The innovative iMP-150CK comes stacked to the gills with features like broad format compatibility, prebuffering, antiskip protection, firmware upgradability, graphic LCD with multi-language display, and packet-write format readability so the player can double as a hard drive extension (using data CD-RWs).
The ChromeX supports music CDs, homemade CD-Rs and CD-RWs with MP3, Windows Media Audio (WMA), and Microsoft's Advanced Systems Format (ASF). New formats such as AAC, mp3PRO, and so on can be supported in the future through a simple firmware upgrade. The iMP-150CK also supports Winamp playlists as long as they use the file extension .m3u (a maximum of 20 lists).
The player provides 40 seconds of skip protection for conventional audio CDs, 120 seconds for MP3 (44.1 kHz, 128 Kbps standard), and 240 seconds for WMA (44.1 kHz, 64 Kbps). By applying iRiver's own special algorithm, the iMP-150CK provides better performance against shock than standard antiskip algorithms. At the same time, iRiver maximizes protection at the beginning of songs through prebuffering.
The iMP-150CK comes with a graphic LCD that supports multiple languages, including English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and other alphabet-oriented fonts; Korean; Japanese (katakana, hiragana, and kanji); and others--a total of 35 languages. With MP3 (128 Kbps) files, the iMP-150 can play for 16 hours on two AA batteries (not included).
1 What I Was Searching For
I was looking for a disc MP3 player that could connect to my home stereo and give me quality sound. One that would play my high bit-rate music files and my old time radio mp3s. The Chromex player also plays regular and "home Burned" cds. In the month I've owned it it has worked perfectly. It was a little hard to understand the instructions. There are many functions and settings to familiarize yourself with. The manual seems like it was translated instead of being written by an English speaking tech writer. But you mastered the computer, you'll get this too. Want a great CD style MP3 player? Look no further.
2 This is a GREAT product!
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I really wanted to buy an iPod; I mean, to have the capability of carrying around thousands of selections in the palm of my hand! But then I realized there weren't thousands of songs I want to carry around, just hundreds. After all, every time I buy a CD, I'm lucky if there're more than a couple of songs I really want. Why would I want to spend time ripping, transferring, and storing songs I probably won't ever listen to? Anyway, I just couldn't get myself to spend many hundreds for an iPod.
So, I bought this little gem and it's perfect for my use. I've managed to put about 400 songs in WMA format (at 64kbps) on a 80 min (700MB) CD-R that sound just great and there's still some room to spare. They're all songs I want to hear. I also put a half dozen or so playlists on this CD, since this device handles up to 20 playlists. If I want more, I'll burn another CD-R with 400 more. It's no big deal to carry around a couple CDs with the player.
This device has flawlessly played audio CD's, CD-R's (70 & 80 min), and CD-RW's. I used both MP3 (at 128k) and WMA (at 32k and 64k to really save space).
At first, on reading the manual, I thought that I'd never remember all the combinations of the controls. You see, all of the buttons and jog controls serve 2 or 3 purposes depending on the mode you're in. But with actual use, I found they're not only very logically assigned, but that typically you'll setup configurations one time and rarely or never change them again. Things like backlight, contrast, settings for skip speed (fast forward/reverse speed) and many others are not things you'll change often if ever.
I saw a criticism of this device that it lacks a bass boost - not true. Several play modes can be toggled, including an enhanced bass response; additionally, you can setup your own custom playback response called "User Eq" and crank up the bass just as far as you want.
Upgrading the firmware couldn't be easier. Put the firmware update file onto a CD-R or CD-RW (I recommend CD-RW so it can be erased and reused afterward), load it into the machine, hit Play, it updates itself and switches off; just remove the disk and you're done.
Sound quality is first rate. Skipping has not been a problem. And although I didn't measure it precisely, battery life has been amazing. I played MP3's and WMA's for many hours on a set of pair of AA batteries, although I understand battery time with audio CDs is considerably less. The remote is very convenient and duplicates the thorough control of the main unit.
I have only 1 criticism: The earbud phones supplied (I don't like earbuds anyway) are uneven in cord length; that is to say, there's maybe one foot of slack on the left phone and two feet on the right phone. This is supposedly to allow you to keep the connecting cord in the back of your neck, but it just drove me nuts; I used other phones which I like better, and would have anyway.
