iAudioG3 - 1GB MP3/WMA Player, FM Radio, Direct Encoding

So I wanted an mp3 player of about 1GB flash with FM radio and decent battery life (but preferably not a Li cell because of the limited total lifetime and cost of replacing it) and with a reasonable display size ("My eyes are dim...") that would power some decent headphones - which headphones cut down the background sound from the buses and underground - and the noise of the muggers and their victims in Brixton.

The Creative Zen nano plus looked good value - but poorer battery life; the new Pure pocket DAB2000 has excellent DAB but that is its main feature; the MPIO FG100 looks good, but expensive, the iRiver U10 is expensive and has a Li-polymer battery - but has a seriously big colour screen and a 2 year warranty, and the Monolith II has a Li-ion battery but looks very sturdy. Lots of good competition.

Anyway after much research and vacilation I decided on the iAudio G3 1GB. From Amazon it was available for £100 + £5 p&p from PCIHO (aka mp3andmore) - a third party seller. In early October 2005 that was a lot less than the Tottenham Court Road shops. I wasn't sure about the third party purchase but so far so good: I got exactly what I ordered and it was promptly delivered. What I'm still not sure about is the come-back if anything goes wrong in the warranty period...

Well the iAudio G3 does what it says on the tin, and that's what I wanted. Mind you a little of what it says on the tin is poorly translated from the original Korean! For instance the 'colour sound' slogan is a bit silly - anyone with an IQ greater than their shoe size should work out it's not a colour display.

Well I haven't tried the earbuds it came with so I can't comment on those. I like to attenuate as much of the ambient sound pollution as possible - then I can listen to what I want at a fairly quiet level and still enjoy it (and I don't annoy fellow passengers at all). I have a pair of Sennheiser HD25 headphones (70 ohms - and twice as many grammes), very good at keeping out the racket, however expensive: but get them because you're worth it!

I've played with the iAudio G3 for about two weeks and overall I am pleased - and this is not just cognitive dissonance! It has managed to play most everything I've loaded on to it and 1GB seems tonnes of space. I mean: it really is a pretty bad day on the 8:15 from Barnshurst to Charing Cross if 15 hours of music and enough battery to play it all twice is not enough for you.

'Sky White'? Hello: what planet: the sky is blue here on earth - it's the clouds that are white.

Pros:
=====
Excellent sound quality.
Plenty of power for bigger headphones.
Good battery life - I'm now still waiting for a 2,500mAh NiMH to run down!
Reasonably easy to use - fairly intuitive.
Enough options to fiddle with if you want, but it's happy to be left without attention.
Small size - but the buttons, levers and switch are still manageable.
Surprisingly good quality FM radio (as good as my old Sony FM/AM Walkman SRF-M35).
Comes with carrying case, lanyard, CD, an AA battery, USB and line-in cable.
www.iaudiophile.net provide helpful forum.
A fuller manual is provided on CD in PDF format.
Not a mobile phone or a camera.

Cons:
=====
A smaller screen than I would like (but bigger than many at about 25 x 13 mm; 128 x 64 pixels).
The carrying case looks like Barbie's first fashion handbag (but it comes in the box).
Half a semi-Korean manual (and provided in approximations of a dozen languages).
Not the claimed battery life - but hands up anyone who has ever, ever, had the claimed battery life for anything?
Not exactly Le dernier cri (but that might make it less attractive to the Brixton muggers?!)
Lyric display feature is overrated, it's easier to print out from the web!
Only one playlist - but plenty of good navigation and play options.
www.iaudio.com (except for downloads)
Some people report firmware update problems.
Recording from radio etc. are not exactly studio quality (but if you want that look elsewhere).
Not particularly sturdy feel - battery cover feels flimsy; and I'm not so sure about the joy-stick.
It takes about 8 seconds to power up - even when you get rid of the silly prancing logo.

So overall I'm pleased: a good B+?+ sort of feel to it. However I'm still not sure how I'm going to listen to Test Match Special.