Wonderful little MP3 player
Written: May 07 '05
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Pros: MP3 and WMA compatible, FM radio player, excellent battery life.
Cons: Don't expect to load your entire music library on it.
The Bottom Line: If you're looking for a good-sounding, very portable gym buddy, this is it.
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| audiophileguy's Full Review: FID Irock 830 (128 MB) MP3 Player |
In a world of 60-gig iPods that can hold seemingly endless amounts of songs, is there much relevance to a puny little MP3 player with a thin 128 megabytes of memory that is good for only a few dozen songs? Well, yes in fact. Truth of the matter is, I love this little player, which I've had for about a year and a half now. I've often considered getting an iPod, but still can't justify it. Here's why: They're bigger, more expensive and have woeful battery life compared to this little guy. I primarily use the iRock while exercising or on flights. And for both of those uses, it rocks (yes, pun intended).
Because of the unit's small size -- I'm guessing around 2 inches -- it's very easy to take anywhere and stuff into a pocket. I keep mine in the included case because it has a belt clip, which may not seem like a big deal, but it comes in very handy when running, cycling, etc. Sound quality is quite good, and the unit is able to get very loud if that's your thing. I ditched the included headphones and primarily use Sennheiser mx500s with it, which sound quite nice out of this guy. But even stock earbuds are of decent quality.
The unit also has an FM radio, which comes in handy with its auto-tuning function. Battery life is excellent. The manual states it's good for 30 to 40 hours if my memory serves, but I seem to get much more out of it. And because it uses 1 AA, it's cheap and easy to replace when the battery dies. Getting songs on the thing from my Windows XP computer is a cinch: Plug in the included USB, and from there it's drag and drop.
Finally, here's the last reason I love this unit: Like other small-capacity MP3 players, it uses Flash memory instead of a hard drive, which the bigger -- ie. iPod -- digital audio players use. The benefit of Flash is that its quicker to access and it doesn't suffer problems inherent to hard drives, such as fragmentation. There really are no moving parts in this unit, which means there's less to break.
So, if you can get by with only a few dozen songs (I keep about 40 on mine), this is an excellent little player that will easily get you through a workout or a plane flight.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 100
Recommended for: Athletes - Lightweight and Portable, Perfect for the Gym
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Epinions.com ID:
audiophileguy
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Location: California
Reviews written: 10
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