Review: iriver clix 2

Anyone who thinks iriver isn't a formidable force in the DAP/PMP market obviously hasn't met the clix 2 (also known as 2G clix, clix2, clix, and clix gen 2), the recently improved and dare I say nearly perfect upgrade to last year's clix.

Although iriver isn't as well known or commercially successful as some of its competitors, it's still among the leaders in creating and adopting new technologies to keep the DAP world fresh and exciting. The clix 2 is proof of this, combining iriver's innovative D-Click navigation system with a completely user-customizable Flash interface and 2.2-inch AMOLED display unlike any other on the market.

Warning: Excessive scrolling ahead.

System specifications

Capacities:	2GB, 4GB, 8GB
Supported audio:	MP3, WMA, WMA-DRM, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, Audible
Supported video:	AVI (MPEG4-SP): 320 x 240, 2Mbps, under 30 fps WMV: 320 x 240, 768kbps, under 30 fps
Supported photo:	Baseline JPG
Extras:	Flash games, FM radio & recorder, voice recorder, text viewer, alarm clock, removable disk
Display:	2.2” AMOLED (320 x 240, 260K colors)
Dimensions:	3.16” x 1.84” x 0.51”
Weight:	1.9 ounces (battery included)

Check out my unboxing gallery to see the player's packaging and included accessory bundle. The bundle is unimpressive, but the list of optional accessories is growing. (UPDATE: Take a look at my reviews of the official iriver clix 2 cradle and a luxurious leather case from Noreve.)

Design

The clix 2 has a clean and simple look with round corners, a slightly curved and incredibly glossy face, and a center groove/separation that makes it look as though you can open player like a tin of mints or a compact mirror.

The player is lightweight and nicely crafted out of what I assume is high-quality plastic. Build quality in general is excellent: nothing feels like it's going to crack or break and the top bezel is attached securely while still allowing enough "give" for the D-Click navigation system (more on this later) to function properly. The device fits comfortably in the hand with no pointed edges or palm-jabbing protrusions.

Note: Those are air bubbles beneath the preapplied screen protector on the right; I didn't notice them or realize they could be pressed out until after I took all the pictures.

Size

Even though I knew the dimensions of the player before I bought it, I was still surprised by its size and thickness.

Here are some shots of the player beside the super tiny iriver S10 (obvious they're related, huh?).

The clix 2 isn't the smallest or the thinnest flash player on the market, but honestly, size shouldn't be coveted over quality anyway. I really don't understand the hype over paper-thin devices when their feature sets are unimpressive.

Iriver's biggest competitors in the flash DAP market are Apple, Creative, and SanDisk, who all make 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB players with similar (albeit fewer) features.

Controls

The clix 2, like the S10 and S7, uses iriver's innovative D-Click system for navigation.

What this means is that the four edges of the player's screen are "clickable" and act as a directional pad. When relevant, various text and icons appear on the display to indicate what action will be performed when clicking on a particular edge. There's no visual guide to let you know what'll happen when you press and hold an edge, but holding the right edge usually brings up a context menu and the left takes you back to the home screen.

You may have noticed that iriver didn't print its logo (or anything else) on the face of the player. I assume the clix 2 was an exercise in minimalism because all of the candy-sprinkle-looking buttons are sans print, too. Well, actually that's not true. The controls are labeled . . . but on the back. It doesn't take long to commit the functions to memory, but it's a bit strange.

Even stranger is that the volume controls on the top of the device are backwards. They look normal when the player is on its face, but when the screen is facing you (i.e., when you're using it), "volume up" is on the left and "volume down" is on the right. This isn't an issue when the clix 2 is in portrait mode, but then your hand is covering the mic on the opposite end. Give and take, I guess.

On the right side of the player are the USB 2.0 port, smart key (a shortcut button that can be assigned one of seven functions: A-B repeat, home, play/pause, shuffle all, display orientation, start/stop voice recording, display on/off), and power button, which can be set to turn the player off completely (slower start-up, no battery drain) or put it into sleep mode (faster start-up, some battery drain).

The headphone jack and reset pinhole are on the left.

And nothing but a sliding hold switch is on the bottom.

Display

Unlike with any of its other players, iriver has chosen to outfit the clix 2 with an active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) display. This relatively new kind of screen offers unlimited viewing angles and vibrant color reproduction, and is also thinner, brighter, and more energy efficient than a traditional LCD. The clix 2 has three brightness settings (low, medium, high), a backlight that can be set to turn off in as little as 5 seconds to as many as 30 minutes, and an auto power off function.

Believe me, even if you try really hard to fight it, the word "wow" followed by at least two exclamation points will come out of your mouth and your heart will skip a beat. I think that's why iriver didn't opt for a larger screen. Laboratory tests must have proven that a 2.2-inch AMOLED is all a person's heart can take; anything bigger than that is too much of a liability.

Seriously though, the screen is exquisite. You have to see it to believe it.

But why couldn't it be a bit bigger? There's plenty of space on either side of the AMOLED that could've been put to fine use. Even a 2.5-inch display would reduce some of the eyestrain caused by staring at the screen for too long (which can't be helped given its mesmerizing beauty). I watched several full-length movies without much consequence, but just a few minutes of playing some of the more visually complex games (e.g, FreeCell and Sudoku) had my eyes protesting in discomfort.

The clix 2 is designed to be used in landscape mode, but the display can also be rotated (in one direction only) to enable portrait-mode use. Videos, games, and photos are fixed in their landscape orientations, but text and the controls rotate with no problem.

User interface

One of the most amazing (and commonly overlooked) elements of the clix 2 is its Flash-based user interface (UI). Not only are transitions smooth and backgrounds animated, but the UI is completely customizable. And I'm not talking "ooh, we can set this photo as wallpaper" personalization here. I mean using Flash CS3 Pro (or similar) to design your own themes, including fonts, images, and icons, from scratch. The resulting SWF files are dragged and dropped into the player's "Themes" folder and can be applied at will. More complex themes slow down the GUI's responsiveness ever so slightly, but I think it's well worth it.

You can check out and download a few user-created themes here. If none of them strike your fancy and this tutorial is too daunting, don't worry; iriver has you covered with six of its own.

A nice feature of all the themes is that each comes with its own set of seven wallpapers. The backgrounds, as you can see below, are variations of the theme and can be set to change according to the day of the week. Even with this added layer of customization, file sizes are still quite small. The eight themes I have on my player take up only 3.9MB of space.

If you like a particular theme but don't like iriver's basic font, just connect the clix 2 to a computer and drag and drop your favorite TrueType one (free fonts are readily available online). The five fonts I loaded onto the player total only 521KB.

I don't know the exact height of each text field, but not all typefaces will fit perfectly. Look at the Papyrus font above (bottom right) to see what I mean.

Most of the player's UI is consistent and straightforward, but there are a few clunky bits that could be reworked. For example, selecting a particular font or theme only temporarily replaces the current font or theme. You need to actually go back into the system and click the "Save UCI" option to make your change stick so that turning the player off won't erase your choice.

So let's say you want to change both the theme and the font. Here's what you need to do:

• From the home screen, go to Settings --> Display --> Theme --> choose your theme.
• Clicking on any theme automatically takes you back home, where your change has been applied but not saved.
• Then from the home screen, go to Settings --> Display --> Fonts --> choose your font.
• Clicking on any font automatically takes you back home, where your change has again been applied but not saved.
• Now go to Settings --> Display --> Save UCI.

