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The iriver clix Mixes in Well

Luxury Electronics: When brand or company names are expressed in lowercase letters only, it baffles me. I suppose it is a way to standout or to indicate a march-to-a-different-drummer posture. However, despite my feelings toward branding and typeface, the iriver clix portable media player is a capital product that integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Windows' Media Player 11 and MTV's new digital musical service, URGE. The "big" portable plays videos and music and displays photographs. Its interface is easy to customize, and it is in sync with Microsoft's PlaysForSure software, which makes downloading music or videos a very simple, straightforward process. The carrying case of the unit is nice too.

The iriver clix has a capacity of two gigabytes and a display screen that is just over two inches. The unit's battery lasts up to 25 hours. Additionally, it has an integrated FM tuner and recorder and a built-in voice recorder. Its "Now Playing" screen displays album art, songs' ratings, quick-play lists and next-song preview. FlashLite 2.0 is installed for games. A programmable "SmartKey" provides quick access to the unit's oft-used functions, and music transfers are executed quickly through a USB 2.0 adopter. It also supports OGG music files.

The iriver clix provides earphones along with preloaded selections of music, videos, photos, games, and wallpaper. Optional add-ons are also available. The system requires Windows XP (Service Pack 1 or higher), Windows Media Player 10 (or greater), a CD-ROM drive and a USB port.

For LxM James Rothaar