iRiver H320 20GB Digital Music Player with Color Display

• Plays up to 600 hours of digital music with 20GB of internal storage
• Large, vivid color display, Ultra-fast USB 2.0 transfers
• Supports secure transfers from Windows Media Player
• Rechargeable battery lasts up to 16hrs
• View JPEG or BMP images on color display

I am writing this review as I listen to U2 Hasta La Vista Baby album on my iRiver H320...the sound is amazing. I have owned an eDigital Treo 15, then upgraded to a Creative Labs Zen Jukebox 20 w/FM Tuner. When I decided to upgrade, I took over 4 months researching for my next generation 1GB+ mp3 player purchase. What I was looking for was something that had storage space, on-board FM Tuner, recording capabilities and most importantly great sound. I considered Rio Karma, Creative Muvo2 w/hack 2GB CF card, iPod Mini, iPod, iPod Picture and a slew of other mp3 players available outside of the USA. I know some of my considerations didn't have all of the above, but I would have sacrificed space for sound, functionality for looks...etc. But just in the last few weeks, I came across this website www.misticriver.net . It is _THE_ user forum for iRiver products. I considered their mp3 flash devices, but not their hard drive based device, until I read their thread on how the H320/H340 can play video if you flash the bios with the European or the Korean or the Japanese bios upgrade. My jaw dropped! And it is still dropped...and I'm still drooling. You have to understand....I'm a closet geek. I like my electronic toys, I do my research and I recommend the heck out of products that impress me. I am going to do this now. First things first...go to the webpage above and read it for yourself. The H320/H340 plays converted video files. That's right!!! Convert your DVD's to AVI files; transfer then to your H320/340 and boom....play your videos on your MP3 player. The website tells you exactly how to do it. I addition to DVD's, I've converted several hour episodes of Stargate shows and have watched them on my H320. I've got a whole slew of them queued up for my 4 hour flight to LA. So with that amazing ability out of the way, I'll briefly review the H320/H340 for you. Out of the neat package comes a shiny black brick with a big 2" COLOR screen. It comes with earbud headphones, protective ballistic nylon case, AC power supply, USB2.0 cable, audio cord (line-out) and cd-rom and nice instruction book. IT DOES NOT COME with a docking station, LCD remote or the external battery pack...all of which you can buy from the iriver store. Charged the unit for 2.5 hours and plugged the USB2.0 cord into the slot labelled `data', it connected at USB2.0 speeds (the one labeled media is USB1.1 and is intended for connectivity with Windows Media Player). I first upgraded the BIOS to something that is NON-US. After reboot, the new bios took immediately. I lost the functionality of a clock on the H320, but that's ok...I have a watch. I lost the ability to manage my music with Windows Media Player....that is ok..I prefer to arrange my own music with other programs. But I did gain the ability to play videos and the USB1.1 port turned into a USB on the GO, which you can connect to other USB ported devices (like digital cameras) and transfer files from those devices-I haven't used USB2Go yet, but it does look promising. I quickly scanned over the Owner's Manual, turned on the H320. I connected as anoher hard drive device WITHOUT having to install any additional drivers. I proceeded to load MJ's Number Ones as my test music, since he has a variety of sounds to test the H320. Speed was fast. Unplugged the H320 from my computer and plugged in my Sony MDR-EX51LP (sound isolation ear buds for $40). Hit the ON button...then hit NAV to navigate to the mp3's I downloaded...and was amazed at what the stock sound from the H320 sounded like. WOW. So I tweaked the sound a bit..increased the base..it has SRS(WOW) settings, so you can tweak the low-mid-high ends of the music as well as increase the thump. Very cool. Even at the default level 20 (30 is the highest), it was pretty loud. Very very impressed. So then I loaded a `converted' episode of Stargate Atlantis and started to watch it; very very smooth video display as well as great sound. Anything can be converted to AVI for this player as long as you have CODECs for conversion. And then I loaded some of my pictures onto my H320, they weren't formatted for the h320 display so they weren't awesome, but good enough to show off! But when I reformatted my pictures for the H320 the pictures turned out awesome on the 2" display. Again the visual display is beautiful. ID3 tags (or not) show up nicely as well as volume strength display for both ears (a mini spectrum analyzer?) So navigating the device Set-up menu, you can set the FM-Tuner regions, LCD contrast, LCD brightness, LCD power off, ways of ID3 tag scrolling, sleep-stop-standby power down times, types of shuffle, repeats, random, set the study mode that allows you to fast forward through songs and videos and much much more! The battery time has been tested..if you play mp3's only with SRS off and very minimal LCD use, you can go to 15 hours. The average seems to be 9 hours, I've had mine on all night plugged into my home receiver through the line out port and playing. The rechargeable lithium-ion battery is replacable, take out a few screws and you are set. There is a HOLD button. Also it charges off of USB cable to your pc/laptop. There is a small learning curve to the buttons, and I must say its not as smooth as the touch pad of the iPods, but I prefer to have some tactile feedback when I hit the buttons. So, now I don't have to buy a media player for the plane, nor do I have to drag out my laptop to play dvd's..just convert them at home (which takes a bit of time..but lots of support online on how to do it right) and load them on my player before a plane ride. The H320 is bigger than the regular iPod but smaller than the iPod Picture. It fits nicely in the palm of my hand, doesn't feel flimsy at all. I haven't tried to record voice yet, but people say its pretty crisp and the default mic pics up everything. In addition, you can record from FM Tuner as well as record from Line In (mic or other audio devices). The FM tuner (with autoscan and store of stations) picked up 20 FM channels, my stock car stereo only picked up 14 channels. It can also read text files. I'm not sure where iRiver is going with that...could be interesting. So, the NEGATIVES (more like annoying to me) things about the H320/340. 1) I must be a greasy guy, because I'm cleaning the finger prints from it a bit 2) coverting the videos to AVI can get time consuming at first, but once you get it right, its set-it-and-forget-it 3) I bought a 20GB one 4) the US VERSION doesn't play videos UNLESS you flash the bios to another region BIOS-Korea is the best here 5) it didn't come with a power/USB docking station, but you can get one for $30 6) the case/holder only protects. That's about it...just annoying things to me that can be quickly resolved with $$ or reading around on the internet. If you are already reading this far, you are doing your research and doing a little bit more reading at http://www.misticriver.net will give you all the information you would ever need to make an informed decision. I don't hate iPod at all, I'm a bit jealous for the styling, but now after XMAS 2004, everyone will have one; but not everyone will have a iRiver H320/340 THAT PLAYS VIDEOS!!!!!!! I would recommend you go to your local Best Buy and get a feel for it. The sales people at BestBuy will tell you to by iPod. They won't tell you anything about the iRiver and how you can flash the bios and play videos on it, and all of this for $300 for H320 and about $400 for the H340. I'm sorry this has been a long post, but I just can't stop talking about this thing.

