iRiver T10 1 GB MP3 Player

This product is exactly what I wanted. Has great features and records well. I have one beaf: I can't figure out how to use it with iTunes, and I have a feeling that it won't work. BUT, it does work with Windows Media Player. I love the little hook that is built right in because I can use that whenever I work out and don't have to worry about buying an additional holster for it. Also the "hold" feature is great. It uses up battery pretty average; wouldn't say it has long life, but also wouldn't say it has short life. I use rechargeable batteries so it's no big deal for me. Downloading the software and hooking the device to my pc was easy and quick. I had songs loaded on the first day I received it; took me about twenty minutes. Although I think the iPod is a great product, I refuse to pay the price for it. It's ridiculously overpriced! This product was in my price range and performs exceptionally! Worth every penny in my book!

About a year ago, I was looking to buy my first MP3 player. After some thought and research, I decided I wanted a player with these features: * Flash-based (no hard drive that might freak out during an exercise session!) * Runs on regular batteries (not enslaved to a charger!) * FM radio * Great sound * Durability * OGG capable (on the recommendation of my husband, who knows about this stuff) * A voice recorder for capturing those random thoughts and ideas * Nothing hyped and overpriced! The reviews here on Amazon helped me find the right player. I read about several models and came to the conclusion that the iRiver t10 fit my desires more than any other player in my price range ($100 or less). As a bonus, it had a color screen ... not a necessary feature, but pretty nice! For $89 shipped, it seemed like a good buy. As I mentioned before, this was my first MP3 player. I had my doubts about how good a little unit like this could actually sound. The iRiver far exceeded my expectations. I LOVE this little player! It's easy to use, sounds great, runs forever on my AA NiMH batteries, holds plenty of my favorite CDs, and looks cool. It even works pretty well as a digital voice recorder. Almost a year later, this player is still going strong and serving me well. I have recommended it to several people, all of whom seem surprised that a non-iPod could be so great! My husband (a computer geek) agrees that this is a pretty decent gadget. In fact, we just bought one of the 2 GB models on eBay. I can't think of a better review for a product than to purchase another one!

The iRiver T10 1 GB flash player was my first adventure into the world of MP3 players. I was unimpressed with the hype (and price) of the iPod line, and spent a good month researching a good, introductory MP3 player, and the iRiver T10 fit the requirements. The sound was surprisingly clear and detailed, even with the included headphones, and all was well. I mostly used my MP3 player at work, and finally while doing light cardio exercise (in other words, cycling or stair stepper, nothing that would damage it). It began freezing and otherwise shutting down while in use, so I deleted everything from the drive and attempted to update the firmware and format the drive. Somewhere in all that, after repeating it for the 6th time spread out over a few months as recommended by iRiver and other helpful product owners, my MP3 player froze while updating itself and died completely. I had a techie friend look at it who declared the drive to be irreparable and a piece of junk. In all, I got about a year of use out of it before it bit the dust, despite caring for it and not leaving it in extreme temperatures. I wish the quality had been more realistic and reflected what I paid, but I enjoyed the product so much while it did work, I purchased another MP3 player from their company that was not a flash drive.

I purchased this for the specific use of downloading NetLibrary content, but was dissappointed. It is a nice device, feels sturdy, has lots of bells and whistles like moving through directories, etc. Downloaded a NetLibrary book to try it out. Four hours into the first book, it buzzed and reset to zero. Since the fast-forward is rather slow, I just let it run on my desk for four hours to give it another shot. Four and 1/2 hours into the book this time, same problem. Called vendor - they don't support Net Library files. Said the files are too big. Told me to use Audible. If they had indicated this in their documentation or on their website, I could have saved myself some time and trouble. I returned the T10 and bought a Creative Zen Nano Plus, already finished a 7+ hour book from NetLibrary - No problems. Works great. It has less options than the iriver, but fast-forwards much faster - which is good if you fall asleep while listening to your book! If you want to listen to free audiobooks from NetLibrary and don't care about having a lot of extra features that you probably will never use anyway, it is a better way to go.

Bought two of these for my kids. Initial quality was fine until the warranty expired. Both units started failing. Units would boot up and play a song or two then make a static sound and reboot itself. iRiver support was non-exitant because the units were no longer under warranty. They would not offer any help except a reference to an expensive 3rd party repair service. Firmware reloads and formats using the iRiver firmware code did not fix the problems. Battery case cover is fragile. You'll end up needing to tape it closed.

This is my second iRiver, and I keep gravitating toward it because it uses one AA battery that can be changed in 2 seconds. This player holds just under 300 "songs," and some are classical pieces that last well over 4 minutes. In this one respect, it just beats my iPod which is now on its third battery in two years. Yes, my iPod holds 1350 songs, but the iRiver is actually easier to load. Just have Windows Media running, plug in the T10 to a USB hub and make your selections. With two of them, I just switch off periodically... If there's a complaint, it isn't the fact that it's kinda orange/yellow instead of blue. It's that the settings for shuffle don't always come up the way they're supposed to. And the instruction manual was obviously not written in the U.S. Still, once you're used to the buttons and combinations, it's a great little player. One last thing, and it probably deserves another half star for it, the FM reception on this in the hilly San Francisco Bay Area is tremendous. However, since FM is affected by line-of-sight, time of day, and the sun spot cycle, tomorrow I could lose all of them. I've had my other iRiver for well over a year and I still get my favorite station (on the other side of the Berkeley Hills), so it really looks like this is one stable player. Maybe one day they'll come out with AM as well.