Isn't that an unnecessarily complicated process? Selecting a theme or font should automatically save it, just like when you're changing the date and time.

D-Click
An integral part of the clix 2's UI is the D-Click system mentioned in the "Controls" section above. It's easy to learn and use but better suited for two-handed use, which some people may not like. In addition, clicking the top edge of the screen requires a slightly awkward thumb stretch when the player is in landscape mode and a complete shift in hand position when in portrait mode. A workaround to this is to click the bottom edge repeatedly (or hold it down) to get back to the top of the menu. This works well for the home screen and settings menus, but it's obviously problematic for scrolling through large music and photo collections.

There's also the smudgy matter of fingerprints. They wipe off easily enough, but they make the device something you can't just use and then hand to a friend to use. Well, you can, but I think it's gross to touch something clouded over by someone else's oily fingers.

Transferring content

Because the clix 2 is both MSC/UMS and MTP compliant, there are essentially no limits to how media can be transferred from a computer. Before adding content to the player for the first time, however, it's best to decide which connection mode you'd always like to use. Switching between MSC and MTP is easy (Home --> Settings --> Advanced --> Connection Type), but it involves formatting the player and therefore losing all of your content. Not fun.

I use a couple of PCs and a Mac at home, so I have my player set to MSC mode.

The clix 2 is immediately recognized as a removable disk drive, ready and willing to accept anything dragged and dropped into it.  I use this method to transfer all forms of media except music.

This is because the player offers two music-browsing options: database and file tree. Fine, right? Well, not really. You see, audio that's dragged and dropped onto the player can only be accessed (in the music area of the system) under the file-tree option; audio transferred using a program such as iriver plus 3 or Windows Media Player 11, on the other hand, can be accessed under both options. Not the end of the world, sure, but I made an effort to get all my ID3 tags in order and I'm going to use them. And the only way to do that is through the database browsing option. And that means I can't drag and drop music (unless I want to access it like this: Home --> Extras --> Browse Device --> Music --> look through my folders).

So for music, I use the supplied iriver plus 3, which is user-friendly and nice to look at. The application can also be used to convert and transfer videos, photos, and text files. The clix 2's manual recommends the use of iriver plus 3 for videos because "there might be troubles" with other programs, but I used iriverter and CloneDVD mobile without any issues.  I ran into problems when using anything but the supplied software with the X20, so I'm not sure why everything went so smoothly with the clix 2. I'm definitely not complaining!

Despite the warning issued in the manual, the included mini CD-ROM contains a program called Movie Converter that, from what I can tell, outputs only WMVs. I tried to use it to transcode a 700MB XviD but cancelled the process when the projected time landed on more than 2.5 hours. I  prefer apps that allow me to set the resolution and bitrate in actual numbers, not just vague "high," "medium," and "low" levels, anyway.

Despite all of that, Movie Converter looks dead-simple to use. The most difficult choice you'll be asked to make is selecting the aspect ratio.

Audio

With all the things that DAPs can do these days, it's easy to lose sight of why they exist in the first place: music. 

In addition to the usual round of supported formats, including Ogg Vorbis (Q1 - Q10) and music purchased from online music services (URGE, Y! Music, Rhapsody, Napster, etc.), the clix 2 can play Audible files and podcasts. I've sung the praises of iriver's supported codecs, excellent sound quality, and buffet of EQs and audio enhancements before (see here, here, and here), so I won't bore you with any more shameless gushing.

UPDATE 7.9.07: Newly partnered with RealNetworks, iriver has just released the clix Rhapsody, which is essentially just the clix 2 with comprehensively integrated Rhapsody support. The "new" 4GB player is available now for $190. Current owners of the clix 2 can take full advantage of the Rhapsody integration for free by upgrading their firmware.

Playlists can't be created directly on the player, but tracks can be rated and then played according to their rating (e.g., all 5-star songs, all 4-star songs, etc.); depending on how you use the rating system, it could be just as good as on-the-go playlists. One thing to note is that the music browsing option has to be set to database (rather than file tree) for the "Rate" and "Add to Quick List" options to be used. Yet another strike against the file tree!

Album art isn't rendered very well, but I like that the music playback screen shows you what song is coming up next.

Like most other players, the clix 2 has a sleep timer. But unlike any other player I've ever used, this sleep timer offers the following intervals: 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 5 hours, and 10 hours.  If you fall asleep within 10 minutes of hitting the pillow, do you really need to listen to a couple of songs first? And if you're tossing and turning for 5 or 10 hours, you shouldn't be in bed! (I know you don't need to use a sleep timer exclusively when you're going to sleep, but it's still unusual given the more standard 30-, 60-, 90-, and 120-minute intervals.)

Video

The AMOLED display makes for an incredibly enjoyable video experience.

Even though it's pretty standard for a device of this size, I'm still a touch disappointed that the clix 2's video resolution is only 320 x 240. The player doesn't have a TV-out function and 320 x 240 is more than fine for a 2.2-inch display, but it's a hassle for me because I already have a stack of DVDs containing AVIs between 480 x 270 and 640 x 480.    

What I do like about video playback on the clix 2, aside from it being smooth and stutter-free, is the super high supported bitrate (2Mbps for AVIs, 768kbps for WMVs). A bigger screen would obviously be better, but as I mentioned earlier, I watched several full-length movies quite comfortably and happily.

Photo

I normally classify a DAP's photo options as a bonus/extra feature, but I'm making an exception with the clix 2 because of its stunning AMOLED display.

The player supports baseline JPG images up to an unspecified resolution. I tested 2048 x 1536 images and although the system couldn't give me a thumbnail preview, the pictures themselves looked great.

Photos are automatically resized to fit the screen and load time is decent if you don't mix and match resolutions too much. That is, you're likely to experience a hiccup when trying to view a 2048 x 1536 image in the midst of looking at a succession of 640 x 480 files.

Slideshow intervals can be set at 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 seconds, there are five transition options (plus "random" and "off" settings), and of course you can watch a slideshow while listening to music. Pictures can be set as wallpaper but cannot be rotated on screen.

Extras

The clix 2 is packed with a ton of settings (40 languages, ascending/descending sorting, horizontal scrolling speeds, etc.) and extra features. All that's missing are line-in and TV-out.

Anything else you can think of is there.

Flash games
The player ships with a handful of Flash Lite games preinstalled and more can be downloaded free from here. I'm not sure, but I think you can also develop your own games if you know how to do it. The frame rate has to be less than 15 fps and the audio needs to be in either ADPCM or MP3 format (128kbps, less than 44.1KHz).

The 10 games on my clix 2 take up just 1.4MB of space!

You can't listen to music while playing because each game has its own soundtrack, but the nature of the games is such that you don't miss hearing your own songs. The D-Click system works better for games that don't require the use of all four edges of the screen, but even ones that do are still fun to play when you've got a few minutes to spare.

The games are engaging and entertaining enough to actually want to play, but don't expect to get rid of your DS Lite or PSP or anything. My favorites are Critter Crossing (just like Frogger but with cuter animals), FreeCell, Sudoku, and Driving Range. Good stuff!

FM radio & recorder
Quite frankly, I'm getting a little bored of writing about FM radios on DAPs. Just about all players (except iPods) have a built-in tuner and recording capabilities, and there are only so many ways for a company to do it. That's why even though the radio almost always has its own place in the main menu, I always give it extra-feature status.

