Rating: 
Summary: ok for entry level use
Review: Got the Rio S30S @ costco for approx $79; came with an additionl 32 meg SDcard which gave a total of 96 meg of storage. loading the software didn't have the best of directions & honestly was confusing. although i loaded the rio music manager software & for whatever reason loaded up the annoying realplayer software, neither one is needed since windows media player is all you need to manage your music. putting tunes on the S30S is a snap with windows media player. sound quality is quite good; the included headphones are not comfortable; i can see getting a replacement pair of headphones very soon. the fm tuner, as other reviewers have noted, is extremely weak. i got the player for workouts @ the gym; for this purpose, it works quite well. overall this is a good value; given the ease of putting tunes on here, at this point, i see no reason to spend more $$$ by upgrading memory further.
Rating: 
Summary: GREAT!
Review: I Love this thing. I you want an inexpensive, easy to use MP3 player, this is a great choice. The initial amount of songs it can hold is small, but that can be fixed by upgrading using expanding memory cards. Choose it!
Rating: 
Summary: Music to my ears or is it????
Review: I've had my rio s30s for 8 months now. It holds 15 songs,each song roughly is 3-4 minutes long. So that's about 1.5 hrs, which usually covers my work-out time. The clip for the armband broke. I've tried to crazy glue it back, but that didn't work. The volume setting has also broken. It only plays at the lowest volume now. I don't think I was that hard on the player. I wear it only when lifting weights at the gym, on my arm. Now since the clip is broken, I keep it in my pocket, not comfortable.I like the design of it. I just tried to use the radio last week. It sucked! The reception was horrible. I guess you get what you pay for & I didn't want to pay alot.
Rating:
Summary: Great MP3s, But Terrible Radio
Review: I use this player while I work out at the gym. Much of this use involves tuning in a radio station that the gym uses to broadcast the television audio. Much to my chagrin, the Rio's radio tuner is one of the worst I have seen. It fails to lock into strong area stations, as well as failing at tuning the gym's audio stations (which I have checked for broadcast strength with another digital radio - the Sony locked in very well). DO NOT BUY THIS UNIT IF YOU NEED THE FM RADIO.That said, the MP3 interface works like a charm. With a large, intuitive screen, the Rio makes browsing the loaded MP3's a snap. The software that interfaces with the player is also fairly polished and should not disappoint. By far the best feature is the ability to use Flash Memory cards to boost the onboard memory. The unit accepts MMC Flash cards, which, if you plan, can double as flash memory cards for a digital camera. BUY THIS UNIT IF YOU WANT A FULL-FEATURED MP3 PLAYER FOR A GREAT PRICE. Good luck, and Godspeed!
Rating:
Summary: Rio S30S great player MP3 or WMA files
Review: I am very happy that I own Rio Sport S30S.It is great player to play MP3 or WMA files.Great design,listening to music etc.In addition Rio Sport S30S contains FM radio tuner,stopwatch,64MB memory card,sports clip......well-arranged and legible menu on display LCD.
Regarding the earphones they are suitable for sports activities (earphones are very good).
Regarding the software I did not have problem with installation. Software is also well-arranged.
I would like to thank workers from sonicblue for this good product at a good price.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good Buy
Review: The Rio S30S Sport 64 MB MP3 Player is probably one of the best deals out there if you are shopping for MP3 players. Some of the highlights are:
64 Mbytes internal memory
Plays MP3 and MWA files
FM radio
Clock, and stopwatch
Port for MMC and SD cards (extra external memory)
Arm strap, belt clip, and head phones. For me this was a pretty simple decision, as the Rio S30 gives you the most for the price. After using for a few month, I'm very happy I made this purchase. The Rio clearly exceeded my expectations. I particularly like the all the information that is displayed in the screen. In addition the Rio S30 interfaces with Windows Media Player 9, and MusicMatch. Both of these programs are free downloads and probably the most populars out there. Both the Media Player and MusicMatch allow you to create your CDs into either MP3 or MWA files, which you can then download into the player. The software that is included with the Rio, Rio Music Manager, is good, but is not as easy to use as the Media Player or MusicMatch. Regretfully, you need to intall Rio Music Manager for Media Player or Music Match to be able to interface with the Rio.
Using WMA variable bitrate compession, 50 to 95 kbps, I'm able to fit 30 songs into the internal 64 Mb with a very good sound quality.
I was not amazed by the FM radio, but it works, and it came as an extra when comparing against the competition.
In summary, a very good product, at a good price.
Rating:
Summary: Fast, Easy, Cool - Recommended!
