iriver's touchscreen Spinn gets priced for pre-order
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Jul 29th 2008 2:05AM
posted Jul 29th 2008 2:05AM
You read that title correctly, iriver's Spinn is apparently touchscreen (not D-Click as mentioned in the FCC leaked user manual) and features haptic feedback to boot. Now that it's officially spec'd on iriver's Korean site, we're also seeing a slightly degraded audio lifespan of 24-hours (not 27) and the apparent removal of the mini SD slot -- it's no longer mentioned in the specs and we don't see a suitable slot on any of the pictures. Otherwise, it's the same sleek slab of 10.7-mm thick metal and plastic sporting a 3.3-inch, 480 x 272 pixel AMOLED display, T-DMB TV, Bluetooth, and new analog SPINN Wheel we've seen kicking around since CES. Currently on pre-order for South Korea with the 4GB model fetching 259,000KRW (about $259) or 8GB for 299,000KRW (about $299). That's right, it maxes out with just 8GB of flash. Check the gallery while we all anxiously await iriver's international launch plans including the rumored August UK release.
[Via DAP Review, thanks Al]
So what does the spinner do?!
It appears to function like a scroll wheel on a computer mouse. What did I win?
You win a cookie! Cookies for all!
I miss my iRiver MP3 CD player when it first came out. My first mp3 player was a Rio MP3 CD player about.... 8 years ago? Ah... how time has pass and now I got a Cowon iAudio7. I'm just glad iRiver is making a come back.
whats haptic feedback? is that like a touchscreen that feels the electricity from your fingers and then sends some electricity back?
Thats kind of expensive, I normally like these kinds of players because you can add as much extra space as you want but if you can't, I'd rather get an ipod touch.
Oh and no more triple posting this time, sorry about that.
brilliant packaging
Is that Mr Bond?
if this thing has build quality like the clix, and the screen is just as good... might be a contender.
shame about the storage though.
Agreed. I gave a Clix 2 to my dad for his birthday. The screen is jaw-droppingly good, the best I've seen on any portable device. I sure wish Cowon would start offering AMOLED screens on some of their devices.
Double agreed. This thing is a beauty and may actually make me consider switching from iPod, except 8GB is way too stingy and not even a great deal at $299 (sorry, but it's not enough to match iPod on price and design, you need to beat them or you've got no chance). I guess it will all come down to the user interface.
if this had wifi i might buy.
Ok, hate to step on anyone's toes here, but why in the world would you buy the 8GB version of this if you could get the 8GB iPod Touch for the same price?
I just don't see an upside here... Same approx. battery life, memory, and other essentials, but the Touch has better resolution, the new App Store apps, and Wi-Fi!
This thing has bluetooth... that's about the only thing it has going for it.
FAIL
oh so did ya read that its a DMB player too??
your FAIL
Well, for one, its backside won't look scratched to hell in three seconds like that of the iPod Touch. Secondarily, it's not held down to iTunes and probably supports more file types. Lastly, it supports Bluetooth for those interested in wireless headphones. iRiver is also more notably for their sound quality unlike Apple's muddled offerings. The screen may be a tiny bit smaller and lower res. but it is probably very bright and vibrant, great for movies.
Look, if you're buying an MP3/PMP for video and music, then this seems like a decent device (as the device is INTENDED to be used for this). Your problem seems to be that you believe that lack of features in an MP3/PMP - that have nothing to do with video or audio playback - is a totally bad thing. The iPod Touch is undeniably not amazing at either really. Perhaps this is.
Of course, you're jumping on a product and calling it horrible when it hasn't even been released yet for public consumption.
Possibly because not everyone wants an iPod. Shocking, but true..
Hmm.. let's see...
- Much better sound quality
- Support for many more file types
- Brighter, more vibrant screen
- Bluetooth
- DMB
- FM radio
The only reason reason the screen on this is lower res is because it's narrower. 480x272 vs 480x320 on the ipod. This player is actually good at playing music and video, unlike the ipod that tries to hide its crappy sound and video quality by throwing in a bunch of completely irrelevant features.