So there isn't anything new here: 30 presets, autoscan, save/delete preset from player, manual scanning, preset scanning, etc.

Reception is strong and clear in downtown Honolulu, where all the major stations were detected by the player's "Auto Preset" scanning feature.

One thing I don't particularly care for about the clix 2's FM feature is that recording can't be done from the radio screen. That is, when you're listening to the radio and you want to record something, you can't do it with a simple click. Instead, you need to press and hold the right edge of the player to bring up the context menu, select "Record," and then click the right edge again to start/stop the recording.

FM recordings are saved in 64kbps, 128kbps, or 192kbps MP3 format and can be accessed through the context menu of the radio screen.

Voice recorder
The fact that you can assign the smart key (the button above the USB port) to start/stop voice recording makes the feature one that I would actually use.

One of the coolest things about it is the built-in voice detector, which only records when the mic can detect sound. I don't think the clix 2 is the first player to offer this function, but it's the first time I've used it so I'm impressed.

Voice recordings are saved in 32kbps, 64kbps, or 128kbps MP3 format and can be accessed through the context menu of the recording screen.

Text viewer
Well, I wouldn't use the clix 2 as an e-book reader personally, but I guess it's nice to know that I could if I wanted to.

There's probably a way to fix line breaks so that words aren't split like in the example above, where I just converted a .doc to a .txt file, but it's still readable as is. Not bad for quick notes, directions, and short lists.

Alarm clock
Assuming you sleep with headphones on or keep the player plugged into external speakers (or the optional docking cradle), the player is equipped with a rather full-featured alarm clock.

You can set a one-time, daily, or quick (10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes) alarm using one of six preloaded alarm sounds, a track from your music collection, the radio, and even an FM recording at any volume level (1-40). Alarm duration can be set at anywhere between 1 minute and a ridiculous 4 hours! Wow. If it takes you hours to get out of bed in the morning, you don't need the clix 2. You need help.

Removable disk
As with all MSC/UMS devices, the clix 2 can be used as a USB flash drive across all platforms.

Battery life

Iriver rates the non-removable lithium polymer battery at 24 hours for 128kbps MP3 playback (normal EQ, backlight off, volume 20) and 5 hours for video playback. I actually got 5.5 hours of movie time with the AMOLED set at mid brightness and the volume at 20. I didn't test the audio rating, but based on the past two weeks of using the clix 2, I'd say it's pretty spot-on.

The battery charges via USB in about 2.5 hours, which is excellent given how many hours those 2.5 gives back. The player gets slightly warm after extended use (5+ hours), but it's perceptible only if you're looking for it.

Conclusion

Before I sum it all up, here's a short video of the clix 2 in action. And don't worry. The player is connected to a set of portable speakers, so you don't have to listen to that crazy-loud background noise the whole time.

Priced to take on the iPod nano, the iriver clix 2 makes quick and dirty work of it and any other flash player from any other company out there. In fact, its most formidable rival is actually its cousin, the X20, which has a removable battery, microSD card expansion slot, and line-in function that would've made the clix 2 the most amazing and flash DAP to date.

Even without those features, the clix 2 is still the sweetest player around. Outstanding battery life, a gorgeous AMOLED display, an unprecedented user-customizable Flash UI, excellent sound quality and video playback, and an impressive assortment of extra features make the iriver clix 2 a mouth-watering treat too delicious to resist. Give in to temptation at The iriver Store.

UPDATE: 8GB clix 2 available at Amazon.

Comments

[Blurrystar]

Another well-written review. I like how you splash each review with plenty of pictures. Makes it a more "hands on" experience. :)

What do you think of the Cowon D2, which DOES have an SD card slot and line-in recording, if not the replaceable battery? I think I'd consider the D2 more of a Clix rival than the X20.

Blurry

[Utew]

Great write-up, Jenn....

It's a beaut, no doubt.. the GUI alone is drool-worthy and let's hope the amazing ability to customize the interface to such a high degree, becomes a trend on other players. This is certainly a killer app IMO for digital media devices and should please a lot of people, including me.

Looks like a few compromises make this just shy of a stellar player, but all told it's got the potential to seduce quite a few buyers away from the darkside of the Industry Leader. iriver needs to get this out with beaucoups advertising and in-store promotion in B&M stores.. not just on-line.

Thanks for a tremendously sexy peep-show for us gadget fanatics! =)

[Benz145]

I've been waiting a little while for this review, glad to see its finally here! The Clix 2 looks great, I really might need to pick myself up the 8GB version. All the features look great, the customizable themes and UI looks really fun, something I would definitely use.

Thanks for another great review Jenn, I think you might have reminded the people over at Engadget that they had something about the Clix 2 to post, because they just put up some unboxing pics. Too bad you are way ahead with a full review : P

[Philip Seyfi]

I have a Cowon D2 and IMHO it is better than Clix2... Not by much but the touchscreen interface is extremely user friendly, the player is fully skinnable (you can chenge everything) and you can expand it's memory with SDHC cards up to 20Gb which is huge. The D2's firmware is also actively updated (new ala iPhone virtual motion, english<>korean dictionary with handwriting recognition etc.) when iRiver isn't adding any new features, just fixes bugs.

I really recommend the D2 to everyone!

Philip Seyfi, fs-studio.eu

[tom brusky]

In case anyone, such as the reviewer, is curious, i can clear up the confusion as to why Iriver didn't go with a bigger screen. AMOLED displays are not very new...they have existed in small quantities for a few years now. However, Samsung SDI is the first company that is mass manufacturing these in any real amount, and unfortunately they are still at the level where they can only make small screens. The 2.2" screen on the clix2 is that size because samsung has no larger models in stock yet. However over the next 6 months they are increasing in size with 2.4", 3" and even 4" screens.

IMHO pretty soon every mp3 player will have an AMOLED screen, it is the wave of the future.

[Jenn]

Thanks for your great comments, everyone.

@ Blurry: I actually came really close to buying a D2 and some other DAPs the other day but opted for the Archos 704 WiFi instead. I have a gadget allowance, so to speak, and had to decide between buying several lower-cost items or just one higher-cost one. I chose the latter because it's more economically feasible (in a warped sort of way) to get the other devices one by one throughout the year.

You're right, though. It's probably more of a competitor than the X20. I've actually never even touched a Cowon player before so I usually don't think of it as one of the "big names," even though I think it's regarded as the audiophile's choice.

My next gadget purchase will hopefully be either the HTC Advantage, HTC Shift, or Samsung Q1 Ultra, so I'm not sure if the D2 will ever make its way into my hands. I've gotten a few emails from people asking about a review, though, so maybe . . .

@ Utew: I agree. iriver needs much better advertising. (Actually, all companies except Apple need that!) If they played up the customizable UI feature, I think a lot more people would be clamoring for it. Will it still be your next player or are you waiting for the W10?

@ Benz: LOL. Yes, it took me a while to get this one up. I intended to get it done a week ago but got too caught up in playing with it to do any actual work! The 8GB is due out next month, I think.

@ Philip: Hmm. I'm definitely getting tempted.

@ tom: That clears it up perfectly. Thanks!

