iriver's W7 portable media player gets reviewed

Yeah, we had our fun just toying with the W7 at iriver's CES booth earlier this year, but the lucky souls at Pocketables were able to secure one long enough to write up a full-blown review. Straight out of the packaging, critics found the design to be attractive enough, albeit a tad chunky; particularly with this device, we'd say opinions on sexiness will vary widely depending on what floats your boat. Nevertheless, reviewers found the touch panel easy enough to navigate, and thankfully, the perceived audio quality was dubbed "great." Those interested in the video capabilities will be delighted to know that all was well on that front too, as the slew of welcome extras (FM tuner, text viewer, e-dictionary, etc.) were all praised. Now, if only this critter would show up in America, we'd have yet another solid choice when it comes to pocket-friendly media players.

[Thanks, Jenn]

[james @ Apr 14th 2008 2:54PM]

That kind of resembles a Newton.

[macserv @ Apr 14th 2008 2:57PM]

Ahhh, ya beat me to it. Always nice to be reminded of my faithful Newton MP2100. I only stopped using it when I got my iPhone.

[jollyllama @ Apr 14th 2008 2:59PM]

Seriously.

[compuguy1088 @ Apr 14th 2008 6:49PM]

That was exactly what I was thinking when I saw that!

[Esat Dedezade @ Apr 14th 2008 2:55PM]

If you removed and sold the embedded pearl that came with it the product would pay for itself!

[Mark @ Apr 14th 2008 2:58PM]

where's my high-gloss/fingerprint magnet plastic?

[Esat Dedezade @ Apr 14th 2008 3:01PM]

Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Portable

And here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipod

Hope that helps :)

[dlheritage @ Apr 15th 2008 3:33PM]

ha - you so funny - you comments best eva

[SFO Kevin @ Apr 14th 2008 3:15PM]

That makes a Zune look good...

[amdforever @ Apr 14th 2008 3:17PM]

2001 called: they want their MP3 player back.

[Bryan Law @ Apr 14th 2008 3:20PM]

1993 Called: They want their PDA back.

[Esat Dedezade @ Apr 14th 2008 3:35PM]

The department of over used 'put downs' called. The're limiting the use of "*insert year* called....." put downs to one per article. There quota won't allow them any more than that.

You know what its like, too many levels of management, pressure from the 'yo mamma' insult department next door and stuff cuts due to budget limitations.

Damn, I'm on fire today. High five! *looks around, only to find out there's no one*

I really need to get back to studying for my exams :(

[Taylor @ Apr 14th 2008 4:13PM]

The ministry of silly walks called, they're suing "The department of over used 'put downs'" for having a sillier name.
Also, 1904 called, they want their flying machine back. I told them i didn't have it, but they didn't believe me. I mean really, this is a PMP, not a flying machine, it doesn't look anything like a flying machine. But then again, they didn't have PMPs in 1904, so maybe that's where the confusion came from? Honestly i was more interested in how the hell i got a call from 1904. I mean, i think they had telephones then, but why did they call me? I thought it was weird too.
Also, Ancient Egypt called. They tried to curse me for writing such a ridiculous post, but i hung up on them... Is that bad? I gotta get a new phone, time-shifting my Tivo content is one thing, but this is ridiculous...
-Taylor

[Esat Dedezade @ Apr 14th 2008 4:24PM]

Say whaaaat?

Kudos points for any fellow engadgeteers who seem to recognize a string of very similar posts from yesterday :)

[anonymouspimp @ Apr 14th 2008 3:20PM]

Wow, I get to be disappointed with iRiver twice in one day. What a treat...

[Mike Bertolino @ Apr 14th 2008 6:00PM]

i didn't know retro could apply to gadgets.

[bobartig @ Apr 14th 2008 7:06PM]

It even has the pull-out stylus like a Palm/Newton. I like how they show it pictured next to "SanDisk Sansa View, Samsung P2, Archos 405, and Samsung S5", because that really doesn't help much.

[mikeobrien @ Apr 14th 2008 8:48PM]

Add me to the list of people who think it looks like a Newton. Not only that, it looks like the original MessagePad 100, the first Newton ever sold. Also the clunkiest-looking.

The 2100 could do black-and-white video, just barely. With this thing's looks, one sort of expects equally bad video and sound (though for the day the Newton's abilities were remarkable, sort of like the dancing dog, you know: "The amazing thing is not that it does it badly, but that it does it at all..."). I'm sure this isn't the gut reaction the iRiver people were looking for.

[Xepol @ Apr 15th 2008 1:06AM]

Thanks, but I'll make due with my YP-P2 at least until the W10 finally drops on this continent (assuming it ever does...)

[Denny @ Apr 15th 2008 11:04PM]

ummmm... it looks like an old Apple Newton :-P way to keep up with the times, iriver!

[Janet @ Apr 20th 2008 10:26AM]

If it had some purple in it, I'd confuse it for a Sidekick Slide.