This is a GREAT device. I got what I want for my needs and for many hundreds less than the iPod over which I was drooling. I chose wisely.
3 A Good Buy!
I bought this unit for my car, but it is so cool that I take it to the office too. Downloading the software is easy and the manual is straightforward. This is a lot more than just a CD player and the listener options a very cool. It looks nice and has a solid feel. The sound is what its all about and although I'm no expert, this unit delivers true quality audio. The equalizer allows you to adjust the tone to your liking. I've listened to Regular CDs and CD-Rs and both sound great. I haven't gone running with this unit(yet) but it seems to handle jostling and bumping without skipping or stopping. Even though I didn't buy this with the thought of running with it, I am tempted to give it a try.
Downsides are:
The car cassette is noisier than it should be, someone somewhere has to have solved this problem by now.
I'm not a huge fan of ear bud style headphones so I just ordered Sennheiser PMX 60 headphones. Of course when I bought the unit, I had no intention of listening to it anywhere other than in my car so the headphones weren't a concern.
If you are on a budget, I recommend the ChromeX. If cost is not a huge concern then take a look at the whole iRiver line.
4 Just Kickass!!
This is an awesome player for the price it comes! I just got it day-before yesterday! I had a choice between the iMP-150 and a Rio, but I decided I ould buy this as it came with more features at a lower price. The blue backlight, the erogonomic remote control with easy-to-use jog buttons, the colours(Bloac+Silver/Metallic Grey+Silver) just added to the features of the power-packed gadget. It has its own programming functions in which you can change a lot of data on the CD-R from within the player! The sound is crystal clear and the equalizers(you can make your own as well) are amazing. However the Bass Boost didn't make a lot of difference. The anti-skip stays to its word. However the songs are sorted according to filename(if you don't download the playlist as such, that is). The firmware upgrade, where you can upgrade features is the icing on the cake!
5 Pleased As Punch
Great looks! Great Sound! Great Features! A great buy. The firmware upgrade feature is a great customer service tool. Performed my first upgrade with no problems. Be sure to burn your cd as data and not music. The upgrade went without a hitch. MP3's play perfectly. Not one complaint. Go for it.
6 MP3 Player with RICH features
Recently bought this MP3 Player. Here is the summary of features bundled in this player.
Pros:
1. Auto Resume feature (Remembers upto 10 CDs, according to the manual)
2. Navigation by Folder as well as navigation by track (+10 OR -10)
3. ID3 Tag Support
4. Car Kit
5. Wired Remote
6. Upgradable firmware (Download and install upgrades)
7. Progressive Scan
8. Online manual in .pdf format
9. Equalizer (Preset as well as Customizable)
10. Very good Audio Quality (TREBLE and nice Stereo effects)
11. Displays Frequency of songs along with Waves !
12. Rich and User friendly Menu options
Cons:
1. Slightly heavier, but that is not a problem for me.
2. Wish there is a BASS Boost !!
3. No AC Adapter (120V - 4.5V)
4. No Built-in Charging facility
Bottom Line:
Really enjoy this player for the features I got with the price I paid
7 Superior quality for less.
I'm very proud to say that this player has been excellent. The technical support staff is responsible and very helpful. While it was being shipped I sent them an e-mail about information about the firmware upgrades and they replied within 30 mins. I myself work for technical support and we are not as efficient as these guys, kudos to Raul Montes at tech support; he really helped out. After doing all the upgrades I found there to be no problems at all. Although I did come accross something, the snake game has to be played from the remote control after performing all the upgrades. Awesome savings for a superior product.
8 Keep looking!
3 attempts made to upgrade the firmware, to no avail, each time a 'no disk' message was received (we burned the firmware download 3 separate times using 3 different computers & burners). It would NOT play MP3 files - I have disks full of MP3s and received 'no disk' with good portion of them (they do play fine elsewhere). Also, it drained two AA batteries after only an hour and a half of use - I use rechargeables, but that's ridiculous. It's possible I received a defective product but I'm not going to waste the time trying out another one.
