iRiver H10. About to buy one, have a few q's

[jackwanders]

I've settled on an H10 as a replacement for my busted 3g iPod. I've read the reviews and scoured the internet for any and all info I could find on it. Unfortunately, most of the info on the net is dated from the end of december, so it might be dated by now. Also, I haven't been able to find a clear answer to some of these questions, so I'm asking here:

1) When first released, it was reported that the H10 played songs alphabetically instead of by track number. Does this only occur if you choose the songs via the 'browser' section, or when you choose to play an album as well? Has a fix been released for this bug yet? Basically, is there a way to play an album and have it play the songs in track order?

2) Is there any way to update the firmware for US H10's yet? From what I read, iRiver Plus was not compatible with US players, but that info was at least a month old.

3) How is the FM reception (specifically, in the northeast US, new jersey/new york area)? Are there headphones that you can't buy if you want to utilize the radio, as the headphone cable is the antenna?

4) There were conflicting reports as to whether the H10 would be compatible with Macs (since it uses a drag and drop functionality for moving songs). Anyone know for certain whether or not it works with Macs?

Thanks for any help, and feel free to share personal experiences too.

[.fury]

1) Browser mode just displays the filenames, so if your files have the track numbers in them theoretically it should play them in order. However, all the songs have to go into the same 'Music' folder AFAIK, they can't go into their own album folders, so you'll have to scroll to the set of songs you want to play. ATM, the only way to play songs in the right order is by re-tagging your mp3 titles with 01, 02 etc in front of them. I used Mp3/Tag Studio for this..

2) Not yet. iRiver Plus only works with players that use MTP, which the US ones do not have currently - again, only AFAIK.

3) FM in my area is good, but I'm in the UK so I can't really provide any good info here.

4) "(new) Mac OSX support - Just tried the Korean H10 on a Mac. Worked beautifully, fully plug and play, drag and drop compliant." From misticriver.com. Unsure about the EU or US H10's though, don't have a Mac to test it on.

Hope this helps :)

[minhaferzz]

1) The albums will play in alpha order through album mode and there is no fix for it yet. As for browser mode, it will display in alpha mode as well, but you can have your filenames numbered (1 songname.mp3) so that they will appear in album order.

2) iRiver Plus is still not compatible with US versions, but it does seem as if iRiver will implement some type of firmware upgrades.

http://www.iriveramerica.com/support/hd/h10_5gb.aspx

3) FM reception is good. MUCH better than my Zen Micro.

4) The US version will only be compatible with Windows XP with WMP10.

Overall, I am very happy with this player. The player is quirky about playlists and your main interface will be WMP10. I'm very happy with WMP10, so YMMV.

[jackwanders]

Hmm. I would think that the inability to play songs in track order is a pretty big drawback. Plus, I read one review that said even if you name your songs "01 - ABC" and "02 - AAB", track 2 will still play before track 1.

this kinda sucks that it isn't fixed yet.

[L0u1s]

Get an iPod :p

all the rest is less good (IMO)

[saxondale.]

Get an iPod :p

all the rest is less good (IMO)

585434683[/snapback]

can you explain your reason behind this? you mean the iPod mini?

[ZZOOzzoo]

Get an iPod :p

all the rest is less good (IMO)

585434683[/snapback]

He tried iPod already and is looking for the other ones.

If you're recommending iPod mini or H10, you better look at my comparison chart.

Shaded cells indicate the winner.

In other words, H10 kicks iPod mini's a$$.

[jackwanders]

Dammit, can we please NOT get into this? I'd prefer a mod just delete those last two posts, just to keep this thread on topic.

Anyway, if anyone can confirm or deny the track naming/playing issue on US versions of the H10, I'd appreciate it.

[.fury]

Yes at the moment the iPod mini is a better choice, but as soon as the H10's firmware is updated to smooth out all these bugs it will be the superior player.

[L0u1s]

can you explain your reason behind this? you mean the iPod mini?

585434702[/snapback]

Well Apple (iPod) is the starter of the whole MP3 player with HD in it. And I have an iPod 3g (20GB) and I'm very glad of it. And I think all the rest just mimic the iPod...

And an iPod is more stylish then any other MP3 player (again IMO)

iPod has a geat service and the software is free and Rocks!

and..

and ...

:p

But hey the other MP3 players are OK to me but iPod is so superior :D

[ZZOOzzoo]

Well Apple (iPod) is the starter of the whole MP3 player with HD in it.

And I think all the rest just mimic the iPod...

585434762[/snapback]

:rofl: It just shows how ignorant you are.

iPod has a geat service and the software is free and Rocks!

But hey the other MP3 players are OK to me but iPod is so superior

585434762[/snapback]

Please show me one music player that you need a non-free software.

And please look at my comparison chart above.

[.fury]

So far I haven't encountered any problems with track order by naming tracks with 01 02 etc in front of their title, but mine is not the US version. I believe the US version also comes with the V1.06 firmware which should be exactly the same as my europe v1.06 firmware.

[smapdi]

Well Apple (iPod) is the starter of the whole MP3 player with HD in it. And I have an iPod  3g (20GB) and I'm very glad of it. And I think all the rest just mimic the iPod...

And an iPod is more stylish then any other MP3 player (again IMO)

iPod has a geat service and the software is free and Rocks!

and..

and ...

:p

But hey the other MP3 players are OK to me but iPod is so superior  :D

585434762[/snapback]

FYI: Actually the Creative Nomad Jukebox was the first HD-based MP3 player. Apple did not start this but they refined the size, shape and ease of use that other manufacturers would soon follow.

