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Fourteen Digital Music Players Reviewed

Posted by michael on from the christmas-in-april dept.

prostoalex writes "The PC Magazine reviews 14 digital music players that can play MP3, WMA or AAC files. The editor's choice among the models compared includes Apple iPod Mini and iRiver iFP-390T. The editors decided to conduct a single review of both Flash- and HDD-based music players. Of special interest is the battery life test as well as sound quality test. Even though the entire article is published online in HTML, the summary of the features is available in PDF only."

6 of 497 comments (clear)

  1. I dont use apple earbuds with my ipod by ElGnomo · · Score: 5, Informative

    earbud quality != player sound quality

  2. This beggars belief... by radish · · Score: 5, Informative


    They didn't even review the Rio Karma? Are they smoking something? If there's one player out there which has repeatedly been shown to be the genuine iPod beater it's the Karma, yet a supposedly "thorough" group test doesn't even mention it.

    For the uninitiated:

    * 16 hours battery life
    * 20gb capacity
    * Smaller than an iPod
    * Plays AAC, WMA, MP3, FLAC, OGG, and more (Audible coming soon)
    * Fully supports GAPLESS Vorbis, FLAC and mp3 playback. This is unique among portable players and a very big deal for a lot of people.
    * USB2.0 & Ethernet connectivity
    * Fully supported under Windows/Mac/Linux - works on any platform with Java & Ethernet
    * Best of class sound quality
    * Full 5-band parametric EQ
    * On the fly playlists, Rio DJ (randomisation, new tracks, old tracks, most played etc)
    * Crossfade between tracks
    * The thing just ROCKS

    I will be writing to the editor...

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    1. Re:This beggars belief... by jkabbe · · Score: 5, Informative

      Smaller than an iPod

      If you're going to talk something up at least be correct.

      Karma: 2.7 * 3.0 * 1.1 = 8.91 cubic inches
      iPod: 4.1 * 2.4 * 0.62 = 6.1008 cubic inches

      If "size" = "height" then, yes, the Karma is smaller. However the iPod is smaller in the other two dimensions and smaller in overall volume. If Apple wanted the iPod to be 33% larger I am sure they could add more battery life too.

  3. Bah! by Espen · · Score: 5, Informative

    "iTunes is incapable of displaying file types"

    Give these guys a thesaurus! What do they think the "kind" column is for in "view options"?

    And is it really worth reading a review that sees anything worthwhile in: "The 3.4-ounce iPod Mini has more EQ selections than any other player"?

  4. Dedicated software for iFP-390T? No! by 87C751 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The review lists "dedicated software" as a minus for the iRiver iFP-390T. Wrong! Here is the UMS update. My 390T looks just like a disk drive to my Gentoo box.

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  5. The picked the wrong iRiver, too. by PCM2 · · Score: 5, Informative
    My iRiver IHP-120 holds 20GB, connects via USB 2.0, mounts as a filesystem and lets you organize your MP3s using the filesystem (unlike the Karma, which wants you to use its software), plays OGG, gets 12-14hrs battery life, is just a hair larger than the iPod and the same weight. Plus it has an FM tuner for those days you want to listen to NPR, and it records -- either to MP3 on the fly, or to 44KHz uncompressed WAV. And it has optical in and out.

    Choosing between it and the Karma was tough for me, but I decided the iRiver had cooler features and was just a hair more open; not to mention that iRiver has a good track record for upgrades. They've publicly announced fixes for some problems with shuffle and playlist creation that should arrive in May, and by June the IHP series should have gapless playback like the Karma.

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