Warning: May Very Well Render Your Nano Useless and Neglected

When my 1st gen iPod died recently in a freak Caesar salad accident, I thought long and hard about whether I wanted to buy another iPod or take a risk on another company.

Fortunately for me, I live on the edge - I bought an iRiver Clix 2 (or Clix Gen 2 or whatever the kids are calling it these days).

On http://www.iriveramerica.com they offer the 4 GB Clix 2 for $189.00 + Shipping . All told, my Clix set me back $209.00 and arrived safely and quickly.

Quick and dirty breakdown:
Size and feel: It has a footprint a little smaller than a credit card and weighs substantially more than the Nano, but in a good way. The plastic the Clix is made of (glossy front, matte back) feels like nice plastic …but it’s still plastic. If you’re prone to dropping your expensive electronic gadgets (like me) I would recommend getting a case. In terms of handling, I can operate the Clix comfortably with one or both hands; it’s small but big enough to grasp and manipulate with ease. The real trick is getting used to the buttons along the edge - power, user-set "Smart Key", volume, and hold switch. I've read complaints about how the volume keys are backwards (+ on the left, - on the right), but it hasn't bothered me much. If taking an extra second to figure out which of two buttons makes it go louder is going to ruin your day, this may not be the right player for you.

UI: The Clix utilizes the D-Click interface, which means that you control the player by pressing on any of the front cardinal edges. This system is great - navigating through menus is intuitive and effortless, and the Clix zips between screens without a fuss. I've seen iPod Videos that experience a completely unacceptable amount of lag during navigation, but the Clix handles my madman clicking with grace and even a saucy bit of sex appeal. You tiger, you.

Sound: I'm no audiophile, but the Clix sounds pretty great to me - the default EQ has a little too much high end for my tastes, but iRiver has included a wide array of sound options including SRS WOW, a user-adjustable EQ, and a handful of EQ presets that do a decent job of accommodating different types of music.

Video/screen: So far, I've used iRiver's Movie Converter to convert and transfer several videos - two episodes of Futurama, full-length Rules of Attraction, and full-length Final Fantasy Advent Children with subtitles - all without a hitch. Movie Converter takes a little while to get through the bigger files (up to a couple hours for a full-size movie), but transfer rates are pretty speedy (USB 2.0). I just queued up the pair of movies before bed (and made sure my computer wouldn’t sleep) and found them encoded and transferred properly in the morning. The real treat is the display – 2.2 inches of AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode) goodness. It’s plenty bright, ultra-crisp, and makes real life look a little duller by comparison. I’ve had people say they can watch multiple movies on the Clix, but I’m pretty sure they’re well on their way to cataracts – videos are great, and I might watch a movie on a long trip, but it’s still a pretty small screen. In short, don’t throw out your big screen TV, there’s a limit to the Clix’s viewing experience.

Other features: I’ve only used the voice recorder a handful of times, but I’m consistently surprised at how good the recordings sound, especially considering it’s a periperhal function. The flash games are decent, but I’d rather play a DS or PSP given the choice. The alarm clock is a peculiar function to have unless you either sleep with headphones or plug it in to speakers before you go to bed. The picture viewer is a nice touch, but like the video, it’s a little hampered by the lack of substantial screen real estate. On a quick note, the Clix comes preloaded with a few games, demo videos, full-length songs and a few audiobook excerpts, a demo photo album, and other items. A small gesture, maybe, but it was nice to be able to try out the full set of features without even moving a file.

Speaking of which…

File transfer: The USB 2.0 keeps file transfers nice and speedy. After charging it for the first time, I drag and dropped 400 songs on to the device, one album at a time, in a matter of minutes. On a curious note, my computer was unable to recognize the player in MTP mode until I installed an updated version of Windows Media Player (v. 11, provided on the Clix’s software CD). Once I got that sorted out, though, everything came off in spades.

User customization: The Clix runs Flash Lite, which means that the graphics, menus, and games can be homebrewed, and there’s a wide variety to be found on the internet. In addition to that, the Clix comes preloaded with a number of “themes” that affect the menu and fonts. Sweet.

Okay, that touches on most of the general features. To close, I’ll just address a few concerns and complaints I came across during the research and purchasing process:

1) You can’t use the device when it’s connected via USB to your computer (for charging and transfers). In reality, if you go into the advanced options, you can select “Power and Play” mode, which allows you to use the device while it’s connected and charging. I would imagine it takes longer to charge in this mode, but if you’re playing music off it at your desk, you can keep it powered and go nuts.
2) Changing file systems deletes the contents of the Clix. This is true, and makes it a good idea to back up your Clix before switching from MTP to MSC (UMD) mode.

…and I’ll add more – I didn’t mean for this to become a book.

In closing, the 2nd generation Clix is a pretty snazzy piece of pocket candy. Put simply, it’s an mp3 and video player that gets the job done all day long and comes with a number of extra features. It sounds great, looks great, and is easily (and quickly) navigated with D-Click. In a market that’s about to be saturated (again) by the new iPods (including the new, video-ready Nanos), the Clix remains a strong alternative to Apple products and imitators.