My quick I5 review

[Scotty Mac]

Well most of us know that the I5 is basically the best flash player there is. I've been very happy with it. There are just a couple things that I've been less than thrilled about it.

1. Its much bigger than i'd relized. Granted its still very small, its like 4 times the size of the creative muvo micro, and its more expensive. So if you're really interested in the smallest player you can get, this is not it.

2. Also the radio reception is pretty bad. But people say this about most flash players. If you don't live in the city with radio towers close by, don't expect much use of the tuner.

3. One last thing, I still haven't gotten around to getting new headphones, and these do suck. While they are lacking on sound quality, its more than just that. The buds don't fit well in my ears, even though I hvae somewhat big ears they are still too big. Also the end of the cord where it plugs in has pulled away from the plastic, so i ducktaped it.

Really the first one is the only thing I've wished I realized before purchasing. The player is still small enough for everything except maybe walking around without noticing it in your pocket, for that you might need the creative muvo micro. The second two don't really matter too much unless you're super picky. And even with those I don't know if I would have chosen a different player over the I5.

As far as good things, bascially its all been good. I took it snowboarding and it was fine. Running its been fine (except headphones fall out). Walking around its been great. Studying, class, you name it.

Display: So good, I'd say best in its class for the size

Controls: very easy, the operating system is good as well

Battery Life: I swear I must have gotten 15 hours on that last set, so I've been very happy with this too.

Compared to U2, G3: While the G3's battery life might be nice, I'm glad I got the I5. Its lighter, more stylish, bigger screen, and the battery life really isn't too bad. I'd definetly recommend over U2, its very nice to be snowboarding for a few days and not have to worry about plugging it in, just with replacing the batteries. I don't always have access to power outlets, so this is much better. Not to mention replacing the rechargable battery when it dies.

Buying from suntec: very positive experience

I don't know what else, ask me if you have a question about something. I jsut wrote this up becuase I've been meaning to do a more complete review, but I've been very busy. And right now I'm just putting off doing homework for a bit so I figured this would be good. I'll proabably update, organize it more, when i get some more time.

[bya]

Hey, I was just curious about one thing. Is there a limit on how much folders/sub folders youc an have in the I5?

Oh yeah, and when you plug the usb cable to your computer, is it better to plug it while the computer is off/ or it doesn't matter?

[noac]

Just want to comment that I, note here that I respect others opinions, dont agree with Scotty Mac. I have bought both both n200 and i5.

1)The size of this player is large, I would say. Too big? Not at all. But if you want the screensize and AAA battery you cant do much better. Its no problem around my neck nor in my pocket.

n200 is 28,5 cm2
i5 is 48,4 cm2

i5 is 59% bigger, not 400%.

2) I find the radio reception very good, however is the cord to your phones is hanging loose it will effect the reception if you move about. If you have it under a jacket or just so it doesnt wave I have found the reception wont either.

3) The phones leak sound, so it will annoy anyone next to you. They are big and the design divide ppl into more or less to camps, thet are either ugly as hell or the best looking ones out there. Im leaning towards ugly as hell.

They arent made for everyone in fit either. Some say the fit like gloves other would agree with Scotty Mac. I would too, however I think they fit better and better, maybe they have carved room in my ears?They do work for running for me, when I use the armband.

Anyway I think they sound great, considering they come with the package. Id say better than the Sennheisers that come with iRIVER, that is if you arent shooting for best bass and in that case buy koss the plug or something.

As I have said before, if you are to buy and comparing i5 and n200, buy the n200. However I would not do such a thing and neither would most users on this forum, Id like to think.

Bya:

I havent found any limit to subfolders, however I read some post about someone having problems when using 238 folders or something like that.

About usb plug, just make sure that you dont turn the computer off when the player is connected. Just for safety reasons, dont know if it hurts the i5, but its a common problem with many daps.

[zaphanathpaneah]

Try etymotic ear phones. they are the best. They don't leak and they are so light you forgoet you have them on.

[IpaqMan]

I bought the N200 512mb for playing my Audible tracks and the Iaudio 5 for playing audiobooks and music. The N200 is a very small and light player, but it does not compare to the Iaudio 5 in GUI, functionality, and style.

[JonathanC]

To noac, IpaqMan and all other who got both N200 and I5,

Which mp3 player record voice better (at the best sampling rate / frequency settings that they got)?

Thanks!

[noac]

Ill get back to you on that. I have given the n200 to my friend.

[IpaqMan]

The N200 does not have any options for voice recording. It only records at 8k wav ms adpcm. The I5 has all of the same options that line-in recording has. The I5 also has mic volume control.

