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Front
The dominant feature on the front of the iRiver E100 is its 2.4-inch screen, which takes up more than half of the available surface area. Below the screen is the d-pad, at the center of which is the select button.
Left
The left side of the device has a tiny pin-hole reset button and the device's locking switch.
Right
The right side is home to the volume controls, microphone, and power button.
Top
The top of the E100 has a MicroSD card slot under a small plastic panel.
Bottom
The bottom of the E100 has the digital output, a mini USB port for charging and data transfer, a lanyard loop, and a standard 1/8-inch headphone jack.
Back
The back of the E100 has two speakers towards the top.
Cord Buddies
The E100 comes with a few things we've taken to calling cord buddies. Just look at them.
How can you say no to these faces?
Cord Buddies walk the tenuous line between cute and profoundly horrorfying. We're not sure why they came with the E100, but they will selflessly manage your cords for you.
The cords are kept nice and neat, mainly thanks to our pals,
the Cord Buddies.
In Box
In the E100s box you'll find the player itself, a mini USB cable, a set of headphones, and two cord management strips with creepy smiley faces on them.
Durability (4.20)
The E100 doesn't really inspire us with its ruggedness. First of all, its plastic seems to be a one notch above "cereal toy": it accrues wear quickly, but mercifully the scratches and gouges don't seem to be particularly obvious. The screen held up to a hard piece of plastic and even a penny, but got scratched by a thumbtack. Chances are you shouldn't shove this into the pocket your keys are in, but a few pennies and dimes probably won't rough it up significantly. The headphones jack seems decently snug, but we'd still avoid letting it dangle from our ear buds.
While the device really doesn't have any moving parts, the d-pad could cause some issues. While we discuss the d-pad in depth in the hardware section, we shall summarize its main flaw here: the button has deceptive haptic feedback. This means pressing the button until it clicks doesn't necessarily mean you've actually pressed the button: you need to press it slightly harder to get the input to regsiter. Without being able to rely on the haptic feedback, it's very easy to start hitting the button far harder than need be, which only expedites wear and tear damage.
Aesthetics (4.00)
The E100 that we got in was the pink model, and it looks like a children's toy. The cotton-candy coloration aside, the entire device looks plasticky. We're not sure this device would be appropriate for adults even without the baby shower hue. Compare the E100 to media players like the Archos 7 or the iPod Touch, and the E100 will look like it came out of a cereal box.
This being said, it's not as though there's anything hiddeous about the E100, and we can see the younger set liking its look. If you're looking for a serious gadget, the E100 isn't it. If you're sick of metal and grays, then the E100 might be a nice visual vacation.
Portability (6.63)
The E100 measure 3.65 inches high, 1.89 inches wide, and 0.46 inches deep. This is an average size for modern media players. Also, at 2.01 ounces, it's fairly light. While this shouldn't be difficult to cart around, it's a bit thicker than many other options out there. It will leave a bit of a noticeable displacement if your pocket unless you're wearing baggy clothing.
The E100 is pretty small and should be very portable.
Supported File Types (5.50)
On the music side of things the E100 can play MP3, WMA, OGG, and ASF files. The device will play your video files if they're in AVI or WMA format. You can also view pictures with JPEG, BMP, PNG, or GIF file extensions.
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