iRiver Lplayer 8GB MP3 player

After the disappointing E100 we're happy to report that iRiver's is getting back into its groove with the second device to hit the UK this year, the tiny Lplayer. Our first reaction was, 'where the blazes are the controls?' The unit itself is only 60 x 43 x 13mm while the 2in, 320 x 240 screen is, well, small. And you don't …

[Simon]

Neat, but...

why do companies insist on the showing IT capacities which are not the 'true' IT capacities. Apparently this comes in 2GB, 4GB or 8GB, with a nice comment saying

1MB=1.000.000 Bytes / 1GB=1.000MB=1.000.000.000Bytes

so the 8GB is really only 7.45GB

Also there is another little quibble in the form of the comment "A portion of storage space might not be used for storing files" - how much???

Why can't they just say how much useable space there is for me to use in this device for my movies, etc...

[Anonymous Coward]

Reg does it again....

"60 x 43 x 13mm while the 2in, 320 x 240 screen is, well, small. And you don't need a calculator to work out that the unit is thus only a few millimetres larger"

Dear el Reg,

why, oh why, oh why can you not stick to one unit of measurement.

Is it imperial or metric. I would write to my MP, but I have no idea who it is....

Yours Mr Very Annoyed Reader

[Frank]

@Simon re. Neat, but...

The information you refer to is a legally required disclaimer, to protect the supplier. All other information is provided for the purpose of convincing you to buy it. It's called advertising :)

[The content of this comment does not constitute professional or even correct advice.]

[Christian Berger]

Volume controll

Does it have a propper volume controll? Some cheap stereos only ramp up low and high frequencies when you turn down the volume. A good player should enable you to set the sensitivity and frequency response of your headphones as well as the "sensitivity" of the file you are playing. That way it could change the volume without affecting the sound of it.

[Beelzeebub]

Suggested el Reg measurement

Gigolo Joe Bites.

Paris, because she may not need professional services, or she might (unsuable).

[Anonymous Coward]

I've got one...

...and I'm very happy with it. I was lucky enough to get it from ibood a few weeks back and have taken it out to Egypt, covered it in suncream, and use it daily in the gym so it's pretty sturdy.

@Christian Berger: It has a volume control but I'm not sure what you're looking for. You increase the sound, the song gets louder: you decrease the sound, it gets quieter...

It's small enough to carry it around in your pocket without knowing it's there and it supports more formats than you can shake a stick at.

I'd recommend it.

[cp]

And I should buy this...

...over an iPod Nano for what reason?

[bluesxman]

RE: I've got one...

"I'd recommend it."

But not so much so that you'd be willing to put your name to it? :)

[A J Stiles]

@ AC

Since the UK officially adopted the metric system, "inch" has become a slang term, not legally binding, and means as much or as little as the person wants it to mean. This usage is quite intentional. When purchasing any item with a screen, always insist upon the relevant measurement in millimetres (which *is* legally binding).

I remember in my last job, new company handbooks were issued after a woman employee was fired for consistently wearing heels of about 10cm. The company handbook specified a maximum height of 3 inches with no SI equivalent. She took the company to an industrial tribunal and won, on the basis that without an equivalent in official measuring units the rule was null and void.

[Stuart Halliday]

They're funny that way

Odd that these Far East engineers like iRiver or Cowon seem to be showering us with potentially excellent electronic products that just don't quite click with us in the West.

They always seem to have that little bit of an awkward UI or they just don't get our way of thinking of how we actually want the controls to operate.

Of course when you try to talk to these guys, they just don't want to know. Which irritates their Western customers.

You'd think they'd at least employ one Western person with the ability to speak Chinese and English. So their instructions and web sites don't read as if they're written by a dyslexic 9 year old!

Bizarre attitude.

[Al Taylor]

Size matters..

Jeez, OK, the Lplayer's screen in 50.8mm corner-to-corner. Everyone happy now?

I admit it is strange that we in the UK keep mixing Metric with Imperial, fuel being xx.x pence amount per litre but speed being measured in mph etc, but for good or ill at the moment most folk tend to think of phone, pmp/mp3 and TV screen sizes in inches rather than mm.

cp...cos its cheaper and has far more comprehensive file support?

[Richard]

Battery Life

Why are manufacturers allowed to lie about battery life? It is about time they all stopped testing thier devices using 64kbs mp3s played at a gnats whisper, and start playing 256K+ files at ear bleeding volume.

Paris as i she will be staring in her own video on the device.

[GingerMohawk]

Iriver

@Simon Most people don't know what MB, Mb, GB etc stand for so for a company to say this player is 7.54GB it doesn't sound as good as 8GB.

I like iRiver they make really nice players, i had the iHP-140 back in the day and it's still one of the best mp3 players I've every owned (well helped that i had RockBox on it), currently got the 3rd gen Ipod nano which is, just ok.

[Hugo]

'Snot just the UK

Even here in metric Finland TVs and monitors, shirts and trousers are sold by the inch.

[Mark Aggleton]

@cp

Because it not a heap of rubbish Apple product

[Fred]

iRiver and Cowon

They've always been my two favourite makers of pocket players.

The Apple stuff is too bound to their software to be practical to use for me (I run Linux, sue me). Besides after a year 1/2 with one of their laptops, I don't like their software.

So I'd rather have good sound, support for numerous formats, easy firmware upgrades and a platform agnostic player at the price of an interface that may be a bit quirky at times. Shame that those players are so hard to find. Especially when the Creative ones that are just as quirky and are bound to Windows are ubiquitous, not to mention the Apple ones (which at least have a clean interface).

Currently using a Cowon D2 and happy with it.

Flames because I never agree with anybody