iRiver H10 20GB MP3 Player - Remix Blue

iRiver H10

Posted May 29, 2006 - I have been using this cute device for app. 2 weeks, and this is what i think about it: It is bigger than iPod but still very small, very practical, its sound is very good and besides that, no iPod has better sound than iRiver H10 because of the SRS WOW effect that iRiver has. When i connected it to my pc for first time, i was little bit dismayed, for Windows doesn't recognize it as a portable hard drive, but as an mp3 player, which has no firm address (e.g. E:). They also say that you can only use Windows Media Player to get music on in. But this is what I have found out: You can get your music on your iRiver H10 without using any WMP. This is how you do it: 1. Turn your iRiver off 2. Reset it (you should know how:) 3. connect it to your pc (still turned off) 4. press and hold "o" button and turn it on (still holding the button until a title "emergency connection" appears) 5. your Windows recognizes the player not as a player, but as a portable hadr disc drive (the same thing asi if you wanted to upgrade your firmware) 6. turn on showing of hidden files in Windows 7. you can open iRiver's folder and see several folders there, e.g. music and so on. Now transfer your music there (including your whole folder and subfolder structure). Then you must set them to be hidden (i mean whole "Music folder, including the subfolders and files"). You can transfer your music and text files on the iRiver this way as well. The iRiver's browser will show them all. 8. Now disconnect the iRiver and refresh its database (in settings, extra). Now you can listen to your music ot using WMP. Since reference is focused on this trick, I will not describe its flaws and strenghts, for you can read about them everywhere (what you cannot say about this) I find this way the best way how to get your music on Iriver, and with this feature, iRiver becomes much more usable than any iPod with its weak iTunes.

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H10 20 Gb, It works

Posted May 23, 2006 - I've had this mp3 player for just about a year, I got it just when it first came out. It does the job of an mp3 player and seems to work with windows fairly well. I soon found out that the nice color screen was pretty crappy resolution, and at least without firmware updates, you could not zoom in on pictures, making that function not always that useful. After loading all my music on it, I found it extremely useful as a backup hardrive when my computer crashed and I lots all my music on my laptop. When i got my laptop repaired, I simply plugged in the h10 and wala, I was able to copy all my music back onto my laptop. The main complaint I have is that it does not update tags on other music, it only loads new songs onto it. This became annoying when I had a few songs mistagged and they would not move. The other thing was the firmware, with the new firmware update (a couple months ago i think) It seemed to have a lot more trouble syncing. Sometimes it would be fine and sync quickly, others it would take almost a half hour to load a couple new songs or just crash and say it was having I/O problems, then the device would freeze and i'd have to reboot it.

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Iriver H10 20Gb

Posted Dec 31, 2006 - I Had Iriver H10 20Gb mp3 player for the last 5 months and it has worked perfectly, the sound is great the colour is good up till now. The screen does not show anything on it and is just a green screen. I am sometimes able to find a song whilst the green screen is on but what is the point if you cant see what you are doing or what song you are listening too. i have tried reseting it several times but still nothing.

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I am a very scrupulous guy when it comes to spendi ...

Posted Jun 20, 2005 - I am a very scrupulous guy when it comes to spending my money. If I'm going to dish out a good chunk of dough for an mp3 player, I WILL get the best one for me. Reading endless reviews, I narrowed it down to the Creative Zen Touch and the 20G Ipod. Luckily, I went to the store to try these out, which I highly recommend that you do too. Each user is going to have a different opinion of what mp3 player's interface is more intuitive, so try before you buy... that's #1. The Zen Touch was horribly overrated in my opinion. It was bulky, the touch pad was terrible, and the interface just plain stunk. The Ipod is, of course, very nice, but stacked up with the IRiver H10 it is a child's toy. If they were both the same price, I'd go with IRiver every time. But the IRiver is actually quite a bit cheaper, so this was a no-brainer decision for me. Just pick up the IRiver and you feel it was designed with more thought than any of the others. There is not as many accessories to go with it as the Ipod, but the essentials are there and are just as quality made. If there's one thing you really need to do if you're considering the H10, it's go somewhere like Best Buy and try it out.

