iriver T30 512 MB MP3 Player

• Plays up to 17 hours of music
• Up to 512MB of internal storage
• Supports subscription music services
• Up to 24 hours of battery life
• Skip-free listening

I'm giving this player 5 stars because it does what it promises and it does it properly. This isn't an exhaustive review, but a few things I've picked up that may be of help to people:

I am running XP, service pack 2. I installed none of the IRiver software and, right out of the box, started using the player as any other removable USB device, so I can drag files into it from within Windows Explorer. Not having to install its own proprietary software is a big plus, IMO. I do have media player 10, but since I don't use it to move over any data I can't see that a person actually needs it.

I cannot find a way to determine how much room is left on the device from within windows. On the device itself this information is available, but within explorer I cannot get properties to any files/folders on the device.

The device can function as a data storage device and indeed comes with an empty "data" directory. Take note that files cannot be opened from the device, i.e. if one has a word file, it will have to be copied off the device to be played. This also goes for MP3 files; the only way to play them is through the device itself and plugging it into a comp won't allow files to be played off it (as far as I could tell) unless they are copied off the device back onto a computer.

Its menu system is fairly intuitive and it's quite easy to navigate around to different folders and play the files within them

I bought the $20 sports band and it's a good purchase

I once dumped about 160 files onto it, all very similarly named (1 of 160, 5 of 160, etc.) and after copying, within explorer it seemed that a couple of files had been missed and a couple had been repeated. Upon turning off the device and turning it on again, the directory properly listed itself. I don't consider this a big deal but thought it should be noted.

This device isn't perfect, but it is a good MP3 player. The fact that it takes AAA batteries is perfect for me because I've no interest in replacing a unit in 1-2 years because its internal battery is toast. Furthermore, these AAA batteries will offer more life than a lot of competitor's built in batteries.

At the end of the day I wanted an inexpensive MP3 player that could cover the basics, with no "gotchas" or annoying things like having to put on the manufacturer's bloated software and for me the T30 covers that, so I'm happy.

I agree that it's silly to not support anything except XP, but since the box clearly states that, _stop lamenting the fact_!

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I had IFP-895 before, so I expected that T30 has Radio, and I didn't check that. Now I see that it doesn't have. That's bad. The radio on ifp-895 was great! (very powerful...)

I can add ogg files only using Windows Explorer (add to 'data' folder of 'T30' device.)

Some said that recorded files cannot be extracted, but that's not true. You can copy & paste using Windows Explorer.

Sound is great, and when using ogg Q1 (about 80k/s), it can hold 14 folders now.

No arm band like before... so the sale price at Bestbuy or Circuitcity is not a good one, I can say. (No radio you know)

But I think I will keep this.

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I got this gadget as a gift and been using it for couple of month now. It works well, very light, and has a long battery life. There is only one problem it only works with Windows XP and Windows Media Player 10. iRiver doesn't make drivers for Windows 2000, OS X, or Linux. So unless you have XP, I suggest you stay away from it.

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i purchased this device about 6 months ago for one thing: recording. you can plug any music source into the jack and record for up to 3 hours at 320k. i dabble in DJing and i can take an RCA to Stereo mini Y-plug directly from the mixer into the T30, bypass the computer, bypass any other interference and it sounds great. Once the recording is finished, plug in the USB and use the explorer to drag-n-drop the files onto the computer. i can also delte files from the player using explorer. nothing could be easier.

the only problem i have is that it sucks the life out of batteries very quickly. i highly recommend rechargeables.

as for the other stuff, i wouldnt use it as my regular MP3 player because it is very small, the buttons are not that intuitive, and 512 MB is really nothing to get excited about. spend a few more dollars and get more storage.

I got this little player several months ago and was a little worried about a few of the reviews I read here. While its true it eats batteries like crazy and doesn't hold as much music as stated, it still holds quite a bit! and the convienience of having so much music easily at hand in such a small package (for me anyway) makes up for the batteries I have to keep around.

The sound is really good for the price, and I didn't have any problems figuring out how it worked or in reading the player's screen. All in all it is definately well worth the price.