The Bottom Line: This Rave must be experimental since it does not work properly. Trying to make the unit work is a part time job. I would advise future buyers to beware.
twomedicine's Full Review: Soyo Rave-MP AMP256 (256 MB) MP3 Player
This Rave AMP256 must be experimental since it does not work properly. Trying to make the unit work is a part time job. I would advise future buyers to beware.
I bought this product for replacing a Sony WM Sports player and replacing a Sony FM WM radio. The first I use sometimes while day hiking or working out, the second I use while backpacking and need weather info. I thought the Rave would be the ticket for a new & enjoyable experience under both situations, by providing plenty of storage space and the FM radio, but I was wrong. It's been mostly idle since I purchased it in Dec 2004 and is irritating to use.
The player has many bugs that in my book makes it defective. Many times it will not power up after shutting down. The manuf's remedy is to stop and remove the case, then then remove and reinstall the battery and try powering up. This works most of the time, but sometimes it must be repeated. Yes, that's right, open up the thing while underway. The "Resume" function has never worked and was only intended to work after the firmware was fixed, at the buyer's expense (time) The manuf kept telling me a firmware update was on its way since Dec 2004; the update is just now avail and it too is half baked.
And as I finally tried out the FM two weeks ago on a short backpacking trip, while at night in the little tent, I found that everytime I turned off the FM and then went to power up again, the unit needed to come apart again to go through the battery thing. Not a cool thing to do at night in a little backpacking tent.
To add insult to injury on this thing, I finally became aware that the promised update was finally avail at the Rave website. I followed the instructions and downloaded the new program taking a 1/2hour, installed and then found it messed up my internet sevice provider's software program, so I could not connect again to collect the firmware update......nice, aye?
After restoring my PC, under XP, and uninstalling and reinstalling several programs I am now able to access the net and warn anybody thinking of buying the RAVE AMP256 to steer clear. Also,I wrote customer service asking for my money back, at least. (I also purchased 3 large SD cards just for this unit, but never used, $110 cost)
If you want trouble and a part time occupation, buy this product////
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 90.00 Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
256 MB of flash memory; holds 4 hours of MP3 and 8 hours of WMA files (CD quality) Expandable to one gigabyte of storage with SD or MMC memory cards F...More at Amazon Marketplace
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