iRiver U10 1GB - Multifunction Media Player Best Buy

After about 6 months ... - 11 Oct 2007

1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

When new and out of the box it was great, but after about 6 months it started acting out. First little annoying things which were solved by updating the firmware (mainly it would delete songs, refuse to charge or turn on-off on its own). Unfortunately, the problems escalated to the point where the screen is now totally corrupted and unusable and it will no longer load songs at all. It kills my PC too, whenever is connected to it.
I'm now forced to buy a new mp3 player :(

Excellent, but flawed. - 02 Nov 2006

9 out of 9 found this review helpful.

The U10 is a great gadget. It has an excellent and simple interface which is not more complex than needs be on a small capacity player. The screen is bright and clear, and the screen-clicking navigation is intuitive and easy. The sound is loud and clear (to my ears), with many options for EQing and FX should you want them. You can easily synchronise it using Windows Media Player (which suits me fine), or by dragging and dropping straight into the device (for videos etc). For my purposes it is perfect.

However, there are a few problems which can really reduce your joy. First, the database is regularly corrupted, resulting in songs which have been deleted still being listed in the player and other equally mysterious problems. This is easily fixed with a reinstall of the firmware, but as yet I've found no way of doing this without a lengthy download from the iRiver website via their firmware updating client. Which means that when your player's database becomes irreversibly corrupted you will be stuck with it until you can get online. Then you have to reload all your music and whatever else you have on there.

Second problem lies with the EQ system. I have some very flat-response headphones and I like to boost the bass a little using one of the preset EQs. Doing so often results in digital clipping which is harsh and headache inducing to say the least. Still, I've now found a good setting and the problem has not recurred.

Oh, and one last quibble, it inserts small silences between tracks, which is an ongoing annoyance with most media players. You either live with it, or rip whole albums as single tracks which is no solution to my mind.

Having said all that, I do love the U10, and use it every day. Just be aware there are problems with it.

radio and play,my video clips mmmm - 02 May 2006

0 out of 3 found this review helpful.

it has got every thing i wished for,radio,photos,movie and music,mmmm again,i managed to set up every thing with a couple of clicks, just for the movies i had to download a program from iriver web site to convert videos to mpg4,if iriver u10 has got more than 2 gb's it is a bonus,but hey.

Just an Expensive Alarm Clock or Picture Frame! - 02 Feb 2006

0 out of 0 found this review helpful.

I bought the 1gb U10 because I needed an mp3 player and was looking for a decent alarm clock that would play an mp3.

When the 1gb U10 arrived I was impressed, the packaging and box was lovely done. I saw the player and thought.. wow, it's tiny. A lot smaller than I expected, and not necessarily in a good way.
I bough the korean version purposely, because with the north american and european one, you have to use windows media player and as far as I know (from my research) it is not possible for a firmware upgrade to change that. The korean version shows up as a normal hard drive in windows. Which means I can drag and drop: movies, pictures, flash games and music.

When in the cradle it looks lovely, the buttons on screen don't work though, and bizzarly the fm radio is disabled?! You must use the remote control. The buttons on the remote are so stiff, that when I try to press them, I can see the remote bending. When the player is in the cradle, you must push it in for it to pop out. With these design flaws/issues I have wonders as to how long it will survive.

Divx Video played fine not too slow (it must be 15fps). I did ned to convert my Red Dwarf movie, but that was a simple affair with "iRiverter". Photos displayed clear, even when I didn't specially resize them for the player. The flash player was good, games are as simple as you can expect with only four real buttons they can use. Pretty cool, they even seem to have a store for saving some details. One program provides a counter; so you can count the days until a birthday, or for how long you've owned your iRiver u10!
The radio is good. It can auto scan the entire frequency range itself and save channels when it finds a strong signal. Quality is good as well.

As I expected the iRiver software was annoying, troublesome to use and rather strange and hard to get used to. I'm still not sure how to copy videos with the software, good thing I don't need to use it!

The interface is unique. I liked the idea on paper. Works well when being used at home. However when I'm on the train or tube, I don't want to get the player out to change tracks; with this player I do need to though. If I'm walking down the road, I don't want to have to spend a couple of minutes going through the menu just to change to a different song. Obviously having the hold button on, means I can't use the front buttons, and without the hold they will click in my pocket. So if iRiver added a simple remote to the player, even if it was only one button, I would be a lot happier.

It's a unique, neat player, that makes a fab, if not expensive alarm clock. But I managed to get it for £150 inc the dock, so I can't complain, too much!
I'm not sure if I'll keep it, I might sell it on and get a simpler iRiver mp3 player that works better for my needs. If you're a playlist person then this player would probably suit you better.

However I'm only using this player for now, while I wait for my video iPod to arrive.At least then I can have the ipod safely in my pocket, away from those crazy, friday night londeners, and just use the slim remote to control it!

The U10 is a unique player in it's own right and deserves a lot of credit for its innovative features, unique intuitve interface and style.

The most advanced little MP3 player out there - 13 Jan 2006

8 out of 8 found this review helpful.

This little gadget is truly amazing. I have had numerous MP3 players over the years. My first cost nearly £200 for a 128 mb player! This was obviously a long time ago!

I decided on the U10 because of the MPEG4 functionality, playing MP3's is great - but able to play movies as well - fantastic! However I was concerned that the quality of the video on such a small unit and whether it would be watchable. The U10 will only allow 15 frames per second which is pretty small and I thought the result would be too "jumpy." But I have to admit I have been really impressed with the video quality on this little thing (and it is little, tiny in fact). The video quality is super sharp and extremely watchable, mainly due I think to the quality of the screen. It is by far the best colour screen I have seen on an MP3 player.

The rest of the features are also very impressive. Sound quality for the MP3s is superb, the radio reception is clear and if you get the additional cradle with remote control - the unit can operate like a miniature TV. The U10 also supports Flash Lite games, however I have yet to try these.

Also worth mentioning is the navigation system, you just click on the sides of the screen to move through the menu systems. Very nifty.

And lastly, although it does come with software to transfer files across, you can also drag and drop using windows explorer - a real bonus in my opinion.

Bad points - only one, the memory capacity. 1gb is not enough really for something which can do so much. I was holding out for the 2gb model but as the release date kept being put back - I finally gave up and opted for the 1gb unit.