FID 530 (128 MB) MP3 Player
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- Number of Songs: 32
- Usage: Music
- Interface: USB
- Main Storage Type: Built-in Memory
- Expansion Slots: SmartMedia Card
- Storage Capacity: 128 MB
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Rockin' the Suburbs (And the gym, the subway, the DMV...) with my iRock!
Pros
Lightweight, sturdy, long battery life, easy to use.
Cons
Limited LCD display, SmartMedia formatting utility is buggy, poor product support.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
The iRock! isn't great, but it's small, inexpensive and functional. It's a low-end simplistic MP3 player that can take a beating and lasts a long time on a single battery.
Overview
I'm no stranger to MP3 players. I started using a first generation RCA MP3 player a few years ago but it couldn't hold more than an hour of music. As a die-hard Apple fan, I was eyeing the iPod longingly when I purchased my iMac, figuring it would be the ultimate accessory.
But when I truly thought about it, I realized that what I need is not gigabytes of music at my fingertips. I use MP3 players exclusively for working out and hanging around while waiting for other things. I didn't need a high-end player with monstrous capacity. I needed a simple, humble, lightweight MP3 player that came at a low enough price point so if it was ever destroyed or stolen, I wouldn't feel that I'd lost a great deal.
Basically, just as people have beater cars, I wanted a beater MP3 player.
Over the holidays I found the iRock 530 on sale at Costco. I immediately purchased one for myself, and a week later, purchased one for my husband as his Christmas gift.
Features and Packaging
The iRock 530 comes with 128MB of onboard RAM and is expandable up to 256MB of RAM with the addition of a SmartMedia card. I'm not impressed with the SmartMedia expansion capabilities - more on that towards the end of the review.
The iRock also comes with a single AAA battery. The unit plays for 8-10 hours on a single AAA, which is a very nice feature, as compared to other MP3 players that either require multiple batteries, or specialized rechargeable batteries. I always have at least two spare batteries in my gym bag and purse and never find myself stranded without music.
The player is packaged inside standard manufacturer's bubble plastic - the hard kind that has to be cut open with a knife or scissors and is very annoying. It also comes with a CD of installation software, a USB cable, some flimsy instructions, and a wrist strap.
The wrist strap isn't suitable for the kinds of tasks I planned on putting my iRock through so I visited www.myirock.com, the iRock website, and purchased a neoprene case, strap and belt clip combo for about $15. I've been very satisfied with the functionality of the case, and it arrived within just a few days of my order.
I also replaced the rather flimsy earbuds within a week of purchasing the player. I bought a set of Sony over-the-ear fitted earbuds and find that they are much more stable and less painful on my ears than the included earbuds. They cost about $10, bringing the out-of-pocket "extras" to make this MP3 player comfortable to $25 (the case and the new earphones).
Using the iRock!
Using the iRock couldn't be simpler. From within Windows Media Player, or iTunes, you can simply drag and drop MP3s over to your iRock's drive, provided that your iRock is plugged in via the USB port and the iRock software has been installed on your computer. A nice feature of the iRock is that it is powered by the USB connection as soon as you plug it in, so it's very seamless and you don't have to worry about powering it up or down to transfer songs onto it.
The LCD display is extremely compact, and isn't backlit. This may be a problem for some, but I've never had an MP3 player with backlighting so it's not an issue for me. Plus, backlit displays tend to drain batteries quicker, and anything that prolongs the battery life is fine by me.
Another problem with the display is that it doesn't actually display the names of the songs, or the names of the MP3 files, that are playing. I miss this from my old player, but I can't imagine where there would be room in the display for that kind of information.
This player is about the size of two matchbooks stacked on top of each other, and is easily one-third the size of my previous player. It does manage to convey a great deal of information in such a small space, including the track number, sound settings, whether it's on repeat, and how far into the song it has played. Another nice feature of the player is that there's a button you can move over on top of the player to "freeze" your settings so you don't accidentally jog forward to the next track or change your volume or sound settings as you're working out.
