Once past the learning curve, the remote is very easy to use.

The iRiver SlimX iMP-350 has a built-in battery recharger, and (in addition to the headphones, remote, soft fabric carrying pouch, and instruction booklet), it also comes with 2 rechargeable batteries, and an AC adapter. Plug one end of the adapter into the player and the other into a wall unit, click one of the remote's buttons (the remote also needs to be plugged into the player while recharging), and the player will recharge the batteries.

I have not used the extra AA battery pack yet, and am still able to play music and listen to the FM tuner for several hours at a time. It is important to discharge and then recharge the batteries once a month - this is one of the options in the recharger menu on the remote and it is also covered in the instructions. Doing this will extend the battery life and help ensure that the batteries hold their charge.

The batteries used in the player are iRIVER IR-14M NiMH Rechargable Battery. If you wish to purchase extras, they can be ordered online.

I also ordered Sony NH14WM batteries along with the Sony BC-7HT International Battery Charger (just in case), also available at Planet MiniDisc. I understand that they are compatible, but have not used the Sony batteries yet. I was happy to find the actual iRiver batteries at their site.

I found the FM Tuner to have very good reception, although this would largely depend on one's location. You can program up to 20 station presets for your favorite stations. Find a station in preset mode, click twice on it, and it's programmed. Repeat for each station you want to add to your presets. You can then select a favorite station to listen to from among your presets without having to scroll thru the entire FM tuner to find it. You can also scan the FM range for stations, or go from station to station up the scale, if desired.

There are many more features than I can go into here, but in closing, I wish to add that I am very pleased with the player's versatility, features, playback, and sound quality.

Rating:
Summary: Skip Skip Skip Skip Play
Review: Got one for my firlfriend. She really wanted to jog with it. I put the antiskip at 180 seconds and it still skipped. Basically between the complexity of the interface and the inconsistent anti-skip, it's a dud. I should have just gone for an MP3 player.

Rating:
Summary: iRiver SlimX iMP-350 CD/MP3 Player with Ultraslim Design
Review: Greetings! I purchased this product to listen to OTR (Old Time Radio), MP3 on CDs. I was able to connect everything the same day it came in the mail and off I went listening to some great Old Time Radio! ... It's slim and sleek in it's look and feel. The ear plugs were comfortable. I'm very pleased with my purchase!