iRiver iMP-1100… a CD-player?
By Ryan Block 
posted September 7th 2004 3:25PM
posted September 7th 2004 3:25PM
We warned you earlier this year that iRiver would be releasing a medallion-style media player, their iMP-1100. But it being a CD player, we think it's going to be a pretty hard sell now that it's finally on its way to America. This thing may go underground with the budget crowd, but we can't help but already sense the world of hurt this thing's going to experience once it hits the shelves: it's got a measly 2-inch 260k color LCD screen, but it does play up to 6 hours of video on its LiIon battery (not that it matters when you'll be lucky to get a couple of hours of video on a CD). Seriously, you have to wonder why they didn't just make the thing a DVD player in the first place; for $280 US, they definitely should have.
'Concept' is not in their vocabulary.
It seems like everything they think up goes to production.
Wait, we love the new Archos Gmini400, but we hate this? Seems to me that if this thing can play video burned on a CD, it's pretty close to the Gmini. Sure it doesn't have 20 gigs, but it's got unlimited removable media. It would be best if it played DVD-R(W) but even without that it's pretty cool. As primarily a CD-MP3 player with the added option of showing DIVX, I think it'll be a great device (assuming that it costs around $150).
I don't get why they don't make MP3-CD players that actually read DVDs so we could store 5 gigs on one disc. This would come especially in handy in the car.
If it were cheaper, this would go over really well in Asian markets. The DVD is too expensive for most people, so the dominant format is the VCD.