Buy iRiver H320 20GB Digital Music Player with Color Display Now

Like everybody, I wanted an mp3 player. However, I was hesitant to drop the $300 bucks for a tiny electronic device without doing sufficient research. At first I was only looking at the two most popular of the mp3 players the iPod and the Zen touch. Immediately I realized that for some reason that each side of the spectrum has rabid, biased, partisan fans. There's the iPodophiles and the Zen Buddhists that practically worship the thing. Back and forth they argued on every internet forum, on every comments page about which of the two were better. Well after reading countless head-to-heads I came to the conclusion I would get the iPod. However, if it weren't for a techy friend of mine nearly biting my head off having overlooked the iRiver a more techno-savvy but vastly superior mp3 player I would have never found this diamond in the rough.

I did some research and discovered that the only real gripe was the difficulty of the user interface which is a valid gripe. It is much more complicated than that of the iPod or Zen Touch. Hand an iPod to a war vet and he'll pick up the gyst of it in no time. Hand the same man an iRiver and he'll likely use it as a cup-holder. It takes some getting used to. However, the following is the conclusion I came to:

People get used to anything. After doing some research I discovered the amazing features of the iRiver that seemed to be lacking from the iPod or Zen touch. For instance, the iRiver has a color screen something you learn to love. I never realized the importance color makes over black-and-white monotony that the iPod and Zen sport. After witnessing the beauty of the iRivers color screen it makes me gag even looking at the bland iPod interface. Also, the iRiver has an FM tuner! This is a major plus (especially in the mornings when all I really want to listen to is NPR). The iRiver also has a recorder (something that actually HAS proven handy). Additionally, and amazingly, the iRiver has a photo storage/viewer feature which is ENORMOUSLY handy for someone like me who is both an avid photographer and graphic designer. Can't stop yet, though! The iRivers sound quality and headphones are breahtaking. Can't stop yet, though! One of the BIGGEST draws was that the battery life is TWICE as long as that of the iPod's (though not as long as that of the Zens). While yes, the iRiver is a little bigger than the iPod the few centimeters was a sacrifice I was more than willing to make for 8 more hours.

