Amazon.com Product Review
The remarkable 512 MB iRiver U10 features an eye-catching, direct-click interface that makes it easy to fly through your media collection and find the right song, video, photo, or game. The U10 has a vivid 2.2-inch LCD screen for watching videos and playing Flash-based games. It supports MP3s, WMAs, ASF, OGG, JPG, and Flash Lite 1.1 files as well as MPEG-4 SP video at 320 x 240 pixels (QVGA). Plus, the iRiver U10 supports Microsoft Windows Media Player 10 and is compatible with a variety of online music stores and subscription services. It also features an FM tuner with recording and alarm functions.
Measuring just 2.7 by 1.8 by 0.6 inches and weighing a mere 2.5 ounces, the U10 is about the size of a business card. It features 512 MB of internal flash memory, which is capable of storing approximately 8 hours of CD-quality MP3 tracks (encoded at 128kps) or 16 hours of WMA tracks (at 64kbps). The U10 plays MPEG-4 Simple Profile (SP) files up to 320 x 240 pixels in size (encoded at a maximum of 384kbps and 15 frames per second, with audio encoded in MP3 up to 128kbps). Video can be converted with a free, downloadable utility called iRiverter.
It's so small, you can literally fit the U10 in the palm of your hand. |
The centerpiece of the U10 is its brilliant 2.2-inch color display, which also doubles up as the control interface. Unlike the touchscreens normally used on PDAs, the U10's "direct click" feature responds to gentle pressure from the fingertip, eliminating the need for pens and control keys.
A built-in microphone also makes the iRiver U10 an ultracompact dictation machine. Recording quality is freely selectable and is controlled automatically. A built-in FM tuner, complete with real-time clock and timer-controlled recording function, delivers perfect radio sound on the move. It also includes six Macromedia Flash Lite games, including Launch Fighters (a Space Invaders remake), Log Jam, Barn Baron flying game, and Sudoku.
Files are transferred via super-fast USB 2.0, and the U10 is compatible with Windows XP SP1 operating systems. It offers 10 EQ settings along with a user-defined EQ setting, and it offers SRS WOW virtual surround sound for a 3-D soundscape and superior bass. The internal, rechargeable lithium-polymer battery provides up to 28 hours of playback battery life, and it is recharged when connected to a PC via the included USB cable.
Optional Cradle With the U10's optional cradle, even more possibilities open up as the U10 combines with the FM tuner to provide a full-fledged multimedia alarm clock. It even includes a traditional snooze button for five minutes of extra sleep. When the U10 is sitting in its cradle, the line-in can hook up to other audio sources. Music from the stereo system, for example, can be MP3-encoded in real time and stored on the player. The cradle also includes a remote control.
What's in the Box iRiver U10 512 MB media player, stereo earphones, USB 2.0 cable, printed operating instructions, CD-ROM with installation software, preloaded music tracks from eMusic, and preloaded Macromedia Flash Lite games.
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review
(5 customer reviews) 
Mickey Mouse functionality,
March 1, 2007 First new vacum (MN) - See all my reviews
This review is from: iriver U10 512 MB Music & Video Player (Electronics)
The screen is very nice and the push screen is kind of neat but it sometimes can accidentally go the wrong direction. It takes forever to charge and you have to use the usb cable to charge unless you buy the option a/c cable. I think it is compatible with Windows Media 10 and now Media 11 is already out. Navigating through the screens is tiresome and is very tricky to memorize the features. Oh yeh and the headphones are pitiful. I think it's got the right idea but there are more user friendly MP3's out there. PS- the optional cradle is worthless but cool looking.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
An imperfect yet gogeous little device,
January 5, 2007 Alexander Don-Doncow "Critical Al" (San Francisco,CA USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: iriver U10 512 MB Music & Video Player (Electronics)
Great user interface, great functionality, awesome sound, crappy earphones, Yes! the crappy earphones ruin somewhat your first impression...too bad
This is one of the neatest little hi tech gizmos I have seen lately. You can't take your hands off of this thing. It is neat, it is sleek, works great, menus are intuitive, great functionality, excellent display...
On the down side, it is very difficult to format videos to play on this thing, actually impossible without the third party conversion software available from iRiver's web site. And even this, is not very good software. It works with some video formats but not with others, it is basic and primitive. The conversion process is very much a hit or miss proposition.
Don't count on watching very many videos on this thing unless iRiver makes available some decent conversion software soon.
These are the three reasons why I did not give this gadget five stars:
First, the lousy...Read more
Mhhh, almost but not quite...,
January 10, 2006 Roberto Leibman "Library Libertarian" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: iriver U10 512 MB Music & Video Player (Electronics)
OK, I got one of these from my wife for Christmas. Here's what I see:
Good:
- Very Pretty
- Seems to sound good, though I have nothing to compare it to.
- Plays ogg (ok, kind of, see below)
Bad:
- IRiver advertises that it plays ogg files. It does, but you don't put them into the player in the same way as you do MP3's, and you can't have all of the things with ogg that you should be able to (ordering by title, genre, author, etc). I had to call Tech support to figure out how to add them to the device
- Forces users to use Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Media Player. I have not (and have spent considerable time) been able to make it work under Linux or Mac OSX. The device should simply show up as a USB storage device: it doesn't. This is a serious drawback
- The headphones that come with the device are even more of a joke that you expect. For a device this expensive you expect a bit better. It is...Read more
