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Well, the need for a new gadget got the better of me this weekend, and as they just arrived in stores here a few days ago, I had to take the plunge on the new iRiver SPINN. I have been a fan of iRiver for ages now, still using my old 6Gig H20 every now and again. As a brand they have fallen somewhat behind the pack lately just because they hadn’t really put out a new product to rival the new iPod Touch and Nanos or Zune 2s…until now. iRiver has always specialized in smaller capacity devices with top quality features…and usually top dollar price, and thus far the SPINN does not disappoint.

This new MP3/PMP from iRiver stands out from the crowd due to a 3.2 inch AMOLED touch screen, haptic response, FM radio and voice recording (also the ability to record straight off the radio), more music and video codec support then you can shake a standards guide at, stereo Bluetooth support and a very slick little analog wheel in place of the somewhat tired touchpad.

After the jump see some comparison shots and initial impressions.

In the clear package, with nothing to hide. Very well presented.

The device itself.

Just the bare bones in the box…USB cable, sort of goofy looking headphones (white? dear Gawd WHY??), mini CD and quick start guide.

Oh dear, not ANOTHER proprietary connector…

Side by side with the iPod Touch 8G…though they look from above to be roughly equivalent the iPod is noticeably larger and heavier in the hand.

Thickness comparison between the SPINN and the iPod Touch. The iPod is a little slimmer, and feels even more so due to the curves. Width wise the SPINN feels much smaller in the hand, which is both a good and a bad thing for manly men such as myself.

Size comparison between the Zune 2 80, iPod Touch, SPINN and iRiver H20.

Thickness comparison, from bottom to top…Zune, iPod Touch, H20, SPINN. Not the somewhat flimsy feeling USB connector cover on the SPINN.

The picture quality on the SPINN. This picture does not do it justice. It is easily the best screen on any small device I own. Simply breathtaking, crisp and clean with great depth.

Picture quality comparison, Zune, iPod Touch and SPINN. Again, poor quality picture but in my never terribly humble opinion the quality order goes 1 – SPINN, 2 Zune, 3 iPod.

Initial impression of the SPINN GUI is that it is very clean and appealing. The Haptic response feels like a small dental drill going off when I touch a button which gets heavily on my nerves, so I already switched it off. Now I am off to install the software, check the sync, set up a Bluetooth headphones connection and begin checking the sound quality…expect a full review later in the week.

Zealot (446 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook

By day a department manager and writer for a major network device vendor...by night Zealot stalks the mean magnetic streets, striking fear into the hearts of bandwidth abusers and theme park mascots. Zealot has been involved with mobile devices for more than a decade now, starting off with dumb phones, moving to PDAs and then to smartphones, notebooks and netbooks with the odd PMP thrown in. Most of his mobile time currently is spent on a Treo Pro, Zune HD, Thinkpad T61, Gigabyte M912M or a Hackintoshed Compaq Mini 704. He proudly groks the Geek community and considers himself a Neo Maxi Zune Dweebie (thanks Will Wheaton!).