iriver iFP-195T 512 MB MP3 Player

This player isn't for everyone 1) It is not 20-gig 2) It isn't cheap.

Here are 3 reasons why this player suited my need

1) Battery. Battery last 2 or 3 times the length of HD based players. It is user replaceable. You can find AA anywhere in the world. Rechargeable batteries in most Giga-players will die in 2 or 3 years and most of them can't be replaced.

2) Super light-weight and small: I carry the player in the included armband and hit the trail or track.

3)No motion mechanism : Since I use it for running, no worry about moving parts. All HD will fail eventually. I don't even want to find out how much it would cost to replace a drive in iPOD.

4)FM Radio: I wasn't able to find out anything about 195T's radio feature before I purchase it. Now that I have it, It is good. Pull in better signals than my Sony AM/FM Headphone. Recording feature is a nice bonus. I listen to NPR a lot and it is nice to be able to record something while I run and refer back to it...Read more

Pros: Half a gig of memory, FM tuner, FM and voice recording, small size and light weight. It uses a single AA battery and will run for about twice as long as any hard drive player. I'm getting an estimated 12 hours of real world use per battery. Compared to hard drive based units this can't be beat. Since it uses a single AA, you won't have any down time waiting for the unit to charge. The software that comes with this unit is stable, intuitive to use and works as advertised. I use this mostly for audio books recorded at low but adequate bit rates. Usually 24-48 mbps mp3's. Half a gig will hold about 30 hours of audio books. More than enough to take on vacation. Sound quality is as good as my iPod. The controls are not as intuitive as the iPod or Rio500 but if you spend 20 minutes or so with the manual everything will make sense. Navigating through content is a breeze. It's firmware upgradeable to support other formats and add or change features. Battery life is outstanding. Cons:...Read more

I received the iFP-195T for Christmas this year, and I'm am very pleased with the quality and features of this player. This is the first MP3 player I've owned, and have been reluctant to purchase one because of their limited storage capability with high quality MP3 files (128 MB can barely hold 2 albums at 128bit settings). I didn't want an iPod type player due to its size and weight. This player gives me more than enough room to store hours of music at 128 or 160bit quality settings. The features are quite extensive, and I highly recommend that anyone who purchases one of these gets the new firmware upgrade off iRiver's web site, which improves the EQ from a treble/bass option to a 5 band EQ (very nice), and adds other improved features.

The sound quality is amazing for something so small and light weight, the menus are very easy to navigate. One reviewer mentioned that it will not play songs in the order of the album, but this is all dependant on how you name your MP3 files,...Read more