iRiver iFP-899 MP3 Player - Storage, Battery, and Software
(Page 3 of 4 )
Storage
The iFP-899 model comes with 1 GB of storage space. Naturally, this doesn’t translate into a number of songs or strict playing time as manufacturer’s like to pretend. The packaging says the player holds 34 hours of music, but people interested in this player are probably not listening to 80 Kbps files.
My MP3 collection is a mixture of mostly 160 Kbps MP3s, some 128 Kbps MP3s, and a share of VBR (Variable Bitrate) MP3s. I loaded some of each onto the player, since that is likely what most users will be doing. The total playing time it provided was 15 hours and 29 minutes. Those 15 ˝ hours translate into 230 songs of various lengths and bitrates.
As a final note on this, 1 GB is quite large for flash devices. Only recently have solid-state players exceeded 512 MB. However, if you demand 60 GB so you can hold every one of your songs and backup your hard drive on it, this player will not satisfy you.
Battery Life and Power
One of the greatest things about this mp3 player is the battery. It is not built into the player, like many others are. The integrated batteries in iPods and other players wear out over time, charging less and less; if they fail, they are not consumer-replaceable. Being powered by a AA battery is a huge bonus for this iRiver. This is how mobile players should be powered (like they were in the old days of radio and cassette walkmans). It lengthens the player’s lifespan considerably, since player batteries often die before the other. If you get tired of buying AAs and want a rechargeable system, buy some NiMH AAs and a recharging unit.
The packaging claims that the iRiver lasts for 40 hours on a single AA. As often happens, this claim is optimistic. It’s probably based on a test of just leaving the player on until it shuts off, which does not simulate actual use at all. Outside the lab, users will be navigating the menu (which turns the backlight on), turning it on and off, and raising the volume; all of these things drain the battery in ways a test probably doesn’t account for.
When testing the player, its volume level was set at 20. It was used in 30 minute intervals and shut off between them, much like when people would actually take the player for run or exercise. The navigation was used periodically, and also songs were loaded and deleted from it. This should give a good sample of real use. Altogether, the player actually lasted a little over 30 hours. Not as great as advertised, but it’s still better than integrated batteries that never last more than 14 hours.
Now for a little gripe. The iRiver can only be powered by the AA battery. This gets annoying when loading songs onto the player from a computer, and the USB cable does not power the drive like it could have. Regardless of whether you’re listening or putting songs onto it, you’re eating up AA batteries. Again, if this is a problem, buy some rechargeable AAs.
Software
The software included with the player to load and offload songs is the iRiver Music Manager, and this is the major problem with the device.
To get the iRiver to connect to your computer, you need to first install the iRiver’s drivers, and then install Music Manager. Instead of using Windows Explorer, you must open this program and move files back and forth.
It allows the player to be used as removable storage so long as both the sending a receiving computers have Music Manager. There’s one big problem. It is programmed not to offload music files. This is part of it being rated as “Plays-for-Sure.” It will load and offload every non-music file format, but to move music files you will need to put them in a zip file or change their extensions. Although this will make them able to be transported, it will make them unplayable from the iRiver.
Another questionable thing about the software is that it organizes MP3s on the player in the order they were uploaded. If you upload “Interstate Love Song.mp3” then “Boots.mp3,” they will stay in that order regardless of what the alphabet might suggest. Maybe I’m dense, but I didn’t find a way to re-order my folders and tracks.
A few reviews on the internet mention a UMS software package that lets you work through windows explorer instead of Music Manager. This did not come with the player, so I have not tested this software. It may fix these couple complaints, though it may not.
Next: Price and Recommendation >>
More Mobile Devices Articles
More By Developer Shed
|
| · | | | · | | | · | | | · | | | · | | | · | | | · | | | · | | | · | | | · | | | · | | | · | | | · | | | · | | | · | | | · | | | · | | | · | | | · | | | | |
|
