Quote:
Originally Posted by shiryu22
One issue I feel I may have with the newer models is the UI. I've been reading reviews everywhere that say the UI is more .. "user friendly." Which is, in my mind, basically a nicer way of saying "dumbed down" and "weak(er)".
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I don't know about that. I have a T30 which has a monochrome UI that's similar to the ones on the older IFPs. The T10, T50 and T60 all have color screens that are easier on the eyes and look better. Also considering T10's 45 hour battery rating and T50's 52 hour, it does seem that iriver managed to implement a color screen that doesn't adversely affect battery life. T60's rated battery life is 19 hours, but that's due to its AAA as opposed to AA battery rather than the color screen. 19 hours is pretty good for a AAA player, other manufacturer's AAA players are not rated as high and that's
without any color screen.
I wouldn't call it 'dumbed-down' or 'weak' though. There's still plenty of changeable options ... again the only things missing are AGC and external mic options. T50's screen looks exactly like T10's. T60's is a little bit different as the background lines on individual screens aren't there, instead it's a solid colored background.
I think I may have seen some of the reviews you mention though. Some people seem dead-set against ANY color screens. The usual objection is that they eat battery life, but as said previously that's
not the case with the irivers. Maybe some people are just 'nostalgic' for monochrome screens? If so they could have gone with T30, which does have the old-style monochrome.
Another nice thing about the color screens is you can change themes if you are so inclined. Search the T-series board on "themes" and you'll see what some posters here have created. Two in particular, a Thief theme and a Japanese anime theme look really great, both created by regular posters here.