iMP-350 Slim X MP3/CD Player
Written: Sep 09 '02
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Pros: Stores a lot of music, FM tuner, upgradeable, supports .MP3,.WMA,.WAV, etc., remote with backlit LCD.
Cons: Not recommended for people who run a lot.
The Bottom Line: If you just like walking around while listening to music and you don't expect to do much running with it, then I highly recommend this player.
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| phillyphil's Full Review: iRiver iMP-350 SlimX Personal CD Player |
WARNING: The following paragraphs might take a while to read. However, they are essential to fully understand the reason why I had to send back my Slim X. Read on if you don’t find in boring. But if you do, skip it and read the features.
How I found it
After working really hard at my first real job, I finally made enough money to buy myself a new portable music player. The first one I considered was Sony'a first new mp3 CD Walkman, because it had many great features and, of course, G-Protection(tm). Two of my close friends had bought them not too long ago (3 months) and enjoyed them a lot. However, one of them, who is an Apple freak, decided to buy a new PowerMac. So, he wanted to sell his Sony Mp3 CD player to get the funds he needed for the purchase of his new computer as quickly as possible. But the window that covers the LCD (which is not backlit) cracked, which really turned me off. So I decided to search for some reviews of MP3 cd players on the Internet. Luckily I found this site and discovered the Slim X. I read every single one of the reviews and heard nothing but praise! So naturally, I checked the home pages of a few major electronic stores in my area to see if they had it in their inventory. Well since I live in Quebec, Canada, it was not (and still is not) available for direct purchase. So I searched again on the Internet to find a web store that sells the Slim X. After a few days, I found the perfect site, which had great customer service support. And not even a day later, I order one. I was so excited.
When I got the package
It was a beautiful tuesday afternoon, when I heard the doorbell ring from my warm bed. My brother answered it. I could hear him saying that I was still sleeping. My heart began to beat quicker and quicker. I suddenly had enough force to yell to my brother: "Wait up!! Please, Hold on!" I quickly rummaged through my dresser and found the money I needed to pay the carrier. And then I ran as fast as I could to pay the man. I was still in my PJ's.
Love at first site
I quickly brought the package to my living room and carefully opened it up. I loved box. So, I just continued and opened the box and took everything out of it. I took a quick look to find the nearest outlet and plugged the ac adaptor into it. I attached the remote and the headphones and got an Mp3 cd, which I had made a while back to use on my friends Mp3 cd players. As soon as the backlit LCD turned on, my heart was in love! I was really impressed by its looks and by its performance. For the next few days, I played around with its many features, like the FM tuner and actually got it to say my name when it turned on. I was a happy customer, or so I thought...
The day the world stood still...
The first time I actually took the mp3/cd player out of my house was when I had to go to work again. So I slipped it in my pocket, clipped the remote to my belt and pressed the play button. I started up nicely, and everything was working normally, until the song changed. As I was walking to the bus stop, I thought to myself, why is it taking so long to change tracks. So I waiting a bit and still I couldn't hear any music. Then, I was pretty angry so I stopped moving and all of a sudden, the song started to play. This was not normal. But I continued to walk, since I had little time to waste. A few minutes later, when the song ended, it stopped playing again. This time I was quite disappointed. When I came back from work, I went on the iRiver America site and read the FAQ. It said that the Slim X cd/mp3 player was quite susceptible to skipping when a song began to play (because it had to load it on the onboard memory before being "skip proof" *which it is AFTER the song loads*.) This is the reason why I'm sending it back. I like listening to music while being active (running, jogging, biking, etc). So this problem would obviously make it impossible to listen to music while I did these activities. Therefore, I decided to send it back.
The final good bye
I packed it up, double checked if it had all its components and went back to the web stores website. I filled up the return order form. Since they have to process the order, I closed the computer and went to sleep. The next day after work, I checked my email. As soon as I saw "Slim X" in the subject, I just clicked. As I read the email, I discovered my problem was actually a defect. I almost considered canceling the return order and replacing my defective Slim X. I continued to read and found out that it would still skip if I did activities like running. I was convinced to send it back. Also, since it had been almost a week since I discovered the problem, I had already had my heart set on a Sony MD player (which I will talk about more in another review later on). It all spelled the end of my Slim X. That one malfunction destroyed a totally enjoyable and highly likeable product. One last thing; the person who wrote the email told me I was the first person to send back the slim X. So, it is highly unlikely that you will experience such a terrible thing. It is, after all, a really well rounded product.
Features
*Plays MP3, WMA, WAV, etc. music file formats
*Backlit LCD, Mutlifunctional Remote
*Radio Tuner, if your really bored of your music.
*Volume up to 90db = Is ALWAYS loud enough :)
*Very Customizable
*Very Slim
This is my first review. Please forgive me for any errors or lack of quality.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 157.10
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Epinions.com ID:
phillyphil
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Reviews written: 1
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