Customer Reviews:
 A great gym companion April 22, 2008
I have had my iRiver Clix2 8gb for a few months now and I have really enjoyed it. As a recovering iPod junkie, I am thankful for the functionality of the "clix" feature for navigating menus. As any music-lover who has walked to class on a cold, winter morning will tell you, it's impossible to use your iPod touch wheel while wearing gloves.
I also LOVE the battery life. If you keep your volume moderate and use a "theme" that isn't animated, the 8gb model that I have lasts for about 20 hours of music. This is a great advantage to having the IMOLED screen (which is *beautiful*!) and solid-state memory (which is also used in iPod nano). Of course, the battery life will be less than this if you use the games, videos, radio, or other features. The solid-state, a.k.a. "flash", memory also allows for faster loading times versus the older harddrive mp3 players.
Overall, the best option is the USB connection, which allows for easy transfer of files to and from your computer without any special software - just drag and drop! There is no risk of losing files by connecting it to an unfamiliar computer with iTunes. The software that accompanies the iRiver is decent, but not my favorite. I am using it instead of iTunes now for managing my music files because it is more convenient for synching.
The only drawback that has bothered me thus far is the lack of a decent case for the iRiver Clix 2. I bought the crystal armband from iRiver's site directly, but the plastic is poor quality and the armband is uncomfortable, so I don't recommend it. The good thing is that I haven't had any trouble with scratching. The back of the iRiver is a nice, matte finish, while the front is shiny. The screen also comes with a protective static-cling sheet that iRiver recommends be kept on the unit. You can also buy new protective sheets at pretty much any electronics store with mp3 players or handheld video game systems.
Also, check out www.cnet.com for a great demo video product review!
Great media player April 18, 2008
This is a really great player. The interface is very easy to use when driving a car (though the screen washes out in any sunlight). I signed up for Rhapsody service and I can down load albums to the device or update from a channel (sort of like a radio station or changing play list) and listen on my drive to/from work. The battery life is good and the sound is excellent.
Awesome Little Player April 17, 2008
After owning an iriver H140 for over 3 years (yes, old I know) I felt sad after it finally stop working after the long years of service it gave to me. =(
I looked at other mp3 players such as the Zune and the new Nano and I decided on the iriver clix which I do not regret.
I was amazed on the first sight on this mp3 player when I opened the box, honestly the images on the net do not show off how TINY this thing really is. The player is very light and the screen is nice and bright, also very sharp and clear. The buttons around the edges of it are very thin, it might be a bit tough for someone with stubby fingers. The surface and the screen seem to be in a gloss looking finish which I immediately thought "Noooo fingerprints!!" but it's actually not bad.
The D-click system which is used the navigate the player is awesome. It's very well done. The edges of the screen can be pressed down like buttons, some have found this a little tricky to use with one hand but I managed to do it just fine. Navigating through the menus is easy and you can customize backgrounds as well as other things. I haven't used the radio or the record option much so I can't comment on those. In the player you can add your favorite songs to a quick list which you can change and it saves it for you, kind of a neat feature. I use the quick list all the time =)
Sound quality is excellent as expected from iriver, as well as all the equalizers, SOS, A-B repeat, shuffle and all the other options from iriver. I didn't use the headphones that come with it, I use my own Sony headphones (it's worth getting a pair of really good headphones!) The video player is nice! (If you want to play videos on it, you may need to convert them using your own software or you can use the movie converter that comes on the CD). You can only use either Windows Media Player 11 or the iriver software, they both come on the CD. I used Windows Media since I already had playlists in there and synchronized that onto my player. You can drag and drop, but it will sort all your music into albums, artists. etc, so if you prefer to make playlists then you'll need to use the software.
The volume buttons on the top of the player when you're actually using it are wrong way round, kinda odd. I haven't really taken note how long the battery life actually is, though it's definitely not 24 hours. The default setting for the backlight is set to a 1 min timer! Go into the settings and take it down to 5 or 10 seconds, the battery will last a lot longer! Also the brightness can be turned down too.
Overall this is an awesome player and definitely worth it. I have no regrets! :-)
Pros:
This thing is TINY!
Plays multiple formats
D-clix is easy to use
Nice interface
Very customizable
Great sound quality
Love the quick list
Cons:
Battery life...
Odd volume buttons
A little pricey compared to other players
 A very impressive, capable Nano-killer! March 29, 2008
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1QKYN2I5PJR3F **2nd EDIT** I think I paid $186 for the device, but it retailed at $240. The $300 it costs right now is ridiculous. I really love it (and it's still a joy to use, months later), but I wouldn't spend more than $240 on it out of principle. The new iPhone is $200.
**EDIT** In the video I mention that you can't listen to music while playing Flash games, which was true when the product was released. However, the new firmware update fixes that problem, so I apologize for not checking that out.
When I was shopping for a new, small mp3 player I really wanted to see more reviews that demo the device but also discuss the features, and so I thought I'd try doing one now that I have my new Clix!
I apologize for sounding dorky and my speech impediment (cluttering). This is my first crack at a video review and I did the best I could in one take (filming and editing it myself). Oh, and my nails are long because I play classical guitar.
Just to give you a quick rundown of the pros/cons...
Pros:
-Very nice battery life (Li-py)
-Extremely bright, high quality AMOLED screen
-Intuitive navigation (D-click and smart key work great)
-Fast! It's quick to charge, load content onto, and skimming pictures and videos and such on the device.
-Not obtrusive at all at the gym (lightweight, nice form factor, good with the misticaudio silicone case)
-Impressive sound quality (even on low-end headphones) and video quality
-Completely customizable (theme and font)
-Actually usable FM radio
-Flash games!
-You can create playlists on the computer (my Sansa c250 couldn't) or a quick list on the device
-Voice/FM radio recorder (can filter out noise for the mic)
-Stylish (and unique)
-Fun to use (I still haven't gotten bored with it)
-It actually has a very customizable equalizer
Cons (very nit-picky):
-Expensive (though well worth it)
-Hold button can be hard to get to
-You have to get used to the volume keys' orientation
-No bookmarking on podcasts
-The iRiver Plus 3 software is nothing special, but if you drag-and-drop music you have to rebuild the database on the device
-An output to TV would've been nice
-If you really want to be nit-picky, the screen could be a tad bigger, but then you'd lose some of the nice form factor and big easy-to-find buttons
Where do i begin March 27, 2008
this thing is so awesome....
The screen resolution is better than that of even my laptop... It's the size of a credit card (no joke, i actually compared the two)... and it has fantastic audio quality (pair it with a philips SHS5200 headphone to get unmatched bass output and audio clarity even at max volume...
Some might think that the 2.2" screen is too small... but trust me - the clarity is phenmenal, and it absolutely does not strain the eyes...
Battery life is great (5 hours video, ~24hrs audio)...
I also love the fact that it does not change the transferred filenames (like itunes does)
the only few cons that i can see are as follows:-
-> It does not support PDF files - this was kinda a serious drawbak for me coz i love reading ebooks while commuting --- but in all fairness there are hardly any mp3 players that actually support PDF (none that i know of)
-> it does not support all types of mp4 -- this is minor because you can easily convert between different file types and encryptions using the iriver software
|
