so i got an iriver 799

[Leonard Washington]

i want to think those who advocated getting an iriver. i got it for about $100 after using some old gift cards i had laying around. so far i LOVE it!!!!!! my PI is a mac head so until i brought my iriver, i've been playing with a shuffle and a 30gb photo IPOD. So for those still in the market, here's my comparison of the IPOD vs SHUFFLE vs IRIVER.

• The iriver and shuffle, like all flash players are smaller and lighter than HDD based media players. However as the size decreases, "the oops I lost it" factor increases. :doh:
  
• The iriver is comparatively priced as the 1gb shuffle, but i think the shuffle is at least $10-30 cheaper. Both are considerably, IMHO, cheaper than the HDD base IPOD (though I've seen $150 minis online). I can't justify paying $200+ for a small capacity laptop hard drive.
  
• The screen on the IPOD is much larger and easier to read than the iriver, while the shuffle has no screen at all. I don't spend much time reading the screen since I know the song playing anyways. :cool:
  
• The sound on the IPOD and iriver are outstanding and totally configurable on the fly. The shuffle's sound is very generic...some labmates have used the terms terrible and weak. It's not clock radio bad, but not good enough if you like to listen to songs that feature horns or bass. I heard you can configure sound on the shuffle, you gotta do it before you upload it to the player. I haven't had the patience to do it.
  
• The IPOD dominates the features department (some useless to the average user) and really is no contest vs the iriver or shuffle. The iriver does have a radio that you can program to record your favorite shows when you're not around. Both the iriver and IPOD can be used to transfer non-music files.
  
• The battery life (rechargable) on the IPOD really varies, but hardly considered short. But when the battery fails, it's curtains b/c it costs as much as the IPOD itself. Battery failure is probably rare, but eventual. The shuffle and iriver also have pretty good battery life, though the iriver is considered to last longer. i think it's a wash in the real world. :whoknows:
  
• Don't drop your mini or toss it to a friend!!! I've broken two that way. Luckily the jerks at the apple store were willing to replace them after harassing me. Apple store folks like to harass regardless. The shuffle and iriver are resistant to everything except H2O. :laugh:
  
• All three are highly portable and can be used with a FM transmitter for use in the whip. The shuffle can fit in your pocket easiest, while the iriver reminds me of a pig (oddly shaped and used to transport radioactive materials) and the ipod can fit in your butt pocket easiest.
  

[Island Boy]

very good choice!!!!

[SamSneed36]

iriver is solid man, make good HDD players as well, if u make that move look into em for sure i have the older version of their 20 gig, its sweet

[Dexter's Better]

okay so I have around 6 gb of of MP3's - -which is the easiest to get these songs into iRiver or iPod?

I hear the iPod is a pain in the ass due to the reliance on iTunes. How about iRiver?

[SamSneed36]

iRiver is just like an external hard drive, you plug it in, an icon pops up saying there is a new device, then u just drap and drop. Drag your music folder over and go make a sandwhich, by the time you get back it should be about done. When u add a few songs at a time its very fast, but of course 6 gigs will take a lil while.

U may also wanna orginize it however u like it but if u already have it in diferent folders all that translates onto the iriver

[bearrock]

I also have an IRiver 799 (had it for about 6 months now) and I would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a flash mp3 player (although I use WMA)

[Leonard Washington]

Originally posted by Dexter's Better

okay so I have around 6 gb of of MP3's - -which is the easiest to get these songs into iRiver or iPod?

I hear the iPod is a pain in the ass due to the reliance on iTunes. How about iRiver?

you need a hard drive based player for that many songs.

for iriver they have their own itunes like program called "media manager". there are no conversions needed ala itunes. the iriver can play mp3, wma, and ogg files. matter of fact i thinking about converting to ogg since its better quality than mp3 and wma with a smaller file size.