[phatty]

It's actually the Cowon D2's touchscreen and physical appearance that keep it from being a stellar player... With any tactile controlled device you can learn the "pushes" so to speak for navigation and then navigate without looking. With a touchscreen only interface you do not have this option. Additionally on the D2 the player itself is so small that anyone with larger hands/fingers will not have an easy time navigating.

Regarding the physical appearance, it will put some folks off, especially those who are into "thin" as the D2 is somewhat chubby by todays standards. Looks like a little brick.

Those two asides, it is a cool player but the GUI is NOT as customizable as the clix 2 as it does not support flash which can be used to create motion and almost an unlimited amount of other special effects in the GUI.

[Utew]

Jenn,

In answer to your question to me, about my decision on the clix 2... at this point, I believe I'll be waiting to see what the W10 offers up before I jump.

Wi-Fi I believe, will become a standard feature on most DAP/PMP's in the very near future... battery issues non-withstanding. It will be a deciding factor for me on my next player purchase.

Wish I had your gadget budget. ;-)

[massspecgeek]

Nice review. Two comments from a Clix 2 owner.

- Your comment that you can't create playlists on the device is sort of correct. You can't create multiple lists with arbitrary names. However, you can add songs to a "Quick List" which you can then play like any other playlist.

- I believe you are wrong to say that files added by drag and drop won't appear in the database. I add files this way all the time (in MTP mode) and they show up in the database the same as those added by syncing.

My .02

[Antioch]

I was hoping to see some comparison between the Clix2 and the X20 - especially since you commented about the Clix2 in your X20 review. That and I am still having trouble deciding.

Thanks.

[Jenn]

@ Utew: I wish I had the gadget budget to not have to choose between anything! I think you're right about wi-fi, though I wonder if any of them will allow actual (albeit crippled by the screen size) web browsing like the mylo.

@ massspecgeek: Thanks for your comments. Yes, the "Quick List" is very much like an OTG playlist, but the fact that you can't create more than one or rename it is not very "playlist-y." That's why I think the rating system could be used in place of playlists (at least that way, you could SORT OF make five of them OTG).

My player is set in MSC mode, so dragged and dropped audio doesn't appear when I set the music browsing type to database. I use a Mac, too, so MTP isn't an option for me. Plus, I think iriver plus 3 requires MSC.

@ Antioch: The X20 was sent to me on loan by Warehouse123, so I returned it after I finished the review. If you don't need the line-in feature or the expansion card slot of the X20, I'd definitely go for the clix 2.

[Antioch]

Jenn,

One thing you said in the X20 review was that you loved the LCD and that you were glad iRiver didn't use an OLED display instead -- but that you'd reserve final judgment until you saw a Clix2. So, what do you say about the screens now?

The only real drawback to the clix2, in my opinion, is the clix navigation system. The menus seem so bland, it's just a single line of scrolling text on a colorful background. That and pushing the up/down/left/right buttons seems so tedious compared to a scroll wheel. One thing I'd like to know is how use-able the clix2 is in one hand? I frequently use my iHP-120 in the car with one hand and for that a scroll wheel seems like it would work better than the clix system (but that's just an example).

I'd appreciate your input and you've actually used both. But seeing as how you used the Clix2 most recently I'm sure it still has that "new" buzz to it =)

Thanks.

[6fingers]

hi jenn, nice review !
I'd like to use it as an e-book reader too. Can you tell me if the font size is customizable for the text viewer ? (so i could get more lines of text on the screen than in your picture) ?
thank you

[Jenn]

@ Antioch: An LCD really pales in comparison to an AMOLED. This is hands-down the best screen I've ever seen on a DAP/PMP.

I mentioned in the review that the D-Click system is better for two-handed use, and it really is. In portrait mode, though, IF you use the "click/hold the bottom edge to get the top of the menu" method, one-handed use is comfortable and natural.

Landscape mode is another story. The player can sort of sit in the middle of your palm so that you can manipulate the edges with your other fingers; it's awkward but it gets the job done. And although the clix 2 looks kind of wide, everything surrounding the screen (all the black part) is actually clickable. So your thumbs don't need to stretch all the way to the left/right; they can actually just move right to the edge of the AMOLED. I've read of a few people who happily use their original clix one-handed, so it's not out of the question. I personally don't find it comfortable, but that could be because of the size of my hands.

@ 6fingers: The photo above the one with all the text shows the context menu/options. "Font Size" includes three sizes: small, medium, and large. I have it set at small, but I'm also using the basic font that iriver supplies. If I switch over to a smaller font (one that I added myself), I can get several extra lines of text but the font is too small for comfortable reading. So you'd just need to do some experimenting to find what works best for you.

[Audrius]

Hi Jenn,
Can you help me? I have bought the Clix gen. 2. Unfortunately, there were some problems with it, so I had to reinstall the firmware. The worst thing is that I forgot to save relevant information like themes. So, can you help me to get these clix themes which were installed in the player and which you posted on the review? Thank you. :)

[Jenn]

You can find all the preloaded content here.

[cyntwill]

I'd like to use the clix2 with audio books, does it have bookmarks, if so how many? I saw the resume feature in one of your pictures, would you recommend it for audio books?

[Audrius]

Thank you very much!:)

[Jenn]

I don't listen to audio books so I'm not 100% sure about this, but I've read that the player supports multiple bookmarks (don't know exactly how many) but only with Audible content.

You may want to keep an eye on and/or participate in this thread at clixhere for more information.

[Brian]

Warehouse123.com is selling iRiver U20 with a pair of Free Pioneer SE-CS12 headphones. It’s a very interesting package deal, and could be great news for those who are not happy with the iRiver phones. I'll order one soon, but I do have a question. Is The U20 same as the Clix2? I know the U10 and Clix are technically different. I would really like to read some comments before ordering this new unit. Thank you!

[Omar]

Do you think the iRiver Clix 2 is worthy of voice recording lectures? I'm kind of debating between Clix 2 and the Creative Zen V Plus, not sure which has better voice recording. The Clix 2 records in MP3 format while the Zen V records WAV, so I'm betting there's a major difference. Given the price difference which do you think is a better buy? Thanks!

[abhi]

This player or the Cowon D2 with its 2.5in screen and sd card expandability?

[k. kimble]

When is the 8gb coming out? Most websites I looked at stated it coming in June. Im dying to get my hands on it and wanted to be absolutely sure of the release date before I wait and the date comes and goes with no 8gb clix on the horizon. I have the 2gb original so I guess I can wait but this is excruciating.

[lukey]

I currently use the Cowon D2 and it is the most amazing player i've ever used. The device itself is 4GB, but I recently got an 8GB SD card which expands the memory to 12GB - clearly bigger than the Clix 2 memory. The D2 also has regular firmware updates occurring on a monthly basis.. Recent firmware updates added additional functions to the D2 such as a dictionary and a notepad (which utilises the touchscreen capability).
The next firmware update reportedly will allow the D2 to support flash, which will match the clix 2 in that department.

[Chetan C.]

Hi there,
I'm not the most technically savvy person around - so i was wondering whether you could make some thing clear for me. I use a macbook, i dont have the windows xp as a dual o.s., but i really like this iriver can i run it on my mac o.s.x? and since all my music files are saved as itunes' audio file will I have to convert those into mp3 again to play them on the clix?? im sure this was mentioned up in the review (which is absolutely great btw). You lost me in the transfer file section at "Because the clix 2 is both MSC/UMS and MTP compliant"....:S
thank you soooo much for your time,

CC.

