iriver Spinn gets the hands-on treatment

We just caught sight of a video of iriver's sleek new Spinn media player the other day, but if you've been hankering for an even closer look at the device, you can now hit up Crave's UK site for a thorough hands-on look at it. That includes, as you can see, a comparison with a slew of other devices (the Spinn is the shining beacon of silver in the middle), as well as some pics that give a better indication of the device's fit and finish (and unfortunately non-standard USB connector). What's more, while they're reserving final judgment for their full review, the folks at Crave certainly seem to be impressed with the unit, saying that AMOLED screen is "unbelievably crisp," and that the player itself is "well worth the excitement."

[Thanks, Andew]

[Wolfticket @ Aug 7th 2008 4:42PM]

It looks really nice and it isn't an iPhone rip. Huzzah!

[slarity @ Aug 7th 2008 4:51PM]

... its a pmp not a phone.

[Wolfticket @ Aug 7th 2008 4:58PM]

iPhone, Touch, M8... You know, the whole iTouchscreendevice form factor.

[clearThumbtack @ Aug 7th 2008 5:31PM]

If they didn't want to be compared to an iphone they shouldn't have put one in the picture. That isn't an iPod touch, its an iphone. Deliberately used to make it look as though the iPod touch is very thick, which it isn't.

[Canadian Bacon @ Aug 7th 2008 5:45PM]

@clearThumbtack

You realize that iriver didn't put that picture together right? Or did you just completely gloss over the words under it?

[riggs @ Aug 7th 2008 6:48PM]

he isnt the sharpest tack in the box...

[JohnTitor @ Aug 7th 2008 7:32PM]

The physical device looks like an archos 605 with the buttons replaced with a lip gloss tube. The GUI is better though

[hiko36 @ Aug 8th 2008 2:40AM]

Wait... why is this being compared to an iphone?

[GreezyG @ Aug 7th 2008 4:45PM]

I could read crave, but thats for sucks! Does this thing do divx?

[kojo87 @ Aug 7th 2008 4:51PM]

why no Zune up there?

[Thi mam(kris120890) @ Aug 7th 2008 6:21PM]

It says crave UK site.

[Gene @ Aug 7th 2008 5:01PM]

Because that image is intended to help people get a frame of reference and since nobody has a Zune, they didn't include it. Zune owners have probably been around iPods enough that they know it's dimensions so they're covered anyway.

Only kidding. :D

[L @ Aug 7th 2008 5:06PM]

Crave *UK*...nuff said.

[Krush @ Aug 7th 2008 5:31PM]

more importantly - why no Archos?

[kojo87 @ Aug 7th 2008 4:51PM]

not

[killermojo @ Aug 7th 2008 4:52PM]

I love my clix1, I'll definitely be grabbing one of these.

[John Doe @ Aug 7th 2008 6:29PM]

i love my clix2 but im still not ready to give it up for this

is the screen "crisper" than the clix2 screen?? both are AMOLED

[happy_penguin @ Aug 7th 2008 4:57PM]

Very nice!

[HOOPER @ Aug 7th 2008 4:58PM]

Quite a collection there.

[kojo87 @ Aug 7th 2008 4:59PM]

why is it that only the iPod and the Zune seem to have capacities larger than 30GB? there are a bunch of exciting PMPs out there that simply wont hold all my music. it quite disappointing.

[gibber9583 @ Aug 7th 2008 5:05PM]

They dont have flash memory(with some exceptions)

[Wolfticket @ Aug 7th 2008 5:06PM]

Because we are in the transitional period where flash memory makes sense for most PMPs in spite of the fact it has not yet caught up with Hard Disk Based players in terms of storage. Anything over 16GB (or maybe 32GB) of flash storage is still going to make for a very expensive device.

[bigfoot @ Aug 7th 2008 5:21PM]

Until there is a terabyte PMP, I'm SOL.

[JohnTitor @ Aug 7th 2008 8:50PM]

brands with harddrives:
iPod, Zune, Archos, Cowon, Wolverine

[gylman @ Aug 7th 2008 5:06PM]

Shouldn't they be comparing this to the Cowon and to the Archos current models? Those are the real competition, no?

