iriver E100 Review by Pocketables.net

[jeff]

Jenn K. Lee is a busy lady, and has just released her exhaustive review of the new iriver E100. A great review with good photos and in depth commentary on iriver's newest release into the flash player market. "The E100 is still a solid player that does many things well, but it isn't the stellar DAP many were hoping for when details were first revealed at CES 2008. Most users will be pleased by the unit's sound quality, battery life, design, and extra features, but some (like me) will be left wanting more. The iriver E100 is undeniably good . . . but it's not great."



Read the Full Review at Pocketables.net

[BBD]

Nice! If you don't mind, I'm gonna link to it over at DAPreview as there's quite a discussion going on there.

BTW, how could a BBD go about becoming a professional iRiver Reviewer? I'd love to get 'hold of some of this kit.

[LordMattman]

Thanks for posting Jeff, good review from Jenn as always.

[jeff]

Originally Posted by BBD

BTW, how could a BBD go about becoming a professional iRiver Reviewer? I'd love to get 'hold of some of this kit.

If you're serious about it, I can make it happen... need photos and obviously lots of good commentary with hopefully and unbiased view.

PM me.

[jeff]

Jenn added some video of the E100 in action:

[sweetspot]

Mmmmm. She has some very good reviewing skills, indeed. I certainly like her style, but wonder if she could be a bit more detailed in terms of describing sound quality and such, even if those things are purely subjective. When did Jenn pop up on the scene, Jeff ? I like her site a lot, too. Currently reading her Creative Zen review.

[jeff]

Jenn has been around a while. I've posted her stuff here before. Nice girl too. I've emailed her a couple of times.

[sweetspot]

Too many things are killing my appetite for ANY of the newer DAP's out there:

1. Proprietary software or drivers needed. This is especially true for those DAP's which require Win XP with SP2 or higher. I've read far too many reviews or seen specs which indicate this as a prerequisite. And as someone whom intends on buying a Mac in the near future, the chances of even reviewing a product are slim. I do not want to be forced to use ANY particular operating system, let alone any Windows version, since XP will eventually be pushed out of existence, and replaced by the biggest POC I've seen, being Vista. Can't wait to see how badly OS 7 will be in comparison, in terms of invasion of my privacy.

2. When will these chimps EVER learn, and get it straight that it's not only easy to implement, but people WANT to be able to have a dynamic playlist creation ability on board their DAPs ! ? This has to be one of my biggest annoyances (aside from #1 above) with DAP companies today. Based off of this information, I think it's relatively safe to say that :

Every new DAP I see being released today, is almost an exact replica of every other DAP which is already out. No new exciting feature sets, or useful features for that matter... Just more of the same "we'll thrill you with our expanded number of lines of resolution per pixel" or " look at our shiny new AMOLED screen, it's nicer than yours because it's.. um, yeah, we said shiny already, right ?"

I'm sorry but, with the ever increasing demand for internet scanning abilities and music store syncing on every tech device known to man, the most basic and rudimentary feature sets are being left to rot in the cement shut cellars, rather than making it to one of THE most widely spread and ideally simplistic devices out there... A means to get music from point A to B to your ears. And I thought that was what this was supposed to be all about, the music ? But instead, it's about crippling a device in order to lure people into the proprietary clutches of those who know absolutely nothing about ... music. At least, that's how it seems to me, and how I feel.

Why in this day and age, where CD's are purposefully cut to have NO gap in between certain songs, is it not important to these DAP co's to acknowledge this, and make sure their devices are capable of playing back music the way it was intended to be ?

And why make it so that I have to install bloat ware, just so that I can create a useful playlist ? It's so, not necessary.

3. Radio and recording features... Radio is a fine feature either to, or not to have. I don't think that anybody really has a "to die for" need where FM radio is concerned these days. FM radio to be blunt, really sucks. Whether it be HD or not. If these people really cared so much about content and what will bring them numbers, why not integrate a semi limited wi fi feature, which would enable internet radio streaming ? There are more than a few ways to go about doing this, and it's hardly a big task.

