A "Rio" Grand MP3 Player
Written: Oct 24 '00 (Updated Nov 06 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Compact size, excellent sound quality
Cons: A bit pricey, short battery life, software somewhat buggy, needs a powerful processor
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| arbaro's Full Review: Rio PMP-500 (64 MB) MP3 Player |
Dentists and marathons...what do they have in common? They're both occasions where you want to carry the Diamond Rio 500 for soothing or energizing music, anywhere, in a very compact size. (Oh, and they're also very painful too, but much less so with the Rio.)
A few months back, the latest talk at the office was MP3 files and players. My co-worker brought his Rio 500 in and I was impressed at the small size of the player. I thought, that would be great for me to use during the Honolulu Marathon this December (see my review, URL below). I remembered carrying a Walkman during it...it was convenient, but over the course of 26.2 miles it felt rather bulky.
What finally enticed me to get it, however, was a recent trip to the dentist to have a cracked tooth filled. Not having gone to the dentist in a while, and reading that music had a profound soothing effect on dental patients, I decided I would want to carry some music with me. Thinking about both immediate and long-term needs, I bought it at a local computer store the day before my dental appointment.
Software installation went OK, but I had a few problems getting my Rio to work for the first time. The RioPort 2.0 software, which is designed to work with all models of the Rio, for some reason would not autodetect my Rio 500. I had to manually set it to the Rio 500 setting before it would recognize the player.
Ripping MP3s off CDs is easy. The software will detect new discs and offer to get the track titles from the CD Database (CDDB) if you're connected to the Internet. On average it takes about a minute to encode a four-minute song; a lot depends on your CD drive speed and your processor speed. The quality of the encoded MP3 may also vary according to your processor speed...when I used the Rio on my old 200 MHz Pentium, I had some drop-outs and static that at first I attributed to a scratched CD. When I did the same thing on my new 733MHz Pentium III, the quality of files from the same CD was impeccable.
Getting the songs into the Rio is relatively easy once you realize that you have to format the 64MB internal memory before use. (It took me a while to figure that out.) Just pick your songs and download. The USB connection makes the download lightning fast...4 minute song downloaded in about 4 seconds. The Rio can also hold an additional 32MB of memory.
Once inside the player, the fidelity of the music is second to none. Controls are easy and intuitive to use. I recommend, though, that you use another set of earphones other than the ear-huggers that come with the Rio. The ones that came with my Rio are very stiff and hard to put on your ear; there are softer ear-huggers out there. Battery life, though, seems fairly short for such a small player.
Overall, I'm happy with the Rio. My dental appointments went without a hitch (I don't need no stinkin' nitrous!), which is great considering that I had to have two root canals done. And I took my Rio on a test race this past Sunday and I got CD quality with no skips or drop-outs whatsoever. I'm sure it will handle the jarring motion of the marathon in a couple of months.
For active people who want CD quality sound without the CD player bulk, this player is definitely for you. Of course, technology marches on, and as of this writing the latest version out is the Rio 600, but your Rio should give you many hours of entertainment.
Also see my review of the Honolulu Marathon at:
http://www.epinions.com/well-review-5799-6D38B9B-395AE976-prod2
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
arbaro
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Member: Keith Higa
Location: Kailua, HI
Reviews written: 94
Trusted by: 20 members
About Me:
Computer instructor, choir director, marathon runner, and all-around crazy person, living in Paradise.
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