iRiver iHP-120
I am a self professed gadget and tech junkie and similar to my fellow tech/gadget enthusiasts, I almost always clamor for hot new gadgets when they debut. However, when the first iPod debuted, I was not one of the first people in line anxiously waiting to get my hands on one...due to one reason - price. Don't get me wrong, I desperately wanted an iPod, but unfortunately, I was forced to look for alternatives. After a lot of research, I came upon the iRiver iHP-120. I purchased the iRiver iHP-120 in 2003. At the time of its release it was a powerhouse that offered a viable alternative to Apple's iPod and noted entries from Creative's Zen series.
What made the iRiver great...
Multi-Codec Support: The iHP-120 supported Ogg Vorbis, WAV, ASF, WMA, and of course MP3. Future firmware updates included support for flac files as well.
FM Tuner/Remote: What we take for granted now was not a common feature in MP3 players of old. The remote featured a backlit LCD screen that not only let you adjust playback and volume, it also served as the antennae for the built in FM tuner.
Optical Line in/Line Out: As a producer, this was a big sell for me. I actually connected a Boss drum machine to it and sampled some tracks.
HDD: The fact that I could use this as a hard drive out of the box without any proprietary or third party software. It was truly plug and play.
20GB: This much storage for the price was not the norm when this product was introduced. Having this made it to where I could not only use this as a portable music player, but also as a multimedia external hard drive. Very good bang for your buck.
Built in mic and voice memo recording: They really covered a lot of bases with this device. The inclusion of voice recording was very useful to me as a recording artist. It allowed me to record song concepts and lyrics on the go in one device.
What needed improvement...
No USB charging: It was very annoying that I had to use two separate cords with the iHP-120. One to power/recharge the battery and another to connect to my PC for file transfer and syncing. The technology existed for USB charging, so the choice for different cords was cumbersome at best.
Menu Navigation: The menu navigation definitely needed some improvement. It took too many clicks just to get to a song in some cases.
Conclusion: Despite the lack of USB charging and menu navigation issues, the iHP-120 was a great device that packed a lot of features into a compact and durable form factor. I loved this device so much that I didn't feel the need to upgrade until I caught wind of the Creative Labs Zen Vision-which had a 5 inch screen for watching video. I will cover the Creative Labs Zen Vision in a future post.
My Rating: 4/5
Check out CNET's review of the iRiver iHP-120 here.
Take a look at the manual for the iRiver iHP-120 here.
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