iRiver Firmware Delays

[Suhit Gupta]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.iriver.com/community/discussion_list.asp?pre_idx=14076&top_title=User%20Forum&list_page=1&mode=Total&strque=&field=1&p_name=&p_group=' target='_blank'>http://www.iriver.com/community/discussion_list.asp?pre_idx=14076&top_title=User%20Forum&list_page=1&mode=Total&strque=&field=1&p_name=&p_group=</a><br /><br /></div>For all you iRiver customers, you may have noticed how the promise of regular firmware updates have not been met. Here is a small excerpt from a letter by an annoyed iRiver customer -<br /><br /><i>"Like many here I am an owner of an H140 - at the time I bought it, it was clearly one of the most ambitious players on the market. Unfortunately it had some very obvious well-documented problems, nearly all related to firmware. The main reason I bought an iRiver (rather than a creative or an iPod) was that iRiver had previously demonstrated a commitment to regular firmware updates, had had promised shedule of updates for the next four months. Reading through the sheduled updates, it would be easy to assume that within 4 months the iHP-140 would be able to do everything I want. Put simply, if I had known that the promised firmware was never going to be released I would not have bought the iHP140. I would probably have gone for Creative or Apple's machine. It may be a lower-spec player at a higher price but at least it gets regular updates."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/iriverh300_jump.jpg" /><br /><br />I tend to agree with him because I too had bought my iHP 140 with the hope of getting constant updates. However, except for the firmware update that they pushed out last month, there have been no updates. iRiver is really doing a good job putting out devices that are rockin' but if they continue this trend of not updating their devices, they will lose some of their loyal customers.

[Kevin Jackson]

I just got mine today -- I'm setting it up right now.

I looked at all of the options before choosing the IHP-140 -- Dell DJ, iPod, Creative's line -- and felt that this device offered the best combination of features, storage and price for what I wanted.

Please tell me I won't be disappointed :puppydogeyes:

[Suhit Gupta]

I definitely don't think you will be disappointed with the device itself. It is just a little annoying that they promise these updates but they aren't released as often as promised.

The thinking now is that since the color units are now out, the programmers frantically working on them can now get back to writing software updates. So I think there is hope.

Suhit

[BugDude10]

I've had my iHP-140 since mid-March, and have enjoyed it very much. I'm curious, though: While I agree that iRiver seems to have provided firmware updates more frequently for products in the past (like my old iFP-190T), what doesn't the iHP-140 do that owners want and/or expect it to do? The recent firmware update added the DB Scan functionality for WMA files, which is what I use, so I appreciate this, but what else might there be?

[Suhit Gupta]

Fading from one track to another, basically early buffering of next track is perhaps the most important. Plus, better playlist support, and ability to scan ogg files and add them to the DB scan are the other two that immediately come to mind.

Suhit

[BugDude10]

Upon further consideration, I would like to see:

* Faster start-up time: with the new & improved DB Scan on, my player, with ~5900 songs on it, takes a good minute before it's ready to play.

* The ability queue up more than just one song in advance.

I checked out the iRiver forum, and was surprised at how vociferous the complaints were about this issue. Either I'm missing a lot glitches & bugs in the 140, or there are a lot of touchy iRiver customers out there. 8O

(And watch out for some of the links on the site: I clicked one that filled up my screen with pop-up IE windows flashing colors and making noise. :? )