This little guy packs a powerful punch!
Written: May 24 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Sound: |
 |
|
| Ease of Use: |
|
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
| Portability: |
|
|
| Battery Life: |
 |
|
|
Pros: small, long battery life, great audio quality, cute
Cons: quite a few operation flaws, TERRIBLE software
The Bottom Line: Great little piece of hardware! However, with all the new portable mp3 players available and coming out, this might not be the best choice.
|
|
|
| phayz's Full Review: Rio PMP-500 (64 MB) MP3 Player |
Buying the Rio
I first got my Rio500 as a present just about 1 year ago, from CompUSA. The price was/is a bit high, but it seemed to be the best player available at the time.
I was overwhelmed with excitement when I first got my trembling hands on my new baby, but my giddy feeling didn't last too long.
When I got home and popped a battery in (yes, it takes only 1 AA battery), I discovered my first problem with my new toy. I turned the power on, looked around the menu, and then turned it off while I installed the software so I can copy songs to it. When I next turned it on, it was less than cooperative, and the little brat didn't want to go back on.
I tried again and again, with different batteries, but to no avail.
I finally gave up and brought it back to a local (closer) CompUSA to exchange it for a new one. This one, too, seemed a little picky, as it went on once, but then 'crashed' and turned itself off. I soon found out that the Rio500 was very picky with the brand of batteries that are being used in it. After trying lots of different types, I came to the conclusion that Duracell batteries work best with it. Why? I have no idea. But I've come to accept it. :)
Performance
The Rio500 performs much like I expected. Though the ear bud headphones that come with it are way below par, the player actually has some really good quality when used with quality headphones. The volume control goes from 0 to 20 (5% increments), which I kinda liked. It sounds great, from soft and low, all the way up to full volume.
Durability
As my bottom line says, if you treat your Rio well, it will do the same for you. This is a very delicate piece of hardware. I'm not sure if I was cursed with a below-par player, but mine doesn't behave too well sometimes. For instance, after dropping it only 2 times (I know, it was my fault ehe), now when I give it a firm tap on the right side, it resets itself, even in mid-play, which is a drag. A little more durability would be nice, considering I paid $300 and it's small size make it quite hard to get a hold on sometimes.
Also, it seems to me that it was hastily made, probably to meet market demands before other mp3 players were introduced. The bar code on the back, which I can imagine is required if you want to make use of the warranty, was completely wiped off (what the heck kind of ink did they use, and why??) within a couple months of medium use. The buttons, as well, are showing some age, as the paint on them are wearing away. Ohh, not to mention the backlit LCD screen stopped working a looonnngg time ago....
software
The RioPort software that comes with the Rio500 is TERRIBLE at best. It makes a complete mess-of-a-database of your songs, and it is very unintuitive. They tried to make it look "cute" with it's interface, but they seemed to forget that what they were making also has to serve some sort of function. This piece of junk software is disgusting. If you decide to buy the Rio500, go do yourself a favor and download RioRio (do a search in google). It is a no-BS, easy-to-use drag-n-drop file transferer, with a few extra nice features. Oh, and it's FREE! :)
Battery Life
The documentation claims 9 hours of battery life (with 1 AA battery), but I definitely get at least this much.
I'm on the bus for about 6 days a week, 1-hour each way. That's about 12 hours that I use the Rio, and I've had batteries last much more than a week. I figure it's at least 12 hours of time, which is good. :)
Overall
Overall, I love the Rio500. Though it isn't the most durable piece of electronics I own by any means, the portability and functionality is just TOO good! :) With 64 megs internal (about 10-12 songs), and an upgradable slot (I have another 64 meg card, which I definitely recommend), you can put just about 2 hours of music on it at a decent quality (128kbs).
The USB is QUICK, also, transfering music at almost a meg a second (fill the 64 megs up in about a minute flat).
There's a lot of things I hate about it, but I just couldn't go a day without it now that I've been exposed. :)
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 300
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
phayz
|
|
Location: NYC
Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
computer and graphic design geek
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.