I am going to be buying an mp3 player very soon and ive narrowed it down to either a iAudio X5 20gb or a iRiver H320 20gb.

I was just wondering which you would go for and why. Also if anyone has anything to say about either of the two i will appreciate it as i have no idea which one i want to get.

Looking forward to seeing which you guys like best out of these two.

Although iRiver H320 is an amazing music player, it's slightly outdated and a "brick" would be a right word to describe how thick it is.

I'd go for iAudio X5, just for the sake of its slimness and beautiful look.

Heh i actually think the iAudio X5 looks the best out of all the current hard drive mp3 players avaible. I am also wondering if anyone knows how the videos play on each? Which has the better fps etc. Appreciate the replys.

does the dock have rca jacks and ethernet? i have been considering a karma for a while now as they are very cheap and allow flac playback as well as gapless but that X5 looks very nice although it lloks like it would be very expensive for the higher capacity models.

iRiver H320 can play upto 10fps video and iAudio X5 can play upto 15fps video.

H320's screen is bigger by 0.2 inch. (H320 - 2" / X5 - 1.8")

edit/ @thechitowncubs: oh, I didn't know that.

iRiver H320 can ONLY play xvids

Its seriously doing my head in i can not decide and now i keep thinking about a ipod for its "known" factor by most of the population.

I never knew it would be so hard to choose something.

they like the "i" no? iPOD, iRIVER, iAUDIO... lol

Whatever, the iAUDIO look better for me, and I like JetAudio

JetAudio is the software isnt it? Is that not obtainable without buying the iAudio ?

I've heard that the X5 resolution during video playback can be terrible compared to the H300 series.
One example

Could future firmware updates fix this issue or is that part of the specs not the actual programming within the machine kind of thing.

Well it seems to be a software problem. The screen resolution of the X5 seems to be perfectly fine.

I myself would go for the X5, the checkered H320 just doesnt cut it for me. But thats just me.

Ok ive made my mind up and im gong to buy the iAudio X5 but does anyone know where i can get it in the UK?

I know advancemp3.co.uk but it is always out of stock, it said it would be in stock the 6th then it said 10th now it says 15th

either way oyur getting a good mp3 player i own a h320 and couldnt live without it. ive been without my PC for 2 and half weeks and only my 8 gig of cartoons has kept me from going crazy(would go out side but ive got an ingrowing toenail and i cant do anything because of it).

Personally ill back the h320 as i know its a briliant mp3 player and plays south park like a dream but have never even been anywhere near the x5 so i dont know.

once again, im an iriver h3xx owner, and i back it up, its a great mp3, with one of the best sound qualitys, excellent radio, crystal mic, it has everything an mp3 player should have. I have not played around with an X5, but iv looked it up, seems cool, just waiting for more reviews on it

The iAudio X5 is an excellent choice! I wanted to buy that one too, but unfortunately, I didn't have the money. I think it is the most sexy player on the market today, and also iAudio's players are very good. A friend of mine has one too, and they're good quality. Also, they have regular firmware updates, so that's definitely a plus too.

Ok i finally got my mp3 player and its neither of the ones i chose from to begin with

I got the Ipod Photo 30GB

Does the X5 have a removable battery? I'm in the market for a new MP3 player too because I'm not too happy with my iPod

No.

My friend just bought an X5 and it is sweet. The JetAudio video converter didn't work, but we found a program called iriverter that converts the files perfectly. We converted several episodes of LOST and Futurama, the resolution was fine, and it took about 60MB for 30 minutes of video.

One thing that you don't expect when you buy the iRiver is how big it is. My other friend has one and it is thick, I like the interface a bit more, but the video playback is noticeably choppier and it is just too thick. The iAudio X5 is nice and small, I would deffinitely reccomend it.

Umm...I believe H300 series' screen resolution is better than X5.

he might just be talking about performance in general of the video playback. The iriver 340 plays back at 10fps while the X5 is 15fps. That could be where its running smoother.

Im unsure about the screen res itself, Im in the market for a player just not the 3xx range. I have heard that the iRiver screens are better than the iAudio ones but not by alot (the x5 is better than most on the market in this department, its just that its a high point for iRiver too)

After deliberating which has the better video playback you went for a player that doesn't and never will have video playback?

And why? The sound quality on both of the other players is known to be better!

Oh well, your call.

I'm a H140 owner and never want to change it, don't need video - this thing just plays music and tunes me into the odd radio show, all I want a DAP to do

i agree timmah. i think the OP made a big mistake in getting an extremely inferior player...and personally, the only thing i'd trade my H120 for is an H140...

i have an iriver h340 and i love it. ive seen pics of the x5 and it looks good but i have to say the iriver h300 series is amazing - it plays vids great and if you do buy a h3xx download iriverter and it converts vids into the right size and in xvid so that they play.

My friend uses iriverter for his X5 too, great program, just click three buttons and you're on your way to watching the movie.

And yes, the screen resolution on the iAudio is lower than that of the iRiver, but the iRiver only plays back video at 10fps which is slightly choppy, compared to the iAudio which plays back video at 15 fps which, I can't really see the difference between full motion when it is constant. (I think the threshold between choppy and smooth is somewhere around 12fps for me)

i think this cowon iaudio x5 will look good against all the people i know with hard-drive players (ALL iPods)

those descriptions are overly-exaggerated.

for example, the h320 is a smidge (and therefore is unnoticable) longer than the ipod and is a little thicker than it. it is important to consider the fact that the plethore of features packed into the h320 by far, outweighs its larger size.

i own both players, and here are my beliefs:

h320 has bolder colour, plays avi's with better colour although slower. gui looks a lot nicer than the x5's. easier to control, and is driverless.
x5 - looks better as a player, is thinner. you can set a wallpaper from an image file, it has faster fps when playing videos. the control takes a while to get used to (i don't like joysticks, so it may be a personal preference)

both sound excellent.