Toss your CD player out! This Rio rules.
Written: Aug 24 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Large internal memory, good looks, high sound quality
Cons: Price, bad headphones (use your own)
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| 0be's Full Review: Rio PMP-500 (64 MB) MP3 Player |
I first became interested in a portable MP3 player when a friend of mine showed me his Rio 300 player. I liked the concept of MP3 on the go a lot, and having played around with his player a bit, decided to get one for myself. But I wanted more than the Rio 300 could offer, mainly for 3 reasons:
- the 300 has no USB support (only slow parallel port connection)
- the 300 doesn't have 64 MB of memory
- the 300 feels like a light plastic toy
I did some research and decided to get the more expensive Rio 500. The price was steep (at about $260), but well worth it. I bought mine on eBay because Diamond was out of stock at the time.
I went for the basic metal grey color model because I think a different color casing isn't worth the extra money. My grey Rio 500 looks sleeker and more serious than those translucent clashing color versions.
The package you will receive contains the Player, a USB connection cable, 1 AA battery, a pair of (cheap) headphones, a belt bag/clip and a CD with software. Plan on getting better quality headphones right away, especially if you're the kind of person that just doesn't have the ears for those "put-in-your-ear-and-have-it-fall-out-in-a-second" headphones. As for the software, there is a new version of it at RioPort.com.
Now, let's see what is so good about this player. I love it so much that I haven't listened to a CD in 8 months and I sold my expensive Sony Diskman to cushion the financial impact of the Rio. I don't even notice the I don't have the CD player anymore and certainly don't regret having sold it. Loading MP3s into the player is a breeze with the fast USB connection (you need Win95/98/2K/ME or MacOS for this). I only use the part of the RioPort software that communicates with the player. For making MP3 out of your CDs I highly recommend using MusicMatch instead. Typically, I can load about an hour worth of CD quality music (128kbps) on the 64MB available. If you think this is not enough, consider buying a 32MB flash card add-on (which will bring your Rio 500 up to 96MB!).
The Rio 500 uses 1 AA battery which typically lasts me a week (2 hours of music per day). Unfortunately, the Rio has no recharge capability, like my CD player had. But with no moving parts, it consumes so little energy, that perhaps it's ok.
The controls are very intuitive, the nicest feature is perhaps the multi-function wheel that controls the volume, browses the files, sets the EQ and other options. The buttons have a nice feel to them and the high-res LCD screen displays all the necessary info. It is also brightly backlit when needed.
Now, the negative aspects. There are 2 (3 if you count price).
1. The belt clip/baggie is awkward and badly designed. I don't use it.
2. My player died once. I think I might have dropped it. Fortunately, Diamond promptly replaced it with a new one at no cost.
I have grown so used to my trusty Rio player that I can hardly picture life without it. When for some reason, I don't have a battery handy, I go nuts without my music.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
0be
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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