As for recording... It's part of what makes or breaks my decisions these days. For the price being asked of the E100, I would have been able to overlook its shortcomings such as lousy playlist abilities (or lack thereof on the player) and even lack of gapless playback, since no other dAP has this feature these days anyway.. But when considering the purchase, and seeing that it could not record to WAV via line in, I dropped the thought of buying it immediately.

There are a lot of other factors involved in my decision process, but omit too many features or functions, and there's only so far I can be pushed...

I'm crying for a non proprietary, file tree browsing, playlist on the fly, gapless, multi-codec playing, high capacity (flash or standard hdd) DAP with a true Line OUT and good line in with an above average DAC DAP ! I don't give a rats balloon knot about video even.. just give me music !

It's why my H120 STILL remains Emperor of any DAP I've ever owned, own, have given away or have smashed with the weight of my purdy little foot.

/rant.

Had to get that off my chest.

[jumbuck]

^^^Well spoken.^^^
It would seem that somewhere along the track the manurfactures have lost sight of what a music playing device's primary purpose is.....

[BBD]

Originally Posted by jumbuck

^^^Well spoken.^^^
It would seem that somewhere along the track the manurfactures have lost sight of what a music playing device's primary purpose is.....

YES! We've gone far too long without a decent barista function!

Sweet makes very good points, indeed. However, the trend seems to be toward convergent devices that allow the mfr. to place unnecessary restrictions on the end-user (we used to be called "customers") to try to lock them into brand loyalty as opposed to giving customers great value in reasonably simple devices, thereby encouraging brand loyalty. I don't want a phone/DAP/GPS/mini computer/camera/remote/etc. If one of the functions goes out, I would be SOL. However, as I have a phone, a camera and a DAP (OK, a few DAPs), if my phone goes kaput, I can replace it easily with another one of my choice, yet still have my other gadgets.

Sandisk seems to be following a business model in the DAP arena I wish iRiver had taken. They now have developed three distinct DAPs suitable for the various uses people have for them: the Clip for those who want a very basic but quality music player; the new Fuze, which is described as primarily a music player, and; the View, their video DAP. All have integrated micro-SD support, various capacities, drag-n-drop, and reportedly great sound quality. Obviously, they aren't perfect (no gapless) but offer great features at more than reasonable prices.

As to gapless...well, it can't be that damnably hard: Rio got that straight away (mind the HD, though ). Even Apple's new gens can do it, though it still requires iTunes to do so. While I love my Classic, the fact I need proprietary software, proprietary cables, and am forced to use a reasonably new computer makes it far less likely I'll replace it with another Apple product.

Again, though, I'm afraid the iPhone might be what designers are shooting for: an all-in-one device that does several things OK, but not brilliantly. I'd prefer DAP designers decide to offer a good quality value-priced DAP (such as the Sansa Clip), a high end model (such as the View) and one that splits the difference (Fuze). Someone at Sansa has been reading various DAP-enthusiast fora, it seems. I know when my e280 finally needs replacing, I'm gonna give Sansa DAPS strong consideration.

If iRiver irons a few things out with theE100, they may well be onto something. With a better DAC, it could become the flash-version of the H100. then, the Clix could become the higher end video/music DAP, then they could develop a more entry level, smaller capacity DAP to introduce people to iRiver quality.

I still have a soft spot in my heart for iRiver as the H320 was my first DAP. Had iRiver had a presence at BB, I would've quite possibly stuck with the brand. Should the next gen e100 show improvements, iRiver will once again be a top contender for my money as the expandable memory and line-in recording capability (though inexplicably hamstrung, ATM) are steps BACK in the right direction for them.

And Jeff: Expect a l'il summin* in yer PMs.......





No, it ain't pics, you filthy pervies! SS, Jumbuck, Step, mixing, LM--I am totally lookin' your way!

[fcormier]

I agree with sweetspot and BBD on this one except for 2 things:
-I like FM radio, I like to listen to it on the bus in the morning and sometimes the afternoon. I listen to talk radio and like the news and actuality comments now, not in a podcast. I wouldn't want to have to carry two devices with the almost same purpose.
-iriver does have an entry level DAP: the T60, it's jus not as inexpensive as the Clip though.