Is now a good time to buy an iHP 140?

[OriginalReaper]

Hey porta-heads. I'm interested in a iHP-140 for a HDD music player. Two years ago I bought a SlimX imp-350 for $200. A little over a month later, its price dropped to $130 with the SlimX 400's release. It was around July/August.

Now, I don't know if the tech world releases products once a year, but I'm just scared that I'll buy a 40GB $400 player now and the following month a 60GB $400 player comes out, meaning I could've saved about $100 on my 40GB player (I don't need anything bigger.)

So, do you guys think the price of the 40GB player will drop anytime soon? I'm thinking about getting the iHP-140 from Newegg for $385.

Heh, a burn from 2 years ago still aches

Thanks

 

[Big D]

Amazon are selling for $359.99 inc. shipping after $20 rebate. I doubt you will see much better for a few months.

The price of the 100 series has already come down in preparation for the new 300 series due to be release in the next two months. I don't think you'll gain much by waiting - there's always something newer and better round the corner.

 

[OriginalReaper]

What's the improvement supposed to be over the current series?

 

[Big D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OriginalReaper What's the improvement supposed to be over the current series?

New Features:

Colour screen
USB on-the-go
Record from FM tuner
Battery pack
Dock (H-340)

Worse features:

Looks like it will lack wav playback and recording
Non-LCD remote

Check these links for more information:

iRiver Japan translated page - click on the tabs for more info.

Korean untranslated page - use Babelfish to translate.

 

[White Knight]

From what I read it has color LCD (colorfull GUI with jpg viewer), USB2 OTG (USB host without the use of PC, ie digital camera to H300s), FM recording, it can now recharge its own battery thru USB port, it will have dock/cradle (only on 340 model), it will have external battery pack.

NO LCD remote

 

[Ihmemies]

Quote:

Originally Posted by White Knight NO LCD remote

It will be optional... and I guess remotes from older players work just as fine. Also it reads in iRiver nordic's page that H3xx will support WAV. Someone at MisticRiver's forum said that it will even support loseless WMA. No proof tho

 

[Thaddy]

I wonder if the docks will be compatible with the iHP-100 series players...

 

[raif]

where's the optical in/out?

 

[Jaypetermen]

I am currently in the market for a MP3 player and I have a couple questions regarding the IRiver H-120/140

Is the IRiver H-120/140 Lame user friendly? Meaning: can one use the Uber standard file format? Does it support VBRs? Does it modify the MP3’s ID3 or Meta tags during upload?

From reading reviews; it’s relatively small compared to say Nomad Jukebox 3, it has optical line-out output for post-amplification for two channel stereo and 3.5mm output for Cmoy, PPA, Music Fidelity, etc?

It doesn't compare to the Nomad Jukebox 3 on sound quality but how does it compare to the Ipod or Karma?

Actually, the only down side I can see is it compatibility with LAME. Is there freeware or a fix for this? Maybe Red Chair software will aid in this? Or is this even an issue with the new models?

 

[Big D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaypetermen I am currently in the market for a MP3 player and I have a couple questions regarding the IRiver H-120/140 Is the IRiver H-120/140 Lame user friendly? Meaning: can one use the Uber standard file format? Does it support VBRs? Does it modify the MP3’s ID3 or Meta tags during upload? From reading reviews; it’s relatively small compared to say Nomad Jukebox 3, it has optical line-out output for post-amplification for two channel stereo and 3.5mm output for Cmoy, PPA, Music Fidelity, etc? It doesn't compare to the Nomad Jukebox 3 on sound quality but how does it compare to the Ipod or Karma? Actually, the only down side I can see is it compatibility with LAME. Is there freeware or a fix for this? Maybe Red Chair software will aid in this? Or is this even an issue with the new models?

Where have you heard that there is a problem using LAME encoded mp3s with the iHP?? There is no problem whatsoever using LAME encoded mp3s with the iHP players and a lot of people do with no problem.

Because it has a drop and drag system for putting the songs on the player (you do it in Windows Explorer) nothing happens to the files during transfer - it will be an exact copy. Also it will recognise and play untagged files too, unlike the Karma and iPod.

It does have a line-out that you can connect to a portable amp. The question of sound quality is a personal one. I doubt you will be disappointed with the sound quality of any of these players.