Neat design, doesn't mind being dropped, easy to use, Mac compatible, good sound from an MP3

Central play/stop/skip button impossible to use without looking at it, absolutely useless headphones, neoprene case makes it look cheap and nasty

Having paid £120 (GBP) for this at Our Price I thought I'd netted myself a bargain. Until I checked out amazon.co.uk's web site a month later and saw the 64 Mb version for a fiver extra. But you win some, you lose some I suppose. This DAP is more win than lose: it looks good, is good to hold, is Mac friendly and has upgradable firmware. It sounds very reasonable with decent headphones (upgraded mine to KOSS "The Plug" phones-sound fine, impossible to insert).

But my biggest gripe with this DAP is it's main controller. As the player is curvy and non symmetrical once you put the player out of sight, you can't tell if you've pressed skip, stop, pause - God know what - without looking at it first. Also the bundled headphones should be bundled off to the bin, I found mine uncomfotable and tinny with no depth.

Another feature which is next to useless is the battery power gauge: my battery gauge tends to show about 55% power remaining, next it tells me the battery is dead-replace it!

All in all it is a decent piece of kit-sturdy, fine sounding and good-looking, but shop around before you buy as there are good discounts out there.

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An ultra cheap unbranded offering that my friend uses

Cool display and display features. Quick downloads but thats where it ends.

THE SOUND PLAYBACK ON THIS THING IS MISERABLE! Everything else is just so weak

I own the RIO 300 parallel and just got the RIO 600 as a gift. At first I was impressed with the little bells and whistles the 600 offered in terms of the Display and playlist flexibility. It was real easy to setup and get the songs on there but after that... FA GET ABOUT IT! This thing is miserable at any recording level. RIO recommends the new WMA format @64kbs, they even have a few songs preloaded on the thing. The preloaded songs are crystal clear and sound great. Good luck reproducing that on your own. I tried every recording level using MP3 and WMA. The static and popping is unbearable. Even my girlfriend noticed it and she usually isnt as picky as I am. I experimented to see if it was my computer. I downloaded the same song to both players using MP3 @ 64 kbs format. The RIO 300 reproduced the song perfectly. The RIO 600 sounds like TRASH! The only good thing I can say about this player is that now I have a $170 credit at Best Buy! save your dough!

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RIO 300

Small size and much expanded functionality over the Rio 300. USB upload speeds blow the parallel connection away. Upgradable firmware is nice. Much more program information is available via the display than on the Rio 300 as well as a bookmarking feature. Backlit display. Improved battery compartment; The 300 was susceptible to slight pressure dislodging the battery. With no bookmarking feature this was frustrating.

Not an easy display to read despite the backlighting. The carry case makes this even more difficult through the clear plastic window. I was disappointed in the earphones and purchased an alternate set that I could hear with on the train to work in the morning.

This gift was an upgrade from the Rio PNP 300. Overall, I am pleased. I listen primarily to audiobooks though the music I have loaded to the player sounds fine to me even at lower bitrates. Again, the earphones can make a huge difference in this regard.

Overall, I like it.

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Rio PNP 300

1.Sleek ergonomic design fits in your hand easily.
2.Fantastic sound with better headphones.
3.Nice "Indiglow" like display
4. Almost 10 hours playback time on one alkaline battery.

1.Uses flash memory made by Rio, instead of industry standard "camera type" flash memory
2. Comes with oddly designed headphones with sub standard sound quality

Still one of the best mp3. players around,if you are willingto put up with propiritary external memory. Plenty of playback options and pre set equalization settings make this one fun to play with.

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Various portable cd and cassette tape players.