Speaking of "jogging" forward, I really like the jog button on the side which is used to turn the player on, off, and move forward and backwards through the song list. It's very easy to reach and use, even when I'm running at top speed on the treadmill.
SmartMedia Issues
I found that using a SmartMedia card with my iRock wasn't nearly as intuitive as I had hoped. I put in a formatted 128MB SmartMedia card and was only able to drop about 16MB of songs onto the card. I searched the iRock website for a phone number or other support contact information and came up only with a form to fill out for support via e-mail.
About three weeks after I submitted my request I received a response from support, stating that they had no idea why I wasn't able to fit more music on my SmartMedia card. They included a utility to reformat the card specifically for the iRock.
Unfortunately, the utility is a Windows-based utility and my primary home computer is an iMac. I haven't found time yet to set up all of the software on my husband's XP machine in his office, so I haven't yet been able to use the expandable SmartMedia memory on my player.
Aside from this one problem, which I'd categorize as Fairly Annoying, the MP3 player has been really great and is everything I could want in a beater MP3 player. I use it at the gym, or on the subway when I have to go into the city a few times a week. I've even found myself rockin' out to it while in line at the DMV.
Warranty Details
The iRock! comes with a 90 day limited warranty. First International Digital, the manufacturers of the iRock player, have an RMA process that you have to follow for repair or replacement of your iRock if there are problems.
Full warranty details may be found on their website at:
http://www.myirock.com/cservice/fidwarranty.htm
It Takes a Licking...
As I predicted it would, the iRock! has found itself in a few less-than ideal situations that I'm very glad I never had to subject a high-end MP3 player to. The neoprene casing has been soaked in the rain while I jogged, the player has fallen to the ground off the treadmill stand while I was running, and it's sat in my car for hours on end during both roasting hot and freezing cold days. What's most important to me is not the extra 128MB of memory that I'm not yet able to get to work, but that it still plays as well as ever in spite of being subjected to some pretty terrible conditions.
Summary
The iRock! is a sturdy, cheap little player. At an almost $100 price point, it's one of the cheapest, smallest players out there. It has some definite drawbacks: The quality of technical support is poor, you can't see the names of the song tracks playing, and the SmartMedia support leaves something to be desired in my experience. But you get what you pay for, and if you want an inexpensive MP3 player that's very small and has very few frills, you will be happy with the iRock!
I'm no stranger to MP3 players. I started using a first generation RCA MP3 player a few years ago but it couldn't hold more than an hour of music. As a die-hard Apple fan, I was eyeing the iPod longingly when I purchased my iMac, figuring it would be the ultimate accessory.
But when I truly thought about it, I realized that what I need is not gigabytes of music at my fingertips. I use MP3 players exclusively for working out and hanging around while waiting for other things. I didn't need a high-end player with monstrous capacity. I needed a simple, humble, lightweight MP3 player that came at a low enough price point so if it was ever destroyed or stolen, I wouldn't feel that I'd lost a great deal.
Basically, just as people have beater cars, I wanted a beater MP3 player.
Over the holidays I found the iRock 530 on sale at Costco. I immediately purchased one for myself, and a week later, purchased one for my husband as his Christmas gift.
Features and Packaging
The iRock 530 comes with 128MB of onboard RAM and is expandable up to 256MB of RAM with the addition of a SmartMedia card. I'm not impressed with the SmartMedia expansion capabilities - more on that towards the end of the review.
The iRock also comes with a single AAA battery. The unit plays for 8-10 hours on a single AAA, which is a very nice feature, as compared to other MP3 players that either require multiple batteries, or specialized rechargeable batteries. I always have at least two spare batteries in my gym bag and purse and never find myself stranded without music.
The player is packaged inside standard manufacturer's bubble plastic - the hard kind that has to be cut open with a knife or scissors and is very annoying. It also comes with a CD of installation software, a USB cable, some flimsy instructions, and a wrist strap.
