is everybody happy with their h120/h140?

[belgarath_the_sorceror]

I am VERY close to buying the h120, but i just need a bit more encouragement - or discouragement if you don't like the h120. I am therefore very interested in (and grateful) to people's comments on the h120. Also, bearing in mind that I am also interested in the rio karma, i would be interested to know if people have had past experience of their karma's HD breaking (i have heard that the karma HD is more prone to failing than other DAPs)

thanx

[Dunno]

Happy 140 owner for 4 months, no hassles so far....

[snowcrash]

hi belgrath

i'm not sure if you'll get useful responses with such an open ended question.
Best just to search/browse postings on this forum and you'll get a sense of strengths/weaknesses of the the H.

Of course, the gripes and the moans you read, sometimes get exagerated depending on a specific set of users. And I found it too easy to get fixated on some weaknesses or 'faults', rather than consider the overall product. I reckon there will always be doubts about the h140 (or any dap), but I took the plunge and am a happy user overall. There is certainly room for improvement for things that could have been implemented better but you'll get this with any dap.

What I did was to try and work out how I would use the player (eg. filetree, ogg playback), what I would want from it (eg good battery life, data storage) etc, and then make a decision. It'll always be a shot in the dark to some extent as only when it's in your hands will u really know if it's the right one/best for you.

good luck
sc

[wgnome]

very happy with my h140.

[sweetspot]

Good question which deserves an honest answer from those of us capable of not being biased in any way. Despite the numerous negative Iriver threads which point to firmware debacles over the past year or so, my opinion of the IHP 120 remains the same, as it was since I bought it last November. Its strong points remain unfettered, and its weak points are the same as when I bought it, yet reminding me still that even its weakness' weren't enough to sway my decision in favour of any other player.

My only other choice was and still would be the Rio Karma, however, every time I visit www.riovolution.com , I'm reminded of why I chose to steer clear of the Karma. I won't dare say that the Karmas HD's are "more prone" to failure than the other DAP's on the market, because that always makes one seem like an uninformed basher, no matter how many posts per week which point out that it's not far from the truth ! It's also true that there are some Karma owners who've never had a problem with it, but IMHO, it seems more like a crap shoot, and one that I was not brave enough to deal with. I'm a guy who hates a hassle, and after the comparisons between the two players, it all boiled down to a few interesting factors.

I'll totally admit that I'm jealous of the software that the Karma boasts. It's damned impressive ! The GUI is nicer than the IHP's IMO, it does GAPLESS, plays FLAC, has a parametric EQ and has an array of really cool playlist capabilities. However, comparing those features against the IHP's FM radio, line out ON THE UNIT (this allows me to plug it in to the receiver at work with no hassle which is cool as hell), recording, OPTICAL IN/OUT, full USB mass storage capabilities, no software required, a fully functional lcd remote (essential for me) and lastly, total security in reliability, made it that much easier to make a decision.

Even though the Karma has the EQ, and the IHP a simple incramental bass and treble slider, the sound quality of the IHP IMO is fantastic. I don't regret buying it for one single solitary second, because it does what I KNEW it was supposed to, no more and no less. Had I been set on getting it based on hopes of a firmware update promising gapless and advanced playlisting or FLAC playback, I'd be bitching and whigning like OH SO MANY people who ignorantly thought that it could be pulled off after the fact. Funny thing is, I believe that Iriver never had any intentions of adding gapless or OTF playlisting to the IHP series, but after seeing so many requests (complaints more like it) for these features, they honestly tried. I can't say that much for many other companies really, even if their attempt was TOTALLY half assed

I've been keeping an ear to the ground, and an eye to the sky over at riovolution, in hopes that Rio is going to release a stable new DAP with all the functionality of the Karma, and added features which would floor the IHP all together. Unfortunately, most of the speculation concerning one of these "Unicorns", is a mixed bag of negativity. The latest is that DNNA is afraid to keep playing ball due to bad press the Karma and chroma has gotten (HD failures and static due to headphone jack) and actual returns and complaints of the Karma. This "latest", comes from someone who allegedly has an Uncle who works for a company who is responsible for OK'g the production units. Makes me sad really, because all they have to do, is test a different HD to make sure that it works with their firmware with no lock ups or crashes etc... Seems simple enough, but if they've lost too much money, It's reasonable and logical that they'd not want to persue the project.

So, do I still love my IHP ? Hell yeah man. It has served me well, since day one, and never have I really had any complaints about it. Would gapless be nice ? Sheeeeeeet yeah, but is not having it until another player which has it comes along (but must ALSO have the same or better features than my IHP in order to be a consideration) going to make me itch ? Naw. For me, the resale value of the IHP has fulfilled its self. Think about how many electronic devices you've had, and how long they lasted, or how long it was until you were bored or sick of them...I can not for one second say either about my preessscious. You'd probably love either one (karma or IHP), but the only difference that I see, is that going into buying the iHP is risk free, whilst the same can not be said about the karma. It's up to you ultimately, what you're willing to deal with. Want gapless, FLAC support and very cool playlisting support ? Then be brave and go Karma. Don't care about those things ? Then you know what to do.

Doug

[dapureplaya_04]

i'm 100% satisfied with my play Get it with an iSkin it'll totally rock
er. I have an H140. It hasn't broken down on me or stuffed up on me yet. i've been using it with no flaws whatsoever. Firmware can be better but it's stable right now.

[COOL888]

I think you will not get a fair opinion here as people always like the player they used. But If I were you, I would first decide what i use it for. The remote of H120, FM, are not that useful, I hardly use them for the 7 months I had H140. The recording is nice but I use it very little. The filetree and sound quality are what I really cared for. My music collection is growing quickly but is not proper taged. Use itune will drive me nuts. I think ipod and iriver are better than RIo from so many reviews out there. With improved battery life, ipod 4th seems more attractive for me.