The N200 seems to have a higher gain when recording quiet sounds than the Iaudio 5. However, the I5 has the better encoding rate.

In the final analysis, both voice recordings were legible. The I5 at 11k was better sounding than the 8k N200 recording.

The waveforms in SoundForge looked different. The N200 voice waveform was mostly below the mid-line. The I5 waveform was "normal", a little above and a little below in a balanced form.

For fun, I compared to an Olympus DS-2200 digital voice recorder. The Olympus wins hands down: louder and clearer.

[Scotty Mac]

couple things...i think i said that I5 out does the n200 in functionality, screen size, etc. And about that 59%...assuming your volumes are correct, it looks to me that the I5 is 70% bigger, or 170% percent of the N200, that's not too far from 400%. But yes i was exagerating.

I'm glad you get good FM reception, when I'm in the city its fine but at home when i'm like 30 minutes from the nearest city its very limited.

Anyway the I5 rocks. I did tons of research, and I'm still very happy with it. My negative points were obviously very picky and not all that important to most people.

And no i have found no limit to folders and subfolder creation.

[JonathanC]

I'm sorry, Scotty Mac, for side-tracking your post.

Thanks to noac, and IpaqMan for your input. I considered N200 also before buying I5. My main concern was and still is voice recording for class lectures. I'm glad to hear that I5's voice recording is better

hmm... if only I5 got a stereo microphone, it might beat Olympus DS-2200

[noac]

Im not satisfied with the recordings I do in class. If you leave the recorder near the lecturer it works very good. However If I sit 5 meters away I have to push the voice in volume to max. If I want to listen to it later Ill have to push the volume up to 35. If I listen on my computer using speakers Ill have to use a wave program to crank the volume up.

It might be the plastic casing that makes it a lesser recording. Im still disappointed at this since I heard i4 and u2 recordings claiming to be 10 meters away and getting very high and clear recordings.

Though I would say the i5 is better than the n200.

i5 works great for dictation and as I said it works good if you keep it close to the lecturer. For me it aint as good from a distance as I expected. With the volume set to 10 and the person next to you coughs or moves his chair it kills you when you listen to it later.

[Erasure4ever]

The I5 has a mic gain adjustment AND a voice activation adjustment.

[IpaqMan]

Originally Posted by JonathanC

hmm... if only I5 got a stereo microphone, it might beat Olympus DS-2200

No way!!! The I5 is designed for dictation. It will record quiet sounds but the recordings will need to be normalized in sound level to be useable. For an improved sound, add a pre-amp and a zoom style mic to record a lecturer.

I have been looking high and low for a good digital voice recorder for church and class. My preference is the DS2200 and the Sony MZ-NH1 Hi-MD recorder. The NH1 does a great job of making "perfect" recordings but the process of getting the audio is tedious with using Sonic Stage, Wave Convertor, and MP3 encoding. The DS2200 can encode to 64K WMA stereo format. It is excellent for its size and convenience.

Other voice recorders muffle the audio or add noticeable artifacts like the Sony voice codec or the Olympus DSS codec. WMA is great for voice.

BTW, I have an old CW200 and it also had some problems recording distant or quiet sounds.

[JonathanC]

Originally Posted by noac

Ill have to use a wave program to crank the volume up.

What program do you use? I used Audacity. But with 128MB ram, the program cannot open the whole ~2-3 hrs mp3 file.

Originally Posted by noac

With the volume set to 10 and the person next to you coughs or moves his chair it kills you when you listen to it later.

Totally agree. I was using Sony walkman before, this is my first mp3 player. Having research through forums, I think this is the best for ~$120 range. I looked at, but didn't dig deep in, minidisc and professional recorders too, but they are too expensive for me, >$300, and too big.
well, I5's voice recording is better than the walkman's I got

Originally Posted by IpaqMan

No way!!! The I5 is designed for dictation. It will record quiet sounds but the recordings will need to be normalized in sound level to be useable. For an improved sound, add a pre-amp and a zoom style mic to record a lecturer.

Thank you for correcting me, I learn more
Is WMA the best format to record voice? Can people really hear the difference between mp3 and WMA?

[Scotty Mac]

Originally Posted by JonathanC

I'm sorry, Scotty Mac, for side-tracking your post.

No worries man, the post is for people to discuss the I5, so its more than fine.

I don't know all that much about voice recording, but i've read the iriver players are some of the best for it. Might be worth looking at if that's one of the main things you're going to use it for.