The wrist strap isn't suitable for the kinds of tasks I planned on putting my iRock through so I visited www.myirock.com, the iRock website, and purchased a neoprene case, strap and belt clip combo for about $15. I've been very satisfied with the functionality of the case, and it arrived within just a few days of my order.
I also replaced the rather flimsy earbuds within a week of purchasing the player. I bought a set of Sony over-the-ear fitted earbuds and find that they are much more stable and less painful on my ears than the included earbuds. They cost about $10, bringing the out-of-pocket "extras" to make this MP3 player comfortable to $25 (the case and the new earphones).
Using the iRock!
Using the iRock couldn't be simpler. From within Windows Media Player, or iTunes, you can simply drag and drop MP3s over to your iRock's drive, provided that your iRock is plugged in via the USB port and the iRock software has been installed on your computer. A nice feature of the iRock is that it is powered by the USB connection as soon as you plug it in, so it's very seamless and you don't have to worry about powering it up or down to transfer songs onto it.
The LCD display is extremely compact, and isn't backlit. This may be a problem for some, but I've never had an MP3 player with backlighting so it's not an issue for me. Plus, backlit displays tend to drain batteries quicker, and anything that prolongs the battery life is fine by me.
Another problem with the display is that it doesn't actually display the names of the songs, or the names of the MP3 files, that are playing. I miss this from my old player, but I can't imagine where there would be room in the display for that kind of information.
This player is about the size of two matchbooks stacked on top of each other, and is easily one-third the size of my previous player. It does manage to convey a great deal of information in such a small space, including the track number, sound settings, whether it's on repeat, and how far into the song it has played. Another nice feature of the player is that there's a button you can move over on top of the player to "freeze" your settings so you don't accidentally jog forward to the next track or change your volume or sound settings as you're working out.
Speaking of "jogging" forward, I really like the jog button on the side which is used to turn the player on, off, and move forward and backwards through the song list. It's very easy to reach and use, even when I'm running at top speed on the treadmill.
SmartMedia Issues
I found that using a SmartMedia card with my iRock wasn't nearly as intuitive as I had hoped. I put in a formatted 128MB SmartMedia card and was only able to drop about 16MB of songs onto the card. I searched the iRock website for a phone number or other support contact information and came up only with a form to fill out for support via e-mail.
About three weeks after I submitted my request I received a response from support, stating that they had no idea why I wasn't able to fit more music on my SmartMedia card. They included a utility to reformat the card specifically for the iRock.
Unfortunately, the utility is a Windows-based utility and my primary home computer is an iMac. I haven't found time yet to set up all of the software on my husband's XP machine in his office, so I haven't yet been able to use the expandable SmartMedia memory on my player.
Aside from this one problem, which I'd categorize as Fairly Annoying, the MP3 player has been really great and is everything I could want in a beater MP3 player. I use it at the gym, or on the subway when I have to go into the city a few times a week. I've even found myself rockin' out to it while in line at the DMV.
Warranty Details
The iRock! comes with a 90 day limited warranty. First International Digital, the manufacturers of the iRock player, have an RMA process that you have to follow for repair or replacement of your iRock if there are problems.
Full warranty details may be found on their website at:
http://www.myirock.com/cservice/fidwarranty.htm
It Takes a Licking...
As I predicted it would, the iRock! has found itself in a few less-than ideal situations that I'm very glad I never had to subject a high-end MP3 player to. The neoprene casing has been soaked in the rain while I jogged, the player has fallen to the ground off the treadmill stand while I was running, and it's sat in my car for hours on end during both roasting hot and freezing cold days. What's most important to me is not the extra 128MB of memory that I'm not yet able to get to work, but that it still plays as well as ever in spite of being subjected to some pretty terrible conditions.
Summary
The iRock! is a sturdy, cheap little player. At an almost $100 price point, it's one of the cheapest, smallest players out there. It has some definite drawbacks: The quality of technical support is poor, you can't see the names of the song tracks playing, and the SmartMedia support leaves something to be desired in my experience. But you get what you pay for, and if you want an inexpensive MP3 player that's very small and has very few frills, you will be happy with the iRock!