The botton line:
If you consider buying music on line, ipod is the one to go, if not H120 is the one to buy

BTW, I heard moe problems from H120 than from H140, is H140 a better choice? my H-140 never had a single freeze, or skip during the last 7 months of extensive use. This is my best toy I ever have.

[belgarath_the_sorceror]

thanks for all this guys. I think that I will go for the iriver, mostly for the remote, filetree viewing and better sound quality - although a decent shuffle would be nice it was never one of my high priorities - and plus the iriver does ogg which is useful. Plus the optical in would be useful for me to record my old tapes

[COOL888]

Shuffle drains toooo much battery. Make some playlists will do the same job.

[WristBandMan]

Originally Posted by belgarath_the_sorcer or

thanks for all this guys. I think that I will go for the iriver, mostly for the remote, filetree viewing and better sound quality - although a decent shuffle would be nice it was never one of my high priorities - and plus the iriver does ogg which is useful. Plus the optical in would be useful for me to record my old tapes

see, you know what you want, and you know what to get.

i'm happy with my H140 (1 month old)

[windie]

Had 140 for a good few of months now, can't fault it. It is by no means perfect and there appears to be plenty of people whinging about certain features, makes me wonder why they bought one in the first place.

All in all the player does what it does very well.

Things it does very well - Plays music when I press play, acts as a portable HD whilst I'm out and about, no silly drivers required

Things it's not to good at - living upto everyones expectations. Don't believe all the bad press by some of it's knockers.

[XavierGr]

Well why not buy an iHP-140 instead of iHP-120? Many have said that they regreted their movement of buying the 120 instead the 140. It's 100 bucks difference...

I agree fully with SweetSpot on this. I have this beauty 7 months, not a single freeze or flaw (except the HDD bug ) and I cant imagine my life without it. (well, new technology brings new needs) Imrovements can be made, but that why we are waiting rockbox to get the job done.

If you are a guy that loves gadgets and not trends (and ofcourse loves to listen to music anywhere) buy the iHP ASAP!

[floodgate]

i'll just add that i dont like my gap-full playback. or rather the lack of .cue file support.

[akn]

Just take good care of it. Especially the display (scratches)...

[sweetspot]

Originally Posted by floodgate

i'll just add that i dont like my gap-full playback. or rather the lack of .cue file support.

If you're saying that you bought the player without investigating its features (or lack thereof), then whose mistake was the purchase ? If you're being sarcastic (attempt at funny peraps ?), then a might have helped ya there.
BTW, do ANY of the DAP's out there support .cue files ? Me no think so. And the ONLY player that does gapless is the Karma. So you MUST be attempting humour. Must be !

[armchair.pimp]

I've been delighted with my 120.. I use the remote and the radio.. the 'shuffle' can be a little annoying but it's not a show-stopper for me.. one of the better electrical goods I've bought for sure..

[belgarath_the_sorceror]

in answer to why i'm not getting the 40gig model - I have just enough music for 4 gigs but want expansion space - plus the ipod mini is an overpriced fashion acessory for people controlled by the media - no offence meant.

[FlameGrilled]

Cool888 ...

Wake up and smell the coffee will ya..??

Shuffle mode, on all DAP's, hits the battery endurance more than sequential play.

It's a simple matter of the drive having to seek all over the place to get the various bits of data that ensures HDD activity goes up a bit rather than less (as some people have been mislead to believe).

It's no different on a CDP, slightly different access method - but shuffle play still requires a bit of 'all over the place' accessing of data - and hence the battery endurance suffers a bit too.

The hit on a CDP is considerable less than for HDD, under shuffle mode, but not unexpectedly, the shuffle mode hit on battery endurance is higher than loop or simple repeat sequential use on a CDP.

That said, in fairness, some HDD and CDP units are such power-eaters that you cannot tell the difference between excess load due to shuffle and sequential play. But those, i wont name them.. as they are pretty commonly known, are not exactly what you call premium units - although the price of them does kinda dig closely to that of premium units.

Solution....

That's easy, but pricey - and not realistic for HDD decks, but for CDP's it was a matter of adding a mass buffer, aka like flash memory, so loading the disc literally meant scanning and cloning to flash memory - flash memory access is relatively low-demand on power, and you canna make flash-memory access skip unless you hit the deck hard enough to cause a circuit break.

[floodgate]

Originally Posted by Sweet Spot

If you're saying that you bought the player without investigating its features (or lack thereof), then whose mistake was the purchase ? If you're being sarcastic (attempt at funny peraps ?), then a might have helped ya there.
BTW, do ANY of the DAP's out there support .cue files ? Me no think so. And the ONLY player that does gapless is the Karma. So you MUST be attempting humour. Must be !

i didnt regret getting the ihp.
but, you know, we were talking what we liked or didnt like about our irivers. and i thought i'd just add a point, to show why, or in what way, the ihp isnt perfect. in case that point could make a lot of difference for anybody who's thinking of buying one.







ok i'll admit it. i couldnt resist any opportunity to whine about gap-ful playback.

[Shift]

I love my iHP-120.

[Lewis]

Ive had no poblems to date, although i wished i waited for the H320, saw one in Must have IT and it does have the 'i want one' factor. I tease my iPodding friend with my lcd remote, radio and recording features. And i get a warm feeling inside when i look at the roivolution forums, filled with 'My Karma has died' and the like.

[Solebury]

After six months, I'm still 95% satisfied with my H-120. There are very few if any other products I can say that about. I found that it took me a while to figure out how to operate it properly (really weak documentation), but eventually I got it to do virtually everything I wanted.

I listen to the H-120 four to six hours a day in "random" shuffle mode where it resumes play where you last stopped. It takes 130 hours to run through the track list