iRiver SlimX iMP-550 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: $157.94Usually ships in 24 hours
Used from $148.00
List price $179.99
- Audio CD, MP3, WMA, and ASF music file playback
- 32-minute skip-free playback
- Built-in digital FM tuner
- Up to 55 hours of battery life
- Includes remote, earphones, carrying case, car cassette and power adapter, 2 NiMH rechargeable batteries, AC adapter
Product Description:
In keeping with its reputation for cutting-edge features and design, iRiver's iMP-550 handles nearly every conceivable file format. The player, which is little more than half an inch thick, is built with rugged electronic shock protection to guard your listening against interruptions, offering up to 32 minutes of protection when you're listening to WMA files on your home-made CDs. The player supports MP3, WMA, and ASF formats, and additional formats (like AAC and MP3 Pro) may be supported in the future through simple firmware upgrades, by which iRiver can add and modify player features. slim, powerful, cool. The iMP-550 comes loaded with accessories, too, including a car kit, a carrying case, and two stick-type rechargeable batteries. When used in tandem with a pair of standard AA batteries, the device is capable of playing for up to 55 continuous hours--perfect for hassle-free travel. An easy-to-read, four-line LCD on the included remote control shows every bit of information you need, and an FM tuner comes in handy when you're traveling by tracking the frequencies to maintain reception as you move. The player also recognizes discs in Packet Write format, which enables you to use CD-RW discs like PC hard disks, offering the ease of using discs and of saving and deleting songs. Crank the tunes in your car with the supplied cassette adapter and cigarette lighter power adapter What's in the Box CD player, remote control, iRiver earphones, carrying case, car cassette and power adapters, 2 NiMH rechargeable batteries, AA battery adapter, headphone adapter, AC power adapter, user's manual, warranty information.
From the Manufacturer Within the sleek metal case of the iRiver SlimX 550 you'll find the highest level of quality and industry leading features like 32-minute skip-free playback, a built-in FM tuner, and extended battery life up to 55 hours. Features: Plays MP3, WMA and ASF music files Plays standard audio CDs Listen to hundreds of songs on one CD Built-in digital FM tuner 32-minute skip-free playback Rechargeable batteries with built-in charger Up to 55 hours of battery life Optical output to connect... read more
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 slim, powerful, cool. |
An easy-to-read, four-line LCD on the included remote control shows every bit of information you need, and an FM tuner comes in handy when you're traveling by tracking the frequencies to maintain reception as you move. The player also recognizes discs in Packet Write format, which enables you to use CD-RW discs like PC hard disks, offering the ease of using discs and of saving and deleting songs.
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| Crank the tunes in your car with the supplied cassette adapter and cigarette lighter power adapter | |
CD player, remote control, iRiver earphones, carrying case, car cassette and power adapters, 2 NiMH rechargeable batteries, AA battery adapter, headphone adapter, AC power adapter, user's manual, warranty information.Average Customer Rating:
Comment: imp-550 Class and Quality Rating:
I've had my IMP-550 personal CD player for a couple of weeks now. It is by far the best CD player I've owned having had experience of good quality Sony and Philips players in the past. Its compact and light but a quality item. It comes with 2 x NiMH 1450mAH gumstick rechargeables and an auxiliary tube which holds 2 x AA batteries. The unit has a discharge and charge function and completed that operation for me in about 4 hours. There is also a smart, slim case which can be looped on your belt and gives the player good protection. The only control on the unit itself opens the lid and is not accessable when in the case.
I downloaded the latest firmware upgrade (1.40) from Iriver's site, burned it to a CDRW and the player read it and upgraded within a minute. I believe the Ogg Vorbis codec is an imminent firmware download which will allow even higher music quality in less space.
I found the wired remote easy to use and with which everything on this player is customisable but its well worth studying the manual to get the best out of it. The manual is well set out and easy to read with plenty pictures. I have burned a few CDRs, CDRWs full of MP3s and audio CDs on cheap media and the player has read and played them all without a hitch. I got myself some new headphones (Koss Porta Pro) as I prefer the open type and these have made the player sound even better than it did with the original supplied Sennheiser in-ear.
