iRiver
(full name iRiver Limited), daughter company to ReignCom,
is a consumer electronics developer founded in 1999
and is located in Seoul, Korea. It is most renowned
for producing unique portable digital audio players
(aka "MP3 players") and video players with
more features than others on the market. Common features
on iRiver products are driverless operation, FM tuner
and recording capabilities. iRiver's first released
model was the iMP-100, a portable CD player capable
of decoding MP3 data files on CDs. The current product
range of iHP-100 (now named H100) Players (100, 120
and 140) are capable of playing MP3, WMA, ASF, Ogg Vorbis,
and WAV audio files and variable bitrates of these types
(eg. anything in between the usual 64, 128, 256, 320).
Text files are also supported on the 100 series. The
H300 (320 and 340) series are able to play DivX, WMV,
MPEG4 and AVI video files and are capable of displaying
JPEG and BMP image files. Audio enthusiasts choose iRiver
products over others (namely, iPods) due to their superior
sound quality; iRiver is renowned for its very high
quality audio, even with the stock Sennheiser headphones.
Products
iRiver's range, as of August 2004 is as follows. In
the case of hard disk and flash memory-based players,
the amount of storage built in is given in brackets.
Some models have been discontinued from production and
retail:
Some
of the iMP-Series are known as the C-Series in Korea.
Hard
disk based players
H10 series: (5 GB, 6 GB, 20 GB), available in 4 different
colors, 16-bit color screen
H300 series, similar to the H100 series, but capable
of transferring pictures directly from digital cameras
and UMS-compatible devices, such as flash drives (on
the international version), and displaying digital images
on a colour screen: H320 (20 GB) and H340 (40 GB) as
well as movies at 10 frame/s with Xvid encoding (with
the international version firmware update)
Flash memory based players
N10 series: (128 MB, 256 MB, 512 MB, 1 GB) "medallion-style"
— worn hanging from the neck.
iFP-1000 series: (256 MB) and 1095 (512 MB). Both with
digital camera built-in; prism shaped.
iFP-800 series: (128 MB, 256 MB, 512 MB, 1 GB). Candy
bar shaped.
iFP-700 series: (128 MB, 256 MB, 512 MB, 1 GB).
iFP-100T series: 195TC (512 MB), 190TC (256 MB), 180T
(128 MB). Prism shaped.
The iFP-Series are also known as the F-Series in Korea.
Discontinued
iGP-100 (1.5 GB)
H100 series (previously branded "iHP-"): H110
(10 GB), 120 (20 GB) and 140 (40 GB)
iFP-300T series: 395T (512 MB), 390T (256 MB), 380T
(128 MB), 340 (64 MB, US only). Candy bar shaped.
iFP-500T series: 599T (1 GB) 595T (512 MB) 590T (256
MB). Soap bar shaped.
iMP-1000 (DivX video playback with TV-out)
"SlimX" sub-series: iMP-550, 450, 400, 350
iMP-700T ("Sports" model), 250, 125, 100,
50
DataPlay media (http://www.dataplay.com/) based players
iDP-100 series: (500 MB).
Portable media players
iRiver (irivercom) have also developed two models of
portable multimedia player (i.e. audio and video) market,
capable of playing several digital video formats in
addition to playing audio and displaying still images,
with two models:
PMP-100
("Portable Media Player") series: PMP-120
(20 GB) and PMP-140 (40 GB).
PMC-100 ("Portable Media Center"), running
Microsoft Windows Mobile-based Portable Media Center.
H10
Stuff - Best MP3 Player - CES
"The H10's sleek form, color screen and hip-looking
vertical touchstrip set this player apart from the pack
on pure aesthetics. But this pretty boy backs up its
looks with a raft of features such as 5GB of memory,
Windows Media 10 support, an FM tuner, a voice recorder
and the convenience of a removable battery."
Bill
Gates - CES Keynote
"This is the iriver H10. … it's got a color
screen for photos, it's got FM tuning, very simple little
user interface, a very nice device."
H300 Series
H320
PC Magazine - iriver H320
"The iriver H320 is a no-compromises player that
sounds terrific and records beautifully. With FM and
photo viewing, it's a powerful, portable entertainment
center."
Tom's
Hardware - iriver's H320 Takes on the iPod
"This MP3 player has functions and ergonomics of
which the great majority of competing products can be
jealous. And above all - we'll get back to this point
- it has a remarkable color screen, which could rival
the best PDAs on the market if it were only a little
bigger."
CNet
- iriver H320
"Features abound: you get an FM tuner, a built-in
voice recorder, FM and line-in recording, and a line-out
port. It's a phenomenal recording device, with numerous
MP3 bit-rate settings and recording-level controls."
Money
- Close Plays
"Lots of extras: two-inch color LCD screen to view
photos, FM tuner, voice recorder and line-in jack to
record music from other sources"
Popular
Science - Beyond the Music
"An FM Tuner, real-time MP3 encoding, and support
for subscription content such as Napster make this the
most versatile unit here."
PMC Series
PMC -120
PC World - Focus on TV - Want to take video
with you? Portable media players let you enjoy both
video and audio.
"The iriver PMC-120 has the best design of the
models we tested. Its side grips fit naturally in the
hands, and skipping over recorded TV ads is easy."
