iPods and other hard drive devices have gotten a lot of attention lately, but there is still much to be said for flash MP3 players. Often shorter on storage space, flash devices have many other potential benefits that make up for this. Up there with the best of them is the iRiver iFP-899 MP3 player, which has 1GB of flash memory.

Read on to find out how this player performs and what features it totes.

Why Flash?
Flash players are also called solid-state players because they lack any moving parts, like hard drives. This makes them far more durable and gives the device a much longer lifespan. Battery life is also longer since it doesn’t have to move anything. There is no way for music to skip or to stall on flash players. Bouncing the player won’t have any effect, but bouncing has been reported to cause skips or crashes on hard drive players occasionally. Flash players are also far smaller and lighter than hard drive ones. All together, a flash player is the ideal for anyone who uses their MP3 device actively, especially for any exercise. It is a great choice for runners because jostling it won’t harm it. It’s also good for people who just want a something convenient and small.

That said, let’s take a look at what comes with this iRiver.

Accessories
The player comes with pretty much everything you would need for exercise. There is a protective carrying case and 3 ways to carry it: neck strap, belt clip, and arm band. The armband is a wide strip of elastic with velcro and a plastic clip. The armband secures the player well so it doesn’t bounce around too much when you go running

Some players package low quality earphones. Those with the iRiver are actually quite good. You don’t need to buy another set, but if you’re really picky you probably will anyway. The sound can be better with an expensive pair, but the stock ones aren’t bad at all.

The iRiver also comes with a cable for line-in recording, which can double as a line-out to stereos that support this. There is also a USB 2.0 cable, which is very nice. MP3 players that plug directly into USG ports are often cheap and annoying. The iRiver’s cable makes connecting very easy.

Most competing MP3 players don’t have all these accessories, including those from Samsung and Sandisk, by including them as standard iRiver is stealing a march on it scompetition.