Review: iRiver iFP-180T

Stephen

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The iFP-180T is iRiver's first venture into flash memory based MP3 players. They've built up a good reputation for themselves for their line of MP3-CD players, notably the "SlimX", and they're continuing the trend with the iFP-180T.
I ordered mine from http://www.mp3players.co.uk on Tuesday morning, and had it in my hands here in Carlow on Thursday afternoon - not too bad. It is a little pricey, weighing in at STG£169.00, including VAT and delivery. This translates to roughly 266 euros at current rates. One wonders how come the device costs only US$ 140 in the United States.
The player is incredibly lightweight - it weighs roughly the same as the single AA battery that powers it. It boasts 128MB of flash rom to store your MP3s in, and will also play back WMA and ASF audio. iRiver is rumoured to be working on Ogg Vorbis support, which can be added to the player by means of a firmware upgrade. The iFP manager software bundled with the player is rather clunky. I'd prefer if they'd write a USB storage driver for the device so that files can be transferred using Windows explorer, or other apps, but for now the iRiver software is the only way. Consequently, this means there is no Linux or Macintosh support for the iFP-180T at the moment.
Files are transferred to the player quickly enough via the supplied USB 1.1 cable, and the sound quality provided by the supplied Sennheiser MX300 earbuds is excellent. Its worth noting that you can store any file type on the player. You cannot download mp3's from the player to your computer though, due to a supposed copyright protection effort. A few websites I've seen have suggested that it is easy to circumvent this protection by hex-editing certain files associated with the iRiver software, however
The device is roughly the same size as a butane lighter, and is equipped with a 4-line high resolution LCD screen with a green backlight. You can turn the backlight off or set its timeout through the easy-to-use menu system on the player.
The iFP-180T also has an FM tuner, and is able to store 20 preset stations, and can also record from the tuner to a proprietary ".REC" format. I have found the radio tuner to be quite good, getting good reception and full stereo on all the national radio stations and most of the local ones. Voice recording via an integrated microphone is also available, but the quality isn't great. The radio and voice recordings can be uploaded to your computer via the iRiver software.
Overall, I'm very happy with this purchase. Its a very well designed piece of kit. The menu system is easy to navigate and the device just looks great - check the pictures above for proof!

I'd give it a 9 out of 10 - dropping the 1 for the poor quality voice recording and crappy software. If you're the type of person who wants their entire mp3 collection by their side, this isn't for you. Get one of those hard-drive based players such as the iPod or DAP Jukebox. But, if you want a small, stylish device that can store about 2 hours of music in your pocket, I'd highly recommend the iRiver iFP-180T.

Full specifications:
European FM Tuner
FM Tuner Recording
Voice Recording
Plays MP3, WMA, ASF files
128MB memory Built in - non upgradeable
USB file transfer - 4.8mbps
Bitrates supported: 8Kbps ~320Kbps
Frequency Response: 20Hz - 20KHz
No moving parts - thus no skipping during playback.
Green LCD Backlight
4 Line High Resolution LCD Display
Supports 36 Languages
Supports up to 8 levels of subdirectories, recognizes maximum 100 folders and 255 files
Unique joystick controller
ID3 Tag Display
Supports Winamp playlists
Easy Menu Navigation
1 AA Battery gives ~20 hours playback
8 Equalizer Modes
BASS Boost
Upgradeable Firmware
Sennheiser MX300 earbuds
All normal functions (Fast Forward , Random , Shuffle)
Colour: Bright Silver
Distinctive Prism Shape
Weighs 32grams (not including battery)
1 AA battery and USB cable supplied

Availability in Europe:
I've not seen a lot of places selling this yet, but the following do:
http://www.exportmp3.com (Netherlands, but they ship all over europe)
http://www.mp3players.co.uk (UK, free shipping across the EU)
http://www.komplett.ie - They say they will have the iFP-180T soon. It is already available from their Norwegian and German sites.

- Stephen Hanafin

kaimera

device costs only US$ 140 in the United States

*woot*!

/me thinks mesa shall purchase said device for 3 hours wait in airport for connecting flight home after christmas

Celt

If I didn't have my heart set on a Zen the IFP-180T would be the one for me

Wossack

Originally posted by Kaimera
*woot*!

