MP3 Players Review

iriver 1CLIx8B Clix 8 GB Multimedia Player

Customer Reviews

Sweet player!

I love my Iriver Clix2! Here's what I love most about it: - plays ogg vorbis (fully compatible with tags and all); thus you can fit more high-quality music onto the player; with a mix of ogg and mp3 files, I've got it nearly full with about 130 hours of music - no touch screen, so I can easily work it in my pocket, or while I'm driving (i.e. without looking at it) - it looks really cool, and is very customizable (fonts, wallpapers) - excellent sound - 8 GB *flash* drive, so you don't have to worry about shaking or vibrating it This is my third mp3 player from Iriver. The first was the Rio Volt, which was an mp3 CD player actually made by Iriver and sold under the Rio name. The second was a much improved mp3 CD player (the IMP-300 I think it was). This player is another excellent unit. And the price for an 8GB unit was comparable to others. It also rated highly at CNET. Two problems I've encountered, and their solutions: It caused Winamp to close every time I connected it to my player, so I downloaded and installed the free player called MediaMonkey. The Clix2 syncs beautifully with MediaMonkey. It's great. Second, I found the battery life to be a little short, so I changed the setting such that it fully shuts down when you turn it off, instead of going into standby. The only drawback is that it doesn't remember what song you were in the midst of when you turn it on next, but that's tolerable, and now the battery seems to last much longer. An interesting idea: I stuck velcro to the back of the Clix2, and then accopanying pieces of velcro on my desk and in my car so that I can stick it various places. Works great! I highly recommend this player.

Try before you buy

The reviews on the Clix2 were great, so I bought one "sight-unseen". Big mistake. After the first Amazon recommended seller failed to have any in stock (despite being listed as such) I managed to get one through JetAudio, another Amazon recommended seller. Their shipping was slow and expensive (USPS turned out to be much cheaper and faster, see below), which is surprising for a business based on shipping things online. I finally received my player about 2 weeks after placing my initial order. They had sent me the Rhapsody model, which is not the same as the vanilla CLix2 I ordered, but the difference is minimal as far as I can tell. Nevertheless, I was not impressed by the Clix2. The build quality seemed flimsy. The buttons were small and cheap looking. The top plate (which serves as the click device) could rotate slightly on its housing, which added to the subpar feel of the device. Despite much talk of the interface, it is nothing spectacular: you click into menus and select songs just like any other device. So I returned the Clix2 within 2 hours, shipped it back via USPS which cost less than the original shipping options from JetAudio and took only 2 days to get back to them. In JetAudio's defense, they responded promptly to my email and quickly authorized the return. Once received, it was not long before I received my refund. My lesson learned was not to buy a player online that I had not physically played around with. Online reviews and videos are fine but don't give you a feel for how you will like the device. Paying for shipping twice to try out then return the Clix2, plus waiting 2 weeks to receive it, will have me buying my next player (probably the Creative Zen) from MicroCenter which has a 30 day return policy.

Great buy

I got this to replace my Ipod nano that has gone flaky. I have used it continually for about 4 weeks, and have learned how to work through the menus. Love this player. Pros: Great Battery Life. Beautiful styling. Excellent Music quality. Plays Flash. Easy to use software. The button (click) interface is easier to use than ipod while moving. Cons: Manual is obscure at best. Questionable support. Hard to read in daytime sun. Menu traversal a bit difficult and not obvious. Notes: Lots of good forums with great info. Use them. Get a good set of ear phones. Big difference. Spend some time learning the product and set your quick button. That way you will know your menu paths while on the go. I got mine refurbished, and a lot of original content was missing. The afore mentioned forums pointed me to an area to pick it up and more.

Better than an iPod

I have been looking around to buy my first mp3 player and after some research and talking with friends, I decided to go with the iPod. There were 2 reasons - cost and accessories. The cost was acceptable and the accessories seemed limitless. I bought the iPod and thought it worked very well. During my research, I came upon the iRiver. I thought it sounded great but because it was more expensive and I couldn't walk into a store to buy, I didn't get it. After thinking about it, I decided to buy the iRiver from Amazon. I figured I could always return it if I didn't like it. I was so glad I tried it! I couldn't wait to return the iPod! For those that have the iPod or for those looking to change, here is what I discovered when comparing the two: A. Comfort: The iPod Nano is tiny. Too tiny. I don't have large hands but I couldn't use the wheel without 2 hands. I may not have the dexterity but I just couldn't get my thumb to contort. The iRiver click screen can easily be done with one hand and I'm not accidentally going to the wrong screen. B. Available Songs: I signed up for iTunes with the iPod but just couldn't get myself to pay for each song. So we used Limewire which allowed for distorted songs and whatnot. We use Rhapsody with the iRiver and it's just great. For one monthly fee, we get all the downloads we want to the iRiver and they're CD quality. We haven't purchased any songs to burn but that's fine with me. One more thing about Rhapsody - their channels are great! I can download 5 hours of a particular type of music and even save a song if I like it. Instead of searching through thousands of songs (or trying to remember an artist from long ago) I listen to the 80s hit channel and suddenly, I'll hear a song I used to love. I'll save that song and add it to my own playlist. As they said in the 80s, "it's like, wicked easy!" C. Cost: The iRiver cost about $50 more than the iPod I bought and it's worth it. I bought the wall charger and that has helped heaps! I plug my iRiver into the wall and my stereo and it's great! I didn't buy any accessories with the iPod so I could only charge via my computer and the charge only lasted for a few hours. D. Overall: I'm a newbie to this technology but so far, the iRiver is steps ahead from the iPod. CNET has it right when they said that if you're looking for something other than the iPod, go with the iRiver. From ease of use to trouble free downloading, the iRiver wins my vote. I have since returned the iPod and have never regretted it. Hope this helps anyone looking for a new mp3 player or their first one. I haven't even taken it outside yet!

Iriver clix is very nice

I've owned it for several months now and really like it. I listen to music and lots of audio books. I'm discriminating about the sound quality and it's noticeably better than iPod. I particularly like to use my Bose Quiet Comfort's with this. Synchronization via Windows Media player is fine. I really love the Clix interface. Pressing the sides is something I can easily do without looking, as when listening to music or a book in the night. I don't watch video on it at all. Don't want to. The earbuds sound decent for a free set, and have a tendency to come unscrewed. I've somewhat abused them by dragging them around dangling outside the hip case I bought for the unit. Battery life is pretty good, not great, no complaints. I like the cradle and rapid wall charger. All in all, a very easy to use, great sounding, convenient unit that stores all my music, audiobooks, and doubles as a flash drive when needed.

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