[Jenn]

@ Brian: From what I understand, the clix 2 and the U20 are the same.

@ Omar: To be honest, I wouldn't recommend buying either player SOLELY for their voice-recording capabilities. A dedicated digital voice recorder is better for that. Which player is a better buy depends on how valuable the other features are to you. For example, if you're never going to use the video feature of the clix 2, then the additional cost isn't worth it.

@ k. kimble: June does seem to be the expected date, but I'd keep it in the "wait and see" pile since iriver hasn't confirmed or denied it.

@ Chetan: No problem. The clix 2 works with OS X in MSC/UMS mode. The acronyms stand for mass storage class and USB mass storage (or universal mass storage), which just means that the device functions as a removable disk like a thumb drive or USB flash drive. So it's essentially just a plug-and-play and drag-and-drop unit. MSC/UMS players are compatible on Macs, PCs, and Linux computers; MTP (media transfer protocol) on the other hand is exclusive to Windows.

Music purchased from the iTunes Music Store is copyright-protected and therefore only plays on iPods. To get the music on the clix 2, you will need to use a third-party app to remove the iTunes DRM and convert to MP3 format (if the original files aren't already MP3s).

[Chetan C.]

Thank you sooo much Jenn; and again, great review..
take care. =)

[leo]

hi. i currently own both Cowon D2 and iRiver Clix2. Initially i was opting for the Clix2. Seeing that the Cowon is touchscreen, its not suitable for me since i usually listen to music while commuting - in which case i need to have blind control (able to go to next song/previous song). come march Cowon released a firmware to do just that. put the player on hold and the volume controls become ff and rew controls which is great! so even though its a close call, i think i would retain my Cowon D2.
but two things i really like about he Clix2 is the beautiful AMOLED screen! you really have to see it to appreciate it. and the uber customizable flash themes support :D

oh btw, regarding the sound quality, i would choose the Cowon D2. even though the Clix2 is exceptionally good (better than my iRiver U10), it has more power to drive my ultimate ears super.fi 5pro especially if you want more bass :D

[Anne]

Hello. I need ur professional advice.
I doubt which model is better, this or Iriver X20. I like the design of the U20 more, but I'm not sure about its technical characteristics.
personally, what model do u think is better?
thank u.

[Radu]

Hello,
Please tell me from were I can buy an iRiver and how much is it?
Thank you

[Stephanie]

I'm pretty sure I'm going to be buying the 8GB. Do you know when it comes out? Also would you happen to know if the 8GB is only going to come in the black/red version? Or are they going to have both black/red and just black? Thanks in advance :)

[Adam]

I discovered you can't just drag and drop a font into the Media\Fonts folder. Here's what I did:

1. Connect your Clix 2 to your PC via USB.
2. Open up the Data folder on your Clix 2.
3. Open up the Windows\Fonts folder on your PC.
4. Create a new folder on your desktop called Fonts.
5. Drag and drop whichever fonts you want from your PC to the Fonts folder on your desktop.
6. Drag and drop the Fonts folder from your PC's desktop to the Data folder on your Clix.
7. Whatever fonts were in the Fonts folder on your desktop will be automatically transferred to the Media\Fonts folder on your Clix.

[Cheapsaket]

Jenn, you mentioned about a dedicated digital voice recorder. Are there devices out there which have line in recording and sufficient space like 8GB and are flash based? I am looking for one but so far have not found it.

[klp]

love my clix 2. wanted something smaller than my ipod 20gb, looked at nano but was won over by iriver clix. there is life after ipod, really.

Question, what is the best 3rd party software choices to convert my itunes? and where do i find them

[Bontempos]

Hi, Jenn. Nice review, really. You are very didactic, thats great! thank you!
At first moment, I was looking for a mp3 player with 'direct usb', to avoid cables in my pocket, and etc. I liked the Sony nw-015, but when I saw iRiver S10 I had to change my mind. Although S10 is not an usb direct device, the miniUsb plug is tiny enough to carry with me easily.
Now I'm about to buy a Clix2 4gb or a S10 2gb. I really like how small S10 is and everything it offers. But seems kinda stupid buying it instead of Clix2 nowadays for the almost same price.

Do you think I should wait for a "S20" model expecting for battery improvements, jpg as image format, less "dos-like" menus, etc? or can I use Clix2 on my neck as a S10? LOL

Thank you again. Take care.

[akagodsent]

Actually, playlists can be created :). At first I was upset since I couldn't find anything on how to create playlists but then I realized a very simple and easy way. I'll go through it step by step:

For those interested...open your clix in a regular windows explorer folder.

Go to 'iriver clix files'

Playlists folder

You'll see iriver.pla, which you can also see if on your clix you go to music then playlists, the third playlist is 'iriver' which is this same file.

Double click on the file, delete all the files there by clicking the red 'x' on the bottom, and then drag and drop all the songs you want in a specific playlist, you can rename it later on.

Now, either before or after, doesn't really matter much (unless your clix is almost full, if that's the case do this before you drag and drop new songs and after you've deleted everything out of the pla file) right click, hit 'copy' and then 'paste' and you have a copy of this playlist file :).

Double click it again and you can then delete all the files in there, which are a copy of the old file, and put in a new series of songs for another playlist, you can also rename it anything you want keeping the extension .pla. Do this for as many times as you want. There you have it! I've created 5 playlists, all work perfectly!

[akagodsent]

forgot to add, if you have any problems feel free to e-mail me at 'akagodsent@aol.com'

[Jenn]

@ Stephanie: From what I've read, it does seem that the 8GB version will only be available with the red racing stripe. A green (and white?) version has just been spotted in Korea, so I think there's still a possibility that the 8GB model could be released in other colors. An all-black one would make a lot of people happy.

@ Adam: Thanks for sharing your workaround. It's strange that you aren't able to just drag and drop, though, because that's how I got my fonts on the player.

@ Cheapsaket: No, I'm sorry, I don't know of any digital voice recorders that have what you're looking for.

@ kip: I'm not much of an iTunes users, so I'm afraid I don't know which programs are the best. You may want to poke around iTunes and/or iPod forums or check out some of the results from a "convert iTunes" search on Google.

@ Bontempos: That depends on how long you're willing to wait. I haven't heard anything about an S10 successor. If what you're after is size, though, then the S10 or some other Shuffle-sized player is your best bet. LOL, you could wear the clix 2 around your neck; just be sure that you can tolerate all the staring strangers you'll attract. :-)

@ akagodsent: Thanks for your step-by-step instructions. Your method is a great alternative to having to use iriver plus 3 or some other music management software to create playlists.

I think what most people are looking for, though, are OTG playlists, which the clix 2 doesn't support (unless you count the solitary "Quick List" that can be created but not renamed).

[Sreeram]

I have problem with iRiver clix 2 GB.
It always shows alarm. Even I tried upgrading the firmware bot now use.
Even after shutdown it switches on its own and show the alarm. This conitues till the battery is over.
Can some one help me here

[6strings]

I just got my iriver clix 2 4gb for my anniversary gift and i LOVE IT!! its charging rite now

however the top portion of the player kinda wobbles up and down facing you. is that normal?

[Scott]

Thanks a lot for the review. I decided to buy the clix, and I love this freaking thing.

