IRIVER SlimX iMP-350 Personal CD Player
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Similar in Portable CD Players
- CD-R/CD-RW Playback: CD-RW
- Anti Skip Buffer: 180 sec.
- Supported Formats: WMA MP3
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Incredible Player for an Incredible Price
Pros
Excellent Price, Extremely Thin, Tons of Features, FM Tuner, 8mins AntiSkip
Cons
Cheap Carrying Case, All functions on Remote, Low quality Ear Buds
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
A cool and small player with an incredible amount of features that will make you wonder 'How they did it?'!
Everyday on my way to the office I have the opportunity to read articles from a couple of magazines in my own effort to refresh and update my internal hard drive and stay informed about what's going on in the world. I open everything from foreign newspapers to small publications while chatting with the owner of the newsstand who gives me the opportunity to do this for free. Of course, I still buy the newspaper to keep him ?happy?, even though we receive it at 5am in our home.
But the types of magazines that simply blow my mind and leave me catatonic are those that deal with technology and electronic gadgets. I mean, it should amaze everyone that there is a plastic artificial heart that could save the life of anyone we know... a plane that will have the ability to move almost 600 humans beings from here to there on a single flight... a company that is evaluating the possibility of selling tickets for a trip around the globe in outer space... wow! Naturally, almost everything on this planet has a price tag attached to it, so I tend to skip the sections of the articles that deal with this I-don?t-even-dare-to-know info.
About a month ago I was shopping for an MP3 player to give it to my oldest son as a birthday gift. The first thing that popped into my mind was ?How much will this ?new toy? cost??. Obviously, I went for the ?What about a CD player?? financially-safe line and I think the look on his face said it all.
So, after being on this crusade for almost two weeks, reading reviews by other peers and browsing through a dozen of magazines, I found the SlimX iMP-350. And I gotta tell you, how come technology goes this far and cars aren?t able to fly? (an overstatement of course, but a valid one ? keep reading and you?ll see what I mean).
What convinced me...
The whole MP3 player dilemma started from the very first time we saw that iPod cool spot on TV. From that moment on, I was ?chased? by my son every second of the day with the idea that the only thing he wanted in the whole world was an MP3 player (yeah, right-- at least for now... let?s wait for the future and unavoidable car debate).
A funny anecdote: When I come home from the office very late at night, I always go to my kids? rooms to kiss them good night on their forehead as my way of saying ? at least telepathically - to them ?At last, daddy is here?. One of these hard-working nights, when it was time to kiss my son, can you imagine what he had on his forehead? A yellow sticky note that said: ?Remember the MP3 player. Love you!?. I still keep that note... and that?s what convinced me to go out there and find a nice MP3 player for my kid.
On the plus side
The iRiver SlimX iMP-350 takes its name very seriously; oh my, how incredibly slim is this gadget! The first thought that crossed my mind when my son opened the box was: ?How come I paid $169 for this minuscule piece of equipment??. But when you see and experience for yourself all the things you can do with this cool little thing, there is no doubt it was a very good investment.
The SlimX includes an in-line remote control (they call it this way because it?s attached to the cable where you plug the headphones) that serves as the primary tool to control all of the functions (navigation, forward, rewind, programming, menus, folders, etc.).
It has a very nice but small LCD display that shows status and folders? contents, among other info. To complement it, there are also some buttons on the side of the player that carry out different sort of tasks depending on how you pressed them: quickly release to do something or keep pressing it down for another function.
One thing to keep in mind: without the remote, you can?t do anything with your player! The unit doesn?t carry an LCD so you?ll definitely be lost without it. So keep an eye on the remote every second of the day or else you?ll end up buying new ones (iRiver has them for $30). I warned my kids about this and they almost never unplug it from the unit (after all, there is no valid reason to do that).
The rechargeable batteries (2 NimH or nickel-metal hydride) last for about 14 hours. You can take the SlimX life to a whole new level by using AA batteries that keep it moving for another 10 hours or so by using the included external battery pack.
