iriver T9 Classy Black 4GB MP3/MP4 player

They are selling a defective product. The device has a "time record" function that allows you, for example, to record a radio program broadcast in the middle of the night and listen to it in the morning. EXCEPT that there is a defect in the programming or engineering, and while it does make the recordings as indicated, during playback it "skips" words every few seconds and so the programs or music you listen to are distorted. After I bought it I discovered that others had had the same problem and were told it was not fixable. It still functions OK in all other dimensions, but earlier versions of iRiver T-series (T10, T50 --- no longer on the market) were perfect in this regard. This ruins it for me.

on off button kinda cumbersom to find and use. The whole functionality not as smart as the T30 which this was replacing. Great battery life. So so radio. Good for the sale price.

*Update 11/27/12*After a few months of use I really don't have much to add to this review. However, here are some things I noticed:1) This thing is really easy to lose. Really easy. ;)2) I got used to the time not being displayed. It's not really such a big deal.3) The flash drive capability is nice, but more a minor pro than a major advantage. I didn't use it too often.4) The radio reception is not very good. This is not surprising, considering the lack of an antenna and the footprint of this device, but still disappointing.5) Battery life is better than stated in the original review. It is very close to what it is advertised.6) This thing is pretty durable.Also, I got many compliments about the style of my mp3 player.It's still four stars. Again, it has disadvantages, but overall it is a very solid choice.I took me about 2 weeks of searching before I found and finally decided to buy this mp3 player. It seemed just about the right price for what I was getting and what I needed, which was to have a durable, stylish mp3 player with a long battery life for listening primarily to music and occasionally audiobooks. The radio and especially the ability to use the mp3 player as a flash drive were also factors in my decision. But the most important factor was battery life. My last mp3 player was a Insignia Sport which I liked very much overall but it had an atrocious (I am talking about 3-4 hours of music playback) battery life. When I lost it, I began to search for a just as capable alternative (minus the video playback, I hope nobody wants to watch videos on a 2 or 1 inch screen) with better battery life. I looked at various players including the Sansa Clip+ and the Sony Walkman players. However, the Sony's were a little out of my price range and eventually it came down to the Sansa Clip+/Clip Zip against the iRiver T9. The Sansa clip was considerably cheaper, but it was made out of plastic and had a disappointing screen. This one included all the features I wanted PLUS a stopwatch, pedometer, radio, and, most importantly, THE FLASH DRIVE capability. After doing more research I discovered that the Clip had relatively low reviews with many people saying that it has wiring problems and decided to get this.Now we get to one of the reasons I gave this mp3 player 4 stars and not 5. The first is customer service. I needed this mp3 player for a 4-day camping trip and was hoping that it would be delivered in the 4 days before I commenced on my trip. I thought that if I was paying an extra $9 for shipping such a small device, I would at least get 2 or 3 day shipping. But boy, I was wrong. I contacted the seller and after a few days (more than I would have liked)he replied and offered to upgrade the shipping for $10 DOLLARS for 3 day shipping and $15 FOR 2 day shipping. I was amazed. I'm paying you guys $9 bucks for shipping a tiny device, and you want $10 more for 3 day and $15 for 2 day? Obviously, I chose to not pay up and go camping without it. The customer service is in no way bad or rude, but I still think that asking so much for shipping is going a little overboard. You may not think this way.When I came back from the trip I immediately picked up, opened, and unpackaged the player. This is probably one of the coolest-looking mp3 players you can buy! The aluminum gives it a premium feel and I really like the design. But now on to the features. Battery life was a little less than advertised but not bad at all. There was plenty of juice for me to listen to it for about 2 hours a day and for 4-5 days, and after that there was still about 40-50% left. The sound quality sounds excellent to me even with the included earbuds (but I'm no audiophile). Radio reception was not excellent but not bad, either. The flash drive worked excellent in both syncing music to the player and using it as a regular flash drive. I love that you can put a doc or pdf file on the mp3 player and be able to see the title in the integrated "browser"!Now for the two things I didn't like.1) The time is not displayed on the top of the screen.2) The player will remember where you are in an audiobook if you listen to it, pause it, and then shut it off, but it will not save your place if you switch to another song! So if you are listening to a long audiobook and suddenly fell like switching to something else, you'll have to fast forward through the whole thing once you come back to it! This isn't very annoying if you don't listen to audiobooks often, but if you do this is probably not the mp3 player for you.Overall, this was an excellent choice and I am happy that I chose this over the Sansa clip. The design is excellent and durable, the battery life pleasing, and how many times can I repeat that this can be used as a flash drive!I will probably update this review after several months of use.

Mainly a sports or active pursuits player with unique features make it not for everyone but it is more like an old school iriver was at it's best. A great looking, solidly built player with top level sound. Sporty feature designed to make use of it's quite accurate G-sensor such as flip the player to go to radio recording or shake to skip songs and a pedometer feature as well. The "advanced FM radio" is quite good with strong reception, excellent SQ, easy to set presets, and allows both instant recording and scheduled radio recordings using a timer you can set easily. The OLED screen is better than many in reading in outdoor light though still not the best choice for bright light. A nice touch is the hold function is an easy to press button and the volume controls still work with hold on.Small, fitness based with only 2 or 4GB versions is what makes it more niche. Perfect for recording sports shows and putting podcasts on it. Then take it out and keep track of your runs or walks while listening. The pedometer is fairly accurate and it is 30 grams and light enough to wear around your neck. Not a main player but something to keep podcasts or workout type music separate and not kill the battery on your main devices. 24 hours of battery for a 30 gram device is very solid and seems accurate. I left mine on overnight by mistake after putting files on and the battery icon was blinking when I was out using it that day but it still lasted around two and a half hours and got me through my exercise and then some before it died.The knocks are probably the memory could larger for some people. The main control needs to break in and "loosen up" for a while since it may register a different action unless you press up, down, right, or left exactly right. Gets better with extended use. Also, it is a USB stick shape with a retractable USB male connector which is user preference whether you like that design or one that comes with a cable to USB mini female. The last issue is that this iriver does forgo the bookmarking feature so it will remember your position in your last song/file when shut off or going to radio but no bookmarks for multiple files. At least it has adjustable speed(user setting) FF speeds.A well made device with a good battery, a simple easy UI, great radio, and top notch sound. Maybe just a workout/sports player but the best one I have had!