Frequent readers may know I have been a fan of the iRiver tiny MP3 players for their recording capability. I had purchased two for us in my last job, and just from a meeting last week, saw that another colleague at Maricopa had purchased one for doing some audio recording.
See, the folks at iRiver ought to know how vast and powerful an influence I am 😉
I was eager to get one for my new job at the NMC- I very much like doing informal audio interviews. Browsing the iRiver iFP 700 series lines, I was dismayed at how many were no longer available, not at Amazon, nore at the iRiver store itself. I managed to get an order in for an iFP-795 (500 Mb) that was sold only as a bundle with a waterproof kit. But I had some problems with my new credit card (another long story about call-centers around the world that mangle new address changes). By the time I had fixed the issue with my card, the item was gone:
Despite the preceding page which indicates it was in stock:
It seems very much that the iFP line is being phased out. Worse yet, the new T10 players, with their slick candy colors and maybe even, improved interfaces, are only compatible (for models sold in the US and Europe) with Windows XP. This is not very clear at all from the specs page, where Mac is listed, and the details are hidden in asterisked foot notes.
So if you are thinking about an iRiver, and are on a Mac, get one fast or you are left to ebay as the source (well I guess I could have gotten the T10, boot camp booted into Windoze and …. nahhhhhhh, too much trouble).
iRiver- great little devices, terrible user interface, inconsistent web site, and poor choice in marketing strategy.
Congrats on the new job! Hey, i bought an iRiver T10 after reading you brag about the iRiver as the greatest. unfortunately, I now hate it since it only works with Digital Rights management only Windows Media Player 10.
However, since you’re in the market, you might consider purchasing an iAudio U3 through Amazon. They’re about the same cost, but work with multiple platforms (including Mac,Win, and Linux). Had i to do it over again, I wouldn’t be impressed by CogDog’s recommendation and do more research and get the iAudio U2 .
Seriously, check out the iAudio U3. More at:
http://www.mguhlin.net/blog/archives/2005/12/entry_967.htm
Keep up the great posts!
Miguel
oops…that comment above lost my smilies. Insert smiles after that “I wouldn’t be impressed” part.
Miguel,
Sorry for the misleading iRover recommends, though I hoped my previous mentions were limtied to the IFP-700 series that I had used, not all iRiver products.
I would agree that it takes a lot of detective work from iRiver’s web site, and all the third party sellers that copy the specs blindly, since it suggests that it IS OS X compatible (only if you buy a Korean or Asian version ??). It took lots of clicks and probing through their “Ask Alice” help system to get a semi-definitive answer.
I’ll keep the iAudio in mind– , so from now on, CogDogBlog’s recommends for iRivers are limited to the older models I have used, and even to that end, I only liked their recording capability. The user interface was an insane hell (like the cirum navigation navigation menu) and the multiple use of buttons w/o really any guidance.
Thanks for the notes!
I was actually ready to run out and pick up an iRiver based on this post alone. Being quite content with my iPod, and thinking about getting an iTalk to record voice, I hadn’t considered looking for another MP3 player that would have built in voice recording.
However, based on Miquel’s recommendation I may go pick up the iAudio instead as it’s not currently being phased out as the older iRiver’s are. Thanks to both of you for sharing your comments 🙂
Glad my pain and suffering was helpful, Ben (smile). Seriously, as my father always said, “like the great Voltaire advises, it is better to learn from other people’s mistakes than from your own.”
;->
Thanks, Alan! Keep up the great work!
Miguel
Overstock.com has a few ifps, fyi