iRiver T10 MP3 Player

Reviews: Multimedia

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Nicholas Hart
Kurtis
iRiver
Oct. 30, 2006

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Conclusion

Portable media player manufacturers really are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to deciding whether to require standard off-the-shelf batteries or include a rechargeable. OTS batteries are generally huge unless you get the camera-type batteries which cost significantly more. Yet, a built-in rechargeable that can be much smaller will drive up the cost of the player and playback time will suffer. iRiver chose to go with an OTS battery which delivers incredible play time but throws the ergonomics of the player out the window.

From the pictures of the player, I envisioned clipping the player to my belt loop but that simply does not work. iRiver includes a neck band but the player is much too heavy for that to be practical for any length of time and I can't even imagine if you tried jogging with it; the bruise on your chest from the constant bumping would be horrible.

So by having the customer supply the battery and not needing any added circuitry for battery recharging in the player, the T10 must be quite a deal right? Unfortunately, that's not the case. Foe example, the T10 can be found for $99 with 1GB capacity. Search for other 1GB players with similar features and you will find quite a few under $60 and almost all will be under $90. I found a Creative Zen Nano Plus 1GB that has the same playback functions but doesn't display images or have a color screen for $70. With the small size of the screen and the fact that 99% of the time it will be off anyway to conserve battery life while it sits in your pocket, a $30 price premium isn't justified.

The iRiver T10 does have excellent sound quality for both music playback and the FM tuner. But is that enough to overlook the high price and bulk of the player? Not in my opinion. The bulk is at least acceptable as you can use, and easily replace, cheap commodity batteries. But the added price of the color screen puts it at a serious disadvantage in the marketplace.

Pros

Excellent sound quality
FM tuner is the best I've heard in a portable media player
Easily replaced and cheap retail batteries

Cons

Big and heavy (relatively speaking)
More expensive than players with comparable functionality

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Impressions
Page 3: Taking a Closer Look
Page 4: Testing
Page 5: Conclusion

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8 User Comments

1 - Posted by Shaggy on October 31, 2006 - 9:58 am

I have been using one of these for close to a year now (This is not a new product). I have found that clipping to belt loops works quite well if you turn the device around, meaning the battery is on the outside not resulting in the protusion and, yes, happy to see you comments.

While I agree that this is a bit bulkier than other players, for someone who travels quite frequently, this has been outstanding. I have never found myself without music due to the built in rechargeable wearing down (rapidly) and darn, I don't have my charger with me or a half hour or more to sit and wait for the device to charge!

I have also found the FM tuner audio to be quite good. The added benefit of this is that I am not limited to whatever songs I have loaded onto the player, and can find out information about wherever I am visiting as I can listen to the radio while walking about.

I cannot disagree that there are some features that I dislike, the placing of the headphone jack being one that has also confused me from the get-go, but overall, I would say that this is an excellent player. People simply need to think practically about how they intend to use the device to decide if this is the way from them to go.

2 - Posted by Kurtis on October 31, 2006 - 10:52 am

Welcome to the site, Shaggy, and thanks for sharing your thoughts on the T10. I don't think Nick would disagree that it's a good player, it seems like the biggest thing that kept him from really recommending it was the not-so-competetive price point.

3 - Posted by Nick on October 31, 2006 - 7:55 pm

Indeed, 100 is kind of steep for the features offered when compared to other players. Yes the other players dont have a color screen or image preview, but with such a small screen I can't see anyone really using that feature anyway. The bulk is only for the battery and thats a tradeoff that manufacturer's have to make for increased playback time and battery replacement, but it should result in a lower price point as well.

Also, someone emailed me this link that looks like it should allow the T10 (and some other iRiver players) to be recognized as a mass storage device instead of an audio device.

http://www.iriver.com/html/support/faq/sufq_view.a...

Unfortunately I already had to return the T10 and could not test it myself so try at your own risk.

4 - Posted by CrapCamera on October 31, 2006 - 9:05 pm

I've had a T10 for some time as well, and highly recommend it. The battery life is outstanding, the FM radio excellent. It has a feature where you can program it like a Tivo for radio, to turn itself on & record a documentary for e.g. an hour, save to a mp3 then turn off - brilliant.
I've wondered if the position of the headphone jack is by design to protect the buttons from damage if dropped. Well worth the price.
Try it with Sennheiser PX100 headpones, and you'll be in heaven.

5 - Posted by Gari on November 10, 2006 - 1:14 pm

Having the User EQ settings on the A-B button makes a lot of sense actually. This way you can change settings on a per song basis without having to hire a sherpa and trek through all the menus.

6 - Posted by Nick on November 10, 2006 - 3:52 pm

Change the EQ settings on a per-song basis? That is way too much fiddling with the player for my tastes. My preference is to have the music playing in the background and changing the settings all the time would definitely not work.

7 - Posted by debbie on April 9, 2007 - 9:28 pm

Terrible customer service. My device was working fine until a download from Napster caused it to stop working. It was flashing the iriver screen on and off continuously. Tried to restore firmware and device is no longer recognized although USB port is connected.

Tried to call customer support and was repaeated disconnected. Finally got through and was on hold for over an hour before hanging up. There are no authorized dealers on the website and no way to get it repaired. What a terrible waste of money and time.

8 - Posted by Kurtis on April 9, 2007 - 10:35 pm

Who did you purchase it through? Reputable online stores such as Newegg.com will RMA with little problem.

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