iRiver iFP-390T
Pricing not available
CNET Editors' Review
The good: Small and light; attractive, rugged design; FM, voice, and line-in recording; excellent sound quality.
The bad: Not expandable; some functions require extra steps; minor software quibbles.
The bottom line: This player has excellent design and features, but it's outclassed by its descendant, the iFP-790.
Editor's note: We have changed the rating in this review to reflect recent changes in our rating scale. Click here to find out more.
Measuring 3.6 by 1.4 by 1.1 inches and weighing 1.2 ounces, the rugged iFP-390T is a tad bulkier than iRiver's previous iFP models. Still, it's light and compact next to most other players. Like its predecessors, the iFP-390T has a triangular design, albeit with more-rounded edges. The shape seems a bit funky at first, but it enables you to view the display while the body rests on a desk, and the device slips nicely into a shirt or pants pocket.
All the controls are well placed and easy to use. The Play/Pause/Power, Memory/EQ, and Mode buttons reside on one edge; a small, thumb-operated joystick is on the front face. The joystick's functions vary, but navigating the menu with it is relatively simple after a bit of practice. While the four-line display's attractive blue backlighting is strikingly bright in low light, those with poor eyesight will struggle with the minute type.
Overall, the iFP-390T keeps what we liked about the iFP-190T's design and fixes what we didn't. For instance, the company discarded the iFP-190T's flimsy flip-open battery cover in favor of a more-sturdy sliding mechanism. And though the goofy neck lanyard remains, an armband now comes along with it. You can affix the case to the armband or a belt, and the unit's new rounded aesthetics mean the joystick no longer snags on the case's hole when you slide out the player.
Getting up and running on the iFP-390T is a breeze. Software and driver installation took only two minutes. Once connected to a computer, the device transfers files over USB 1.1 at a relatively quick 0.69MB per second; we moved 55MB of music in 80 seconds. With the player's 90dB signal-to-noise ratio, the audio quality was superb through our Sennheiser test earbuds; we heard almost no hiss and good response in the high and low registers. As you'd expect, the quality of MP3 music encoded from FM airwaves isn't particularly high, but it's good enough for casual purposes, such as saving a snippet for later identification by a record-store clerk. Line-in MP3 recording, however, was phenomenal. We recorded songs from a portable CD player directly to the iFP-390T, and the results sounded just as crisp as if we'd ripped and encoded the files with a PC. Although iRiver rates the battery life at 24 hours, we measured a still-respectable 17 hours. The player's power output, at 12mW per channel, is less than half the iPod's, but that won't be a problem for most listeners. The volume exceeded our requirements even when we listened with large Koss headphones. Hide ReviewUser ReviewsSee all user reviewsMost recent user reviewsShowing 3 of 141 reviews stars "Okay but that's about it" By king78Pros: Small, Light, Durable Case Cons: Stick does not fully function Summary: On the plus side it's small and light which is great for running and the cover which comes with it is very durable. stars "Even Though It's Old - Great MP3 Player!" By jguthartPros: Great sound, rugged, firmware updates Cons: Older Model Summary: Even though this is an older MP3. It still is extremely rugged and has fantastic sounds. The firmware is easily updated and fixes earlier problems documented by others. I have had two newer MP3 Players by Samsung and Sandisk and end up using the iRiver 390T most of the time ... Expand full review Where to BuyPricing not available  Where to BuyPricing not available   
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