Rating: 
Summary: Great Player!
Review: I've had my player for about four months now, and I must say, I am VERY impressed!Pros:
-GREAT skip protection!
-Fairly sturdy overall
-TONS of features
-LCD screen ON the player itself
Cons:
-Poor radio reception
-Lid isn't terribly stable
-Fairly steep learning curve Overall, it's a great player, but the lid of the player isn't terribly sturdy, I always get the feeling that it's gonna break off when I have it open. It's been a GREAT player and has read EVERYTHING I've thrown at it - even some fairly scratched up discs! After reading the reviews of some ppl who had problems, I almost went out and bought the iRiver 2, but then decided against it, mainly because I wanted the LCD screen on the player itself. I RARELY even use the remote, so having to always use the remote and tiny screen on the iRiver would have been a pain. I've not had ANY problems with it, unlike some people, and overall, I think it's a great player! I would reccomend this one over the iRiver if you are not going to be using the remote a whole lot, but if you are, go with the iRiver and save yourself the [trouble]... of having to buy the LCD remote for the Rio. I REALLY love this player, and unless you get a defective one, I'm pretty sure anyone in their right mind would really enjoy it as well.
Rating: 
Summary: a great buy!
Review: The first unit I bought was missing the earphones. After a quick exchange I was up and running.
A few pros: the unit is thick enough I don't worry about putting it in my bag or resting it on the treadmill. It's fallen off a few times and always works. The fm receiver is pretty strong. The player always remembers where I was when I hit stop so I don't have to guess which tracks I've just listened to. The player can read most of my CD's so I can see the track names. I installed the upgrade from the RIO web sight and it worked right away. Very easy to use.
A few cons: the case is a little small so it's hard to fit the unit in. also the battery charger tries to discharge the batteries and then charge so it can take a long time to recharge the batteries if you don't change the setting. The headphones it comes with are cheep and should be quickly replaced. Would be better if could read track names on all CD's.
Rating: 
Summary: Problems after long-term use
Review: I bought my SP250 over a year ago. It broke after a few months and they eventually sent me a replacement. This unit does not play self made music CDs, and will only play mp3s on CDRW (rewritable) discs, not on CDRs, and then only reliably with CDs I've made with one particular recorder (NEC) and not ones made with recordable drives on other computers (Sony,Samsung, and Ricoh brand CDRW burners). So I have loads of discs that will play on my computer or home DVD player but not on my RioVolt. If I want to listen to the radio instead, its reception is very poor. So I've recently bought a PDA with a built in mp3 player and am copying music (limited to 128mb at a time) to that to listen to. It doesn't skip when I walk, like the SP250.
Rating:
Summary: Worthless MP3 player.
Review: If you're thinking of buying the SonicBlue RioVolt SP250, think again. I've had nothing but problems with mine from day one. It had trouble reading my mp3 cds, which equates to long (30sec-1.5minute) startup time. That was just the beginning. It skipped all the time while driving around in my car. I haven't had a cd player that skipped for a long time, and my fried just bought a sony mp3 player that doesn't skip at all. This was all fairly disappointing when, wham, the worst thing of all. The electronic faceplate is screwed into plastic underneath the flip-up lid. After about 5-6 months of use, the screws broke free of the threads, and the electronic plate would touch the spinning cd when I pressed the play/stop/ffd button. About 4 months after that, the whole plate fell off and was just sitting on the cd. Needless to say, it doesn't work anymore. I'm now in communication with their support, which is pretty much worthless as well.
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest CD/MP3 player.
Review: I've this player for about 5 months now and its great. There are so many settings on the player and the antishock works great. The battery life on this player amazing. The only down side is the leather cover. It's very difficult to get on the player.
