My very own iRiver U10

Adobe Rocks... I got my iRiver U10 1GB from the company as a gift (who doesnt like gifts)... Its a pretty cool Gadget.

The U10 arrived with its paraphernalia, neatly packed in 2 boxes, complete with starter kits, ear phones, pouch, USB connectors and the a cool egg cradle (it looks like a 2.7 inch TV on my desk).Playing with it for about half hour, i vouchsafe that its the coolest gadget i have owned.

I love music. MP3 players have been a blessing, doing away with heavy and bulky stuff like CD Players (I cant even think of the Dark Ages of the Walkman or worse still the stone age of Tape Recorders. Gramaphones seems like a pre-genesis concept). I have owned and used many MP3 players now... (click on the pic below)


It all started with the Samsung YP-T6X (512 MB) player. I got it from USA when my uncle came down. It was a really good one (still used by my sis...). It has a circular joystick and a good blue backlit display. The ear phones were of very good quality (so good, that i used these with my Zen Neeon later). It was compact and required a AA battery to run, which suited me, as i didnt have a Laptop for USB Charging.

Then I got inducted into the Macromedia family and was given my next favourite gadget... my IBM Thinkpad T41. So now i had an option of USB charging, i wanted more... Then the anniversary of Macromedia India came and we were all given a Zen Neeon, the 5GB variety. It was not that cute or intutive, but was very handy, as it had 5GB disk space (so could hold my music collection ... almost). Also, the Zen has an amazing battery life (think around 20 hrs). So I ditched Samsung and started using Zen for its sheer capacity and USB charging convinience, though i liked the former for its user-friendliness.

Then came my brief acquaintance with the rage called "The iPods". Started with the Shuffle (512MB) that I bought on my visit to Stanford, in their college store (for a dear friend). I used it all the way back to India. Nothing can beat the sound quality of the Apple earphones (just those costs about $30 in India). The shuffle looks pretty impressive, but the sad part is that it does not have a display.

Then came the giant in the MP3, Video Player industry, the mighty emperor, The Video iPod (now i guess the prince Nano has taken over the proceedings in the Player kingdom). My roommate has one, so i often playaround with it. We got a video out to the TV, so we can watch movies. The giant has a cool touch-rotate dial, amazing dispaly and an uber-cool look. But i dislike it for 4 reasons

1. Its too big to fit in the pocket
2. Battery gets drained too fast while playing movies
3. Requires iTunes & Apple standard for every damn thing
4. Finally, I dont own one (grrrr.....)

Now Along comes U10. Its like a confluence of the Neeon and the iPod. Has a cool look but is small and cute and fits right into my jeans. Has a good display, plays mP3s, videos, has an FM Radio, Flash games (our very own Flash).

But on the downside it has only 1GB (there is an old Indian saying, "Do not count the teeth of a cow that was given to you as charity"). I'm loving my acquaintance with the U10, lets see how it turns out.