[Stephen]

I really like the Clix2, it is prolly best if they're 8G. I talked to warehouse123.com and they said they'll have the 8G Clix2 next week. I'll picked up the Clix2 and a pair of expensive headphones, big step up from what i had before! Looks like my journey into audio bliss and possible bankruptcy starts now :P

[Aikman]

Hello Jenn, and thanks for the great review! one of the best i've found in my extensive search for opinions on this device! =)

to the ones wondering about the voice recorder - i have the first generation clix and i use it daily to record college lectures, sometimes in large auditoriums. The quality is excellent. I havent used a dedicated recorder so i cant really compare, but with the clix you can hear the voices quite clearly (altho sometimes in larger rooms there's a hum from vents or just circulating air)

i havent purchased the gen 2 clix yet, but if its anything like the first gen., and if you can get past the occasional humming, the voice recorder is excellent quality.

@ Stephen - did warehouse123 mention whether the 8gb clix will come bundled with the extras like their 4 GB clix does? i'm particularly interested in gettin a silicone sleeve and beltclip/armband for my runs.

and last question - if anyone has ordered the 4gb from warehouse123, whats the quality of the pioneer headphones they send?

[Clara]

Hi Jenn
My iPod nano just died so I've been doing the research and have been really impressed with the review- especially this one. I just have one question- any of my CD audiobooks that I needed to put on my iPod had to be converted from .m4a to .m4b extensions manually for it to recognise them which was a major pain. Do you know what the story is with CD audiobooks and the iRiver Clix 2?

The idea of starting all that converting again for another unit is really off putting (i listen to 50%Music:50%Audiobook).

Thanks!

[jools]

I understand that Iriver Clix 3 is due out in the "3rd quarter" of the year. Is it worth waiting for ie. what is the difference? I'm guessing that it might have a larger screen.

[Greag]

When is the 8gig commiing out!??!?! It was supposed to come out at the end of June BUT ITS JULY NOW!!!, There is a rumour that it will come out at the end of august (one person had said that they asked the people of iriver and they said late august, is this true?
thx

[Baxter McCauley]

Late August??? Oh no, just when I had gotten all excited about Stephen's comments above on July 1 that warehouse123.com would have it this week. I need to get one for a surprise birthday present this month.

[Jenn]

Latest word indicates a July 11th release in Korea and an August release in the U.S. No exact date, but I read elsewhere that it should be available to order by August 12th.

@ jools: There's no real info about the clix 3 other than the fact that it's in the works.

[Baxter McCauley]

Thanks for the update Jenn. Warehouse123.com wrote me an email and said, "We still don’t have an exact date for the U20 8G version, we expect that it will come to our store at the end of this month." That said, it probably won't come out until August like you said. I could wait but my g/f's birthday is July 26. What to do, what to do. Maybe I should go with the X20. Or am I making a grave mistake?

[Brian]

Ummm... this is kinda, maby a stupid question but here it goes: When you go to the "albums" menu and select an album to play, does it list them in alphabetical order or in order of the album. the reason i ask is that the iriver h10 listed them in alphabetical order which usually isn't bad but i like to listen to comedy album while i'm driving so it needs to be in the right order. please someone that has one let me know.

Hurry up with that 8GB and some accessories!

[jools]

Nearly there. I think the delay was to do with synchronising with Rhapsody. See here. Which isn't even available in the UK.

I'm still holding out for Iriver Clix 3.

But then again, maybe not.

[jools]

Just in case you didn't follow the link. Via Misticriver:

"For those who haven't yet seen it, thanks to naLex (who I believe spotted it first) the iriver clix 2 8gb has been announced for release on July 11th, 12pm in Korea. Get ready because it's finally coming."

[jools]

Forgive one last post. I've just seen the pictures of the 8gb with its new user interface and it looks great.

Any opinions?

[Will Talbot]

Hi there, I have just gotten my player. How do you get the album artwork on?

[Jenn]

@ Baxter: The X20 is certainly a fine player, but it's not a good choice if "available now" is one of the main selling points for you. The clix 2 is definitely worth the extra few weeks.

@ Brian: Songs are listed in album order.

@ Will: What program are you using? I use MediaMonkey to get all of my ID3 tags, including album art, in order. I can't remember for sure, but I don't think iriver plus 3 will retrieve album art for you the way, say, iTunes does.

[Will Talbot]

Thanks Jenn,

I use windows media, which has collected all the artwork for the songs, but when i move the whole file onto my iriver only the song and information is on there not the artwork. i have evn tried moving the artwork with the music file hoping that the iriver will seperate them but it doesnt!

any help would be greatly appreciated thanks.

[Derrick]

Just got my Clix2 but my CD-ROM on my computer is broken so I can't install the software. Should I be able to just drag and drop w/ USB plugged in? I got an error...

[Derrick]

Also, does it shut off while charging? Will it say when it's done charging? I just charged for about 5 minutes and it shut off?

[Stephen]

After a month long waiting period, warehouse123.com finally have the iRiver Clix 2 8GB in stock. The red stripe looks very good. I ordered one two hours ago and it shipped via FedEx.

[brane]

one thing i want to know is when, lets say you switch to some song, and while listening to it do you have to lock the player if you want to hold it in your hand. if so, that means that if you want to skip to another song you have to unlock it to do so, becouse it seems frustrating lockin it all the time becouse its whole face is "clickable". is it a problem? oh, and when is SONY A800 review comming???????

[Derrick]

Sorry you can ignore my question about the drag/drop...in your screenshot above of iriver plus 3, you have a video tab...I'm missing this?! can anyone help me out?

[Luca]

Thank you for your lovely review! Just a quick question prior ordering:

Does it support .m4a files (and apple free audiobooks?) Also could I use mediaMonkey to transfer playlists and files instead of the bundled software ?

Thanks a lot!
I'll hold on the order until I get feedback on these :)

thanks
Luca

[Derrick]

You can definitely use MediaMonkey

[Jim]

I am about to purchase my first mp3 player.
I've considering iRiver Clix 8GB, if it ever comes out.
Also looking at the SanDisk Sansa e280 (8GB).
And finally, the Toshiba Gigabeat MES30VW (30GB).
Any experiece with the SanDisk and Toshiba?
Thank you
Jim

[Jenn]

@ brane: The display isn't touch-sensitive and the clickable edges require fairly deliberate clicks, so you shouldn't have to lock the player when it's in your hand.

Ah, I haven't bought the Sony A800 yet. I plan to maybe later this year. There are just so many other gadgets out there that I want more than the A800 that it keeps getting pushed further and further down my list.

@ Derrick: Are you using the latest version of iriver plus 3?

Re: your previous question, the display shuts off according to your backlight settings and I think your USB mode (power & play or power & data) and power off (sleep or power off) type.

@ Luca: iriver has only stated support for MP3, WMA, WMA-DRM, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, and Audible, so I haven't tried any other formats. Aren't Apple's audiobooks in AAC? There may be a way to hack the clix 2 to play AAC and .m4a, but other than that, I don't think it will.

@ Jim: The 8GB model is available now at Warehouse123.com for $312. It's currently listed as in stock and shipping in 1-2 days.

I don't have any experience with SanDisk or Toshiba players, so I can't comment on the pros or cons of either. The Gigabeat and the clix 2 don't make for a good comparison, though, as the benefits of a flash drive and a hard drive depend on your needs.