Rating:
Summary: Good Product, but DO NOT buy
Review: This CD player has very nice features, including large display, great sound, and simple interface. It would be the perfect CD-MP3 CD player, and that is why there are so many positive reviews from recent buyers. HOWEVER, the other side of the story is not enticing, and you will uncover it after a few months to a year. My first SP250 stopped working after 8 months. I sent it in to SonicBlue, and they sent me back a refurbished product. The process took about a month of waiting for replies to emails; my warranty is now expired. The refurbished product does not play any sort of burned CDs: only commercially made ones. I again emailed Tech Support, and they have not replied. It has been almost 3 weeks. I have seen many reviews like this on Amazon.com and other sites and have come to a conclusion: that anybody who has owned an SP250 for any length of time experiences problems with it at some point. A reviewer who had the exact same problem as I, after sending his first in, and who did receive a response about the refurbished SP250, says, "The fact that a friend's SP250 plays burned CDs that ours does not, did not matter to the technician who claimed that could be part of the variability. 'As long as it is playing commercial CDs, there's nothing wrong with your Riovolt.'....that's not much help when we purchased this model in order to play burned CDs, " and is completely correct. You may be thinking, "This man just does not know what he is doing," or, "this will obviously not happen to me." I am generally experienced with electronics and computers; also, I would guess that there is almost a 25% chance that something will go wrong with your SP250, and once that happens, do not expect a well-working replacement (I believe that the company sends back replacements with cheaper and less sophisticated parts). Some people even had problems after only a month. Most problems have not happened yet, as this is a fairly new player, and not many people have had the SP250 for a while. Overall, this is a phenomenal product, but I would not recommend it unless you plan to use it very rarely for a short period of time.
Rating:
Summary: Second SP250 gives problems
Review: This is our second SP250 with problems. First stopped working entirely after a year. Second did not work right out of box. It will not play CD-R or CD-RW. Customer service is very poor. Long wait for technician. Both times, technicians were difficult to understand and not very helpful. The second technician said that play of burned CDs varies with SP250 used, possibly with burner used, and most of all with speed of burning (only 64kbs is totally reliable). The fact that a friend's SP250 plays burned CDs that ours does not, did not matter to the technician who claimed that could be part of the variability. "As long as it is playing commercial CDs, there's nothing wrong with your Riovolt."....that's not much help when we purchased this model in order to play burned CDs.
Rating:
Summary: mostly all good
Review: I have been using the sp250 for about 6 months now and am mostly impressed. One of the main reasons i purchased this product was that it had a radio as well as could play MP3s. The radio is not the greatest, if i walk around i switch from station to station and the same deal if i am just sitting in one place. the tuner basically only works on stations with a powerful signal, so local stations are not picked up very well. Here are the things that are great about it: remote control, great anti skip, plays mp3s and is fairly burly, so when i have dropped it, or toss it in my bag, it doesn't break. i looked at the iriver as well, but it is made of tin foil and all the demo models at the stores were broken. The negatives for this player are: weak radio and goes through batteries like water. If you want a good cd player and listen to the radio (an the stations you like have good signal) then get this player, and if you listen a lot, then get a battery charger and some rechargeable batteries, you will need them.
Rating: 
Summary: a definate NOT BUY
Review: This product is the lowest quality of all. My first one stopped recognizing MP3 cds. I sent it, (paying 15$). The second one just randomly stopped working. i sent that one back, my 3rd one now has a major problem with the earphone sockets. and after playing an mp3 cd for a few times, it stops to recognize the songs. very very low chinese manufactured product. buy a sony/panasonic one. this one will make you sad...
Rating:
Summary: riovolts the place for MP3 solutions
Review: I have been a riovolt fan ever since I purchased the SP100 over 1 1/2 years ago, when it first came out. After which, I purchased the SP250. This MP3/ CD player is loaded with features that are hard to find elsewhere. I have also tried the IRiver 350 but that one doesnt read CD's that are burned using the Windows XP operating system. On top of that it doesnt even have a display on the player, what if I dont want to carry the wired remote? or what if I forget it?
As far as the customer service is concerned, they are slow but they arnt bad. They are slow on the emails which is why you gotta spend a few dollars and give them a call cuz once they know you have trouble they are really good. They had sent me a new player and a new remote on two different occasions when they had stopped working and I didnt even pay for the shipping charges for the new one or the damaged one.
If you can spend a little more money I strongly recomend the SP350. I have already have it pre ordered since my sp250 got stolen a few days ago.
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