Rio Cali Sport 128 MP3 Player Review
Written: May 11 '05
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Pros: sporty, great for running, arm-clip, large-screen, 1D3 Information, play lists,FM tuner, manual equalizer
Cons: Bad reception, 1/2 sec missed when paused, only 30 songs, no neck strap
The Bottom Line: Recommended for working out, as it is not the best player for personal use.
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| myzticshadow14's Full Review: Rio Cali Sport (128 MB) MP3 Player |
Casing:
- "Rio Stick" for navigation
- Rubber Grip
- Arm Clip for Workouts
- Lock mode for Workouts
- Stiff Headphone jack
- Menu Button
Features:
-128 MB Storage
- Expandable memory
- Runs on 1 AAA Battery (Long Life)
- FM Scanner (6 Presets)
- Stopwatch (with 99 Laps)
- Backlight
- Preset and Manual Equalizer
- Bookmarks (For sharing player)
First let’s talk style and feel. I choose the sport model of this Mp3 player because I liked the look and feel. Many Mp3 Players are rectangular with small screens, but I like the larger look of the mp3 player. I decided to get the sport model because I think that the normal model is shaped oddly and I don't like the metal-looking plastic on the Rio Forge, it makes the mp3 player look sort of cheap. I also liked the vibrant yellow color of the Cali Sport. It's easy to spot in my electronics drawer and easy to find if I misplace it. When I bought it I wasn't thinking about color, and even after 6 months it’s not annoying to me at all. If you care about color, you might reconsider buying this mp3 player, as it may annoy you after time, but I couldn't really care less, so it’s fine for me.
The Rio Cali Sport doesn't have a neck strap, so you need to carry it in your pocket or on your arm if you are working out. It has a nice shape and it is comfortable to rest your hand on. I sometimes fall asleep with my hand over the Rio Stick. The Rio stick is like a little joystick to pause/play, stop, fast forward or rewind, or navigate through tracks. A light flick on the side buttons will switch tracks, and holding it for half a second or more will start navigating through that song.
During a song you can hit the menu button. This accesses the menu where you can access playing options, the FM Tuner, and settings. While you’re in the menu, the music continues to play, except when you enter play options or the Tuner. In play options, you can choose to listen in normal mode, where you cycle through the songs. You can choose track mode, where you are shown a list of the tracks on your player to choose which to play. After that track is over the songs will continue in normal mode. You can also choose to play lists. When you load songs onto the player from the computer you have the choice to put the song onto a play list. This is convenient if you will be listening to certain types of songs at certain times. For example if you are listening to your player while snowboarding, you may want to listen to certain speeds of music while snowboarding on certain terrain, or while trying to perform certain tricks.
When you enter the FM tuner, you will see a radio dial. You can cycle trough manually, or hold the cycling buttons to automatically scan for a station with good reception. At the top of the screen you can see if the station is stereo, its volume, and the reception. The reception isn't that good, I can usually only get 4 channels when I’m in the car, and none when I'm deep in a building. If you touch the Cali against a long piece of metal, your reception will improve. If you click the Rio Stick, you can access your presets.
There are a few other features such as six preset equalizers and a manual 5 band graphics equalizer. It also has a feature called "bookmarks". I don't find any use in this, but if you share your mp3 player, you can put a bookmark on where you are in your song. Along with these features you can adjust things like tag coding, display contrast, backlight, etc.
Now that I'm done explaining the features of the Rio Cali Sport, here is a small section of things I think about it. I like the placement of the power button, because I never accidentally turn it off. The grip on the battery case is nice, but it gets dirty pretty easily. The battery case itself is hard to get off sometimes. I'm hesitant to put too much pressure onto the casing in fear that it will break. The only other problem that I have with the look of the mp3 player is that the headphone jack is placed poorly. Everything else is fine. In terms of music play, I am neutral.
Rio Cali Sport 128MB Continued
The sound quality is good, there are nice options, I especially like the bar showing my location in the song. The only bad thing is that when you pause a song and then continue, you miss about half a second of the song.
I'm not very fond of the FM tuner though. I specifically bought this player for its FM Tuner, and I am amazed how little I use it. Sometimes when I'm bored of my lineup I will turn it on, but the quality is mediocre, so I just turn my player off. The features are nice for the tuner, but they are nothing without good reception. A nice addition this player would be a retracting antenna.
If I had another chance, I would probably get a rectangular mp3 player that fits over your neck. I just don't really use the sport part of it and I would like something else.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 120
Recommended for: Athletes - Lightweight and Portable, Perfect for the Gym
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Epinions.com ID:
myzticshadow14
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Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 0 members
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