[JohnTitor @ Aug 7th 2008 7:44PM]

yep, none of those are even close

[who? @ Aug 7th 2008 5:20PM]

Is that picture comparing it to other PMPs? The iPhone is the only phone up there! Fuck that! Compare it to the iPod Touch you bastards!

[Al @ Aug 7th 2008 5:47PM]

I think they are just doing a more size based comparison.

[WarMouse @ Aug 7th 2008 5:25PM]

Was this picture taken inside a rainbow?

[scott @ Aug 7th 2008 5:25PM]

die

[Steven Feng @ Aug 7th 2008 5:27PM]

This is a nice player, but I think that the spin feature should be better implemented. Instead of clicking the player vertically, you should be able to push it horizontally - it's more natural, seeing that a vertical click would require moving your finger to an awkward position. Think of the horizontal click as a mousewheel on its side... a lot more natural imo.

[mrpoo @ Aug 7th 2008 5:29PM]

Veronica Belmont should only be encoded at high quality.

Methinks the gang at Crave need to explore the wonders of the white balance button on their digital camera. Couldn't they invest in one of those $30 lightboxes that always pop up on eBay to take pictures that are less crap-esque?

[helloUser @ Aug 7th 2008 7:39PM]

Get laid, virgin.

[Michael Witt @ Aug 7th 2008 5:44PM]

Haha fucker.

[Al @ Aug 7th 2008 5:46PM]

Interesting to note in their Spinn forum talk the cnet admin said they are told a 16gb and possibly even a 32gb model will come out. http://forums.cnet.co.uk/-digitalmusic-/index.htm?mode=viewthread&t=10014067&tindex=2&sortOrder=desc&sortType=last_post_date

[Darth Abe @ Aug 7th 2008 5:47PM]

don't feed the troll.

[DChen @ Aug 7th 2008 5:51PM]

Well for those of you asking why there isn't really an Archos up there...

Im from the UK and irivers and Archors are rarer than an Austin Martin...

not a lot of people buy them, and Zune wasn't realised over on this side "of the pond"

Its Apple or Sony...(or cheap ebay chinese copy of either...)

[Al @ Aug 7th 2008 5:57PM]

Yeah, but Archos is a French company and sold all over Europe as their main office are there. I would think it be easy to get one.

[ijyt @ Aug 7th 2008 6:06PM]

Any Curry's or Dixon's I walk into, I always see an Archos.

[gary @ Aug 8th 2008 5:31AM]

I've seen tonnes of Archos. They rule.

And it's Aston Martin :)

[Orinjz @ Aug 8th 2008 11:02AM]

What are talking about? You can buy an Archos PMP from the Argos catalogue. It couldn't get more easy than that to pick one up in the UK.

[coffee @ Aug 7th 2008 5:54PM]

Thanks for identifying the Spinn in the picture, I was afraid some ancient knight was going to make me choose it (wisely) out of the bunch.

[DChen @ Aug 7th 2008 6:08PM]

Hey al,

Ha, im not saying they are hard to get hold of! Or irivers, just saying u rarely see them cuase they arent that popular, dispite how good they are!

[ijyt @ Aug 7th 2008 6:11PM]

I hope they release one with a MicroSD slot in the near future. That's the only deal breaker for me.

[numbsock @ Aug 7th 2008 6:27PM]

That is one of the coolest looking PMPs i've seen so far, definitely stands out...

Congrats to iRiver for making something that looks different and good at the same time

[Matthew @ Aug 7th 2008 6:42PM]

It's nice but it can't compete with the ipod touch.

[Tom N. @ Aug 7th 2008 8:20PM]

If it plays more formats then it totally competes.

[Wolfticket @ Aug 7th 2008 7:50PM]

http://www.engadget.com/profile/2124604/ = ban?

[Gfxlonghorn @ Aug 7th 2008 8:01PM]

Sorry bro, but the Archos 605 screen is 800x480. I don't care how "crisp" your screen is, you won't be able to match that video quality with half the resolution. Though I will concede that as far as the whole media package, the Iphone wins based solely on the fact that the 605 isn't nearly as wieldy.

[joe blow @ Aug 7th 2008 9:21PM]

Someone who can amass that many gadgets should have snagged a better camera. And maybe one of them newfangled electric light bulbs.