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IRiver H10 20GB MP3 Player, Great Player

Posted Mar 2, 2006 - It's nice and light overall... the little up/down selector takes a bit of getting used to... given Apple's circle selector is much more intuitive... The overall palm feel is good on the HD10 - it has a nice balance, better than iPod because I think iPod is pretty slim... Moreover, the hard-drive compartment must be sealed or something because you can't hear the spin and you definitely can't feel it on the device. The screen is quite nice. Given the fact that the iRiver is really just a lcd panel hooked up to a hard drive, I wouldn't be surprised if in future models of the firmware, we get a small MPG4 player or something in it... the chipset seems fast enough... So you can put your pictures and everything else on it. It's not ideal... but it works. It also holds text. This is an interesting idea... I suppose the idea is to put e-books on it or something... I know another software manufacturer has developed a package that will read the text from the files and turn them into audio... As for file support... and here's where things get a bit ugly... all your "itunes" stuff - its 3 sheets to the wind as well... iriver does not support AC3 or Apple's itunes at all.. nor is there an easy way to put it into HD mode and move the files over.... It supports WMF files (windows media) and MP3... plus something called SRS for 360 surround sound (don't have anything like that so I don't know if it works or not). The sound coming off it through my Sony MDR-EX71SL headphones seems flawless enough. The iRiver has an EQ built in and it works pretty well. You can choose standard formats (classicial, rock, etc.) or manipulate it yourselve on 7 bands... The software - its windows media... which is confusing to use initially if you've been conditioned with iTunes. I think Microsoft needs a better tune's management product... but iRiver apparently has no native tunes/device management. This is a problem in many respects... All in all - if you're like me and its once bitten-twice shy with Apple... don't do the Zen, get this product...

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good but bad sync

Posted Sep 14, 2006 - This item is very good except trying to sync it with wmp is very difficult. The more songs you add the slower it seems to be. Also when plugged into my computer it does not use it as an external hard drive and the icon to choose it disappears sometimes. It is not always recognized by wmp. The first time sync was perfect because I was starting from nothing but now every time I want to add any songs I have to delete all the songs on the player and start from nothing. VERY TIME CONSUMING. Wmp is very slow and some program called uWDF.exe keeps loading when my player is plug and causes my computer to slow down a lot. It tends to sync fine when I only put about 5 or 6 GB of music but after that it declines I reliability. I have had to reset the player 5 or 6 times because of syncing problems. WHEN THE PLAYER IS NOT PLUGED INTO THE COMPUTER IT WORKS GREAT. I would recommend only if iriver came out with a better way to sync.

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A whale of a player and a very attractive device. ...

Posted Jun 22, 2005 - A whale of a player and a very attractive device. Somewhat thicker than an ipod, but very sturdy and comes with a very useful and utilitarian silicone protective case. The sound is fantastic, and I have found this unit to work just perfectly with Napster to Go and Yahoo Unlimited in successfully downloading DRM protected "rented" songs. I love the concept, as one can download thousands of songs for no additional charge over and above the monthly subscription fee. Bought mine at a local Best Buy after seeing that it was available on the website and in stock locally. The one small drawback is the touch strip which the user must use to toggle through the title and album lists to get to the desired song. It is just not as speedy or as accurate as the ipod 4g clickwheel, but I can live with this shortcoming to get one of the first 20gb players available with a color screen and the DRM Janus support required by services like Napster to Go and Yahoo Music. Way to go iriver!!

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iRiver H10 20 GB

Posted Jan 6, 2006 - I love it, and i bought this in place of an iPod because it does not need iTunes, instead communicates through Windows Explorer and Media Player. Other features are the radio, voice recording, line in recording (only with docking station, which is NOT available for the 20GB but only for the 5GB! :-( text viewer (for what though...) Picture viewer, and also uses SRS'WOW' for great sound. The battery's great, and the unit is quite solid. Again; it NEEDS BETTER FIRMWARE to make us any happier! The shuffle and repeat setting will repeat the same song over and over, and doesn't have any memory of songs already played, therefore repeating a song before going through the playlist.

