I want to buy a portable mp3 CD player. I did buy an Argon player, but it was awful, so i returned it.

Now I'm thinking about the iRiver iMP-700 player. Would that be a good choice, or could you reccomend me another mp3 cd player (in the same price range).

It is said that the player might get a firmware update that supports AAC in the future. Is that a realistic hope?

I don't know what is the official iRiver position on this, but I think there are good hopes that AAC could be supported by a later FW upgrade if the format gathers enough support (which IMHO is very close).

I would definitely go with the latest iRiver I could get, if I am betting on future FW updates. Any iRiver IMP-500 and up should be good enough.

Are you familiar with the iMP-700 player? I think it is the cheapest one.

You should visit this site and ask the question there:

misticriver.net

good posters...no flames

rs

What did I miss here? Can't find an IMP-700 on iRiver America nor on iRiver International

Edit: Found it on iRiver Korea. It does not support Ogg Vorbis unlike the other iRiver players. When will it be available in the rest of the world?

It is available here in Norway.

weird.. there seems to be no mention of it anywhere on that site. it definately exists and is available in my country. i'm also considering this player. the main thing i don't like from the specs is the thickness - at over 3cm its more than twice as thick as the more expensive iriver cd mp3 players it's even thicker than my beloved Exp303.

I think i will buy the iRiver iMP-400 player because of the upcoming firmware supporting Ogg Vorbis. It is a bit more expensive than the iMP-700 player, but worth the money with the Ogg support.

It better be good!

I have the iMP-400 and am very pleased with it. I've not yet installed the Korean beta firmware for OGG support... its not that important to me anyway.

As far as I know the iMP-700 is a replacement for some of the lower end iMPs that were originally released. It also has all the controls on the main unit ( unlike the iMP 350, 400 or 550). If you want all the controls on the main unit then go for it.

I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Please be aware that the current Vorbis implementation on the IMP series players is far from perfect, look here

But the current firmware supporting ogg is just beta, isn't it? I am expecting iRiver to create firmware capable of decoding my oggs perfectly, otherwise i'll be dissapointed.

I heartily recommend iRiver, if you want a player that takes CDs. I'm looking forward to trying the Ogg Vorbis beta2 in hopefully not to long (just have to find the power cable).

iRiver players are famous for their quality. I would buy one if I could find where, as they are not sold in South America, it seems.

Are there any export regulations that prevent a good friend in the USA from sending you one?

the phillips exp 503 is your best solution...

it supports ANY LC-AAC encode, you just have to use the iso .AAC extension. It has pretty good antiskip and its pretty cheap. Sound quality is top notch IMHO. Just note that newer phillips players dont support AAC anymore, its even not advertised in phillips website. Theres also the 5cm cd version of it, just be sure its the FIRST one, i believe its the 301, or 303, its the one "opaque" one, the shiny one doesnt support AAC. Its just the same as my 503 but only takes 5cm cds.

Anything besides that, well i dunno, id be interested in a car stereo that supported parametric AAC, but that might take many years still...

Got an iMP-250 - absolutely excellent. Plays all MP3's (any sample rate, bitrate, you name it...), off any cd, no matter how cr@ppy

Also mine has taken beatings... Its been dropped from a good 30cm a number of times, and is constantly jiggled around like mad in my bag when I've been out riding. Absolutely fantastic stuff

On the negative, the clip on the remote broke - although this was when my actual bag fell apart; so it was trying to support the weight of about 10kg.

Given the time Ogg support has taken to come to fruition, I'd guess AAC firmware is 2-3 years away.

On here it says:

i wouldnt count on that, iriver has been promising AAC support for years, almost since all the ogg support madness was started, so dont buy it if you want ogg support if it doesnt support it already. OTOH AAC encoders are already popping out of everywhere, i hope we will see some car stereos soon or iriver starts moving their asses...