So why do we care? This new edition of the clix has been tweaked—and while the hardware remains unchanged—the software has been modified with "Rhapsody DNA," allowing the user ways to discover new music on the road. And we dug it.

We've always been suspicious of memberships like Rhapsody. After all, there are a limited number of tracks with odd holes in the artist lineup, and you lose all your precious music whenever you leave. But despite these subscription stereotypes, which turned out to be completely true, we still think the service is worth considering.

The Library
The fundamental basis of Rhapsody is in the Library. When browsing either through their bundled software or logged in through their website, it only takes one click of a button (that looks a lot like play) to add a track or entire album to your Library. Building your Library is like an Amazon shopping spree, as each artist's page holds recommended artists that lead you to more recommended artists. And with one click, each album is yours.
Then, using the bundled software, it's just a matter of dragging and dropping to your clix to load the music. Your computer then downloads the tracks straight to the clix, which takes about a minute and a half per album. (You can also play the music either online or through the software, which requires only a few seconds to buffer and load.)

But while building a Library from recommendations works well, we aren't seeing the real potential of clix Rhapsody implementation yet—better known as Channels.

Channels
The Channels are where Rhapsody and clix come together...sorry for this...harmoniously. While Rhapsody has long offered Channels—which are essentially 26-track radio stations that allow you to explore music that's in a similar vein to your favorite artists—the clix allows you to easily rate and tag the new music you like. We'll explain...
Scenario: You are on the subway, listening to a Channel named "Bands Like Death Cab for Cutie." After skipping through the tracks like a playlist, you find a song by the Pixies you like. You hold the right direction on the clix to access a special menu and select "Add to Playlist." Then, when you reconnect the clix to your PC, the song is quickly added to your Library.

And if you want to access all the Pixies' albums, they're just a right click away. But even better, you can build your own Channels based upon your favorite artists, which will customize music precisely to your taste. Greatest invention ever, right? It sure feels like it, and the experience of "Rhapsody DNA" on the clix feels so close to perfect.

Issues
The problems we had weren't due to either the clix or the Rhapsody service—both of those elements are pretty remarkable on their own.
We had issues with the required RealNetworks' Rhapsody software. First, there are just way too many buttons, tabs and windows. Simple tasks become tedious as you realize that Channels aren't listed in your Library, but under their own tab within the Library. And updating Channels seems to require going through the clix's icon, not your user/PC library. Confusing? Exactly.

The software would run but barely functioned on a p4 1.8ghz machine. Files often wouldn't upload, etc. It worked better on our newer system, but it was riddled with frequent microdelays, many of which are due to track caching, many of which are due to (we're guessing) bad programming.

The clix is a powerful video player, and Rhapsody has a multitude of music videos for streaming. Why can't you load these videos onto the clix? If it is possible, we were unable to find a way.

The Rhapsody software will detect your iTunes library and import it, even offering to find subscription versions of your tracks/albums to fill out your collection. The process takes hours, literally. But luckily you only do it once.

You can record both voice and radio on the clix Rhapsody, fluidly and clearly. But within Rhapsody's software, there is no option to download these MP3s to your collection. Luckily, you can download this content directly from the device.

And no Mac support will deter a small market of users.

Conclusions
Despite these setbacks, we'd highly recommend the $189.99 clix Rhapsody player. A $12.99 monthly fee is the price of an album, and we guarantee you'll be downloading hundreds of dollars of music within the first day with recommendations that are far more than a gimmick. The clix is a great piece of hardware by itself. Its OLED display is bright and colorful, its menus are intuitive and its Rhapsody integration within UI is extremely fluid. (Why the volume buttons are mapped backwards, we'll never know.)

We're just hoping that the middle management software gets an update soon.

If you haven't already, check out my unboxing and video walk-through of the second generation iRiver Clix. –Travis Hudson

iRiver presents the Clix Cradle [Akihabara]

iRiver Clix Unboxed, Groped [Gizmodo]
2nd Generation iRiver Clix Now Available [Gizmodo]

Good
• Size: It is very small and very nice to hold. If you checked the pictures you may have noticed it was thicker than the iPod nano, but that is no biggie. It still slipped into my pocket fine.
• Fun: The way the "clix" work is a unique and somewhat fun way to operate the device.
• Features: It can do pictures, video, text and even flash games. That is pretty damn good considering that it carries a pricetag identical to its Apple counterpart.
• Price: see Features.

Bad
• Aesthetics: I may have said the size was nice earlier, but the way the "clix" buttons work make it a bit hard to use one-handed. The ways the buttons are used would possibly bring up some concerns of wear-and-tear.
• Support: The box says Windows-only, which is a bummer. Initially I was able to drag-and-drop files onto the device, though. So perhaps a Mac will work, at least a little bit.
• Finish: the black glossy finish is just asking for fingerprints and the way the device operates would make using a case tough (maybe). –Travis Hudson

Product Page [iRiver]

Product Page [iRiver]

Improving on the Clix U10, the U20 goes up to 8GB of storage, has the D*Click navigation system, a 2.2-inch display, and 30fps video. It's only available in Korea now, but will make its way to the US in March (the 4GB version) and April (8GB). – Jason Chen

clix2 Review [Clixhere via i4u]

iriver Clix is back in black w/ 4GB [dapreview]

After interviewing a college freshman who's too busy discovering himself to admit that the iPod is a quality product, the article looks at the SanDisk Sansa e200, the Creative Zen V Plus, the iRiver Clix and the Samsung Yepp YP-T9J. All of these anti-iPods come with features that Apple has chosen to ignore, like built-in FM radio tuners and microphones. The iPod still has the edge in terms of aesthetics and is still the slimmest out of all of them.

What many people, especially tech nerds like us, claim keeps them coming back to the iPod is its interface. For a lot of folks, Apple's scroll wheel and menu structure are a perfect fit; it's the standard that others are held to, unfairly or not. The Sansa sports the best interface among the anti-iPods as it's the closest to replicating the iPod's system without creating copyright issues.

Video. Yes, these anti-iPods also play video, provided you convert the video into a format that the player can read. The Yepp handles video the best, thanks to its brighter screen. The Zen's fared the worst, due to its smaller and dimmer screen.

So, all in all, the non-iPods are able to play all your digital music, less music bought from the iTunes Store, which is all they really need to do. Oh, and they're not an iPod. Rock on, rebellious youth. – Nicholas Deleon

Singing the Praises of the Non-Nano [New York Times]

And for the more tech inclined folk, the Clix also supports MP3, WMA and OGG along with macromedia flash games.

Available now for $199.

iriver clix [via dapreview]