IRiver Sharpens their iPod-Killing Sword

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,120079,tk,dn031705X,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,120079,tk,dn031705X,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div><i>"In the digital music player market things are getting more competitive by the day. At last week's CeBIT trade show in Hanover, Germany, there was no shortage of new music or multimedia players from companies from around the world--and each company hopes that their product is the "IPod killer." Despite this competition, Apple Computer's lead in the market remains strong. Whether that changes or not might be up to people like Joon Yang, chief executive officer of Reigncom. The South Korean company sells music players under the IRiver name and is one of a handful of companies nipping at Apple's heels."</i><br /><br />I've only handled a few IRiver players, and haven't seen the new H10, but the single biggest problem with the units I've used was the user interface. It simply sucked. To win the market back from Apple, IRiver, Creative, and every other audio player manufacturer on the market needs to focus on the three pillars of consumer electronics: design aesthetics, features, and user interface design. Does anyone here own an H10? If so, how would you rate it on those three points?

[Pony99CA]

IRiver Sharpens their iPAQ-Killing Sword
I think you're mixing Pocket PC Thoughts and Digital Media Thoughts. :-D Or maybe not -- I use my iPAQ as my media player.

Steve

[mclaugh]

IRiver Sharpens their iPAQ-Killing Sword
I saw that, too- if it makes you feel any better, my wife does the same thing- my IPAQ this, my IPAQ that, and then I remind her it's an ipod in her hands....

[blazingwolf]

IRiver Sharpens their iPAQ-Killing Sword
I think you're mixing Pocket PC Thoughts and Digital Media Thoughts. :-D
Steve

I was thinking the samething.

[Suhit Gupta]

Fixed. (Or broke it, if Jason meant to say iPAQ). :)

Suhit

[Jason Dunn]

I think you're mixing Pocket PC Thoughts and Digital Media Thoughts. :-D Or maybe not -- I use my iPAQ as my media player.

Doh! Yes, I'm obviously running too many Web sites. :lol:

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

As mentioned, the irivers have terrible interfaces. Nice hardware, and a lot of features, but man, someone needs to redo the interface.

[sub_tex]

i don't get what's so horrible?

I've had no problem with my iRiver 120 and everyone I've let use it hasn't had any issues with it either.

Artist/Genre/Song are broken down in categories just like on an ipod. up down to highlight the song....push into select it. what's so horrible?

The only thing the ipod has that i want badly is a scroll wheel. The vertical strip on the new h10s may be fine, but I haven't played with those yet.

The scrollwheel, while perfect for scrolling fast down a list, is a pain in the butt when trying to move down just one song. At least it is on my friend's ipod I've used. I've often skipped past it one or 2 songs and have to go back.

[Kevin & Beth Remhof]

The scrollwheel, while perfect for scrolling fast down a list, is a pain in the butt when trying to move down just one song. At least it is on my friend's ipod I've used. I've often skipped past it one or 2 songs and have to go back.

I was testing out the Olympus m:robe MR-100 (review coming soon to a digital media website near you). It has a touch scroll interface that is very easy to use. Moving down one song with it though, was a pain. Especially in the car.

With my iPod, I have the same trouble but it is not as pronounced. The only trouble I have selecting is when in the car while driving. Which is probably not the safest thing to do anyway.

I think that any "touch" interface is going to be difficult to select with precisely.

[Jason Eaton]

Well I think all players need is a speed/touch sensitivity programmed ino them. When you start off it is a little slower but if you continue the motion it speeds up. Shouldn't be THAT hard to do... just no one has done it.

Too much pissing into the wind with one another versus focusing on the product I say.

[klinux]

just no one has done it.

Are you sure? I just tested scrolling through a list of songs on my iPod and it does accelerate (as shown on the vertical scroll bar) once I have gone through the initial 1x1 scrolling.

Trackpads on laptops have long had this functionality, as we all know, and since the iPod scroll wheel is made by Synaptics which also makes laptop track pads, I don't think it is far fetched that the functionality is in iPod, if no other players as well.

[Jason Eaton]

Hrm, doesn't seem to behave that way to me. I have an iPod mini and it seems very jumpy to me. If that functionality is there it doesn't seem it. Perhaps if it is there and user adjustable and I just need it to go slower at first. :D

Or perhaps other models have it? Anyone got both a iPod mini and a larger version handy?

[Kevin & Beth Remhof]

Hrm, doesn't seem to behave that way to me. I have an iPod mini and it seems very jumpy to me. If that functionality is there it doesn't seem it. Perhaps if it is there and user adjustable and I just need it to go slower at first. :D

Or perhaps other models have it? Anyone got both a iPod mini and a larger version handy?

It is definitely on my 4G iPod (20GB). Try this:

Go to a long list of tunes (such as Music->Songs). Then, try and scroll the list very slow. For me, it takes a LONG time to get through the list (about 2400 total tracks).

Then, try going fast. I can get to the bottom of my list in about 5 1/2 revolutions. The iPod scroll kicks into high gear and really moves fast through the list.

This is not nearly as evident when trying to scroll through a short list though.