All this for the same price!

Reviewing the situation makes me baffled when I think that the iPod is widely regarded as the "paradigm" of mp3 players. To be honest, I recommend the iRiver for anybody who is even in the LEAST bit technologically inclined (pretty much only excluding soccer moms and war veterans these days). It is such a vastly superior mp3 player that it's made me a believer in this whole mp3-player-craze. It's become my favorite personal electronic device.

I give the iRiver my highest recommendation.

Read Best Reviews of iRiver H320 20GB Digital Music Player with Color Display Here

I've read the reviews here and I'm generally in accord with what everyone says about this machine.

Visually I find this player stunning. It's very well finished, the carbon look is great.

One reviewer wrote that it took a long time to boot up. This is caused by having lots of files in the root directory. You can fix this by keeping your music in directories. I create a directory for the musician, then a directory for the album. That way it starts fast(er) and I can navigate easily to the music I want to listen to.

Using the data usb connection, copying music is extremely fast.

Navigating for me, isn't as bad as some say. The most needed functions are right there; click nav to navigate to what you want.. and play to play it. This is really all you need to do 95% of the time.

The US version of this player is quite cut down on what you can buy in Europe and that is a shame. The EU model comes with a charging base and a remote control (I believe), along with something called 'USB on the go' which I haven't quite figured out. I'm inclined to think the US model has been 'dumbed down' and the accessories removed to make the price competitive. Having said that, you are getting a whole lot for your $$$.

Anyone interested in this player should take a look at misticriver.net. There's some excellent FAQs there which will explain the best way to do things (like directory structure for your music).

This is a wonderful machine. An Ipod was never an option for me with their insistence on using iTunes to transfer music. Support for OGG is very welcome here too. There are also OEM cases available (vaja makes one for instance) that are really good quality.

Want iRiver H320 20GB Digital Music Player with Color Display Discount?

i did a lot of research before buying this player. during the course of this, i had what i think are some interesting epiphanies that i wanted to share with other prospective player owners. i don't expect that this review will help anyone decide to purchase the H320, but i hope that it will help people make more informed decisions. consider this a meta-review for buying an MP3 player ...

first, a word on reliability. after reading many user reviews on different sites on many different players, i learned that all players had a large number of reviews from users that said that their player was unreliable (including ipod). again, this was the case with all players. in lieu of more scientific data, i came to the conclusion that there is not enough information to determine that any player is more reliable than any other player. also based on the large number of negative reliability reviews, it seems that all of these players have reliability problems, to greater or lesser degrees. now, take that with a grain of salt. folks are much more likely to write a negative review if their player fails than if it works. people *expect* it to work. it's when it doesn't work that people get upset and take the time to write a review.

the same goes for support. almost all of the players had significant reviews saying support was terrible.

conclusion so far? if you buy one of these players there is a significant chance (relatively) of getting a bum unit. secondly, if you do get a bum unit, expect getting it repaired or replaced to be a pain in the ass.

jukebox player vs. microdrive is something to think about. for a given $$$, microdrive players are about 1/2 the weight + dimension, and hold about 1/4 to 1/8 the data.

now to the H320 review ... for each rating criteria below, i've specified an importance factor between 1 (not important) and 3 (very important)

size+weight: 2

battery life: 2

open standards: 3

fm tuner: 3

extra features (beyond simple music playing): 1

ease of use: 1

size+weight-

the h320 is about middle-ground for jukebox players. it's bigger and heavier than an ipod, but smaller than some of the creative jukebox players. one thing to note, the length + height of the h320 is about the same as the ipod, however, the depth is about 40% greater. i use the h320 mostly for gym use. with it's stock belt clip, it's okay for low-impact activities, but i think there'd be a problem for jogging.

