iRiver SlimX iMP-350 CD/MP3 Player with Ultraslim Design

[Archived in $100 - $200, Audio, MP3-CD Players, Portable CD Players, Products, iRiver]

Manufacturer: iRiver
Price at amazon.com: Used & new from $75.00

List price $129.99



Product Features:

• Ultraslim design (16.7 mm thick)
• Supports audio CDs, MP3- and WMA-encoded discs, ID3 tags, CD Text, and M3U playlists; integrated FM tuner
• Upgradeable firmware (will support new audio technologies as they emerge)
• Anti-skip protection up to 8 minutes (best protection around) Compressed Audio ASP up to 480 Sec, CD Audio ASP up to 180 sec
• Includes 2 1400mAh NiMh batteries, velvet bag, 11-function LCD remote, earbuds, power source, and manual

Product Description:

The iRiver SlimX portable MP3-CD player supports both standard audio CDs and data CDs filled with your favorite MP3, WMA, and ASF files. The upgradable firmware will also accommodate future digital audio formats. This trim (0.6 inches deep) player's features include eight-minute antishock protection, eight equalization presets (seven prefixed and one custom setting), repeat and shuffle play modes, programmable playlists, fast-scan search (up to 6x), and an integrated FM tuner. The SlimX's... read more

Description from Manufacturer:With its beautiful sound quality, royal good looks, and simple operation, the iRiver SlimX portable MP3-CD player sets a new standard for future portable units to follow.

The SlimX is one of the most adaptable players we've encountered. It rolls upgradable firmware, eight-minute antishock protection, ASF (Advanced Streaming Format) and WMA (Windows Media Audio) compatibility, ID3 tag support, and the ability to play standard audio CDs, MP3-encoded discs, CD-Rs, and CD-RWs into an ultratrim (0.6 inches thick) player. And the sound is deluxe, delivering crisp highs, discernible mids, and bass thick enough to make low-end aficionados nod their heads in approval.

Since we had yet to fully investigate WMA, we felt compelled to dig into the format. At first we were hesitant: how could WMA compress music files to half their size--at, say, 64 Kbps--and still sound good? After dumping an entire, 100-song playlist onto a single CD-R, however, we were humbled. The procedure was painless, and the sound was incredible. The iRiver SlimX completely fulfilled our demands; using the gorgeous inline remote, we easily skipped ahead 10 tracks at a time, used fast-scan to hear a particular verse, and made a customized playlist on the fly.

In fact, the remote lets you operate every function (save changing a disc) without having to dig the unit out of your backpack or its carrying case (included, but frail), and it also includes a hold switch that prevents accidental playback.

After the WMA-disc success, we switched over to an MP3 compilation made by a friend. While reading the different ID3 tags (MP3 file markers that feed song, artist, and album names to your player), we first played the songs whose titles intrigued us most, like "Nannari to Naru Deshou" by the excellent Japanese female duo Puffy. That's why ID3 tags are so cool--they allow you to search by name, not track number.

Next, we took the SlimX out on a long walk to judge its portability. Unless we made silly, Pete Townshend-style windmill movements, each disc played satisfactorily. We noticed that standard audio CDs popped more than anything we burned off the Web, which was strange. We also sampled the five equalizer presets, although we noticed only subtle differences in sound at low volumes.

While listening to any Web-audio disc, the SlimX fills up its antiskip buffer with the eight minutes of music. Essentially, this means the player doesn't have to read the disc as much, which results in prolonged battery life, and ultimately the SlimX delivered on its promise of up to 23 hours playing time. To get these results for yourself, just make sure the two flat NiMH batteries are fully charged, and pop an extra pair of AAs into the external battery pod. It's that easy.

For those new to ASF, MP3, and WMA formats, you may be disappointed by the SlimX's user's manual, which is skimpy at best. Our Guide to Making MP3 Files will familiarize you with the basics and help you turn your computer into a virtual jukebox.

For those of you who are considering upgrading to the iRiver SlimX--or are looking to pick up your first player--we highly recommend this player. In fact, we miss our test player so much, we're going to buy one of our own. --Arno Kazarian

Pros:

• Upgradable firmware
• Compatibility with MP3, WMA, ASF, standard audio CDs, and CD-R/RWs
• Supports ID3 tags for easy search of MP3 files
• Nearly skip-free performance

Cons:

• Relatively useless user's manual
• Shallow-sounding earbud headphones
• Frivolous carrying case

Average Customer Rating:

---

Comment: Honestly.... IT ROCKS!!! Rating:
I had done alot of researching and searching around for a good all in one media player(You should too). I saw the 350 in a best buy catalog and decided to check it out. I was planning to get the slim sony model, i dunno what it was called... but when i saw all the features of the 350 slim x, i was blown away. I went to the store to see it first hand. I saw the slim 400 too but i thought it looked kinda boring, not as good as the 350 with that sharpish curve on the top and they both had almost the same features so i decided to get a 350. OMG it is awesome. People say it takes a while to load songs, it really doesnt. I have my super mp3 disc with 165 songs on it, over 16 hours of music, and it takes exactly 6 secs to load, which is great considering all the stuff it has to read. The firmware update works great. You get updates at iriver.com, the new update even puts the game snakebyte on to play on the remote which is great to kill some time in a train or bus. Theres even a program that lets u put lyrics on your songs which will display on the remote as the song progresses. I found the program a little hard to figure out... but i got it after reading the intructions at iriver.com. The radio sounds great. I would recommend getting better headphones, not that they sound bad, but they kinda look cheap. I have to agree with some other reviewers that say the remote is a bit hard to use at first. IT is for about the first 2 days but this is because the remote controls so much different things, i swear there are like over 80 different things u can tweck to suit your listening needs, u can have ur nam displayed on the remote, u can change the visuilzations(yes it has 3 differnt ones)Considering all the remote can do id say that it is really simple to use and the font size is just right. I have 20/20 vision but my mom has really bad vision and wears these thick lens glasses and she could read the remote fine too. My bro owns a new panasonic cd player and its so funny to put the slim x next to his. The slim x is literally half the thickness of the panasonic. and it is smaller and yet the slim x has so much more features on it. I got mine for 120. I bet if u shop around, u can get it cheaper, the 550 is coming out also, or it did, but it still has relatively the same features and i still think the 350 looks better than the 400 and 550. Well i hope this review helps u alot. I highly recommend this all in one player.Im sure there is nothing out there that can beat these slimx player, i think its all about thich of the 3 models u think look the best. O and some people worry about the brand name, iriver, its a great brand, they specialize in making mp3 players, maybe u have heard of the rios, iriver makes them. Well i again hope this review is helpful.

---

Comment: Could've been better. Rating:
I've had this player about three weeks ... and recharged the batteries every single day. I only play it about an hour and a half each day but that is enough to sap the battery power and then it saps the battery extension in about two hours.
I use it at work but have to fumble with the remote control when I answer the phones or go to help customers. Not to mention that I have to hit "play" for every single song on my CD-R discs!
This would be a great product (with all its features) if it only worked! This is going back to Amazon and I am getting a Sony instead.

---

Comment: Frickin Amazing! Rating:
I've had this player for about a year and a half, and it is the best piece of personal electronics I've ever had. I took it with me to Afghanistan for 9 months. Even in the harsh conditions over there, it's never had a single problem. I recommend this product to everyone I know.

Posted at November 11, 2003 07:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)