Some people have been conditioned to think (by the media) that the Ipod is the ultimate jukebox-carry-along-music-whatever-device. WRONG!!!! I am of the opinion that the Ipod is highly overrated, so when I went looking for a hard drive player, I didn't even bother to check it.
But enough of the Ipod; this review is about the incredibly magnificent Iriver H120. The pros outweight the cons by a large and considerable margin: sound, user-friendliness, features, the gorgeously engraved leather carrying case, etc. I managed to equalize my Iriver so now it sounds the same, if not better, than a Bose sound system. The buttons only need 5 mins. to get accostumed to, and in the remote, everything is at your finger's reach, literally speaking.
The only problem I see with this device is the tangled cords between the remote and the earphones (which, by the way, are not that crappy as everybody says, once you equalize the sound to get the best out of them). Other than that, is the best spent US $250 ever.

I recommend this player with my eyes closed; it has been the best Xmas gift I could have ever given myself.

I decided to get this player for my christmas, previously thinking of getting the iPod mini because of the cool design and bearing in mind that I had never owned an MP3 player before.
After seeing this "iRiver" i decided to check it out. I was totally astonished at the features this player had to offer ESPECIALLY the fact that it was 20gb and that it's battery life surpassed the iPod mini by far.

Here's a tip to buyers who can't decide between the iPod and the iRiver -

If you want it for the music - Go for the iRiver
If you want it for the design - Go for the iPod

-Mike

I decided upon the iRiver H-120 after looking at a bunch of various brands. I liked the fact that the player had 20 gig space (I listen to audiobooks mostly) and liked the remote feature; with the ability to pop the player in my pocket with only the remote and headphones hanging out. After having the product for 8 months here's my few observations-

1)Cords are tangly- I spent many minutes just trying to unravel the cords every morning. A retractable cord/headphone would certainly help this.

2) remote is finicky- that is, sometimes the buttons press as you anticipate, and other times they seem to have a mind of their own.

3) Customer service is ABYSMAL. Somehow the hard-drive crashed on me already and I'm chalking it up to bum luck. We'll see IF I ever get the replacement. I'm not sure how it really died, as it was working fine on my commute into work, and that eve it refused to boot. So, I returned it. Seems they don't tell you anything about what is going on with your return- ie: they've actually recevived it, when a new one is coming out, etc. I sent many emails asking for any update, and they don't even update a website help location they assign to you when you get an RMA. Trying to get through to their 800 number for phone support is equally if not more horrible. I've called at various times of the day, and have spent from 30 minutes to close to 2 hours on-hold- if I even got though!

In short- the player is good, but had I to do again, I'd explore Dell, or an IPod. At least if the product has an issue with them, they have the customer service to deal with the issues.

I bought this baby almost 2 years ago after doing extensive research on all the mp3 players out there. I'm convinced that people only buy the ipod because it is the best advertized and, therefore, trendiest. However, the iRiver puts the ipod to shame. Not only is it an mp3 player, but it is also an external harddrive. That means you can hold any files you want on it. If you want to transfer 10 movies from one computer to another, just drag em onto the iRiver and it's that simple. For those of you who want to know about the recording function (that the ipod does NOT have), I just bootlegged a concert last week. I was in the middle of the audience and I just used the external microphone it comes with, and the recording came out great for an audience recording! I had to boost up the volume a bit with a wav editing program, but the sound quality was good and clear without any maxing out. And you can record it either wav or mp3 format. Besides that, the battery life is great. The size is basically identical to the ipod, except the ipod is all white and feminine, while the iRiver is black and cooler looking with a sick blue LCD screen. All in all, if you want the best price for the best player out there, get the iRiver.

i bought this mp3 player for 3 reasons
1. the voice recorder
2. the built in radio/ gigage
3. its something different (other than an ipod)

things that are wrong about this product
1. the catagoization of the songs. an iriver is a drag and drop system with a DB scan that will enable you to browse through artist, album, ect. the only problem is if you dont have your mp3 files properly ID Tagged it wont even recognize it. (dont get scared they will still go on the mp3 player just it will be slightly harder to find which is a slight inconvience that is noticible) and even if your files are tagged sometimes the Iriver
still wont recognize it. that was frustrating, where as the ipod has a system through itunes i believe that is somewhat better.

2. the voice recorder. it comes with an external mic and a built in mic. the problem is with the interal mic. about every 30 seconds the iriver will sahy, "load" or "refresh" and that produces a noise. so if you listen to your recorded work about every 30 seconds a distinct wizzing sound will appear. and that was extremely annoying.

3. the button control is much more complex and at sometimes confusing. i applaud the ipod for staying simple.

4. the remote gets in the way with its LONG cord. plus if it is a remote why does it have a cord at all??

5. the earphones/carrying case is a piece of crap

6. although i havent timed it out i find hard to believe that the so called 16 hour battery life actually lasts 16 hours. dont get me wrong it lasts longer than my ipod. but not 16 hours.

THINGS I LIKED.
1. its not an ipod
2. the quality of the sound is DEFINATELY improved. much more than the ipod
3. the radio works great!
4. the radio/recorder combo if you want these in an ipod. you will have to pay extra $$
4. so some of my songs that skipped the iriver elliminated it.
5. its unique! if you buy this people will notice it and you can brag about it.
6. tech support always answers my questions within 24 hours
all in all i am pleased with this product
i would recommed it if you are a man who is very familiar with technology. if you a clueless simple guy go with the ipod. i still like it more than the ipod because it does more for me.