battery life-

the h320 is better than average. this wasn't terribly important to me. i would only use the player for about 2-4 hours a day, and all players last longer than that.

open standards-

i keep my music collection in standard file folders. it was important that i got a player that did not insist on categorizing things into it's own database, directory structure, or otherwise. i wanted to be able to just dump files onto the player. the h320 handles this excellent. when you plug it in, it simply shows up as a hard drive in windows. apparently, there is a way to allow the player+software manage your collection at a higher level, but i have not even tried that.

also, the h320 plays OGG files. for those who don't know, OGG is an open music encoding standard (mp3 is not open). OGG has smaller files and better sound quality than MP3.

fm tuner-

the h320 has a nicely integrated FM tuner.

extra features-

the h320 has lots. picture viewer. can play video files. line in and microphone mp3 encoding. interesting, but i'd have preferred to have paid $50 less and not had these things.

for those not interested in an fm tuner, the archos gmini is a nice simple player for a good price. i would have opted for it if i did not want an fm tuner.

ease of use-

the h320 rates poorly here, as you know if you've read a few reviews. they took an odd approach. instead of having a simple set of navigation keys and then all options and features available by navigating on screen menus, they made features accessible through un intuitive key sequences. here's an example. hwne using the FM tuner, you press and hold the "A-B" key to auto-program the FM presets. that is non-obvious.

if you get the h320, you're going to have to carry the manual around with you for a few weeks to learn your most common functions. and there will be times when you wish to do something obscure and you simply will not be able to find it until you look on the manual.

that all being said ... the color screen on the h320 looks very slick.

----

hope this helps.

There is a controversy in this day. A battle of epic proportions. The fight of the century:

iPod vs. iRiver

My original purchase was of the iRiver iHP-120 20 GB. It was stolen from me (the thief recognized quality). So I got a new one. But this time, I got the iRiver H320 20 GB.

This is one the greatest MP3 players that I have ever seen or owned (I've also used a NOMAD Creative Jukebox Zen 2.0). Its features boggle the mind.

To start, it plays basically any music you have. MP3's, WMA's, WAV's, or OGG's, they will be played. The only thing missing is a *.ram file. In this case, you can plug the iRiver into the headphone port, and use the BUILT-IN CODECS to re-record your files as MP3's. This also allows you to rip music from your favorite videos, flash presentations, or DVD's. Also, if you're too lazy to use a program to copy CD music (such as Windows Media Player or MUSICMATCH Jukebox), you can just plug the iRiver into a CD player and record the music as an MP3!

Onto the next feature: the FM Radio. Yes, this player does FM Radio. No matter where you are, just open the radio and go! The headphones act as an antenna, so there're no problems with that. And one new feature from the iHP-120 is the ability to record FM radio. Yes, you heard me right. Hear your favorite song is about to come up? Just press the record button, and you're good to go! Listening to the news and want to record an interview for a school club? Just hit that little button with the circle!

As we all know, the H3xx series has a color screen. That's nice, but why!? Well, because the player can also display BMP and JPEG images!! I know what you're thinking, but it can be used for other things too =p. Also, with the use of some other firmware, video can be brought to the iRiver (this will void your warranty however, be warned).

The iRiver also features a very simple navigation system. The iPod, for example, has a very sexy wheel thingy, yes. However, the iRiver has all the buttons you need around the center, with a directional pad instead of a wheel, which is kinda nice.

As far as file navigation, this is also a WONDERFUL feature of the iRiver. The Creative Jukebox players, for example, organize based on the file tags. This can be annoying if, for example, you want Riverdance (composed by Bill Whelan) and Lord of the Dance (composed by Ronan Hardiman) to both be listed under a folder called "Michael Flatley." The iRiver, however, is recognized as an external harddrive via the USB port. Therefore, all you need to do is plug it in, and you can whatever you want! Design your own folder system, drag-and-drop your files, and that's all you have to do!

This ties in with the fact that the iRiver can be used as an external hard drive! Windows XP requires no special drivers in order to recognize the player (nor did Linux, but earlier Windows or Macs may), which means that you can stick any file you want on the player to transfer it elsewhere.

I had originally thought that the iRiver iHP-120 was the greatest MP3 player ever made. I was wrong. The H320 is the best MP3 player I have ever seen, far exceeding the iPod, the Jukebox, or anything else.