Date: November 26th, 2003
Article by: Roger (Hardware Reviewer)
Edited by: Nathan Glentworth (Owner, Head Editor & Hardware Reviewer)
Product was donated by: iRock
<--Shop for the iROCK 730i MP3 Player Here.

PRODUCT COMPOSITION & PICTORIAL (cont'd)

When you look at the back of the unit, you can see that it's made of hard (hopefully not too fragile) plastic. When I opened the battery flap to insert the AAA, I found the hinged flap to be very weak and if you are not careful, it will snap, make no mistake about it. I was disappointed that the leather case does not have a flap as well. Every time the battery dies (which is quite often - it lasts an average of 8 hours), you have to remove the case, insert the fresh AAA, then snap the case back on. Not a huge deal, although it would have been nice to have something in place to prevent that.

You can also see from the above shot how the belt clip is removable. A single flathead screw holds it in place, tightly might I add. I found the unit hard to clip onto my belt. I'm not complaining though. That means it's not going anywhere. I hate being afraid that something clipped on my belt (MP3 player, cell phone, pager) is going to go crashing to the floor anytime I lift a box or work on a PC. I can run a marathon with the irock! attached to my waist, and the only time it'll hit the ground is when I collapse after the first couple miles.

The irock! comes with a nice leather case, as I've mentioned. There is a plastic strip which protects the LCD, and each button has its opening. The case is secured by two snaps on the back side. Again, my only complaint is the lack of a battery flap.

It sure does look sharp, though.

The high-fidelity earphones come with a set of foamies which are quite the pain in the ass to put on. The earphones fit nicely in your ear with or without them.

Time to plug it in.

PRODUCT INSTALLATION

Plug the USB cable into your computer, then into your irock!. Click and hold the play/pause button to power the unit. Windows should detect it right away. I may ask you for a driver location. Make certain the CD is in your computer and the whole install takes less than a minute.

From here, don't expect to pop into Windows Explorer and see the irock! as you would most other MP3 players. To transfer files, you need to use the Transfer Manager which is on the CD.

I really think FID could have come up with a better slogan here. I don't know, something that is not so apt to be taken out of context. (Editor: LMAO! Oh my god, I can't stop laughing! =D, Good one Roger!!!)

From here, you have to install the Transfer Manager. You can also install other utilites like MusicMatch and MP3i Creator.

Fairly easy, right.

Time for some tunes.