Home > Consumer Reviews > iRock! 860 256MB MP3/WMA Player with FM Tuner

Because of its small size, weight, ruggedness, and long battery life, the irock! 860 is a truly portable personal MP3 player & FM radio. The high resolution LCD display competently provides useful information, however, the character size of ID3 tags (artist, album, song name) may be too small for the 'far sighted' to read without reading glasses. The 800 Series is a USB Mass Storage Class Device and is recognized by computers with newest operating systems (Windows ME, 2000, XP; MAC OS 9.X, OS X) as a "Removable Disk". This means the files or folders can easily be transferred to and from the irock! 800
Series as one normally does with floppy disks or local disk drives. The file extension for playlist (.M3U) is the same as for MusicMatch JukeBox so playlists for both the MusicMatch JukeBox and irock! Digital Download Manager are interchangeable. However, even though a user may be able to download 150 or more files, if a playlist is created to include all MP3 files, when that playlist is initiated, the "Queue To Play" may only recognize the first 70 to 90 songs because of the limited size of memory allocation. The exact number of playable songs is dependent of the sum total of the file names of the MP3's that will fit in"Queue To Play" memory. The 800 Series provides RANDOM play mode rather than SHUFFLE(nonrepeating random) which may be a problem for users who wish to only hear once each song in a random order. Standard equalizer settings have been provided but not BASS BOOST, as is available of the 500 Series. BASS BOOST helps to overcome some tinny sounding ear phones for a more enjoyable listening experience. The firmware (software controlling the device) is upgradeable so problems with current firmware can be corrected with a new firmware release by irock! Suggested changes and improvements: 1) add "ALL TRACKS" to root directory so users can easily play all music files; 2) replace RANDOM with SHUFFLE; 3) add BASS BOOST.

I was just looking for a cheap flash mp3 player in the $100 range for me to use while running, but I am impressed with the quality I got in the iRock 860. The build and interface of the unit seems solid and quite attractive, especially with the included protective case/beltclip. As someone that detests Musicmatch, I was greatly relieved that I could manage songs using my software of choice, Windows Media Player; file transfers are simple if a little slow (due to USB 1.1). In action, the player sounds great and is loud enough to overcome a roomfull of noisy treadmills at the gym. People looking for encycleopaedic features and lots of memory should buy a hard-drive player first, but flash players are the only way to go for exercise, and I have no qualms in recommending this player.

I was in the market for a new MP3 player and was absolutely overwhelmed when I started my research and found all the brands, options, price ranges and reviews on all the various types. I had very specific features in mind and was surprised that hardly any of them had all the things I was looking for. Or, if they did, they got not-so-good reviews. Finally, after much searching (and crossing my fingers) I settled on the iRock. I have had itfor apx. 2 months now and am happy as can be with it. I use it mostly for exercizing and air plane flights- and it works perfectly for both!
The software is very easy to use, it holds a resonable amount of music, the sound quality is excellent, the display is easy to read, the menus are easy to navigate, the head phones are better than most, it's so light weight that you barely notice it's there, it's got a belt clip for exercising, it's got a great battery life, it's sturdy, the FM radio comes in surprisingly well, it's easy to download music and it was fairly inexpensive! The ONLY things I wish is had: a clock and the ability to expand memory. I don't write reviews often, but this little guy inspired me enough to do so. Two thumbs up!!!

Unlike the crappy Creative Rhomba I bought and returned, this MP3 player actually works...very well. It's extremely easy to use, very small and yet feels reasonably sturdy for mp3 players. The accompanying carrying case is a very nice add on. Even those who have terrible luck with computers (like myself) will like this player. The price for the product will make you look very hard at it.

Having an iBook G4 most of the MP3 players for sale are not compatable with Mac. I had an old irock player which has been through the wars and had served me well... but this new irock 860 is better. Fantastic value for money and great for the 1st time MP3 buyer. Most of the people I know bought the ipod but I've seen & heard alot of bad things mostly with the battery life. I can tell you one thing the irock can stand a whole lot more bumps and falls then any ipod could. You can be assured you will be buying a great product!