[djbill]

hi
whats better? the 550 or the 450?

 

[Megaman]

The 550 is better.

 

[divad6719]

I have seen complaints about the 550's, I had a 400 and had no problems with it but that was a while ago.

Why not ask here,

MisticRiver

 

[terrymx]

i dont think the imp550 could be better i've talk to so many peolpe with the imp550 and they had many problems with it. i dont know how much similar the imp450 is to the imp400, but i have the imp400 and never ever had a problem it it. as for now i think very few peolpe actually have the imp450.

 

[Vault]

Hey djbill,
I've been using my 550 for 2 weeks now and so far I've had no problems, apart from an initial battery charge that took something like 16 hours (twice what was recommended). The player itself is sturdy and the controls are pretty self explainatory.

On complaint I will have (and this will be for both the 550 and the 400) is the thin bass on the regular equalizer setting (which I think has been mentioned a few times). If you like rocking out with regular earphones you'll definitely need to "Rock" setting. I keep mine on that setting and couldn't be happier with the sound out of my SR60's or the stock buds that come with it.

Price wise, is the 550 worth the extra cash? Well I think that is debatable. If you're after a relatively thin (thickness) player then the 550's the way to go. I can't believe, however, that there is that much difference between the two players when it comes to performance. So if you want to put your money towards some good cans I'd recommend you go down the 400 path.

 

[djbill]

thanks for the replies.

the people who wrote that they heard about problems in the 550, which problems did you hear about?

 

[JiPi]

Those I've heard :

Can't recognize CDs, Skips like mad (aka "weak laser"), Shuts itself down when put in a certain position (verticaly is what I remember methinks)...

But I think all of those have been fixed since the iMP-550 appeared. By the way : I have an iMP-350 for sale if you're interested.. A superb player, mint condition, plays everything you throw at it and it's solid. I just got an iPod so there's no use for it.

 

[bangraman]

I had problems with the first 550 I had. I got it exchanged, end of problem.

 

[slunk007]

I am satisfied with my 550... for now.

My only gripe with it is the poor battery life (8 hours) unless you decide to use the bulky external battery pack which makes it the Not-So-SlimX 550.

Other than that... my initial problems were with the firmware upgrade process. Had to do a little research to put the firmware in the middle of a cd so that the laser would read it.

I've read of the compromises that iRiver had to make for the 550 (such as the weak laser) to get it that thin. It still works. I am happy with it.


The next mp3 player I'm getting is either a Mini, or a iHP-120. I think I'm leaning towards the Mini, but I probably wont get either for quite some time since I just bought myself a new digicam.