// updated 6 YEARS later: it is still working just like in day one. I wish I could say the same thing for a lot of other electronics I've purchased... yes, 1 GB is laughable by today's standards, but for a decent MP3 collection to hear while walking, running or biking, it's fine. I have it for almost a year now (11m), and the price now is a bit expensive, in my opinion. There is the 2gb version, and it's even more expensive... Anyway, I think it's a great player. FM and recorder are a must for me. I can record classes and listen to radio when I feel like listening to random tracks. First, let's reply to some previous reviews: // edited Apr 19, 2007 >> A) This player uses standard AA batteries, which may be better when you prefer to switch batteries and have a player working immediately after. Not accounting the problems someone can have when trying to recharge an internal battery. Other than that, people say there is an internal battery soldered in the circuits. I can't see for myself, but perhaps someone could post such a picture showing us the battery (or point where we can find that information. Really, I was not able to find this). // << edited B) "Reb" and "Stephen M. Kerwick": I truly understand your problems, I don't like DRM products either (why complicate what should not be complex?!?), but this device DOES work as the famous standard known as "USB mass storage". Yes, it does come as DRM-activated, but just download the update utility from iriver and it will give to you the option to change the device to an UMS system. Then, it will work everywhere, on Windows, Linux, on your old computer. Everywhere. That's what I did to mine like 6 months ago. Granted, iRiver didn't offer this option since the launch of the T10. Judging by the date of your reviews, I can tell you that iRiver was already offering that functionality when you two wrote. OK, so now I may begin with my review. :) AA battery: I live in Brazil, so it will be a pain (if not impossible) to get replacement batteries for those with internal, specific ones. I can stop at a shop in the middle of nowhere and it will have AA batteries. And, after all, ~ 50 hours of sound is not a bad thing. Mind you, I never measured, but one battery does work for 3 or 4 days when I'm travelling, but I don't care about the exact time. Also, the battery place is well built. Once it locks, IT DOES LOCK. FM receiver, Sound recorder and flash memory, all that was a must for me and work as it should. Only the FM reception is not great, but it works OK. I like the OLED display, it's nice and beautiful. The USB cover is made of a kind of rubber material. It stays in the place. It's very well built and feels solid. About the flash memory, those players have less memory, but I like the fact that it's not HDD based for reasons that you can understand when you search Google ;). Downsides? Controls, earbuds and price... Given the fact that the player is small with few buttons to push, there are many functions for each button. You will get used to it, even if it takes a week or two. The middle-button, on the circle, is probably the most used button on the player, and has 100 functions depending on the situation... . The included earbuds are not good ones. Probably not the extremely cheap that you will find on less expensive players, but still not what I would consider "middle-class" earbuds. Finally, the price. I can't agree with this tag: $169.95, as of 2006-DEZ-21. I (believe I) remember seeing it beeing sold here for less than $100 some time this year. God knows why it's more than $100 again. It's an excellent player, but I wonder if $169.95 is a fair price to pay. One year ago when I bought it, it was... but today...

I must say overall I really enjoy the iRiver T-10 but before I list the pros and cons I have a caution for buyers. Though, as of the writing of this review, the iRiver was described as shipping with a Sports case with belt loop and armband it has a lanyard instead. This may not be an issue for some but was an extra expense for me. Also I had trouble locating the "sports clip" until I realized it was the giant key chain at the top of the T-10. The pros of this player did out weigh these minor annoyances. Unlike some of the other reviewers I've been able to "Click and Drag" files on to my player either for music, photos (see below) or just storage (in the data folder). It's truly plug and "play", with WinXP. Maybe those with issues are not using XP or need the firmware update. It would be nice if the player would work with windows 2000 but if you don't have a compatible operating system don't buy the T-10. I've also synchronized music files and play lists using Windows Media Player 10 with no issues. I love being able to use the player as a storage device. One down side is it requires a USB interface cable to transfer files. I wish I could just plug it in but many other players require the cable as well. I tried to use the player to view Bit Map (BMP) files. Again all I needed to do was click and drag to the "Data" folder. Easy as pie but the photos didn't look great. So, don't use it as a photo viewer. The color screen does look nice otherwise and I'm sure with some playing around I can get some okay looking pictures on the player. I haven't had a chance to test the full extent of the battery yet but I like using easy to find AA batteries. There was a learning curve in using the controls and the menus but that would not hold be back from recommending the T-10. I eventually got a hang of it fiddling with the player while reading the instruction manual, which was surprisingly comprehensible. I used the voice recorder and it was adequate to good. I've done a drop test ... by accident. It fell about 2-2.5 feet off my desk because I snagged the USB cable with my foot while I was transferring file. It still works find with no apparent physical damage. Again, being able to just plug it directly in a USB port would be nice. All the other pros of other reviews are ditto with me. However, not mentioned were the many equalizer settings including a custom setting. The T-10 can run a few more dollars than some of its peers but I'm very happy with it.