Slim and Xtremely capable!
Written: Feb 13 '03
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Pros: Compact, lots of features, well engineered, well made.
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: Great sound quality, slim size, inexpensive media, moderate price, tons of features, well engineered and constructed. Read the manual!
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| DrMobots's Full Review: iRiver iMP-350 SlimX Personal CD Player |
I have finally decided to retire the poorly engineered and made D-Link roq-it MP3 jukebox. This piece of junk could not keep playing music even when I was hiking.
The replacement selection was not easy, I had to select from a variety of hard drive based, solid state and CD-R based MP3 players. The HD-based ones tend to be more expensive and I wasn't planning to spend a lot of money. Besides, I only have a total of about 1.5G of MP3 files, hardly worth getting a 20GB jukebox. The solid state ones are competitive because some also offer voice recording ability. However, the price increases sharply when the units have 128kB of storage or more. It also troubles me that most of the newer ones require some specialized software to download music to the units (I am using Linux as a main platform).
Finally, I decided to go with CD-R based MP3 players. CD-Rs are inexpensive, CD-RWs are even less in the long run (if you want to recycle the media). I can as easily burn CD-Rs from my Linux platform as on any modern Windows platform. Although the units tend to be bigger than solid state players, I already have a portable CD case/waistpack for the occasion. The deciding advantage of solid state is the availability of up to 650MB of space for next to nothing. I can easily burn three CD-Rs for my entire MP3 collection and just occasionally swap CDs.
After reading opinions here at epinions and some other sites, it became clear that the iRiver SlimX was one of the most popular ones despite its higher price. I decided to buy a SlimX because of it slim profile (16mm) and the almighty wired remote control.
When the package arrived, it was well packaged in all-paper materials, very environmental. The packaging was easy to open (unlike the plastic cases of most products) without any tools. The components were wrapped in plastic bags (a little unenvironmental, but I saved the plastic bags anyway). I started to play with the unit once I got the adaptor, the batteries, the main unit and the remote control out. Nope, I didn't bother to try the included headphones. I pluged in my Grados Lab headphones instead.
To anyone complaining about the unit being difficult to operate: READ THE FANTASIC MANUAL! It includes simple explanations as well as pictures to show people how to use the many features of the unit, especially the wired remote control. Once you try it a few times, the captions on the wired remote control is sufficient to remind you what to do for each function.
Okay, the player has a lot of cool features, but how about the bottom line? Although the maximum volume is a little lower than my expectation, the fidelity is excellent. The built-in headphone amplifier works very well with my Grados Lab headphones. For listening in a quiet environment, the default setting of 20 (out of 40) is just right. For noisier environments, you can increase it to about 30 to 35. If you are using a lesser headphone (like the included ones), you can customize the equalizer to pump more base or treble. I leave my equalizer flat for use with the Grados Lab headphones (and it sounds GREAT!).
The slim main unit is, uh, slim. The case is made from half plastic (bottom half) and half metal (the top). It has a very solid feel to it despite the slim profile. The included rechargeable batteries are prismatic, which means they are flat. They fit into two compartments in the unit accessible not from the back, but from the main case opening. This means it is virtually impossible to accidentally open the battery compartments!
The COOLEST and MOST USEFUL feature is the wired remote control. Of course, you can select songs and change volume with the remote control, you expect these from ANY remote control. But this one also allows you to change the equalizer settings, the duration of the blue backlight after a click, the traversal order of folders (for computer science geeks, you can select depth-first or breadth-first) and many more. Navigation is relatively easy with the three jog buttons which can be used to jog in either direction and select (press down). The display is small compared to the ones on the main units of other players, but the resolution is very high. You can also select what type of vital information is displayed (title, artist, album in a variety of orders and scroll characteristics).
If you think WinAmp or Windows Media Player are flexible with displaying information, wait till you play with a SlimX remote control!
The SlimX is great for everyone who wants to carry more than 128kB of MP3 music. For computer geeks, the SlimX is a must-have simply because of the engineering factor.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 120
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Epinions.com ID:
DrMobots
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Location: Sacramento, CA
Reviews written: 33
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
Husband of a lovely and smart wife, father of a witty and most adorable daughter.
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