Review: Based on some of the other reviews, I'm not sure whether others got lemons, or I just received an exceptional unit. I purchased this to listen to while walking. Carrying around a portable CD player was not working for me. I wanted something I could throw in a pocket, or clip on a waistband. This player is EASY to use. 15 minutes from box to my first transferred MP3's. Software installed easily, and was easy to use. No problems with installation or transfer using only the provided software and Windows XP Home OS. Sound is exceptional - even through the included headphones, radio reception was phenomenal - and I live in a rural area where I cannot get radio stations on my home stereo! The display was easy to read and the menu easy to use. The only additional items I can see that will be necessary, are 'better' headphones (only because I prefer the type I currently use) and somewhere down the line - additional memory. For me, 5 songs, took half the 64mb storage capacity, and I can see the possibility of needing more time. For the money, this cannot be beat. I'm sure there are 'better' units out there - with more features, more memory, better sound - whatever, but I wanted something basic and simple to use but yet equalled that of my CD player - and lightweight and portable - and this unit is definately the solution for me.
Rating:
Summary: Great player worth the price
Review: This is a great, compact player. It's lightweight and non-obstrusive. I like it because I can use the included velcro strap to strap it to my arm while working out. It also includes in/over the ear earbud earphones, again perfect for working out. The menuing system for it is decent. Once you've set all your settings, that's pretty much it - good to go. Battery life is very good. My only beef, really, is the very small number of FM presets you can have on it. The desktop software to move your music (on the PC, anway) is pretty basic. No bells & whistles. For the Mac, it uses iTunes - which if iTunes on the Mac is like it is on the PC (I'm going to guess it's better!), then definitely the Mac wins! I use MusicMatch to move my music down to the player - they have a plug-in for the S30S. I bought mine at, ahem, Costco, (sorry, Amazon!) and it included 32MB extra - but really even 96MB is not enough for even a handful of MP3's. I did recently purchase another 128MB MMC card from Amazon, and I'll be in great shape then!
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't like being sweated on
Review: Pros:
- Low price
- Works if you avoid sweating on it
- FM tuner
- HOLD feature to lock out buttons so you don't inadvertantly press them Cons:
- Not sealed against moisture acceptably for "sport" use
- Belt clip and arm band not well designed
- Battery life seems short, but I don't have anything to compare it to.
- Functions not ergonomically designed; can't unlock buttons, switch from tuner to mp3 player and lock buttons with one hand while unit is strapped to your shorts. Overall Opinion: OK if budget is tight, but check out newer players before buying. Bought for use while running, used it for a couple months, quit working. Symptoms: Cutting off randomly, then after a week or so of that behavior, it finally quit working completely. Had a pretty good experience with Rio customer service - talked to a representative who went through basic troubleshooting (is there a battery installed? Is the unit on?). When that didn't work, I was given a case number and told to return the unit. Rio sent me a new one. Interestingly, the unit's warranty information expressly says the warranty doesn't cover damage due to moisture, but they did anyway - I'm sure they've had lots of problems with sweat damage. Now I wrap it in plastic wrap before putting it in the belt clip. Sounds and looks stupid, but it works. hasn't gotten wet. Still works. Except that I've broken the belt clip. Haven't figured out how to get a new one of those yet. Rio S30s does not feel robust. I would define robust as feeling like my old standby Sony Sport Walkman (one of those yellow ones with a gasket and positive latch for the tape door). I still use that thing when I run in the rain. THAT is how a "sport" portable music player should be designed. Rio S30s Sound quality is good enough to get you through a run - you usually listen with low quality headphones anyway. Software seems difficult to use at first, but then I'm just a dumb mechanical engineer - not a computer guy. I figured it out well enough to make it work though. 64 MB doesn't hold a lot of music - I bought a 256 MB SD card (easy to use and has worked fine so far) which brings capacity up plenty for me. Belt clip and arm band not well designed - as I said I've broken the belt clip. Arm band is just an elastic band. It has to be used with the belt clip. This arrangement allows the unit to move around too much.
Rating:
Summary: This is a GREAT little unit - buy it!!!
Review: One of the previous reviewers stated that "you need to use 2 programs to get the unit to work in XP". This is really NOT true. Once you load the SonicBlue software into XP, you never have to use it again!! The unit will be recognized directly by Media Player 9 in XP as an external device, and it's a simple drag and drop process to get your tunes over to the S30!!! It is very user friendly and the sound is quite good (I have only played wma files with it). Also I must admit that I don't use the FM tuner - I bought it to play my own tunes! You can add an SD memory card (up to 1GB currently), so the unit is truly "future-friendly". If your needs are similar to mine, you'll love this thing!!!
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