[Mark]

Top review :-)

What Pioneer headphones are Warehouse123.com selling with the 8GB Clix model? I can see
SE-CS12 - mentioned by Brian above
SE-E55 - here
SE-CL20 - here

Presumably the last is what I would [currently] get - which set is preferable?

At warehouse123, the price of 8GB [$312] is significantly above 4GB [$189] and 2GB [$163] - both of which have free update to same firmware as 8GB. Presumably it is because it is a grey import and will come down to ~$250 when official US stock is available?
Is the manual in English?

Cheers

M

[Rich]

Thanks Jenn for the great review. I was wondering when this great gadget is going to be available in the UK, having trouble finding an 8GB version.

[Amanda]

Just bought my Iriver clix few days ago. When I was trying to transfer some music the sign locked came up. I have tried to unlock since then with no luck. I cannot listen to anything now. Can you help me please? Thanks

[jools]

The 8gb is now on sale in uk on advancedmp3 website priced at £179 with free p&p.

[Jenn]

@ Mark: Hmm. I think Warehouse123 may be running out of stock because it was listed as the SE-E55 when I wrote about it, you saw the SE-CL20, and at this very moment it's the SE-CS22.

I'm not a headphone aficionado, so I have no idea which one of the three is better. If price is indicative of quality, though, the E55s are the most expensive at $36. The CL20s are priced (by Warehouse123) at $26.50 and the CS22s are $32.

Like you, I'm guessing that pricing will come down once the player is officially available in the U.S. in a few weeks. The fact that Advanced MP3 Players in the UK is selling it for the U.S. equivalent of $363 kind of makes me think that it may actually come in at $299.

Yes, as far as I know, the manual is in English.

@ Mark: jools (below) just found the player on sale at Advanced MP3 Players.

@ Amanda: How have you tried to unlock the player so far? Did the lock sign come up on the clix 2's screen or on your computer? Were you able to transfer any music before then?

@ jools: Thanks for the info.

[Galeyin]

I bought the Clix Gen 2 4bg a couple of weeks and loved it for the first 1 week 3days. My LCD just seem to give out with lines running through from top to bottom.
I was prepared to swap it out through the warranty but unfortunately will have to get my money back. I can't believe Iriver will ask customers to pay for shipping for a defect in their product. That is just bad marketting and i will never purchase another Iriver product.

[Amy]

OK. I just went to the iriver store and bought one. I've never owened an MP3 player before and have been researching it. Based on this review and one in PC World I chose the Clix gen2. I bought the 2GB model and I hope that will be enough for me. Since I don't listen to much music now (for lack of an mp3 player) I thought 500 songs sounded like plenty. I can always upgrade later I guess. Hope I made the right decision.
This was the best review I read. good pictures and lots of info.
Thanks

[twistedriffster]

in your review, you said it might be better for 2-handed use. does this mean it can't be operated at all w/ only 1 hand? i ask cause i commute by train and i usually only have 1 hand free to operate my mp3 player. thanks.

[twistedriffster]

also, i buy my music from yahoo, so i was wondering if this is a 'playsforsure' mp3 player.

[Jenn]

Yes, music purchased from Yahoo and other online services (Rhapsody, Napster, URGE, etc.) will work with the player.

Using the player with one hand isn't ideal, but it isn't completely out of the question. Here's my response to a commenter who asked me about it a few months ago:

I mentioned in the review that the D-Click system is better for two-handed use, and it really is. In portrait mode, though, IF you use the "click/hold the bottom edge to get the top of the menu" method, one-handed use is comfortable and natural.

Landscape mode is another story. The player can sort of sit in the middle of your palm so that you can manipulate the edges with your other fingers; it's awkward but it gets the job done. And although the clix 2 looks kind of wide, everything surrounding the screen (all the black part) is actually clickable. So your thumbs don't need to stretch all the way to the left/right; they can actually just move right to the edge of the AMOLED. I've read of a few people who happily use their original clix one-handed, so it's not out of the question. I personally don't find it comfortable, but that could be because of the size of my hands.

[twistedriffster]

thank you very much for a detailed and quick response, appreciate it greatly. i also liked the style of review w/ many relevant pics. keep up the great work.

[Dmitry from Russia]

Help me, please! I`m student from Russia, I`m taking a part in the program `Work and Travel in the US`. I have no credit card and so I cant buy Clix on www.iriveramerica.com. And I cant find it in local stores! Where I can get it? Help, help, I`ll be here until september,29! Anybody..

[Marty]

If you buy a Money Order, ( they're only like 35 cents ) I think you can buy one on Amazon.com. Amazon sells them for cheap too!

[Chie]

Hi Jenn,

Great post! I've been debating whether to get a Clix since the first generation came out. I'm glad to see you review the Gen 2. One thing I'm really concerned about is its ability to support Asian characters. Would you happen to have tried that out?

Thanks!

[Matilda]

I know that not a lot of people use Macs. However, after having bought an 8gb iriver clix gen 2, I am confused.

Can someone help clear up what can and can not be done with Macs. Obviously you can only use it as a MSC but is there any way you can create playlists or even add album artwork to your songs?

If someone knows of a third party software I can use on Macs that will help with dealing with this mp3 player, I'd really appreciate it!

[PC]

Awesome reviews; I just have one question. Based on sound quality and your personal preference, which one do you like more: iRiver Clix 2 or Creative Zen V Plus?

[Jenn]

@ Chie: I haven't tried it out, but I think the only way for the player to support Asian characters is to set the entire UI to the appropriate language. In other words, if the system is set to English and you transfer content containing Asian characters, I don't think it will display. If you have a small file that you can email me, I can test it out for you to make sure.

If you don't plan to use the English option at all, then you should be fine. There are 40 different language options, so whatever you're looking for is likely to be there.

@ Matilda: I don't have access to a Mac anymore, so I don't know of any good software that will enable full use of the player. If you haven't done so already, you may want to consider posting your question on the clixhere.net forums.

@ PC: Definitely the clix 2!

[krzysztof]

where can I buy it?
how much i have to pay for that?

[Chie]

Thanks Jenn for testing out the Asian character support. It looks great on the screenshots you sent me. I ordered my Clix 2 the minute I got your reply with the results. Thanks again!

[Reno]

An excellent review, I am close to buying this unit and unless Ive missed something can see little to dissuade me. I also considered a Cowon iAudio 7 which is a little cheaper here in the UK. How do they compare ?

Excellent review - helped me decide to get one.
The 'Save UCI' is not unnecessary as if a faulty theme is applied and causes the screen to go grey (happened to me), I can reset the Clix and the previous theme will be applied leaving me with no problems.

[Gerry]

FYI -- ALL

Reading this review is realizing that you have no milk after chomping into a delicious brownie!

After finding only $300-plus prices on-line I called the tech support number listed on the iRiver website. When the tech guy came on (in less than two minutes) he informed me that, according to what he has hear, the 8GB model is not scheduled to be released in the US until the latter part of Q4 2007. WTF?

Being that I do have a means of listening to podcasts (my primary usage for an MP3 player) on my Sony minidisc player I am electing to postpone my purchase until the product is released in the US and the profiteers on eBay etc. are put out of business.

Side note: I cannot fathom why iRiver would elect to relinquish market share for such a long time by postponing the 8GB's release. Many iPod competitors are entering the market with large flash devices. There must be a marketing strategy behind this somewhere . . .

