iPod

Cd(numerical technology) is bad compared to vynil or tape (analogical)

...and  MP3 is even worst than CD!

I agree

Vynil is the best

But you have to have a good turntable with good cartridge

have they made any players where you can port plugins across from?

on the vaguely related subject of software mp3 players, does anybody use 1by1? it supports winamp plugins and is absolutely tiny, and you don't need to create playlists, and you can skip tracks without activating the interface. http://www.mpesch3.de/ (it doesn't look too pretty though...)

I'm not sure if Dusanyu is still visiting these forums but, if you are, thank you for your post mentioning the iRiver H140 40 GB multi-codec player. I finally got one today and it's the business. I would never have known about this 'improved iPod' had it not been for this forum.

I did quite a bit of research and almost all the reviews I read rated the iRiver player over the iPod. Since our original posts, iRiver launched the colour-screen H320 and H340 players which also display photos and can be connected directly to digital cameras as well (and recently Apple followed suit with the photo iPod). But the colour-screen versions are more expensive and, as I am just interested in a player for music, I went for the H140.

So far I've just been playing around with the H140 to get the hang of it, but first impressions are very positive. I've only ripped about 20 CDs to it so far, but my intention is put my entire collection of several hundred CDs onto it. I use Windows Media Player 10 to rip a CD, and then just drag the folder across to the player (Windows sees it as an external hard disk) and use the Manager software to update the index on the player. It's a simple and quick process now I've got the hang of it.

The iRiver manual is not particularly good and it takes a little while to fathom the controls. But, like most things, once you are used to them, it's easy. There are loads of facilities in the player that I have still to learn how to use, though.

Overall, a 5-star product. The sound quality of the music via a decent pair of earphones is very good indeed.

The H140 is not as sexy looking as the iPod, and the controls do not appear to be as ergonomic as the iPod's. The newer iRiver H320 and H340 seem to have addressed the looks issue, but the iPod is still the best looking player. I'm more interested in sound quality and functionality, so I can happily live with the H140.

Hi goose,

I'm not sure what you mean by "plug-ins". The iRiver H series players are firmware upgradable, if that's what you meant. I have already downloaded and installed the latest version of the firmware for my H140 player. If, by "plug-in", you mean something else, have a look at the iRiver site (http://www.iriver.com) as it might answer your question.