Getting close to perfect . . .
Written: May 05 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good sound, good capacity, wonderfully small
Cons: Lousy headphones, lousy software
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| wilyliam's Full Review: Rio PMP-500 (64 MB) MP3 Player |
Having been interested in purchasing a portable MP3 player for some time, but distressed by the low capacity of those on the market - I finally reached threshold when Diamond released the Rio500 with 64Mb. Also - I was able to tack it on my purchase of a Gateway laptop (which I raved about earlier) so I just couldn't resist.
And I'm glad.
As is mentioned in some other opinions, the first thing I did was get rid of the crappy included headphones. "In-ear" headphones almost universally sound like junk to me, fortunately I had some good Sony phones lying around, and was very impressed by the sound quality coming out of that little thing.
Also making me very happy is the USB connector, which is new in the Rio500 - transfers of .mp3 from my desktop to the Rio are blazing fast, and installation is so easy it's kinda scary. True plug and play seems to finally be here.
Another plus is its small size - it fits easily into a breast pocket, and when I plug it into the tape deck of my truck (through a $5 adapter that can be found just about anywhere) the unit fits in my ashtray (ashtray's finally good for something). Additionally, it only needs one AA battery which is good for 8-10 hours or more. The very best part is when I take it running, and there are never any skips because there are no moving parts.
Other than the headphones, there's only one thing I don't like, and that's the software. It's abysmal. It's meant to be a "do-everything" tool which can convert your CD collection to .mp3, organize all your music, help you archive your collection on recordable CD's AND transfer them to the Rio - and as a result it really doesn't do anything well. The recording software is clunky and feature-deprived, the database simply makes no sense and I didn't even want to look at the CD burning feature (anyone with a CD burner already has perfectly good software for it . . .) - fortunately the .mp3 transferring software works fine, and for every other feature there is third-party software which is far superior, as well as being free or really inexpensive.
For a quick run-around on some of my favorite .mp3 software, I'll be writing an opinion soon - so look for it if your interested, and in the meantime, take a look at this site:
www.trashsoft.com
They distribute an app called "MP3Explorer" - you can download a free demo and the full version only costs about $15 or something like that - it has to be, by far, the nicest MP3 database software I've seen, and it integrates quite nicely with WinAmp and K-jofol. Better yet, I chatted with the two authors on IRC last week and pointed out to them that the only way it could be more perfect is if it worked with the Rio - and they were pretty interested. Even said they might send me a beta. If they heard the same from a few other people, it might help speed them along as well.
Let me know if you like the software . . .
Will
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
wilyliam
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Member: William Sauve
Location: San Diego, CA
Reviews written: 45
Trusted by: 4 members
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