[Greag]

I wanna buy the clix (8gig :) ) at warehouse123. it comes with earbuds, fm transmitter, a sleeve, and the screen protector only 312 dollars.........FIRST- is it safe to buy from warehouse 123 SECOND- would it be more expansive/cheaper in the US (even though im in Canada) THIRD- should I wait until it comes out in the US................I dont know anyth'ing anymore......:...( waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

thx,lol

[Jenn]

@ Greag: I have dealt with warehouse123 many times and have never had any problems. They're reputable and ship their items very quickly. I, personally, would recommend them to anyone.

At this point, no one knows for sure how much the player will cost when it becomes officially available in the U.S. It will almost definitely be less than $300, but saving a few bucks may not matter if you can't ever get it!

[Emmo]

I'm curious about the nonremovable battery. Does this mean if the battery fails at some point it cannot be replaced and the player will be useless? Do you have any feel for how long batteries like this last? After reading about the Clix on several sites I'm really impressed with it but I don't want to have to replace it in a few years time.

[Evan]

Hey! Nice review. Can anyone pleeeease email me that picture with the girl with the headphones. It was preloaded on the clix but I formatted it without knowing the preloaded stuff is being also deleted.

So if anyone has the original pictures can email'em here: edge@mail.bg

Thanx

[Barry O]

Great reviews -- I have a very quick question regarding the iRiver software: Will it convert dvr-ms files? I would really like to use all the content from my Windows Media Center PC.

Thanks!

[Silver]

About the Drag-And-Drop music database problem you mentioned... A review at everythingusb mentioned a tool in the Clix2 that you can use after copying music to the device in MSC mode via copy-pasting that rebuilds the ID3-based database. Thought you should check that out and confirm it.

[JP]

Wow...thanx! I have been on the hunt for a decent mp3 player for quite a while. After perusing an extensively large number of websites, I managed to narrow down my choice to either the iPod (newest nano) or this Clix 2. Unfortunately, I was unable to find much about either that solidified my choice. I read a page that compared the two and three other mp3 players, but it still lacked much of the info I really needed to make a final decision.

So I just typed "iRiver Clix Gen2 Review" in Google and opened the first six pages in separate windows, expecting to be let down by them all. I read yours first, and I closed all the others. The most thorough review I've ever read, and on top of that, I enjoyed the plentiful pictures, size compairsons, links to your reviews of accessories, and even a VIDEO! This really helped me make up my mind...which is something I didn't think would happen for a VERY long time.

Plus you love Tori, so that already makes it in my book. LOL Thanx so much! You have helped me FINALLY put this damn search to rest.

[Joanna]

Hi,

I bought the product today.
I was wandering can we skip the video??? Like fast forward scenese???

[Can't make up my mind]

I'm considering either the clix2 8gb or the Sansa e280 with rockbox
but can't make up my mind
it's obvious that the clix2 is better but is it worth the extra $100?
and the other thing is there anywhere where they have the clix2 as a demonstration in stores?
zipcode 90703

[howe]

"About the Drag-And-Drop music database problem you mentioned... A review at everythingusb mentioned a tool in the Clix2 that you can use after copying music to the device in MSC mode via copy-pasting that rebuilds the ID3-based database. Thought you should check that out and confirm it." -silver

about what silver said, if it does work that'd be really awesome!! anyone can verify this?

[man]

how do i charge my iriver?

when i plug in my iriver using the usb cable, it only says 'usb connected -MSC (UMS)'

pls help me. thx!

[Xander]

Just wanted to say thanks for the review. Yes, I love Tori too. She's tops!

I just got my 8GB (red line) Clix from Hong Kong and it is great! Fantastic screen ... I was unsure if I would enjoy watching video on a screen the size of the Clix, (I have only ever used straight mp3 players before) but it is brilliant! Super bright, great viewing angle.

Also, the Movie Converter software is simple and relatively fast (about 10-15 minutes for compression of a 350MB Divx avi).

My only gripe is the fact you have to format the disk if you want to switch between USB connection standards ... but I don't see myself having to do this again as I will stick to using Media Player 11 as my media manager.

Sound is great. I am no audiophile, but I am very happy with the quality of sound. Also, the supplied earphones are comfortable, for my ears at least .. ;)

What more can I say? It's great. 9.5/10!!

[Giggle Weed]

WANT.

Well, WANT pretty much sums up what I'm thinking at the moment. I've been looking for a video/mp3 player that's nice to look at. I've never been one for iPods. The only thing I'm a little worried about is the video sizes (320x240).
Great review!

[Mac]

I use my clix 2 strictly for audio books (Audible) and love it. How can I get rid of the "exerpts" that came with the machine? They don't appear on the Windows Media Player.

[Mac]

I have re-formatted my iRiver clix 2 and syncronized my audible files with Windows Media Center. The audio books show on the clix screen, but when I try to play the file, the dialog says "Not activated to play this title". Help! I'm in the middle of the audio book and can't finish.

[Bil]

I was using s10 before. was satisfied with it. its perfect. the battery is a bit disappointing.

i think ill go for clix

[Greag]

its october.....................THE FREKIN 8GIG IS STILL NOT IN STORES!!!!!!....IM AN ANGRY SOON-TO-BE CUSTOMER...........********DOES ANYONE KNOW THE RELEASE DATE OF THE 8GIG TO USA/CANADA.........I SAY ARGHHHH YOU ALL SAY I ARGGGHHHHING SECOND THAT!..........humph......sigh what a world we live in........without a clix i might go crazy , I waited 3 months for it!

[Marty]

Great review (I ended up buying one!)
After dragging and dropping music files, rebuild the database:

Settings -> Advanced -> Rebuild Library

I can confirm this works - I use it all the time.

[Jenn]

The 8GB model is selling for $267 at Warehouse123.com right now.

It can also normally be purchased through Amazon or the iriver store, but both retailers list the item as out of stock at the moment.

[Jenn]

Thanks for the confirmation, Marty. I haven't used my clix in a while, but this is great to know for when I do. Thanks again. :-)

[Kenzie]

I have been looking into buying an 8 gig, and I have been looking for fonts to customize it with. I was wondering what the names of the ones you showed in the review were?

[Julien]

Thanks for the nice review!

I'd like to know if you can navigate using folders (like windows explorer) on the clix? Or can you only navigate using ID3 (artist/album/etc.)?

[Jenn]

@ Kenzie: The font names are listed at the top left of the image you're referring to: basic, GIRLS, PenguinAttack, angelina, georgia, and papyrus.

@ Julien: The "transferring content" section of the review, as well as some of the comments here, answer your question.

[Kenzie]

Ah, yes I see that they are right there. Now I feel stupid for missing them. Thanks a lot.

[Marilyn Jones]

A few months ago question posted about reformatting text files to smaller font and fixing word break wasn't answered. I would love to have some info about this, also how to set up text files to full screen auto scroll speed. Anyone know this??
I am tech ignorant. I love my 4GB Gen2. I figured out a nice way to put in all of my audiobooks so very easy to use. And its very easy to show people pictures. Also I don't actually get how to put one of my DVD movies in device. Thanks for all the useful comments

[Teresa]

I am just itching to buy a clix after this amazing review. With all the great features this has I can't believe that I am still concerned as to whether this clix has bookmarking for audio books. Can anyone tell me if it does?