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Excellent Player

Posted Mar 4, 2006 - I just recently purchased a iRiver 20GB and I have to say after a week of use, this player is one of the best ever, in my humble opinion. I bought this mp3 player after my iPod broke, as they often tend to do. The scroll bar is much more intuitive than the iPod's scroll wheel. The player also uses WMP and Plays for sure. I'm not going to much argue why you should buy this over a Creative Zen Micro or anything because for the most part, Apple owns the business and, if the X-Men have taught us anything, we must attack the Jugernaut's head. A lot of people complain about battery life, but I played it for about 10 hours and still had 2/4 battery left. This player has a BEAUTIFUL color screen. One problem I have, though, is the lack of CD art display on the "Now Playing" screen. Really though this isn't so much a major gripe, it just would be kinda cool. Also my player was defected but I just ordered a replacement on Amazon and my new one is due in just a little while. While I cannot transfer files from the mp3 player to my PC yet I have heard that it is possible. The player is super slick and definately looks cooler than the iPod and its white case. The player comes with a FM radio recorder/player and you can even record voices, like the ones in my head. Although I had to refer to the manual when I was trying to figure out how to do some things, in other words degrade my manhood, The iRiver 20GB is well worth your money. To sum things up: Pros Screen andthe interface 20GB Sleek and Slick Just overall seems super solid and impervious to all drops Compact Price FM Radio Player/ Recorder Cons Battery life Start up and downloading songs, I had to refer to the manual

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IRiver H10 20gb, great player/picture viewer

Posted Feb 20, 2006 - Overall I would say this is a very high quality mp3 player. For the price (only 180) it is a great deal, and I could justify paying up to 220-230 for it. It may not be as "cool" as the ipod, but the only thing that color ipods (not video) have that this doesn't is itunes integration, and it's not even that big of a deal. Iriver produces very high quality mp3 players, and the H10 is no exception.

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Good alternative to my Ipod

Posted Mar 15, 2006 - I bought it because my Ipod does not have FM tuner and I desperately needed it. Before buying I made exrensive research and decided to buy this player. The FM tuner is nice if you don't want to go through your own songs anymore. Additional features that the player has are an FM recoding, voice recording, line-in recording, and the clock on the screen is a brilliant idea. If you're buying it for video and pictures, it may not be the best choice. If you're buying for music and like to have the other features then it's a great player.

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Good choice, but...........

Posted Jul 7, 2005 - I am a techno challenged consummer, but I have a different perspective that may give you some help in evaluating this product. I bought from B&H Photo not the cheapest, but close to it. It has an excellent rating as a merchant, they did not disappoint me. The sound is great. I bought a cable with RC As on one end and headphone connection on the other (to the H 10) and listened to my tunes through home stereo. It was as good as CD player. I bought light weight headphones and the sound was great here too. If you want a great sound and lots of memory this is a good choice......But if you want an even better deal, do this. After you buy your H 10, go to Rhapsody-to-go and sign up for the 1 year service. At $15 per month you can "rent music for about the cost of one CD!! Here's the best part, they will give you a rebate for $100.00 This means you can listen to about a million tracks for a year for $80.00 or a little more than $6.50/ month!! I think any H 10 qualifies for this offer. Now the other side. The biggest gripe I have with the H 10 comes from the iriveramerica website. In it they claimed that the unit has a replacable battery. Well the 1,5 and 6 GB do. But the 20 does not. Eventually these batteries wear out. I'm not rich, so I had to think twice about keeping this thing. It sounds so great, I can't send it back. Also, you can't delete a song from the H 10 unless it is through the WPM, that's nuts. I called customer support, good luck getting through, and they told me that a firmware update will take care of that. How soon? they don't know. To his credit , support helped set up a playlist on WPM. Again I'm techno challenged so the need to connect just to delete a track is a pain...but this thing sounds so good, I just can't send it back.