And my iRiver iHP-120 smacks your iPod around with battery life, sound quality, codec compatibility,FM radio, voice recording, the ability to record from optical and analog sources, the ability to use it as a USB hard drive and being able to transfer songs and files without any special software. Oh, and the LCD remote that comes with it also looks at the crappy non-lcd iPod remote and laugs. :D

Much love,

-Tom

[L0u1s]

:rofl:  It just shows how ignorant you are.

Please show me one music player that you need a non-free software.

And please look at my comparison chart above.

585434801[/snapback]

Ow shhh :D

get back on topic :p

no you are right I'm brainwashed by iPod ...

@smapdi you are richt Creative was the first one. sorry for the mistake. But you have to admit that almost every mp3 player is based on the iPod.

Just look at the name iPod iRiver, iRiver even copied the name ! (I know that apple hasn't a patent on the "i")

[Make peace no war, and get back on topic]

[minhaferzz]

I just checked my player and it seems to put tracks in order of last modification, which is odd. So there is no other way to make your songs play in order other than to make playlists. I agree, I do hope they fix this problem soon. Personally, this is a non-issue for me... I just wish they would implent syncing in both directions (song ratings).

[ZZOOzzoo]

Just look at the name iPod iRiver, iRiver even copied the name ! (I know that apple hasn't a patent on the "i")

585434822[/snapback]

I hope it's my last correction in this thread.

iRiver came before iPod even existed.

Please......

[ad345zAdZ0d9_]

FYI: Actually the Creative Nomad Jukebox was the first HD-based MP3 player. Apple did not start this but they refined the size, shape and ease of use that other manufacturers would soon follow.

And my iRiver iHP-120 smacks your iPod around with battery life, sound quality, codec compatibility,FM radio, voice recording, the ability to record from optical and analog sources, the ability to use it as a USB hard drive and being able to transfer songs and files without any special software. Oh, and the LCD remote that comes with it also looks at the crappy non-lcd iPod remote and laugs.  :D

Much love,

-Tom

585434809[/snapback]

But it doesn't change the fact you're carrying around something that looks as nice as a brick!

HAHAHA

[jackwanders]

You people SUCK. Can't you go 5 damn minutes without infecting every portable audio thread with a damn iPod argument? No one really gives a damn about your preference, especially in this thread. you're all hopeless.

/throws up hands, walks away from his own damn thread....

//and an extra 'damn' for good measure

Edited February 8, 2005 by Jack31081

[Timmah Veteran]

*Holds up hands in innocence.*

[PrototypeX2]

You people SUCK.  Can't you go 5 damn minutes without infecting every portable audio thread with a damn iPod argument?  No one really gives a damn about your preference, especially in this thread.  you're all hopeless.

/throws up hands, walks away from his own damn thread....

//and an extra 'damn' for good measure

585435309[/snapback]

But I believe the fact is that in ALL mp3 related posts, at least 1 ignorant person trolls especially that "ipod is the best" or some other craps that they can think of.

Ok, back to topic.

[gdodson]

Buy an H10, it's so sexy and super high quality. I'm going to pick one up as soon as Best Buy recieves the red one. The firmware stuff will be fixed in no time, and it already plays really well. You have to create playlists if you don't want it to play alphabetically. Alphabetical is default if no playlist is imported. It will work with macs, it just might require some software instead of being just PNP. Any problems should be quickly worked out by iRiver. Check out Mistic River for more information.

[InternalStorm]

Hmm.  I would think that the inability to play songs in track order is a pretty big drawback.  Plus, I read one review that said even if you name your songs "01 - ABC" and "02 - AAB", track 2 will still play before track 1.

this kinda sucks that it isn't fixed yet.

585434669[/snapback]

No... track 1 would play first. Because it is:

01

02

it ignores the AAB or ABB part because the numbers came first ;) if it was:

01 - AAB

01 - ABB

then yes, it would go to the letters and play the AAB first, but this is not the case with 01 and 02.

[jackwanders]

No... track 1 would play first. Because it is:

01

02

it ignores the AAB or ABB part because the numbers came first ;) if it was:

01 - AAB

01 - ABB

then yes, it would go to the letters and play the AAB first, but this is not the case with 01 and 02.

585437006[/snapback]

I understand the concept of alphabetical order ;), but I'm saying that I read a review that explicitly stated that even if you add the track number to the beginning of the filenames, the H10 ignores the numbers and plays them alphabetically according to the song name. that's why i was hoping for someone to clear that up, and it seems that adding the track number to the filename DOES indeed work.

Edited February 9, 2005 by Jack31081

[jackwanders]

Rock on. I completely forgot that all my songs are already named "XX Song Name", XX being the track number...so that's not even a problem now.

And my local Best Buy has them in stock.

And I just got approved for the Best Buy credit card, meaning I have 3 months to pay it off.

Guess there're no reasons left for me not to get one today.

:D

[minhaferzz]

I understand the concept of alphabetical order ;), but I'm saying that I read a review that explicitly stated that even if you add the track number to the beginning of the filenames, the H10 ignores the numbers and plays them alphabetically according to the song name.  that's why i was hoping for someone to clear that up, and it seems that adding the track number to the filename DOES indeed work.

585438016[/snapback]

As I stated previously in this thread, all my songs are named XX Song as well and not all albums are showing up in the correct order. Some of the albums look to be in some random order but are probably sorted by the modification date.