9 Great product for the price - I take it everywhere
I have had this player for about 10 months now and I love it. I use it daily in my car and take it with me on business trips. Battery life is OK with regular CDs and excellent with MP3 CDs. One of the reasons I originally bought this instead of the Slim-X is because I can use AA sized NiMh rechargable batteries. I bring along my recharger and AA batteries for this and my digital camera. You can find a charger and batteries on sale for about $15 - $20 and up depending on the charging time. Although the lid may seem "flimsy", the player has held up well despite many plane and car trips. I take it everywhere.
The sound quality is great, I have yet to find a disc that it won't play and the remote works fine. I love the remote volume control and I use the remote fast forward and reverse for language tapes in the car. I bought my wife the IMP-350 and we both love that as well. It's really a question of how much money you want to spend versus the features.
10 May be a cheap MP3 player....But BEWARE!!!
I was in a search for an MP3 player much like yourself when i saw that this product appeared to be the best buy. It's sound quality is great and visually it is nice. HOWEVER...if you are on anti-shock mode don't expect your batteries to last much over 3 hours. And on regular mode you are lucky with 5 hours. It is not at all cost affective if you look at how much batteries are these days. I had mine for 6 months when all of a sudden it just stopped working. I treated this thing like my baby because being in college the money doesntcome easy. IT JUST STOPPED WORKING. I'm not the only one i heard this happened to either. It is in your best intrest to look somewhere.
11 kiddie player
Yes, it has tons of features to fuss around with, but it is seriously lacking in the quality of sound. I gave it at least 2 stars because it would've been a really practical player if not for the ... sound. The sound is just sub par. I'm sending it back.
12 No Skipping, Reliable, All Formats!
I love this unit. Since I put it in my car 3 months ago I have enjoyed homemade CD's and regular CD's without a single skip. And I drive a Honda civic over back roads to work every day. The sound is tremendous and the little remote control unit clips close by so I can shut off the unit or move through selections as if I were adjusting my own radio. Whoever wrote it skips on regular CD's probably has the anti-skip buffering turned off because that simply does not happen. And now when I create CD's, I know every format is supported and the entire CD will play perfectly - hours and hours on a single CD! No glicthes, works in 0 temperatures and has been a real pleasure. Good product, great buy.
13 Can't find any faults
1.I got this player 4 months ago, it works great. I use it mostly in my car, and it doesn't skip.
2.The car kit also works perfect, although the wires clutter up your car a bit.
3.Some reviewers have said you need the iriver power adaptor, but i've tested mine with a number of universal adapters and all worked fine.
4.Battery life is good
5.Navigation is easy enough, although the screen seems a bit small at first.You get used to it. There's two scrolling options, neither of wich i'm very fond of, its too slow,no big problem though.
5.The firmware upgrades are great aswell, i've upgraded mine three times since I got it, with new added features each time, ex. it now sports a snake type game.
6.My only real problem with this player is that it seems very flimsy, especially the remote ... .
7.Sound and volume is very good, and the headphones are okay too.
There's no major problem with this player and I'd totally recommend it.
14 free stuff usually is the best
I may be a little biased since I won this cd/mp3 player from Blender magazine just by having my letter to the editor published. So thank you The Polyphonic Spree (why I wrote the letter) and Blender...
Now I find this player to be worthy enough to actually pay for as well as recieve for free. The user can easily navigate all menus with the cd player or remote, there are several options and you can even personalize the player with your name. I suggest you visit the iRiver site and download the caption editor, you can add lyrics to mp3s and the when you play that burned mp3 on the ChromeX your lyrics will scroll across it. The player is bulkier then most modern players but has many more features, I recommend setting the cd skip to 40 as opposed to the 10.
15 Not as good as expected
When I first bought this Cd/MP3 player I thought I was getting a great deal. Little did I know, now I find myself searching for a new Cd/MP3 player. There are a lot of good things about this also. With the headphones it comes with it has a very nice sound, the LCD is also very nice which makes it easy to navigate the hundred of songs you can put on one cd. The cons about this is when you are playing regular cd's it skip pretty easy, the battery life on a regular cd is very, very short, it is also very bulky. If all you are looking to do is play mp3 cd's then this is a good choice but if you are looking to play regular cd's I would go with a cd/mp3 player with a higher anti skip.
16 Works perfect
Bought this for travel porpouses. Works as a charm. With a cd of 125 mp3 songs, easy navigation and very good sound. Lots of functions.