The stereo FM reception is good around where I live and the unit auto tuned all the available stations in seconds, 20 presets are available. Sometimes lost the signal when walking around town but just for seconds.
All in all I am extremely happy with the performance of this player although I have not tried all the codecs or the optical out yet. Yes I would buy it again tomorrow, even at the higher price I paid.
Comment: Technically marvelous; a little unwieldy Rating:
I wanted something to play MP3 CDs of old-time radio, both on long walks and in my car. The iRiver model was recommended by one of the Web sites from which I buy this type of CD. (A single five- or ten-dollar prerecorded CD, incidentally, may hold as many as 30 or 40 hours of radio shows in the MP3 format -- a technological wonder I still haven't quite gotten over.) Since I've been using the iRiver SlimX for barely more than a month, I can't speak to its endurance or longevity; but so far, at least, it's performed excellently. As other reviews have pointed out, all the controls, as well as the screen, are located in the rather tiny plastic remote control unit which attaches by wire to the player; once the CD itself is inside the player, you may as well stick the player in a bag (as I do, for walking around with it), as you needn't deal with the player until you want to switch CDs. It's astonishing how many functions and controls are packed into the little remote control unit -- and it's true, as others have observed, that you may have to sit down with the instruction book and experiment for half an hour or so before you get comfortable with using it (depending on how many things you want the player to do). My problems are exclusively with this little unit. It weighs about as much as a postage stamp, feels rather flimsy, and has three strange little plastic buttons sticking up, two along the top and one at the bottom, that you use to perform most of the operations. If you press one button down, you'll get, say, a new screen on the unit that allows all sorts of customizing. If you press that same button forward quickly, you'll move on to the next song (or in my case radio program) on the CD. If you press it forward and hold it for a few seconds, it fast-forwards on the song you're playing. It also works in reverse. Another button moves forward or backward for ten songs at a time, and also switches on the FM radio. The unit is so small, light, and delicate that it's hard not to accidentally push one of these buttons inadvertently when one picks it up; and the fact that there are buttons both on the top and the bottom makes it all the harder not to accidentally do something you didn't mean to. Holding and programming the remote control in one hand is difficult. You often end up holding your thumb over the little glass screen, which means it quickly gets smeared. And -- no doubt with the best of intentions -- the manufacturers have added a sort of plastic alligator clip on the back of the remote so that, presumably, you can clip it to a shirt pocket or some such (I clip it to the edge of the bag in which I'm toting the CD player), but the clip itself is facing precisely the wrong way, so that it's hard to use. If you attach a small two-battery unit (included) to the CD player for additional power, it hangs from the unit on a short wire like a heavy black pendant... unless, again, you carry the unit in a bag. (I've tried attaching it to my belt, but it's a rather large disk to have pressed against one's body... and one has to stick that extra battery pack in one's back pocket.) In short, the iRiver is awkward to walk around with. But it's still two or three times cheaper than an iPod, the sound is very good, and so far it's done all that it promised. It certainly makes my 50-minute walks home from work a lot more pleasant.
Comment: Best "portable" sound ever Rating:
I bought this device 6 months ago from Amazon and I'm still amazed of its performance. Actually each time I upgrade the firmware version I feall like getting a new player.
What amazed myself and everybody that tryied listening music to my Iriver IMP-550 is the quality and the power of the sound.
The second thing that "seduced" me is the advanced technology used to this device, allowing lots of menu options, firmware upgrade and multiple codec support. As a "minus" to the technology are the software bugs, but are allways corrected by the new firmware versions and are a very low price to pay in order to get the upgradeable feature.
An other important think is the beautifull design of the player. The headphones I got aren't the best looking though.
As considering the long lasting of the parts I may say that i have test it only for six months, but unfortunatly the headphones got broken recently, probably due to the high sound level listening.
Concluding: I still find this player the best to buy of the portable CD players with MP3 support.
Posted at November 11, 2003 07:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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