Did your mother use that logic?
"Why buy condoms when pulling out is free?"
You get what you pay for and this may very well be worth the price given what others have already mentioned.
If it's like any of the other 2 iRiver players I own (an older IFP, and the Clix2) -- this thing is bound to be amazing.
Oh, and I bought them cause of Ogg support, sound quality, screen (it really is that good), and overall build quality. I have yet to break one, and I use it from running to everyday at work. So, it's at least getting 8 hours a day.
Not that I have anything against the SPINN; on the contrary, I'm intrigued by the efficient-looking interface. However, saying that one player is better than the other because of sound quality is a pointless argument unless you paid more money for your headphones and amplifier (yes, an external amplifier for the headphones) than you did for the player. The OEM headphones might have muddy sound, but not the players themselves.
In terms of sound quality, I don't think you can do worse than iPods. My little bro's 100$ Zen sounds much better than my 300$ iPod Touch (using same earphones). Audio track scanning and tracking were also much faster with the Zen. The sound on the iPod was so mediocre that I'm using my iPod only for audiobooks now.
Bravo, my friends! You managed to choose your argument in such a way that there is no way to prove either of us correct.
You see, when it comes to sound quality, there is absolutely no way to prove which is better. There are only people's personal opinions on the matter. I salute you all for sticking to the argument that has no factual proof going for it. Bravo!
P.S. Have you ever accidentally glanced upon an article about the App Store? Or that new thing called Wi-Fi? T-DMB is cool, but it just can't compete with full-blown internet in my opinion (which I reiterate, is all your argument is boils down to!).
An argument based upon personal opinion is pointless.
I don't like iPod Touches... =\
I see no use for Wi-fi really. I have a computer for that, and in most places, it's not like there's free Wi-fi everywhere.
The sound quality is not my friend.
There are no physical buttons.
I got a P2 for this reason. It was $50 less, with physical volume buttons, and a play/pause/power button, plus the nice touch screen, better sound quality, FM radio, a text reader, a few games (though not the greatest), a wonderful screen, and bluetooth, with a microphone.
Honestly, the ability to pair it with my cell phone has been amazing. I can dial from it, answer and end calls, and listen to music wirelessly (Not really a word but oh well).
Plus the dictionary is probably the most convenient thing ever.
I love the look of this iriver, and if it wasn't so expensive, I'd probably consider it. I wish it came in a larger size, I really miss having 30GB of storage. Then again, 32GB of flash storage is not common yet =\ and the harddrive players are slowly going out of date.
My friend has a clix, it's a lovely player.
I don't understand it either.
iPod Touch has the ability to run 3rd party apps, that leaves Spinn a mile away.
I'm still gonna wait for a clix3 to replace my clix2
This is the replacement for the clix 2. At least, that's what iriver was saying at CES.
I guess nobody cares about high-capacity mp3 players anymore. Looks nice though.
SPINN is so inferior.
It used 65000 color AMOLED! lol!
If it had upwards of 60gb worth of storage people would be in love with it.
Shame such great devices always lose out in one way or another.
Looks like ill be keeping my ipod classic for awhile yet.
sho shexy
do we really need another pmp crowding the market that doesn't even have Wifi
Hey i-sheep go shrivel up in a corner nobody needs/ wants your approval go give your approval to some other tech site link to C-net here www.cnet.com
On picture 2 of 9, have a look just under the finger, that looks like a covered slot, if not storage expansion, what could it be?
That's for the usb cable/charger.
Personally, i would prefer buying the Archos 605 WiFi for a little more ($50) and get 160GB instead of a mere 8GB.
But hey, thats just me!
I sold my archos 605 wifi since its a brick in your pocket, a good player but I don't want to feel like I'm carrying a portable hard drive in my pocket.