/me thinks mesa shall purchase said device for 3 hours wait in airport for connecting flight home after christmas

Any chance you pick me up one aswell?

kaimera

Originally posted by Wossack
Any chance you pick me up one aswell?

ehhh...how about...NOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooo

po0k

I'm looking more at the iMP400 tbh.

I've one question though.
How do you upgrade the firmware?
ie what do you use to conenct the player to the PC?

po0k

One other thing about the iFP-180T,
can you use it as a portable drive device?>
Ie can you upload any sort of file or only supported types?

Is there an open-source client for it?

Stephen

The firmware is updated via the iFP manager software and the supplied USB cable. It takes only 1-2 seconds to do the upgrade. You can store any type of file on the 180T as well, but there's no open source software and it won't work as a USB disk (ie, appear in windows explorer).

If you're using it to transfer files from one PC to another you will need to have the iriver driver and software installed on both.

Also, the software prevents you from copying mp3s from the player to a PC, but that is easily worked around - it involves hex editing a DLL that comes with the iriver manager software and deleting "mp3" from a list of file types - ie the copy protection is in the software, not the hardware, which is nice.

po0k

snoogins

I'm torn between the iMP-400 and the iFP-180T atm.
iMP has waaaay more capacity, but has to rely on CDR/CDRWs which isn't the most convenient, but seems to have every fécking feature and configurable option under the sun, the remote even has snake on it.
the iFP is nice and qucik to use, but 128meg is still a bit small (~2hours @ 128kbps). Also, does it fit comfortably in your pants or is it yet another bulge? is it small enough to put on your keyring?

Wossack

Im still waiting for my iFP-180T (rowr ) to get delivered.... ordered last friday, c'mon!

Stephen

Syx - the iFP is very small - fits easily into a shirt or pants pocket. There's a 256mb version available in asia now - the iFP 190T, and it should be available in Europe sometime soon as well. According to a number of websites, the iFP and IMP have the exact same menu systems - same options etc. Only there's no Snake on it

po0k

I think I'll wait for the 190T

Have no cash atm to buy it, what with going out over christmas and networking the house.

Stephen

They've announced a 512mb one too now. Dunno the model number or how much it will cost though.

Snowball

Stephen, it looks ns and all but I think that the JukeBox 3 looks much better. I mean ok its not small but for a bit more you get a portable hard drive that is a mp3 player and is only the size of a normal CD walkman. and look at all that ot has got, I mean check this out it looks the biz.

Also if that is to expensive or fancy they have cheeper versions of the JukeBox C for around $150 (and that has a 6 gig drive)adworld.com/products/quickview/]MP3 players[/URL] but best of all they have the Jukebox Zen I mean a 20 gig mp3 player for €390. but check them out if u like.



P.S: Stephen, it looks ns though, u bring it in so I can check it out? cya @ college, the lads are playing in the COmpsoc lab if u want

Stephen

Sorry I didn't see your post till now. I'll bring it in on Monday

po0k

http://www.iriveramerica.com/iFP-195T.htm

$350

Ships on Feb 14th

When the European guys get one I'll deffinately pick one up.
Bloody class piece of kit.
If it had an expansion port on it nothing could stand in its way.

Stephen

mp3players.co.uk have it ... for a whopping 500 euros!

Swifty

I'm interested in getting one of these for me birthday. I'm a bit baffled at how they work though (Fell free to lol away at my question) How does the music actually get from your computer onto the little thing? I've never used one before.

Stephen

It uses a USB cable.

po0k

6.4MBit/sec is the write speed of the flash memory, which is decent enough considering USB1.1's max speed is 12MBit/sec

Wossack

512mb version I presume is exactly the same as the 128mb one? (except for the size of the storage :rolleyes:)? If so... blooooddeeey ell, you have any idea how small these babies are? Ive nearly put mine in the wash once or twice

po0k

the iRiver iFp-300 series is going to be released soon enough.
They seem to be a bit bigger then the 100 series, but still look sweet.

Anyone seen the iFP-195TC around for cheap?
Looking at buying it from the states if I can....(bloody power adapter may be a bitch though).

TomTom

Define cheap?

As regards the the power adaptor, a hugh amount of american goods are starting to ship with dual power capabilities (110 & 220) I noticed it on a lot of things I bought over there. Something to do with the online market place. Even if it's not you can pice up a varity of power adaptors in most electrical shops for under 20 euro.