
iRiver H10 5GB MP3 Player - Triple Platinum (5GB Internal Hard Drive)
| Ease of use | Very Good |
| Features | Very Good |
| Internal memory | 5GB |
| Memory card slot | 0 |
| Formats supported | ASF, JPEG, MP3, WMA |
| Voice recording | Yes |
| Battery | Lithium polymer |
| Software | Windows Media Player |
| Other features | Photo viewing, built-in FM tuner, no PC needed for recording or ripping |
| Support policies | Good |
| Policies | One-year parts, 90-day labor warranty; 9-hour toll-free support on weekdays |

IRiver H10
H10 5GB MP3 Player - Triple Platinum (5GB Internal Hard Drive) Review, by Eric Dahl April 12, 2005

Apple's IPod used to be the benchmark for portable MP3 players, but now every other manufacturer seems to be gunning for the IPod Mini. Joining competitors like the Rio Carbon and the Creative Zen Micro is IRiver's $260 H10. I tested the 5GB, color-screen player--and its versatility and quality won me over.
The highlight of the H10 is an attractive 1.5-inch display that, combined with an improved hardware-and-software interface, makes the player a joy to use. The touch-sensitive slider control makes navigating your music library a breeze, and IRiver has wisely abandoned the oversimplified folder structure that it used on previous hard-drive players. Now you can easily browse by artist, album, genre, or song title.
Music sounds good if you upgrade to a better set of headphones than the included earbuds. The player lets you add individual songs (but not albums or artists) to an on-the-go playlist called QuickList. I found that procedure a bit tedious in my tests; I imagine that most people will prefer to create playlists on their PCs and sync them to the device.
The H10 does more than play music: You can also listen to and record FM radio programming, record audio via a built-in microphone, display text files, and even view JPEG photos. Browsing through photos is easy, but it's more of a novelty than a useful feature. Since the H10 lacks a video output, you can't display those images on a TV as you can with the IPod Photo; and if you want to move the photos to another PC, you'll have to carry around the proprietary USB and power connector.
The H10's battery is replaceable and rechargeable (IRiver offers an optional second battery for $40 more). The company rates the battery's run time between charges at about 12 hours.
Rounding out the package is an exceptionally functional case that protects the unit's elegant finish (it's available in silver, blue, red, and gray). The translucent, rubbery case has a great feel and fits snugly around the player while leaving the screen visible and all of the player's controls accessible. Nice.
So how does the H10 match up to the IPod Mini 4GB? It's basically the same size, but offers an additional 1GB of storage. Its touch-sensitive controls aren't quite as slick as those on the Mini, but they're intuitive and pleasant to use. Finally, the H10 has numerous features--including the radio, recorder, and color screen--that the Mini lacks. So if you think those additions are worth an extra $60, you should give the H10 a look.
Upshot: Versatile MP3 player sports a friendly interface that should help make it a stiff competitor to Apple's IPod Mini.
Eric Dahl
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User Reviews
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User Reviews From Around the Web
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Reviewed by: fengta
Strengths: Good color screen and operation.
Weaknesses: Battery life was not what it claimed.
Overall: I bought this unit about a month ago for my son. It seemed that it worked fine at the beginning. However, after battery was fully charged, the battery can only last for one to two hours everytime. We re-charged the battery and it happened again and again. I do not know if this unit is a defected unit. Finally, I returned it to the seller. Now, I am waiting to see if other user has the same problem about the battery of this unit.
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Reviewed by: juanprl
Strengths: Light weight, easy to use, nice screen.
Weaknesses: Previously had many problems with the firmware, but not anymore.
Overall: Very light-weight. Great screen and very easy to use. It comes with a plastic protector at no extra charge. The company is really good at updating their firmware every couple of months. Before buying it, I reasearched it and found that it was one of the best out there.
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Reviewed by: aerialmen
Strengths: Easy to use (never even read the instructions)Vivid screen,nice outside cover fits well in the hand
Weaknesses: setting presets on the FM receiver some what a hastle.USB and charger cord need attention (seperation maybe ?)
Overall: The H10 delivers everything and then some that one would expect from a MP3 player.This being my first,I really did my homework th H10 has great sound and the new FirmWare worked GREAT,Like a good book I just can't put the player down.
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Reviewed by: aerialmen
Strengths: Great sound.Nice EQ feature Browsing
Weaknesses: Setting presets on the FM could be easier.seperating the USB and the charger (needs R.D.)
Overall: Overall I couldn't be happier. Having shopped the last 3 months for a MP3 player the H10 was well worth the wait. The IRIVER H10 delivers great sound. With the ease of use the H10 will lead the way just by referrals.
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Reviewed by: kisiu
Strengths: nice looks, screen is bright, good quality of sound
Weaknesses: has lots of bugs with firmware ver 1.0, slow in reading next track,
Overall: i had to visit iriver fan pages to solve problems with music downloaded from napster. scroll pad is very inaccurate. very light and workmanship is very high. earphones are good quality but nothing fancy. I am looking forward to new firmware. all in all I would recommend h10 over ipods*firmware ver 2.0 is now avaible which fixes most of the bugs
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