Everything, Size, Downloading takes like 3seconds per MB

Nothing

Yhe guy above me likes to use cut copy paste, lol! This Is Great I won this

(none)

This thing is far too small, buttons are too hard to press, craped out the 2nd time i used it.

this thing sux, i opened the packet to find a small anoying device. doesnt have half the features showed on the packet, goto hell you peice of crap

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i am i product tester at dick smiths and use all mp3 player that come thru our door

Stylish, easily set up and used by my 16 year old son

Not designed to be abused by my 16 year old son

Originally liked the price/features plus the $29 backpack upgrade. Unfortunately after sending in for the backpack, the player started having problems with the volume during playback. Since we recently had a major problem with a Sharp MiniDisc player (never reliable after 2 exchanges), we decided to just take the thing back. Now I have a backpack and no player. Haven't decided if I want to send it back or sell it. The player needs to be redesigned to be more robust.

Customer support was interesting - Instead of hanging on the phone, my son faxed a note to them indicating his displeasure. Service rep called back several days later and left their number and extension. I was able to call them back quickly and talk to a person. Corresponded via E-mail after that.

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none

I like the new curvy design, very exciting backpack "multi memory formats and add-on" promises made by whoever the hell makes this thing.

crappy earphones make the sound sound tinny.... Nothing new has come out for this thing in ages ! eventually the 32 and 64 Mb backpack were released but when I first purchased the device I was excited by the promise of upgradability to 372Mb ! wow ! I soon discovered that no such upgrade was available and still in not now (17/5/2001)! no other memory formats have been released either - I was hoping on seeing a smartmedia backpack that allowed you to plug that type of memory card in ... but no ! Very crappy overseas support.. we only have the 3 gross colours here in england to buy ! The round all-in-one button thingy is a bit clumsy ! I always hit pause when I trying to hit forward or backwad ! RIOport and rio audio manager software provided are useless pieces of crap that are totaly lame and buggy ! Im still searching for a freeware program to be released that will allow upload/download/animation upping etc.... Such as the rioFXP on the Rio500 ! ... oh yeah - and Im still waiting for that damn large memory to be released too !

Diamond or Sonic blue ???? whoever the hell they are, are a useless bunch of ignorant morons ! Ive made repeat questions via email to them and they NEVER give an answer - Ive complained several times about the fact that this product is upgradable to 372Mb ... but actually is not since there is no such upgrade and they have only just decided that they will be releasing a 1Gb backpack in the fall ? That will be a whole year of using my rio with its totally useless 32Mb internal... there is no way Im buying the other two 32 and 64Mb backpacks then buy a massive backpack when its released ! whats the point ... It seems to me that the company is trying to milk every last drop of money they can outta this thing ... staggering the release of upgrades over a massive period of time... they say ots future proof... well better just put it in the attic until the far off future when something eventually becomes available !!!!

Rio shatters the personal sound
barrier with customizable features
and high-end audio you simply
cannot get anywhere else! Capture
and playback up to 1 hour of
digital-quality music from the
Internet or your CDs. Seize your
audio, master your mix, retool your
memory, even select your faceplate
color - it's radical freedom of choice

Rio shatters the personal sound
barrier with customizable features
and high-end audio you simply
cannot get anywhere else! Capture
and playback up to 1 hour of
digital-quality music from the
Internet or your CDs. Seize your
audio, master your mix, retool your
memory, even select your faceplate
color - it's radical freedom of choice

Rio shatters the personal sound
barrier with customizable features
and high-end audio you simply
cannot get anywhere else! Capture
and playback up to 1 hour of
digital-quality music from the
Internet or your CDs. Seize your
audio, master your mix, retool your
memory, even select your faceplate
color - it's radical freedom of choice

Similar Products Used:

Rio shatters the personal sound
barrier with customizable features
and high-end audio you simply
cannot get anywhere else! Capture
and playback up to 1 hour of
digital-quality music from the
Internet or your CDs. Seize your
audio, master your mix, retool your
memory, even select your faceplate
color - it's radical freedom of choice

very cool

not very easy to get some of the accesories such as radio

Does not skip eaisly, great sound load to player very fast color gelps to show your own style