T60. Impressions after six weeks

[Pintman]

Hello.

New T60 user here. I've had two Creative MuVos and a Zen Nano since 2005. I listen mostly to podcasts while driving or exercising, and to music while travelling for more than a few hours at a tme. I often go to sleep listening to my player, making a shutdown timer a must to save batteries. I wanted a player with a little more capacity and AAA batteries, so the T60 seemed to fit the bill.

After six weeks of daily use, here are some thoughts:

PRO

- Sounds great and tons of volume into my Phillips earbuds.

- Battery life seems better than I had been led to believe it would be.

- My computer sees it as a mass storage device (as long as it's turned on, see below), no problem. This is a must since I like to move files back and forth with a generic file manager like Total Commander, and hate special software.

- Some reviewers think the screen is too crude. It's fine for my purposes.

CON

(MAJOR) The joystick is a real pain. Not precise at all. I still can't reliably get to the browser or the menu. I find myself accidentally skipping to the next song / podcast in the directory. It has a mind of its own and takes me places I don't want to go. Absolutely no way to navigate blindfold. It really diminishes the pleasure of using the T60. This alone will keep me from buying another Iriver device with a joystick.

(MAJOR) It doesn't work off USB power? Are you kidding me? Why? How hard can this be? A total waste of battery power. If there is a reason for this, I can't find it in the documentation.

(MODERATE) No way to sort files once they are on the player. At least I can't find one in the documentation. It seems to sort based upon how long the file has been on the player. I've tried numbering files, changing file dates, nothing seems to work.

(MINOR) The documentation is a joke. I still can't figure out the various playback modes. "A"? "D"? What are they?

(MINOR) Creatives have a playback mode that plays one file, one time, then goes into idle. I found this useful when drifting off to sleep in the middle of a long podcast.

(MINOR) The default screen contrast setting is way too low. You can't see where you're at in menus. You have to go into settings and turn contrast all the way down to -10.

CONCLUSION

I consider myself an experienced user, so I can work around all of the above shortcomings. But, I would not recommend the T60 as someone's first player.

[rprrpr]

CON

(MAJOR) The joystick is a real pain. Not precise at all. I still can't reliably get to the browser or the menu. I find myself accidentally skipping to the next song / podcast in the directory. It has a mind of its own and takes me places I don't want to go. Absolutely no way to navigate blindfold. It really diminishes the pleasure of using the T60. This alone will keep me from buying another Iriver device with a joystick.

Really seems to be a matter of personal preference. People complained about the all-button navigation on the T30 so they went back to a joystick. Now everyone complains about the joystick! I prefer the T30 style, but the joystick is ok.

(MAJOR) It doesn't work off USB power? Are you kidding me? Why? How hard can this be? A total waste of battery power. If there is a reason for this, I can't find it in the documentation.

I believe that since it uses regular batteries and doesn't use USB to charge they didn't include the extra circuitry that would be required. USB output is a much higher voltage than a 1.5V battery. Could be a cost factor, or a space factor, I don't know.

(MODERATE) No way to sort files once they are on the player. At least I can't find one in the documentation. It seems to sort based upon how long the file has been on the player. I've tried numbering files, changing file dates, nothing seems to work.

I too like to use my player is UMS mode through a simple file manager, but I recommend downloading a copy of iriver plus software. I do all my file management in folders first, but then before I disconnect I go to iriver plus and sort the play order how I want. I actually think this is a major PRO of the T series - you can adjust play order any way you want, which is difficult with some other players.

Hope this helps,
rpr

[fcormier]

Originally Posted by Pintman

(MAJOR) The joystick is a real pain. Not precise at all. I still can't reliably get to the browser or the menu. I find myself accidentally skipping to the next song / podcast in the directory. It has a mind of its own and takes me places I don't want to go. Absolutely no way to navigate blindfold. It really diminishes the pleasure of using the T60. This alone will keep me from buying another Iriver device with a joystick.

I got used to it, I can even use it blindfolded in my pocket. The trick I use is to rest my thumb on the player (I am right handed) and I use just the end of my thumb to maneuver the joystick. Not 100%, but still works well.

Originally Posted by Pintman

(MAJOR) It doesn't work off USB power? Are you kidding me? Why? How hard can this be? A total waste of battery power. If there is a reason for this, I can't find it in the documentation.

Originally Posted by rprrpr

I believe that since it uses regular batteries and doesn't use USB to charge they didn't include the extra circuitry that would be required. USB output is a much higher voltage than a 1.5V battery. Could be a cost factor, or a space factor, I don't know.

This is really a bad decision on iriver's part. I think it was either to save on components or conception time. They just needed to install a voltage converter and something to switch the power source from one to the other. I'm thinking of making a 1.2 o 1.5V AAA shaped adapter so I can transfer files without draining the battery.

Originally Posted by Pintman

(MODERATE) No way to sort files once they are on the player. At least I can't find one in the documentation. It seems to sort based upon how long the file has been on the player. I've tried numbering files, changing file dates, nothing seems to work.

Originally Posted by rprrpr

I too like to use my player is UMS mode through a simple file manager, but I recommend downloading a copy of iriver plus software. I do all my file management in folders first, but then before I disconnect I go to iriver plus and sort the play order how I want. I actually think this is a major PRO of the T series - you can adjust play order any way you want, which is difficult with some other players.

I do the same thing: transfer using the file manager and sort the files using iriver plus 3.

Originally Posted by Pintman

(MINOR) The documentation is a joke. I still can't figure out the various playback modes. "A"? "D"? What are they?

In the first days of using the player, I found out what it was:
A = All
D = Directory

Originally Posted by Pintman

(MINOR) The default screen contrast setting is way too low. You can't see where you're at in menus. You have to go into settings and turn contrast all the way down to -10.

It's the second time I read this. I always leave it at default contrast and had no problems reading the menus.

[Pintman]

As far as using Iriver Plus, I think a flash device should act like any other drive. I should be able to do all file operations on it without any special software, much less 57mb of proprietary bloatware.

The ability to use regular AAA batts, available almost anywhere in the world, was my main reason for buying the T60.

Thanks for the feedback. I don't want to sound like I hate the T60, but the joystick, lack of USB power, and no file sorting are big, big minuses in my book.

Guess I'm just an old grump.

[Pintman]

Originally Posted by Pintman

... I don't want to sound like I hate the T60, but the joystick, lack of USB power, and no file sorting are big, big minuses in my book.

Guess I'm just an old grump.

Actually, after a month of daily use, I do hate it. I've come to loath it.

I hate having to fire it up to do file transfers.

I hate no file sorting. This point was really driven home when I downloaded 30 Spanish lessons. A few had to be re-downloaded from the web, then transferred to the player, overwriting the originals. I still haven't figured out how to get them to sort from 1 to 30 on the T-60

I really, really, really hate the inaccurate joystick. Nothing like accidentally rewinding a podcast when I'm an hour in, then having to waste batteries fast forwarding to where I was.

The other little quirks I can work around.


The main reason I bought the T-60 was I travel a lot and it could use universally available AAA batteries. I'll get used to rechargeables.

I've gone back to Creative. A refurbed 4gb ZEN V Plus.

Bottom line: It's no fun constantly fighting with your player.