A couple of days ago I ranted in this forum about how my iRiver IMP-50 was not responding properly. Turns out I'm not alone -- after reading posts in this forum and elsewhere on the Net, I'm discovering that the iRiver series as a whole seems plagued by spotty reliability and durability -- at least on a physical level.

And yet I'm so impressed by the iRiver firmware. Their engineers have created customizable features and controls for their players that seems unmatched in the realm of portable players.

So does anyone know of a player that combines the extraordinary feature set of the IMP series with the kick-around durability of a garden-variety Panasonic or Sony or Phillips player?

I'm not sure it gets any better than the players you mentioned. My IMP-350 is approaching 2 years of age and faces the occasional issue of poor cd-rw readability, which is no doubt related to the quality of the discs themselves and the reflectivity of the dye. It reads most cd-r's without a hitch.

Hi,
I have the iMP-550 since 6 months and I am very happy with it. I've never had any problems! And now with the newest firmware 1.70 (korean, eu-version not yet available) also ogg vorbis sounds great!

Big_Berny