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First I'd like to say I'm more than impressed by iRiver's latest HD based music player. I researched several products to find which had the most to offer. I wound up purchasing the H340 and have had it for about a month now. Here's what I found vs the iPod (I'm using this as a benchmark product since everyone asks “is it better than an iPod?”)

The H340 has the following features:
The H340 supports MPEG 1/2/2.5 Layer 3, OGG, WMA, ASF 8Kbps ~ 320 Kbps (OGG: 32Kbps ~ 500Kbps) ID3 V1, ID3 V2 2.0, ID3 V2 3.0
The iPod does not support OGG and some of the new ID formats.

The H340 has a built in multi-region FM tuner with presets (with autoscan), the iPod does not.

The H340 is firmware upgradeable which is very important. If a new format for music comes out or they want to tweak something upgrading the firmware is a cheaper alternative than buying a new device. If you search around the internet, there is a firmware upgrade that will let you play video**. Yes real video. **However, upgrading to a non-US version may void your warranty. I've tried it myself and it works for me. The iPod does not play video, yes that includes the new iPod Photo. There is a hack out there for the iPod where video is crudely played using a 1 picture per second playback but that is not true video!

The H340 functions as a portable hard drive the iPod does not. (That is without the help of additional software the Ipod cannot store files directly like the H340) You can store not only music, photo and video files on the H340 but you can keep your documents and any other files on there as well! And unlike the iPod you do not need software to plug the device into another computer. Plug it into a USB2 port and it will show up as another hard drive!

It has a really high quality voice recorder with built in mic the iPod does not. Also, you can record radio, voice or anything from the line directly to a MP3 files using only the H340, no software or PC needed!

The screen sizes on the iPod Photo and H340 have the size, 2inch color. However, the H340 supports 260k colors vs. IPod Photo's 65.5k colors. The screen on the H340 can be so bright and clear I sometimes need to turn it down to the lowest brightness setting!

As for sound quality, absolutely incredible! The H340 comes with SRS WOW 3D sound technology built in. It also has equalizer presets to chose from or create your own settings.

The unit can be charged in 3 to 4 hrs via USB or the power adapter and battery life is 16 hrs! The iPod Photo takes 4 to 5 hours to charge

The Cons…
The iPod is thinner and a tad lighter, but it's like comparing a pack of cigarettes to a pack of playing cards (iPod). I don't mind the H340 being a little thicker.

The iPod has the brand awareness, so if you're looking for the instant recognition factor, iRiver is not yet there. Form (iPod) vs. Function (H340)!

The slideshow feature on the iPod Photo is better as it shows more thumbnails of photos, but keep in mind this may be fixed on the iRiver via firmware if iRiver chooses to do so.

In summary, the H340 offers FM playback, firmware upgrades, picture playback, video playback** (See note above as it does not ship with this functionality!), voice recorder, MP3 encoder for recording directly to it, color screen capable of 260k colors, incredible sound fidelity, is a portable hard drive with no software needed to use, awesome battery stamina and costs less than the iPod 40gb Photo version. As with anything, do your own search and see if my opinion matches your own.