Rio Cali 128MB, Fine for the atheles, not for the audiophiles
Written: Feb 10 '05
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Pros: Size, Ease of Use, Battery life, display.
Cons: Color, memory, placement of expansion slot, joystick control.
The Bottom Line: If you have less than 50-60 songs this is a good choice. It can be expanded, but it's still only a very basic unit.
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| carzncompz's Full Review: Rio Cali Sport (128 MB) MP3 Player |
Introduction:
I bought this little MP3 player with the intention of taking it with me when traveling as well as for use at school and whatnot. It came in a heat sealed package which was extremely hard to open. I liked the slot for expansion and I actually bought a card for it. In the box you get the unit itself, manual, warranty card, software CD, arm strap, moulded plastic holder (for the strap), earbud headphones with ear clips (you can take those off). The unit comes preloaded with some songs but I formatted the unit so their gone. They were lousy anyway.
Operation:
The Rio Cali 128MB MP3 player uses the standard Rio stick control which is a small joystick which is pushed up to play/pause, down to stop, left to go backwards and right to go forward or to the next song. The joystick is way to small in my opinion and it is very easy to accidentally hit it. The hold button on the top is too easy to move and is basically useless if you want to keep the unit in your pocket, as it will unlock by itself. On the top are the power button and a volume up/down clicker switch. I didn’t even use the software that came with the unit because Windows Media Player can sync with it and it is a much better interface.
Features:
The Cali 128MB features a nice screen which displays the song title, artist and album as well as either time remaining, time elapsed, local time or file type and quality. The rio-stick is really small and can be difficult to use for some people. Where the battery is there is a slot to add up to a 512MB Secure Digital memory card so you can store extra songs on it. I bought a 512MB at Costco for very cheap. One really bad and annoying problem is you have to remove the battery to insert or remove the card. This is bad for someone who might like to have a few SD cards with all their music on it. The player uses 1 AAA battery, which actually lasts quite a while (about 4 hours). A plug for an AC adapter would also be nice but is not necessary. The unit also has a basic FM radio with 5 presets. It's not too bad, but people don't buy it for the radio.
Overall:
The unit is very easy to use and is good for the person who wants to listen to music while walking, biking, working out etc. It is not the right unit for the person with more than 100-200 songs, as you have to scroll through all of them to get to the one you want to listen to.
Ratings:
Size/Portability: 10/10
Ease of Use: 9/10
Battery Life: 9/10
Storage: 6/10 (not enough and expansion slot not accessible)
Value: 8/10
Style/Appearance: 5/10 (bright yellow and black trim)
I bought this unit at Futureshop and they have a 30-day guarantee. It's a good thing they do because I took it and the SD card back after a week and spent the extra $50-60 for a used 3rd generation 10GB iPod. See my review on the iPod.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 100 CAD
Recommended for: Athletes - Lightweight and Portable, Perfect for the Gym
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Epinions.com ID:
carzncompz
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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Reviews written: 41
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
I enjoy Cars, Commercial Aviation, Photography, Travel, Music and Computers.
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