CNet
- iriver PMC-120
"The interface has received accolades for its simplicity.
Getting all that content onto the PMC-120 will be a
painless process, especially compared to the procedure
for some other PVPs, because the player integrates seamlessly
with Windows Media Player (WMP) 10.0."
PMC-140
Men's
Health - Tech Guide 2005, PMC-140 "...the
easy interface and 40-gigabyte hard drive - big enough
for 20,000 MP3s or 80 full length movies - make it the
sleekest, simplest way to bring your entertainment on
the road."
Stuff
- Make Santa Your Bitch - PMC-140
"Sync this 40 GB player with your Windows XP Media
Center and carry around up to 160 hours of video, 1,200
hours of music or thousands of photos. It's just 5.6"
x 3.3" and just over an inch thick. Show your friends
your France trip - they'll love the part of you lying
in le gutter after you ate too much Brie."
PMP Series
PMP-120
The New York Times - Sing With a Soundtrack; Watch
the Movie, Too
"Suddenly, a device that's just a portable music
player hardly seems sufficient. For those who want to
upgrade to multimedia, iriver has a new portable media
player, the PMP-120."
FORTUNE
- 2004 Toy Wonders: The Couch Potato
"iriver's Portable Media Player has 20 gigabytes
of storage, a 3.5-inch LCD display, a built-in FM radio
and voice recorder, and enough battery life to watch
two movies in a row. Just don't use it while driving"
N10 Series
N10
CNet - iriver N10
"We've seen a number of wearable MP3 players, but
iriver's technojewel, the N10, shines the brightest."
H100 Series
H140
CNET Editor's Choice
"Feature-hungry music fans will find their appetites
whetted by this supercharged, high-capacity portable
music machine."
H120
CNET Editor's Choice
"Feature-hungry music fans will find their appetites
whetted by this supercharged, high-capacity portable
music machine."
ign.com
"All things considered, I think the H120 is the
best hard drive portable on the market."
iFP-800 Series
iFP-899
Maxim - iFP-899
"She'll swoon every time she hears "your"
song on iriver's itty-bitty iFP 1GB MP3 player. Its
slick design, 40 hours of battery life, and memory to
hold 34 hours of music make it perfect for listening
to sappy songs - on her headphones."
iFP-890
CNet
- iFP-890
"If you value a workweek's worth of listening from
a single AA battery, then iriver's $150 iFP-890 (256MB)
should definitely be on your short list. This flash-based
player has excellent audio quality, a laundry list of
features, and an amazing 40-hour battery life."
Computer
Shopper - iFP-890
"Loaded with features, the iFP890 includes 256MB
of storage and FM tuner/recorder, a voice recorder,
and a line-in jack. It also offers excellent audio quality
and can wring 40 hours out of a single AA battery."
iFP-700 Series
iFP-790
CNet Editor's Choice - iFP-790
"This worthy successor to the Editors' Choice iFP-390T
is quite a looker and backs up its style with world-class
features and performance."
PC
World - Flash-Based Digital Audio Players - iFP-790
Best Buy "This MP3 player is loaded with features
sure to make your music dreams come true. With up to
40 hours of play time, you can listen to your favorite
MP3, WMA, ASF or OGG files, or check out what's new
on the radio."
Globe
and Mail - Editor's Choice - iFP-790
"The IFP-790 is a solidly built, good looking and
generally well thought out product. It looks like iriver
employs both engineers AND designers."
Laptop
- Editor's Choice - iriver iFP-790 - Flash and Substance
"Sound quality on the iFP-790 is top-notch, with
a respectable 90-dB signal-to-noise ratio. We gave N*E*R*D's
first album, In Search Of..., a listen and were blown
away."
MP3.com
- iFP-790
"With head-turning looks, a truckload of recording
features, and sound quality that will please the pickiest
of ears, this compact player is poised to grab the MP3
flash memory crown."
Urban
Climber - Proving Ground
"The joy stick made the iriver one of the easier
players to control when geared up for a climb"
iFP-300 Series
iFP-395T
CNET Editor's Choice
"We were hard-pressed to find anything wrong with
this top-notch flash MP3 player."
iFP-390T
ign.com
"We were hard-pressed to find anything wrong with
this top-notch flash MP3 player."
CNET
Best Flash-based MP3 Player
"This iriver beat out some stiff competition to
make this list, thanks to its tough, small design; encyclopedic
features list; and excellent sound quality."
TechTV
Lab Pick
"Like its older brother, iriver's iFP-190TC, the
iFP-390T kicks some serious MP3 ass."
ign.com
"iriver has hit its mark yet again...highly recommended."
Active.com
"The fact that you can create a custom play list,
random shuffle or replay anything instantly makes this
iriver player truly amazing."
iFP-100 Series
iFP-195T
CNET Editor's Choice
"The sound quality is excellent"
ign.com
"It sounds excellent, has plenty of space, is packed
with options, is highly portable, and is the first of
its kind."
iFP-190T
PC World Best Buy
iFP-180T
CNET Editor's Choice
"This player's 128MB of memory, large display,
sweet sound, and extra features make it easy to recommend"
WIRED
"This Year's Best Gear So Far"