You will love the antiskip protection timeframe: 8 minutes! (3 minutes for CDs). This means you can enjoy uninterrupted playback without the hassle of returning to the start of the song and then pressing fast-forward to continue where you left off. For me, this is definitely a big advantage, especially when using it on the car. Bumpy roads are not a problem for the SlimX.
For example, one day I went to the supermarket and borrowed it from my son. I forgot to take a CD with me, so I started driving while listening to a musically creative fellow named Ja Rule. Suddenly, the car in front stopped abruptly and the player flew from the seat and pounded with the dash landing terribly on the floor (not to mention the pain on my ears because of the buds). Luckily, nothing happened and the driver got out and came to me to apologize and see if everything was okay (surely, something you don?t see everyday). As I was asking him what happened, I still could hear JaRule singing on the floor something about ?livin it up?...
By the way, the SlimX includes an adapter (DC/DC) that you can plug to the lighter in your car to save battery life. iRiver also threw an AC adapter that is extremely useful when batteries are in the mid point of okay and dead, because audio quality and overall performance really diminishes.
The Resume feature is also an extremely useful one, particularly when you want to stop playback and continue later at that same point in the song. This was the feature that was repeated over and over by the salesclerk when I bought the SlimX, as other players on display didn?t include it.
Finally, this remarkable product also includes an FM tuner, so when you?re bored of CDs, you can easily tune in to your favorite station (a great improvement from the personal CD player I?ve used for the past two years). Excellent reception, sometimes better than the car's radio!
But what about audio?
This is certainly the element that makes you wonder what technology is capable of nowadays. Everything from bass to highs are played excellently, just like if you were right there on the concert, first row. I can?t even begin to explain to you the out-of-this-world experience you will delight in every single time you pop a CD or hear to MP3s.
By using the multi-equalizer you can perceive what this neat player can do for you: everything from Jazz to Rock to Ultra Bass is already programmed into the unit. A few buttons to press and it?s ready to go! Also, you can create your own settings!
Anything wrong with it?
Just two things: You?ll have to incur in minor additional expenses to buy an additional carrying case and ear buds (or headphones). They forgot to include a belt clip on the included case that makes it almost useless and the buds will just not perform as you?d expect, judging from all the features this little gadget includes. All you have to do is unplug the older ones from the remote control and plug-in the new ones. Presto!
Overall
From regular CDs to CD-RWs, there is no type of media that the SlimX can?t handle. And with the 8Mb memory, it will sure hold a lot of MP3, WMA or ASF files you can dream of. For a relatively low price, you can enjoy one of the true most advanced, almost weightless (less than 7oz) MP3 players out there. My son loves it. I love it. My guess is that you would too...
But the types of magazines that simply blow my mind and leave me catatonic are those that deal with technology and electronic gadgets. I mean, it should amaze everyone that there is a plastic artificial heart that could save the life of anyone we know... a plane that will have the ability to move almost 600 humans beings from here to there on a single flight... a company that is evaluating the possibility of selling tickets for a trip around the globe in outer space... wow! Naturally, almost everything on this planet has a price tag attached to it, so I tend to skip the sections of the articles that deal with this I-don?t-even-dare-to-know info.
About a month ago I was shopping for an MP3 player to give it to my oldest son as a birthday gift. The first thing that popped into my mind was ?How much will this ?new toy? cost??. Obviously, I went for the ?What about a CD player?? financially-safe line and I think the look on his face said it all.
So, after being on this crusade for almost two weeks, reading reviews by other peers and browsing through a dozen of magazines, I found the SlimX iMP-350. And I gotta tell you, how come technology goes this far and cars aren?t able to fly? (an overstatement of course, but a valid one ? keep reading and you?ll see what I mean).
What convinced me...
The whole MP3 player dilemma started from the very first time we saw that iPod cool spot on TV. From that moment on, I was ?chased? by my son every second of the day with the idea that the only thing he wanted in the whole world was an MP3 player (yeah, right-- at least for now... let?s wait for the future and unavoidable car debate).
A funny anecdote: When I come home from the office very late at night, I always go to my kids? rooms to kiss them good night on their forehead as my way of saying ? at least telepathically - to them ?At last, daddy is here?. One of these hard-working nights, when it was time to kiss my son, can you imagine what he had on his forehead? A yellow sticky note that said: ?Remember the MP3 player. Love you!?. I still keep that note... and that?s what convinced me to go out there and find a nice MP3 player for my kid.