WHAT THE F i sent this in yesturday morning...
They don't really showcase the sides/bottom where all the ports are though, do they?
Very nice looking device & interface. I like the knob idea too, especially for radio tuning and volume control. ;)
Dammit iRiver why can't you make more than 8 gig models? The players are so nice but too small in capacity! =(
Looks decent, but kinda pricey, will have to look for it in stores.
@Mark hit it right on. You are not buying a personal organizer or mini computer, you're buying a PMP/MP3 player.
And you get top notch audio and video playback. The screen is OLED. Expensive to make since its not mass produced like LCDs.
I have the clix2 and it's an insanely high quality product. Fabulous audio playback. I don't buy an mp3 player to look at the pictures animated across the screen, i but it for, well, audio. This isn't meant as a portable hard drive. If you will never use a computer again, and have 60GB worth of music on your portable device, then I'd see the point in complaining about the size.
As other have mentioned before, you get what you pay for.
- OLED (vastly superior to any PMP/mp3 player LCD)
- FM Radio
- Voice Recording
- High Quality Audio Processing.
- File Support (OGG and FLAC being biggies for me)
- MSC support (hopefully, another real biggie)
- Not tied to itune
CONS
- Price, yeah, but you are paying a premium for a high quality product.
- 8GB, still enough for me, but 16GB would have been nice.
Your mentality that you can get a touch for the same price, buy you are missing the point. Sure I can go down to Chinatown and pick up an 8GB PMP for $50....
This company has been going downhill forever. I wouldn't waste my time on an iriver product. Even the audio quality is decreasing in iriver players. These clowns went from having decent products to becoming just another Chinese mp3/pmp manufacturers wholesaler. They even had a bit of market share at once but then tried to save a buck and got burned thinking they could force any peice of crap down Americans throats and they'd like it (you know, follow the iPod model! lol).
If all you care about is excellent audio quality I would go with Cowon. If you want to watch movies i'd go with Archos (or *gulp* Creative..). If you want an easay to use, above average player that does both, try Sandisk.
What the. Max at 8GB with no MicroSD? I was interested... but now? Bleh.
I would love to replace my original clix with a spinn but damn this is very expensive.
@Eli
Actually, the player does make a huge difference in sound quality. Obviously you'd have to buy a better pair of headphones than the pack-ins, but you don't need to get an external amp to hear the difference.
I own a Touch and an iRiver, and the difference is very noticeable, especially when you use the EQ. iPods + EQ = distortion central. The sound of iRivers are crisp, full and rich, regardless.
But then again, Rio Karma > *
Looks like it came out the house of Bang&Olfeson. Very elegant and beautiful.
If you look at image 2 in the gallery you'll see a panel that looks very much like a SD card slot. If it is then there really is very little to worry about when it comes to storage.
They're completely different players. This isn't geared towards people that want to carry a shitload of music, its geared towards people that want an attractive player with good sound quality a cool interface and that works as a MUSIC PLAYER.
I think its really ridiculous how people complain about music players not being able to surf the internetz through wifi. One device per application will always be superior to all in one devices. I carry my mp3 player, my (sub) laptop, and my cell phone almost everywhere I go because no single device can do what I want to accomplish with those three devices.
Will iRiver ever understand they already have great products, but they need to appeal more to audiophiles by increasing storage.
I love iRiver, but the storage limits just kill me.
ALSO, as far as people complaining out having/not having WiFi...well, I have just one bit to say -> I like streaming my libraries on my media players if they can't store all my music.
Considering its price and all, how would this compare to a Cowon D2?
The headphone jack on my 5G iPod broke, and my previous D2 got stolen on a bus, so I was wondering if this could be the replacement for those.
I'm an Apple geezer but that is a truly lovely piece of industrial design. Hope it functions as well as it looks.
More companies need to learn that simple ethos: good design SELLS. Pump some money into your design team rather than chunks of crappy plastic and you'll sell bucketloads.