In typical iRiver fashion, the iRiver T30 MP3 player is a small, yet robust MP3 player that only weighs an ounce, but offers you myriad features.

Available in 2 varieties—512 MB and 1GB—I recommend choosing the 1GB model nomatter how much music you have in your library (I really like flexibility, because I believe it always saves you money in the long run). The 1GB iRiver T30 MP3 player should hold about 34 hours of music, which is about 300 to 500 songs, depending on the bitrate at which your songs are recorded.

Battery life is always important in an MP3 player, and the battery life in the T30 is either good or bad, depending on how you look at it. It requires a AAA battery, which means you have the option of buying a pack of batteries, or you can buy one rechargeable AAA battery. If you don’t mind buying a pack of batteries, then this can be an excellent arrangement since the battery life is a good 24 hours of continuous-play music. On the other hand, if you’re like me, you don’t want to worry about having to find a retailer that sells AAA batteries and buying them, or buying a recharging kit for a single AAA battery. So, while the battery life is excellent, I’m not a fan of buying batteries for my MP3 player.

Weighing in at only 1 ounce, the iRiver T30 MP3 player is extremely portable. It’s easy to fit it in any of your pockets or clip it to your clothing, and it doesn’t feel bulky if you choose to wear it while going for a run.

One nice feature that you generally don’t see in such small MP3 players is the PlaysForSure certification, which ensures that it will be compatible with subscriptio music services such as Rhapsody.

Other features of the iRiver T30 MP3 Player include its ability to record voice memos. Can you believe that this tiny MP3 player supports this feature, which even the iPod can’t claim? I always find new uses for the voice memo recorder, because it works fine for recording much more than just your voice; you can record class lectures, movie audio, and myriad other things.

Of course, what you really want to know is about the sound quality, right? After all, that’s WHY you buy an MP3 player. Well, I’ve saved the best for last. The iRiver T30 has crystal-clear sound quality that really lets you enjoy your music the way it should be. An added bonus is the fact that it flawlessly plays any MP3, OGG, or WMA music file, which saves you from the hassle of needing to convert file types which can cause degradation in sound quality.

The iRiver T30 MP3 player comes with earphones, but I recommend buying a nice pair in order to fully enjoy your music (I always recommend this). The package also comes with a USB 2.0 high-speed cable for connecting the T30 to your PC, an installation CD, an instruction manual, and one AAA battery to get you started.

For the price, the iRiver T30 MP3 Player is a great buy. Other than the drawback of its battery situation (which some may consider a good thing), it does exactly what you’d expect it to do, and it does so in style. If you decide to purchase this MP3 player, I’m sure you’ll be quite satisfied with it.

iRiver’s lineup includes many MP3 Players, but one that stands out as a real winner in the Portable MP3 Player category is the iRiver Lplayer 8GB Video MP3 Player. Let’s take a deeper look what this PMP (Personal Music Player) offers.

The iRiver Lplayer was designed with sophistication in mind. While it sports a minimalistic design, the features it offers are anything but that. The reason why I’ve singled out the iRiver Lplayer as a notable portable MP3 player is because it’s that and so much more. With the capacity to playback video, images, self-made recordings and even FM radio, it’s all you can ever want or need in a portable MP3 player.

Video

The iRiver Lplayer boasts brilliant and vivid imagery which looks great whether you’re viewing still images or video. The screen is a 2-inch color TFT LCD that displays at 320 x 240 resolution. It offers extreme flexibility by supporting multiple video file types: MPEG4 SP, XVID SP, or WMV9 SP.

Audio

Excellent sound quality is an absolute must-have for a portable MP3 player. After all, most of your media consumption will probably be music, so it better sound good, right? Luckily, the iRiver Lplayer delivers on this necessity flawlessly. As with video, it supports multiple types of files so you never have to worry about your audio files’ compatibility with the device. It easily plays MP3, OGG, FLAC, ASF, and WMA files. This also means you won’t have to convert files to MP3, as is the case with many other portable MP3 players. This results in a loss of sound quality which is never pleasant.

The onboard software includes a 7-band customizeable equalizer so you can crank up the bass when you’re in the car, or crank up the high notes when you want a lighter feel to your music. Music is easily transferred between your computer and your portable MP3 player as well; simply connect the USB 2.0 High-speed cable and enjoy the intuitive drag-and-drop software.

Other Features

The iRiver Lplayer offers a whole host of other features as well. One of my favorites is its FM tuner, which allows you to take a break from your music library and listen to some fresh tunes on the radio. Or if you’re bored of music and would prefer some talk shows during the day, the iRiver Lplayer has you covered.