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iriver slow, unreponsive

Posted Jul 20, 2005 - This is a great device with a solid sound quality and a large appeal to buyers who cannot spend .99 per track that they w ant to listen to. I have, however, found that in side by side comparisons with my unit and my fathers unit, that they both exhibit ridiculous delay be tween songs. Some, to it's credit, will switch fine, but I have done a stop watch test to approximately 350 tracks on each unit, an d the average track switch time is 9-11 seconds, respectively, provided the device actually switches to the next track and does not just go to stop mode, forcing you to restart your shuffle or playlist. Photo image viewer is noticably grainy, but I bought the device for music, so I could quite frankly care less. There is very little comparison however where sound is concerned. The iriver, when you enable the SRS equalizer settings, has head a nd shoulders better sound than any iPod I've ever owned. The navigation strip is functional, but it really does not do very well scrolling up or down using the actual scroll. It works much better if you just put your finger on the arrow and apply pressure to move up or down. The two buttons are responsive, unless the device is switching songs, and the location of the play/pause and forward/reverse buttons is a little strange compared to what I'm used to. The screen is flawless, the menus are well done and easy to get through. I am however dissapointed at the lack of on-board track mamangement, such as deleting, moving to new folders, etc, and the fact that most track management has to be done through windows media player...ugh. Granted, the iPod's do none of that either, so it's a moot point for comparison. The Napster-to-go concept is great, but the service is not so hot. Transfers sometimes slow down to a crawl, which I'm guessing is because of the link to WMP that Napster has to use. There is no limit to the amount of tracks you can get however, as I downloaded darn near 2000 songs the first night I had the player. Napsters selection is not bad, all things considered. There are a few bugs in the Napster software, sometimes causing the device to stop responding, which requires you to reconnect it. Overall, I would say the iriver h10 20g clocks in right where you would expect it to. It's about a 75% replica of what works the best, the iPod. It has some nicer features, and some horribly worse features (defects? software/hardware lacking?). I have to admit that sometimes it seems like the iPod is working with a Pentium 4 while the iriver is stuck with a 386. It has numerous bugs in the system and the software that I have just never found with my Ipods. The battery life is amazing, but I always keep my devices on cradles at work or at home anyways, so battery life has never even been a concern for me. It just seems like to me that the product was an attempt to undercut the iPod using Napster-to-go and a different price point, although that price point has been matched now by the color iPod 20g. In the end, I will be returning my iriver h10 20g to get the newer 20g color iPod, the 10 second track switch delay and the bugs in the track switching are just too much for me, I'm very picky about functionality, and I cannot ignore the fact that my iPod, on a bad day, takes less than a second to switch tracks. So, back to .99 a track for me, which sucks, but I cannot bring myself to use what seems in many ways to be inferior technology. (Processor, HD access speed, reliability.) I bought this as a replacement to my aging 40g Ipod with the 4 buttons and the wheel, which worked fine still, and I did not expect to go backwards. The iPod still remains as the pinnacle of fast, efficient and easy to use players, even with the battery problems. I wanted a technology upgrade, not processor lag in between songs. The iriver is a great device if you want sound quality, but those who enjoy music on demand and seamless track switching need to look elsewhere.

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Good Player

Posted May 15, 2006 - I got an incredible deal on this player, so that may color my opinion, but this is the iPod killer! The FM tuner just truly seals the deal. Go for it.

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didn`t go with the flow this time

Posted May 12, 2006 - i bought this mp3 player because i didn`t want to use apple i tunes and it was much cheaper.my friend has an ipod and he almost returned it because of itunes. this fight between microsoft and apple company is sick. you can buy only ipod accesorries in stores like best buy or circuit city. and once again history repeats and when too giants fight ordinary people will "suffer"(i like ipod tough i had one but it froze and i cannot use it again). this product is perfect if you don`t have to be "in".I haven`t had no problems with it so far and it works well.

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