iFP soliloquy

[tristan]

Gday to all at misticriver

Well I've just got back from a month touring around the UK/Europe, with my trusty iFP390T providing the musical backdrop. I didn't bother with the internet in all that time (quite refreshing actually), so it's interesting to see the developments (or lack thereof depending on where you look) that have happened.

Here's a few random thoughts....

1 - The iFP was a welcome change to the lo-fi drivel pumped out of the in flight entertainment system and airport waiting lounge (actually Singapore airlines have a pretty decent entertainment setup but the sound quality and music choice are both pretty average). I just loaded it up with about 4 hours of my favourite songs on random play - perfect. The battery life was well up to the task too.

2 - I spent lots of time poking around in duty free shops (esp in gadget-mad Singapore) but didn't see a flash player that had a better price/feature ratio than the iFP.

3 - Had my 1st play with an iPod too. Not that I'm gonna buy one any time soon, but the hardware was very slick looking and the interface excellent. Really did make the iFP seem a bit toyish in comparison (I know, I'm comparing apples to oranges, and ignoring the iPod's under the bonnet deficiencies).

4 - Very excited to see that iRiver finally put out some new iFP firmware, but then extremely disappointed to see that it added a songspeed feature no-one wanted, while ignoring all the clamouring for UMS recording fixes, OGG full bitrate support etc etc ad nauseum. Personally, I can't even be bothered downloading it!

5 - Misticriver site looks even better and more polished. Just a shame there's not really that much postive iRiver news to discuss!

OK, off to sleep off the jetlag!

[JohnnyTest]

"4 - Very excited to see that iRiver finally put out some new iFP firmware, but then extremely disappointed to see that it added a songspeed feature no-one wanted, while ignoring all the clamouring for UMS recording fixes, OGG full bitrate support etc etc ad nauseum. Personally, I can't even be bothered downloading it! "

Couldn't agree more, it is a good product, but iRiver has really taken something good and ran it into the ground. I mean adding speed support is well plain stupid, when you have plenty of realistic problems to fix. I really don't care about the 5 people who use it to learn a new language. Way to fail iRiver.

It's pretty sad how much negative stuff is coming out of iRiver. Not sure if you heard but there is a huge recall on ifp-700-800 series.

[tristan]

Originally Posted by JohnnyTest

It's pretty sad how much negative stuff is coming out of iRiver. Not sure if you heard but there is a huge recall on ifp-700-800 series.

Wasn't aware of it JT. Is it a hardware or firmware issue?

[JohnnyTest]

Hardware issue. The philips chip used inside is faulty. It seems as if it causes white noise at all volume levels, and it more noticable at the lower levels. The confusion regarding this comes from the fact that iRiver says its only a few of their players, while other manufacturers claim the industry is aware of the problem with the chip, and most other manufacturers chose not to use the chip, but it seems iRiver had decided it would be ok to use, hence they are recalling all their 700-800 players, but the recall is in Korea, so not sure what it means for everyone else.