In addition to the FM tuner, this portable MP3 player gives you the ability to record voice memos, for which there are thousands of uses. You can record class lectures, business meetings, and even the FM broadcast from the unit’s own FM tuner! This makes it easy to snag a song you really like if it starts to play on the radio. Simply record it and you’ll be able to play it back whenever you like. A great bonus is that the FM reception is crystal-clear with no static. This is what really makes this feature worthwhile.

The iRiver Lplayer portable MP3 player also has the capacity to store and allow you to view images and text (.txt) files, opening up a world of new possibilities. You can transfer entire books to text files if you want, and then load them up on your device, then use it as a portable reader. Review business documents, magazines, whatever you choose — this is truly a great feature.

When you buy the iRiver Lplayer portable MP3 player, you’ll get the player, headphones, the manual, the software CD, and a USB cable. I always recommend looking into buying alternative headphones because this is one of the best ways of really improving the quality of your sound in a cheap way.

iRiver makes several different excellent 1GB MP3 players. PMP’s (Personal Music Players) of this storage capacity are popular for folks who have a small music library or are only interested in loading only their favorite music onto the device. You should be aware that 1GB of storage capacity can be expected to hold between 250 and 500 songs. Let’s take a look at a specific model of iRiver 1GB MP3 player.

iRiver T10 (1 GB)

With a durable, athletic-minded design, this MP3 player is about as big as a portable thumb drive. It’s small but manages to boast a vivid color display screen. It offers many features that even kings of the hill such as iPods can’t claim, such as an FM tuner and a voice recorder. it offers support for Napster to Go, Rhapsody To Go, and Yahoo Music.

It’s hard to believe but this tiny 1GB MP3 player also has support for picture viewing. This is made possible by its superb battery life, which is 40+ hours of continuous music play time. You should note that the 1GB iRiver T10 utilizes a AA battery, so I recommend using a rechargeable battery. The backside is round to allow it to accommodate the battery, which causes it to be prone to rolling from side to side if you choose to place it on a flat surface. While most people will be using it during physical activity, this is a fact that should be noted.

Weighing in at 1.7 ounces and measuring 3.4 x 1.6 x 1.2 inches, it’s extremely durable and well-suited for the outdoors and activities including hiking, biking, jogging, and ATV’ing. While its size is definitely a positive, it’s got some slight issues with the ease of handling. Its body is curved, which can make it awkward to manipulate with only one hand. You might find it easier to operate it while holding it with one hand and selecting buttons with the other. The headphone input is on the side of the iRiver T10 which adds a bit of bulk, and the USB input is covered by a rubber flap which makes it seem a little stuck in the past.

The LCD screen is vivid and colorful, and measures 1 inch. It displays 4 lines of text at a time, so you might have to peruse through the instruction manual a bit to fully figure out all the available features. Some of the navigation is unintuitive; some functions require you hold the button for a certain amount of time.

The navigation is somewhat disappointing, since you don’t have the ability to browse by artist, title, or album name. Instead, you’ll be browsing via a folder-based system. You can, however, create playlists and queue those up as you please.

Though you may be worried about the bulkiness of it due to the fact that it requires a AA battery, don’t worry. This iRiver 1GB MP3 player is about as wide as 2 AA batteries placed side-by-side. The sound quality is excellent; very few 1 GB MP3 Players can boast CD-quality sound, especially ones that are this small.

The iRiver T10 connects to your PC through a USB cable and music management software that boasts a drag-and-drop interface (hurray!). If you’re big into personal customization, fear not; you can customize just about everything on the iRiver T10 except for the fact that you can’t create on-the-go playlists.

Go ahead and give the iRiver T10 1GB MP3 Player a try. After you have a chance to listen to it, you’ll wonder why you ever considered an iPod or other competitor. While it has its flaws, they come nowhere close to outweighing its long list of positives. In terms of sound quality, it can’t be beat. Battery life is top-tier in the industry and its size coupled with its sporty appeal and durability are the perfect combination for anyone looking for a solid, quality iRiver 1GB MP3 Player.

The iRiver H10 digital audio player is a small, stylish, simplistic MP3 player that is absolutely packed with features. The following is my review of the iRiver H10 to help you make a more informed, educated purchasing decision.

Design

When talking about the iRiver H10, the first thing you’ll notice is its stylish design. Couple that with the fact that it’s extremely lightweight and also loaded with features, and you’ve got a definite winner. It comes with 5GB of storage capacity, which should be enough to hold between 1,500 and 2,500 songs. What’s better is that you’ll actually be able to listen to your entire music library on a single charge — the battery life is a solid 12 hours of continuous music playback time, and the battery is actually removable and replaceable, which is a feature that most other MP3 players can’t claim.

