Rating: 
Summary: Battery/Charger DOA
Review: I bought this for my wife and have been sorely disappointed. The first problem I had was the PACKAGING. It comes in a moulded plastic, blister pack type package, and the CDROM containing the software was WARPED all to hell. I laid it on a flat piece of steel in the sun for a while to get it to relax enough to get it to fit into a CDROM drive. I was eventually able to copy the files off the disc, but I wouldn't recommend this procedure to the average consumer. Next problem... Either the built-in battery that came with the unit is defective (can't hold a charge), or the charger or software that controls the charging are defective. I have "recalibrated" the battery sevearal times, upgraded the firmware (from the company's web site), and removed and reseated the memory/battery unit repeatedly. The result is the same: charge the thing up to 100% and set it aside; a few hours later or the next day, it will NOT power up at all. Plug it into the wall adapter for a few seconds, suddenly it will boot up. Remove it from the adapter and get the battery status, and it reports 100% charged, with approx. 11 hours of play time. Yeah right... 2 minutes later, it is dead. Judging from the other DOA and FUBAR problems reported in the other Amazon reviews, I would not recommend buying this product. Wait until they either start testing the units before selling them, or until they lose all their business to competitors. Meanwhile, I'm off to the electronics parts place to buy a replacement rechargeable NiMH battery to see if that's the problem. If that doesn't fix it, my poor wife is going to have to suffer the [terrible] customer service that others have endured. What a waste of $$$ I wish I'd have bought the Intel product instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Almost Perfect
Review: This is an awesome device. It is very small and plays high quality music in mp3 format. The only fault I see with it is the voice recorder. It is almost inaudible (maybe this one is defective). I was picturing a voice memo recorder that would be as clear as a tape recorder. I guess I will just use it for music.
Rating:
Summary: Good - but not perfect.
Review: The RIO 800 was my second MP3 player, my first being the RIO 300. I am disappointed that my flash cards for the 300, do not work in any way on other models, but I soon got over it. The sound on the Rio 800 is great, no complaints there. MY main complaint is the software. I run an older computer on Windows 95, and there is no way I can put songs on my Rio. They do not make a version of the software for Rio 800 Windows 95 users. They claim Win95 doesn't support USB, but on *MY* CD it says "Windows 95 With USB Support For PCs". So I'm left with the same songs until I go to a friends to change them. That itself loses one star, but the player itself has few flaws, the main one I found was that turning up the volume required pressing the button only in the top right corner, anything else is ignored.
Rating:
Summary: Great product, aweful software, slightly shoddy feeling
Review: For the person complaining of the 'battery leak', I experienced the same thing. But it was fixed after I ran a battery calibration. As to the product, I LOVE it! Some minor annoyances: 1)The actual product is slightly shoddy-feeling. I can't put my finger on it, but the feel of the plastic, the buttons, etc., isn't as tight as it could be (whatever that means). 2)The headphones suck. I replaced them immediately. 3)The software is awkward, buggy, and aweful. I use MusicMatch and it is pretty good. Haven't used the Microsoft thing yet. The other annoying thing is really about the company: They released 64 MB and 384 MB(256 internal, 128 external), and for the longest time that's all they had. I wanted the 256 internal memory without having to get the expensive extra 128, but a 256 internaly-only version doesn't exist. Of course, a month after buying the 64 MB version, out comes a 128 MB version (which I would have loved to get!). *sigh* It feels like they're trying to finagle me into buying one version and a few months later come out with an unannounced version w/ more memory. Oh well.
Rating:
Summary: Rio 800
Review: Great player Pro's upgradable, style, voice recorder, lcd screen with delete options, random mode. Built in Battery charger. Case is great with belt clip one of the best this is what Intel Pocket Concert lacks a nice way of carrying your player while you exersize. However the case changed on the 800-128 and its now a cheap material case with a plastic window not the padded tight custom fitting synthetic leather case that comes with the 800-64. This is a rip off if you have the rio 800-128 because the 800-64 case is a thousand times nicer. There is also a remote control thats really nice and it only comes with the Rio-64 Con's What happens if you battery needs to be replaced. your screwed it not upgradable. (After 40-6 to 8 hours days of charging and using my battery has lost is zeal).Rio Support sounded like they have never heard of this problem, however I believe it inherent in every 800 that made if you use it enough it will not last. But wait because after a couple of weeks the audio will degrade so that you will hardly be able to hear it. then music will be such a Rio's software for administration and loading mp3 is really cappy Stick to hardware and provide a superior service to your customers. Forget the software, use Real Jukebox. If you buy this make sure you buy it with an extended warrenty because sooner or latter you will be sending it back. Its just a matter of time.
Rating:
Summary: Great Player, Even greater with third party Software
Review: I have had this player now for almost three weeks and it works perfectly for me. My only problem is the software on the computer, what ever happened to drag and drop capabilities. Though there are several third party alternatives. Other than that I am extremely happy with my Rio. It never skips and with the USB it has an extremely fast transfer rate. It only takes me about 2 minutes to copy over all my songs that I want to listen to. I would highly recommend this product to any one. I have had no problems with it to this point.
Rating: 
Summary: WARNING: The RIO 800 has a BATTERY LEAK issues
Review: The Rio800 claims to have +10 hours of battery life, but it has a serious leakage problem when the device is powered down. I would recharge the battery to 100%, unplug the charger, and leave the device powered down for a day or two. When I come back the battery level is at less than 50%. ... The whole 10+ battery life is a load of crap... Don't take my word for it, go out and pay for one and see for yourself... BTW, the software package is horrible... use Window's Media Player instead.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome player, horrible earphones.
Review: I think the player is excellent. Sound quality, ease of use and absolutely no problems with the software or transferring songs. Downloads are very fast and all options are easy to use. The only thing keeping the fifth star away is the earphones that came with it. They are horrible and terribly painful. Once you get a different pair, you are on easy street. Oh, and one other thing, I almost lost a finger or two trying to open the package it came in. Be careful.
Rating: 
Summary: Great player...if it works
Review: I ordered a Rio over a month ago. When I first got it there was a strange glitch in the sound, certain frequencies seemed almost completely cut out (in the vocal range) which led to some terrible sounding music. It sounds like at least one other person here had the same problem. Other than this the player was great, everything I wanted and more. The sound was even very good, within the range that it could play. Long story short: due to the fact that I ordered directly from SONICblue it took 20+ days for me to get a return authorized and I didn't want to go through this again. Hopefully the Nomad II MG that's on the way turns out better.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible MP3, Do Not Buy!
Review: I bought this MP3 player 2 months ago, and I bought it thinking I would have the best one on the market. When I opened the box,I raced to the computer and installed the software. When I first listened to the music, the sound Quality was terrible, I couldn't believe my ears! I had spent almost 300$ on this worthless item! Take my word for it and DO NOT BUY!
| 