On the plus side
The iRiver SlimX iMP-350 takes its name very seriously; oh my, how incredibly slim is this gadget! The first thought that crossed my mind when my son opened the box was: ?How come I paid $169 for this minuscule piece of equipment??. But when you see and experience for yourself all the things you can do with this cool little thing, there is no doubt it was a very good investment.
The SlimX includes an in-line remote control (they call it this way because it?s attached to the cable where you plug the headphones) that serves as the primary tool to control all of the functions (navigation, forward, rewind, programming, menus, folders, etc.).
It has a very nice but small LCD display that shows status and folders? contents, among other info. To complement it, there are also some buttons on the side of the player that carry out different sort of tasks depending on how you pressed them: quickly release to do something or keep pressing it down for another function.
One thing to keep in mind: without the remote, you can?t do anything with your player! The unit doesn?t carry an LCD so you?ll definitely be lost without it. So keep an eye on the remote every second of the day or else you?ll end up buying new ones (iRiver has them for $30). I warned my kids about this and they almost never unplug it from the unit (after all, there is no valid reason to do that).
The rechargeable batteries (2 NimH or nickel-metal hydride) last for about 14 hours. You can take the SlimX life to a whole new level by using AA batteries that keep it moving for another 10 hours or so by using the included external battery pack.
You will love the antiskip protection timeframe: 8 minutes! (3 minutes for CDs). This means you can enjoy uninterrupted playback without the hassle of returning to the start of the song and then pressing fast-forward to continue where you left off. For me, this is definitely a big advantage, especially when using it on the car. Bumpy roads are not a problem for the SlimX.
For example, one day I went to the supermarket and borrowed it from my son. I forgot to take a CD with me, so I started driving while listening to a musically creative fellow named Ja Rule. Suddenly, the car in front stopped abruptly and the player flew from the seat and pounded with the dash landing terribly on the floor (not to mention the pain on my ears because of the buds). Luckily, nothing happened and the driver got out and came to me to apologize and see if everything was okay (surely, something you don?t see everyday). As I was asking him what happened, I still could hear JaRule singing on the floor something about ?livin it up?...
By the way, the SlimX includes an adapter (DC/DC) that you can plug to the lighter in your car to save battery life. iRiver also threw an AC adapter that is extremely useful when batteries are in the mid point of okay and dead, because audio quality and overall performance really diminishes.
The Resume feature is also an extremely useful one, particularly when you want to stop playback and continue later at that same point in the song. This was the feature that was repeated over and over by the salesclerk when I bought the SlimX, as other players on display didn?t include it.
Finally, this remarkable product also includes an FM tuner, so when you?re bored of CDs, you can easily tune in to your favorite station (a great improvement from the personal CD player I?ve used for the past two years). Excellent reception, sometimes better than the car's radio!
But what about audio?
This is certainly the element that makes you wonder what technology is capable of nowadays. Everything from bass to highs are played excellently, just like if you were right there on the concert, first row. I can?t even begin to explain to you the out-of-this-world experience you will delight in every single time you pop a CD or hear to MP3s.
By using the multi-equalizer you can perceive what this neat player can do for you: everything from Jazz to Rock to Ultra Bass is already programmed into the unit. A few buttons to press and it?s ready to go! Also, you can create your own settings!
Anything wrong with it?
Just two things: You?ll have to incur in minor additional expenses to buy an additional carrying case and ear buds (or headphones). They forgot to include a belt clip on the included case that makes it almost useless and the buds will just not perform as you?d expect, judging from all the features this little gadget includes. All you have to do is unplug the older ones from the remote control and plug-in the new ones. Presto!
Overall
From regular CDs to CD-RWs, there is no type of media that the SlimX can?t handle. And with the 8Mb memory, it will sure hold a lot of MP3, WMA or ASF files you can dream of. For a relatively low price, you can enjoy one of the true most advanced, almost weightless (less than 7oz) MP3 players out there. My son loves it. I love it. My guess is that you would too...
