Haier’s 30GB ibiza Rhapsody made a strong run for would-be Zune or iPod touch owners when it debuted last fall. Now this home-appliance stalwart has updated its portable music player, adding two thinner, lighter (and cheaper) flash-drive models to its impressive spec list of Wi-Fi, FM radio, video/photo playback, Web browser, and support for streams and downloads via RealPlayer and AOL. It’s a bit big and pricey, but overall, we like this player.
Design and User Interface
The 8GB version of the ibiza we tested was a two-tone blue, with a flat, metallic-looking front. It is large but slim and, at 3.2 ounces, suprisingly light—1.7 ounces lighter than the 30GB model—and has a 2.5-inch, 320 x 240-pixel screen. The ibiza also comes in a 4GB model as well as an array of metallic colors (aqua, black, pink, and purple). Below the QVGA-resolution screen are four chrome buttons and a 1.1 x 0.9-inch clickable touchpad with adjustable sensitivity. On the right side are volume and power buttons, and a hold switch, Wi-Fi menu button, and headphone jack are on top. A variety of accessories are available for the dock connector on the bottom, but you can use the mini-USB port next to it for syncing and charging.
The menu system is polished, well-organized, and mostly speedy. The textured touchpad is very responsive, and we easily whizzed around menus and lists with precision. We like the customizable animated themes, which are available as free downloads via the Extras menu. Entering text is fairly easy; you scroll through a single line of characters via the touchpad and click to select. With a little practice, we were able to type URLs and searches with reasonable speed, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the iPod touch’s virtual QWERTY keyboard.
Format Support
The ibiza works with Windows Vista and XP via Real’s Rhapsody software or by drag-and-drop, though it doesn’t work with the Mac OS. Format support is broad, including AAC, MP3, OGG, WAV, WMA, and Audible for audio, as well as MPEG-4 and WMV for video. The only supported DRM is Real’s Helix, which lets you play tracks downloaded from Rhapsody; given the diminishing relevance of Windows Media DRM, we’re fine with this setup.
Wi-Fi Functionality
The ibiza’s hottest feature is its integration with Rhapsody, Flickr, and AOL Video, providing wireless access to music, photos, and video without having to touch a computer (except to set up a Rhapsody or Flickr account). The three services work very well, and the ibiza comes with a free 30-day Rhapsody trial, after which you can pay $12.99 a month for unlimited streaming access or $14.99 a month for Rhapsody’s To Go service (which lets you download songs directly to the player that are yours to keep).
We downloaded Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” from Rhapsody in about a minute; AOL Video streams were mostly glitch-free though generally very low-resolution. Rhapsody streams didn’t skip at all, though we could easily hear the effects of heavy compression. The service’s abundant editorial content like artist bios were easily readable on the large screen.
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