iRiver H320 20GB MP3 Player (20GB Internal Hard Drive)

IRiver H320

H320 20GB MP3 Player (20GB Internal Hard Drive) Review, by Sam Jemielity April 12, 2005

Show More Show Less

0 Comments | 0 Topics | Print Only This Review

• Reviewed by: greenfood

  Strengths: batterylife is good i average about 12 hours, it uses little software so its compatable with linux, win 2k, win me, and win xp. video is great. voice recording is clear. so is the radio.

  Weaknesses: its alittle big, cant listen to music and look at pictures at the same time

  Overall: it is the best investment i made. i was debating between this and the i pod and i picked this because it had a voice recorder. to my supprise the voice recorder was clear enough for me to use to rec lectures in class. and at school i can save my work on this mp3 player because when i pluged it up to a computer at school it appeared as a drive and i could drag and drop stuff into it. the screen is a tad small for movies but a movie is a movie. the sound on it is great. it does not get as loud as an ipod but it reproduces a clean sound.

• Reviewed by: disgusted

  Strengths: Features, sound quality, adjustments, recognized as a Hard Drive..

  Weaknesses: ZERO customer support, cannot contact iRiver, no response to e-mails..you are stuck with it..

  Overall: iRiver America has removed the H300 series from their website in the last few days..(Aug 1). it is like it never existed..accessories are sold-out and no replacement date is listed...No response to e-mails from iRiver.. it is like there is no business there...no firmware updates, and no suport... The International Version is still produced and supported.. but not he US versionI was EXTREMELY happy wiht the player until today, now I am stuck with a $300 piece of junkSTAY-AWAY, STAY-AWAY, STAY-AWAY

• Reviewed by: TheResearchTruth

  Strengths: Nice color screen, good sound quality, drag and drop song manipulation

  Weaknesses: Iriver support, poor product documentation, lack of intuitive controls, connectivity options are more limited than I expected

  Overall: I have owned this mp3 pllayer for about 2 months and, for the most part, I am pleased with my purchase. Having done a great deal of research prior to buying, I am surprised that few owners discussed the real pluses and minuses of the player. The following is my opinion concerning the player (thumbs up) and Iriver (thumbs down). On the plus side, the player has a beautiful color screen. Even small text (and there is much of it) is easy to read. The fm radio player is also nicely displayed. The sound quality of the player is very good. The text viewer and photograph viewers are unknown to me since I have little interest in using the player for these purposes. The included headphones sound good, but you will lose the foam pieces that sit on the ear buds very shortly after you begin using the player. The car fm transmitter that I purchased was a disappointment. I live near a major city and the static was tangible. The line out cord is not appropriate for use with most stereos, although it is possible to buy a separate line out cord that will have the correct connections to your home stereo system ONE MAJOR DETRACTION*** - Iriver support was nonexistent. I had difficulty getting the mp3 player to work on my older model computer. The 800 number that was prominently displayed when I opened the product box was completely useless. Iriver never picks up the phone -- I tried the number at least 8 times (at varying times during business hours) and always got a busy signal. Likewise, emailing Iriver through their website was not more succesful. Iriver didn't respond at all to my email. That said, I did finally get a new computer and the player works fine on the new computer. Overall, I am pretty happy will the player since it is very good in the areas that I find most important. However, the alleged connectivity to external devices that iriver boasts and many reviewers laud is a farce and Iriver, should you ever need to contact them, may leave you disappointed as it did me.

• Reviewed by: D0CMARTIN

  Strengths: Big memory for the price, great display screen, outstanding features for the price.

  Weaknesses: Not quite as intuitive as the more commercialized units but to be expected with all of the added features

  Overall: I did a lot of research before I invested in an MP3 player.I was very satisfied with my purchase and wouldn't hesitate to reccommend it to anyone else looking for a top notch player that holds a ridiculous amount of music, picture, movies (yes. movies!) voice recordings etc. It is a very flexible unit and can be configured to suit your needs with the various firmware available. There is an excellent support community that will help to answer any questions about the player which also offers many great tips on its use as well as accessories that work well with it.

• Reviewed by: cvn74rmo

  Strengths: Over 18GB actual storage capacity, 2" LCD Color Display, great sound, and features for the price. Nice integration with Windows Media Player and MusicMatch software. WMP 10 required for DRM/Napster.

  Weaknesses: The NAVI (navigation) button would be better as a five-way navigation system (like the newer PDAs). The NAVI commands always seem a bit awkward. Track number must be first in file name.

  Overall: My second MP3 HD Player, purchased to replace a Samsung YH 920GS. Easily loaded my 4000+ track music collection at USB 2.0 Speed for the road. Had to use MMJB to get tracks renamed with track number first to play them in album order. The default sound from the H320 sounds WOW. Advanced settings allow adjustment of the low-mid-high ends of the music as well as increase the bass thump. Loading pictures onto H320 is easy, if they are not formatted for the H320 display, they appear good enough to show off (letterbox effect). But if reformatted, the pictures for the H320 turn out crisp on the 2" color display. ID3 tags (or not) show up nicely with a volume limit display for both channels. Text entry is easy using your PC, and can keep your "reward if lost" message. I added the cradle and remote as options. The cradle allows connection to a PC using the supplied AC adapter and USB 2.0 cable. Cradle is great for home stereo connection, but only allows for ?data? transfers and music purchased from online services uses a second "media" port. The Remote controls many of the basic functions of the H320, nice while you are trying to drive. A really cool method exists to play DVD length AVI video, but using the Non-US firmware upgrade to get this function voids the warranty.