Any psychics out there? H140 price drop?

[Dujodu]

I'm about ready to purchase an mp3 player. I've decided I want to get a 40GB player. The 340 doesn't really offer many features that I need, so I'm looking more toward the H140. The lowest I've seen the H140 is like $370.00 US. I'm wondering if anything thinks this is going to come down anytime within the next month or so?

The other thing I'm worried about (which tons of people are I'm sure) is the support that the h140 will get from iriver now that the new players are out. Are they just going to completely abandon them? I've heard they aren't making any new H1xx players anymore. Will they still replace the battery in them, or will you have to do it yourself?

I know their firmware upgrades have been lax with the H1xx, but have they ever said that they simply won't be uprgading the firmware? (like to fix the HDD spin down bug, not that I know exactly what it means.. it just sounds bad )

I'm also interested in recording so I was suprised to see that there are audible clicks that happen every X seconds during recording. (I think I read it in the recording FAQ). Is this true for all units, or only some? Is this even fixed in the H3xx players?

Thanks to anyone who can offer some help.

[XavierGr]

Well I think that you mustnt wait. The iHP series is discontinued, so youmay find it difficult to find one after some weeks!

Yes it's true that iRiver hasnt done a great job with firmware upgrades but keep in mind that rockbox has started an effort of creating a new firmware for us. You can see the site at www.rockbox.org

The HDD bug isnt soo bad. It's just battery consuming.

And yes there are some minor glitches in recording, but hey, it isnt a recording studio.

[Dujodu]

yes the rockbox looks very promising! From what I can tell they haven't officially started work on the iRiver version though, or am I wrong? glad to hear the HDD spindown only really effects the battery life.

I'm so paranoid that the price will drop significantly right after I buy it. And even though I don't plan on using the H340 features, it's only going to be like $30 more from what I can tell.

If rockbox is going to adopt the H1xx series though, that might be reason enough not to get the H340.

[WristBandMan]

what is in the 140 that is not in 340 (other than bundled remote)?
it has color screen, but still 16 hours.
(ok, it doens't have iskin yet ^^)

but anyway, i bought my 140 about 3 weeks ago, the price still not drop at all (before that i was hunting for a month as well.
don't think it will drop drastic anytime soon.

btw h340 is just $399

[B-K]

Originally Posted by WristBandMan

what is in the 140 that is not in 340 (other than bundled remote)?
it has color screen, but still 16 hours.
(ok, it doens't have iskin yet ^^)

From what I understand the H3xx series lacks digital optical in/out. Other than that they're similar (aside from color screen and USB host).

[Saidas]

I don't know where you live, but here in the US I saw awhile back that Best Buy (huge electronics store) was closing out H120's at a really good price, but the problem was that where I live, they didn't have that many to begin with and sold out in no time. So if you wait too long you might be SOL trying to find another. However, if you live in the US, I have a friend who bought one and she couldn't figure out how to use it and has had virtually no use. I know she will sell it...I suggested eBay but she doesn't want to hassel with it. If interested, let me know and I'll ask her.

[WristBandMan]

Originally Posted by B-K

From what I understand the H3xx series lacks digital optical in/out. Other than that they're similar (aside from color screen and USB host).

well, then, isn't H340 not bad? (if you don't need optical, and you can just buy the remote as extra)

Originally Posted by saidas

hey wrist, I don't know where you live, but here in the US I saw awhile back that Best Buy (huge electronics store) was closing out H120's at a really good price, but the problem was that where I live, they didn't have that many to begin with and sold out in no time. So if you wait too long you might be SOL trying to find another. However, if you live in the US, I have a friend who bought one and she couldn't figure out how to use it and has had virtually no use. I know she will sell it...I suggested eBay but she doesn't want to hassel with it. If interested, let me know and I'll ask her.

eh? i'm not looking for one. was just saying that the price didn't change much at all since a month or so ago when i bought my H140