iriver E100 hands-on

We just got a special surprise on our doorstep this afternoon in the form of an E100 from iriver. You've already seen the review, so we won't bore you with a full rehash, but suffice it to say that this thing is well built but feels suspiciously lightweight -- not to mention inexplicably thick. The software is all nice and responsive, though it takes a bit of getting used to the d-click interface, and while you're certainly not going to get much mileage out of the built-in speaker, it is a nice touch. The screen is great straight on, but suffers from some viewing angle woes. We really can't fault the player for much, but there's nothing too compelling here to make us leave any members of our current assortment of DAPs. Video is after the break.

Gallery: iriver E100 hands-on

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[Abuzar @ Apr 4th 2008 7:53PM]

Oooh PINK! no homo lol

[any1 @ Apr 4th 2008 8:33PM]

What a horrid clanking sound those keys make

[Jason @ Apr 4th 2008 8:14PM]

Please tell me it wasn't actually 4.45am when you were toying with this thing. And I thought I had a gadget addiction...

[AJ in the East Bay @ Apr 4th 2008 8:34PM]

Man, I'm not very picky or sensitive, but those click sounds were annoying me. Hopefully it's because of the quiet room where the video was shot.

[AJ in the East Bay @ Apr 4th 2008 8:35PM]

Gah! Any1 beat me to it...

[trancer @ Apr 4th 2008 8:38PM]

sucks that the radio requires the earphones to be plugged in.
you think they could fit it in that big box.

[ssuk @ Apr 5th 2008 6:33AM]

Ironic, since you actually get better reception from the radio if you move the device around rather than the headphones... I'm pretty sure you don't NEED the headphones to play the radio, but it requires you to for some strange reason.

[0megapart!cle @ Apr 4th 2008 9:10PM]

Where else are they going to fit the antenna? I assume you wouldn't prefer a long cord or traditional antenna pole making this thing already clunkier than it already is.

You have to wonder what the hell companies are thinking to come out with a device with such a backward interface in 2008. After the iPod, the iPod Touch, even the P2, going to a device with an ancient four way arrow pad as the sole interface is just not going to cut it in the modern marketplace in America. I can't imagine it doing well abroad, where there are even more choices.

[fred @ Apr 4th 2008 10:05PM]

"You have to wonder what the hell companies are thinking to come out with a device with such a backward interface in 2008. After the iPod, the iPod Touch, even the P2, going to a device with an ancient four way arrow pad as the sole interface is just not going to cut it in the modern marketplace in America."

Outside of a supposed need to do away with physical controls because some other companies did so on certain models, why would you assume this?

[Steffen Jobbs @ Apr 4th 2008 11:42PM]

That iRiver is really old school. What the heck is a D-click interface.? All I see is a square button. Is it a rocker switch of some kind? Anyway, I'm sure such a player is out of date by now. Of course if it's really cheap, then it's OK. Seems strange to have such tiny speakers built into a player since it wouldn't give much of a stereo effect. I guess such a device is pretty cool for places like China and India. I doubt if it would sell well in the US.

[HalfJoey @ Apr 4th 2008 11:44PM]

This reminds me of the first Zune.

[itsnotabigtruck @ Apr 5th 2008 12:13AM]

This looks OK, but at those prices, the flash Zunes do everything it can and more.

[catachip @ Apr 5th 2008 12:52AM]

I wish the clicking sounds it made were a little louder. I wasn't sure when he was pressing on the archaic D pad to move through the menus.

[tekdroid @ Apr 5th 2008 1:27AM]

That
Pictures > Texts > FM Radio > Recordings > File Manager > Settings > Music > > Pictures

initial menu is the type of menu that would drive me nuts.

Here we have a big enough screen that can show multiple items at once which you can get to with a few QUICK clicks, but instead we have one item and huge icon showing at a time, and you only know what you get once you go through them all rather than a quick glance and getting to it far more quickly with rapid clicks.

As far as I'm concerned, on paper at least, FLAC http://flac.sourceforge.net and Ogg Vorbis support http://www.vorbis.com are the real unique-ish aspects of the E100, along with the removable flash card for more storage.

[mortzz @ Apr 16th 2008 1:02AM]

CLICK CLICK CLICK
click click click
CLICK CLICK CLICK
That is unforgivable, especially from such an ugly device.

[ssuk @ Apr 5th 2008 6:49AM]

Those worrying about the clicking, don't worry. That clicking isn't as half as bad in real life as it is in this video. The clicking is soft, where as in the video it is louder and harder.

I actually have the device and it's great. Firmware 1.04 removes all the nags you'll initially have with the device, like unresponsive menus, random crashes and overall crapiness.
There are still some things to iron out, like the inability to change music track while viewing pictures or reading e-books. They SHOULD make it so if you hold down the +/- volume keys for a while, it changes track back/forward. Holding down this key is useless normally, since rapidly tapping the +/- buttons is much quicker than holding down the button to adjust the volume.
Also, there's no way to stop the device's screen turning off. And when the screen goes off, you have to press a key to turn the screen back on... Then you have to press the same button to make the normal functionality of the key work. It should continue to do the action instead of turning every key into a 'wake up' button.

Not a perfect device, I'll admit. It's maybe a bit bigger than it should have been, the speakers aren't quite as loud as you'd want, the SD Micro memory expansion isn't integrateable... Which is a bad saddening but hopefully something iriver will fix in a future firmware. But I like the device, it has fairly good battery mileage, easy to use and overall a solid device. Make of it what you will, but use it before you start knocking it, it's a nice device.

[Jason @ Apr 5th 2008 9:41AM]

This player looked nice when I first heard about it, but the reviews I've read have been decidedly unenthusiastic, too bad

[Chris @ Apr 5th 2008 10:03AM]

Shameless Zune ripoff

[Ypoknons @ Apr 5th 2008 3:48PM]

It's a budget device after all, going after the low-end of the market. The Clix 2 still fills the higher end.