IRIVER MP3 40Gb H340SE

Knifey_Spoony

Hi, just wondering has anyone here actually got one of these, or used one? Thinking of getting one (when I get some dosh) Any views or opinions on it?

Scubadevils

Have heard good reports but would rather this from iAudio -

http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/x5/

Has got great reviews, should be in Ireland in a few weeks if you can hold out. Will be available in 20GB, 30GB & 60GB.

kinkstr

Felixdhc wrote:

Have heard good reports but would rather this from iAudio -

http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/x5/

Has got great reviews, should be in Ireland in a few weeks if you can hold out. Will be available in 20GB, 30GB & 60GB.

Any idea how much thats gonna cost Felix?

Knifey_Spoony

That one seems pretty good! Thanx for that. Im gonna havta look into them both more. Does the iAudio allow the drop and drag type thing? Or is it a bit harder to upload music etc?

Scubadevils

Not sure about the drag and drop but would imagine so, most Korean brands have that as standard.

Pricing from memory is around -

20GB - 369
30GB - 449
60GB - 569

...I think, will double check tomorrow.

pauln

Ya the X5 will be "Drag and Drop".
I just pre-ordered my 30Gb X5L from www.mp3-player.de, €440 Incl Vat+Del.
The 20Gb X5's are already in Northern Europe, they hope to have the 30Gb X5L's inside another two weeks and the 60Gb's in about another 3-4 weeks.

There is lots of info on the X5's over at www.iaudiophile.net especially in the forums.

tallus

Blinky1 wrote:

Hi, just wondering has anyone here actually got one of these, or used one? Thinking of getting one (when I get some dosh) Any views or opinions on it?

In my opinion the Archos wipes the floor with all other portable media players, there is no comparison. I recently purchased a Archos PMA400 from Canada and I have to say there is nothing out there at the moment that can touch it for functionality, it has wifi, email client, web browser, Linux OS, Photo viewer, Mp3, usb connector that allows you to connect other devices, IE: digital cameras, to upload your photo's directly to the device, and it also has an external speaker. The video quality is superb. The 30gb hdd can hold 120 hours of video with the correct settings. The only place it might fall down on is price, Mine cost somewhere in the region of €630 but worth it in my opinion, because it saves you the bother of buying a PDA.
It's not available in the shops here yet, but th very similar Archos AV400 series is selling in various retail outlets for around €450 but alas it doesn't have any of the wifi or internet functions. I did purchase an Av340 last year and it rocked, but as far as I know while they still support that model, they have discontinued manufacture of the AV300 series.

pauln

I like the Archos line alright, my friend has one of the earlier ones and it's a nice piece of kit. But I just think there overkill if it's an mp3 player your after and just to expensive for what they are IMHO.
When i went looking for an mp3 player my primary concern was sound quality and functionality and that's how I ended up at the X5, it excels in both. The X5 also supports USB OTG like the archos.

I have to agree though if it's a "media player" your after then Archos is the way to go, "mp3" I'll happly stick with the X5.

tallus

agreed mate, I bought it primarily as a media player
:-)

Scubadevils

Just discovered today that the X5L has a playback of 35 hours :eek:

pauln

Yip, sure does . There is a slight downside though. The larger battery inside makes the player 4mm thicker overall. That means it's around 20mm thick in total.

I won't bother me as I'll have it in a backback most of the time, but it might if you were always carrying it in your pocket.

Scubadevils

I think I could stomach the 4mm for all that extra battery life!

I wonder does it have gapless playback. Not mentioned in the specs but it never was in the Rio Karma either and that was.

pauln

Its Nearly gapless. The tests said that there was a slight 1/10th of a second noticable "click" in there mp3 tests. It doesn't do gapless ogg, there are some people screaming out for it over at iaudiophile.net. Who knows, Cowen are so good at releasing firmware thay may yet implement it.

comet

Felixdhc wrote:

Not sure about the drag and drop but would imagine so, most Korean brands have that as standard.

Pricing from memory is around -

20GB - 369
30GB - 449
60GB - 569

...I think, will double check tomorrow.

Ok so if those prices are right then a 20Gig X5 is the same price as a 40Gig iRiver. Is this player that much better than the iRiver that it justifys paying the same price for half the capacity? Man thats expensive! I might just stick with my plan to buy the H340.

pauln

comet wrote:

Ok so if those prices are right then a 20Gig X5 is the same price as a 40Gig iRiver. Is this player that much better than the iRiver that it justifys paying the same price for half the capacity? Man thats expensive! I might just stick with my plan to buy the H340.

Size isn't everything, It's what you can do with it that counts

Scubadevils

I think the best bet is wait till the X5 is available and then make your decision. When you can go into a store and compare the two is the best way really to decide. Pricing is not yet confirmed anyway so may be less than that.

comet

pauln wrote:

Size isn't everything, It's what you can do with it that counts

My God, what exactly are you planning to do with this mp3 player?? This might be more appropriate in Personal Issues

cormie

I'm pretty sure 35hr battery life is in a more expensive version of it. There is one with I think 12 or 16 hr bat and then a 35 hour bat that's dearer???

pauln

Originally Posted by comet
My God, what exactly are you planning to do with this mp3 player?? This might be more appropriate in Personal Issues

Touché .
You raised a very good point though and to that end I started a thread on the very same topic over at iaudiophile . It's something I would like to look further at, If only to reassure myself that the X5 is better .

The 20Gb X5 is around €360, with 15Hrs battery life.
The 30Gb X5L around a few €'s more they say, with 35Hrs battery life. If it's not to much more It's the one to go for considering how much extra you get.
Again though those prices are only educated guesses until the prices a released in another week or two.

comet

Well I suppose one of the problems with posting that question on that board is they will be biased towards the X5 I guess, you could try the same question on mistic river. I'm in the same boat as you, I'm not sure which one to go for. Up until now the decision was kind of easy as the iRiver was definitely the best product out there but this year there seems to be a lot of equally good products being launced. The Samsung's JH70 is apparently being touted as being even better than the x5. I think as soon as you buy one of these products they'll be something better released, its frustrating especially when they are so expensive but its just the nature of the electronic industry. I think I mightto hold out for another few months to see what kind of reviews they get.

CiaranC

I have the h320 model. Its a great piece of kit. Sound quality is great, video quality is good too. I find the text viewer pretty handy too, have read 4 ebooks on it so far. The interface and case are skinnable. Also has USB-on-the-go for connecting directly to your digital camera to store pictures.

Check out http://misticriver.net/ for some good info.

pauln

comet wrote:

Well I suppose one of the problems with posting that question on that board is they will be biased towards the X5 I guess, you could try the same question on mistic river. I'm in the same boat as you, I'm not sure which one to go for. Up until now the decision was kind of easy as the iRiver was definitely the best product out there but this year there seems to be a lot of equally good products being launced. The Samsung's JH70 is apparently being touted as being even better than the x5. I think as soon as you buy one of these products they'll be something better released, its frustrating especially when they are so expensive but its just the nature of the electronic industry. I think I mightto hold out for another few months to see what kind of reviews they get.

The debate has been on the mystic river site for a while, see here. Lots of pros and cons given but if you can stick it out and read a good few posts a lot of the guys are getting a X5 and even some of the head Iriver supporters.

comet

Yeah I've looked through that thread, its pretty massive! x5 seems like a very good player by all accounts.
Pictures of Samsungs YH-J70