iriver T60 (1GB)

Print

Email

Bookmark

Share

Performance

iriver's players almost always give stellar performance. It was not a surprise to hear great sound quality from the prismic T60. Stream Of Consciousness by Dream Theater exploded from the player's auditory orifice with the cataclysmic power of a galactic collision. Its gusto was relentless, yet well-defined and impressively driven. This is a complex song with layers of detail, each requiring a fair level of processing. The T60 handled this task admirably and, not too surprisingly, the voice recorder performed well, too.

The default equalizer setting is very flat. While many people like this, others prefer to interfere with sound styles. The SRS EQ is capable of making a radical difference to the sound of your music, but will require some experimentation. Various other preset EQ settings--pop, dance, metal--help tone genres effectively and more specifically than SRS.

Visually, the color LCD screen doesn't offer the liquid crystal orgy that iriver's X20 did, but it's acceptable for a player of this size and simplicity. It's very low-resolution and individual pixels are easy to see. But for displaying song names and folder structures, it's fine. Just don't expect album art. As for the bitmap image viewer, really, there's no point. Images are low-res, diminutive and downright pointless. Why this "feature" is even implemented is beyond us.

Most buttons perform more than one task (the A-B repeat button is also used to set the EQ) so memorizing these functions is essential. Music can be dragged-and-dropped onto the player through Windows, via Windows Media Player or with iriver's simple media-management software (both included). We're promised a 19-hour battery life from an AAA battery.

Conclusion

For its reasonable price, the iriver T60 is a nice enough player. We're not whisked away with the design or head-over-heels in love with the screen. But sound quality is nothing short of stellar and once you've mastered the controls, it's easy enough to use. This is a great choice for teens, and commuters enduring bleary-eyed trips to and from the office, but the open-minded audiophile won't find much to sneeze at for the price.

If you're after something as affordable but less Tobleroney, Creative's Zen Stone Plus is sure to appeal. For a great price, the Stone Plus also has sound to kill for.

« Previous page