Weighing in at just 3.4 ounces, this MP3 player is very portable and works great in the gym, when going for a run, or just for listening to in the car. It’s got a 1.5 inch color LCD screen which looks very sharp and displays vivid, vibrant colors. And it’s extremely thin, measuring just 0.6 inches thick so it’s easy to fit in any pocket. It’s got a nice touch strip which really adds to your convenience when choosing songs or browing through your library, and it comes in a few different colors, including Charcoal, Remix Blue, Trace Red, and Silver.

The touch pad is very responsive and tracks your movement quite precisely, which is definitely a breath of fresh air when compared to most other MP3 players. The buttons offer solid feedback, and the controls are intuitive. One thing I really like is the fact that the back button really does take you back to the last screen, regardless of what the last screen was.

Audio

Of course, the most important thing you want in an MP3 player is the ability to play quality audio. There’s no doubt that iRiver is well aware of this, because they really nailed it. The H10 offers crisp, clear sound quality that sounds even better with a pair of nice headphones. You can download music to your PC and transfer it to the iRiver H10 via the included software. It plays in MP3 and WMA format, which gives it a ton of flexibility for playing whatever audio files you want.

It’s got an onboard equalizer that comes with a whopping 40 presets, including a custom setting which I personally prefer to use. Sometimes when you’re in the car and you want extra bass, it’s easy to just slide up the bass meter. Likewise, if you’re giving yourself a headache, you can slide it down. The volume control goes from 0 to 40, which gives an excellent range of volume customization. Generally, 20 is already loud enough, but if you want to go higher than that you are certainly able to do so!

Other Features

The iRiver H10 digital audio player can actually store any type of data that you transfer to it via the USB 2.0 high speed cable, effectively turning it into a portable hard drive. This is one feature that really sets it apart from other MP3 players, which usually can’t store files that aren’t MP3’s.

The H10 has a digital FM tuner which is a truly awesome feature, in my opinion. I often get bored of my music library and it’s extremely refreshing to just be able to switch to the radio.

Another great feature is the voice recorder, so you can record voice memos. I’ve found this extremely useful whenever I get brilliant ideas that I want to write down but don’t have a pen and paper handy. You can also use it to record class lectures, business meetings, and more… you get the idea.

Finally, it comes with a skin case which fits nice and snug over the player, helping to protect it from scratches and dings. This is a great little freebie because these types of skins generally cost between $8 and $20 for iPods, so that’s a big value-add right there.

Conclusion

When you buy the iRiver H10, it comes with headphones (though I recommend buying a nice new pair to make your music sound extra-awesome), a USB cable and AC adapter, a carrying case with belt clip, the case skin, and the installation CD.

It’s a really great value for what this sleek, attractive little MP3 player offers. I highly recommend the iRiver H10; it’s a much cheaper alternative to the wildly popular iPod and it looks cooler, offers more functionality, and is just bottom-line better.

The world of portable media electronics has been working very hard to outdo itself. It seems that as soon as one advancement is made and perfected, that is old news compared to what is coming. So then you have to start thinking about the most reputable names making these players. One name that you should certainly check out is the iRiver Mp3 Player.

However, buying an mp3 player might not be as simple as just recommending one brand name or another. With the extensive names that have been thrown into the hat concerning portable media electronics, you are going to have to have a pretty good reason to choose one or another.

You can basically break down the purchase of these devices into three main parts. Through this article you will learn both these three points, and then how those points relate to iRiver Mp3 Players. You can break down the purchase of one of these devices into the functionality, the storage space, and of course, the price you are going to be asked to pay for it.

The functionality of the player is one of, if not the most crucial elements regarding these devices. Nowadays you don’t want your mp3 player to just play music. You want it to be able to play some of your favorite movies and you want thousands of songs easily accessed. You want photos, games, and radio at the push of a button. You are getting all of this and more with the iRiver.

Storage capacity is a huge concern in the world of portable media devices. You don’t want the lowest capacities in a 512 MB or a 1GB, but most of us don’t need something in the GB triple digits. That is why the iRiver is so ideal for so many different people. Generally speaking, the iRiver devices range from 2GB capacity to an impressive 16GB of storage for media.

Price is something that is especially important to the folks of this company. They make products that have the functionality and the ease of use of some of the other top names in these electronics, but at a fraction of the cost. So if you are looking to save a good bit of money on a truly unique mp3 player, you should certainly take a moment or two to look into some of the products of iRiver.

If you were hoping to learn a little more about the vast field of mp3 players, hopefully you were encouraged to check out the iRiver Mp3 Player. While there are certainly plenty of reasons that this company has set itself apart, it might just be simpler to say that you might be quite impressed at what you find.