Rating: 
Summary: Excellent player but hardly intuitive
Review: The Diamond Rio PMP500 is an excellent MP3 player and while PC users may have a different viewpoint, as a Macintosh user I had several difficulties. The first one is that I found no explicit instructions for its use. It only has three controls: a bookmark button, a browse button and a multi control which also has a button function. These controls are sketchily described in a folder but all the ins and outs are not listed in any source that I could find. The second problem was that the first CD that I tried to process through Rioport Soundjam MP caused the program to crash after two tracks. Attempting to restart caused the program to destroy my system folder, requiring a total restore of my hard drive. Downloading to the unit is a simple drag-and-drop of either a single selection or a series of them. The 32MB cards ar easy to load and are more cost-effective at this time than are the 64MB cards. Once the 64MB cards come down in price this will be an unbeatable unit.
Rating: 
Summary: What would I have done?
Review: I am 13 years old and all my cd players end up using too many batteries or the cd skips because i jump around a lot with my music. And i love the rio 500 because it fits about 20-25 songs depending on how long it is, also the music is great quality. you can get songs off different web sites to see if yopu like them or you can put a cd you already have in and it will be put into the program. Also have you ever noticed that there's a song that you found on-line and have it on your computer but it is not made any more or you can't find it. you can put it on rio. It is defenatly worth it. also is space is a problem you can say good bye to that if you buy this. i hope that this helped you.
Rating: 
Summary: Good product, Lousy software
Review: I enjoyed the crispy sound that comes from the RIO 500. It reacts responsively and as long as your instructions are enclosed you can master it fairly quickly. The power switch is a little tricky to slide to the "hold" position when your trying to keep the player covered. The USB cable is useful, and even though it doesn't download as quick as advertised, you can get a drink or make a bathroom run in that short time. Okay here it is, THE SOFTWARE SUCKS! It installs quickly and effectively, but thats about all it does. It has a lousy harddrive search, it only recognize .mp3 extentions and its CD identifier takes too long (my connection went down while waiting). I have managed to get around this with Realjukebox 2.0 software. It records your CDs to your HD, has a more accurate CD identifier and integrates well with various MP3 players. It only converts tracks between 54K and 96k, but a 54k you can fit about 36 (yes 36) of your favorite tracks. Look for it at www.real.com
Rating:
Summary: I love this thing!
Review: Too many good things to list, just read any review of this product and you'll understand why. For all who are looking into a mp3 player, this is the one, at least for now.
Rating: 
Summary: do yourself a favor
Review: assume that you're aware that the software they ship with this unit is garbage and that there are other decent options that are free. assume that you dont care that the earphones that they ship with this unit is trash. you can buy much better ones. assume that you dont need a decent manual. You can figure it out because you're a gadgethead and by reading posts on the net. assume that you dont care that the little carrying case is a joke. assume that you know you'll get no decent information on their web site other than how to polish your darling rio or cute names to give it. But do yourself a favor and read ALL the one star reviews in this list and COUNT on your unit getting fried after an innocuous little download and COUNT on having a grand time in customer service hell.... My sony minidisk player was recently crushed by my rollerblades and it still works and sounds better than the rio ever did. the rio is a fine unit... as long as it works...
Rating:
Summary: Still Fabulous - After 8 Months!
Review: This is my second review of the Rio 500. I reviewed it shortly after I got it in January. I loved it then - and even more so now. In a sense, this is a long term review (almost 8 months). I am happy to report that it works flawlessly, never had a problem with it from the first day. As some reviewers reported, I may be lucky, since apparently there are some 'lemons' that customers have received. I upgraded the firmware from the Rio website to 2.12, which allows for a 64 mb smart media card to be used. So that's 128 mb - which is about 2 hours of music. I agree with everyone who said that its best not to use the Rio software. I have been using Music Match which works just terrific with the Rio - swift downloads, easy transfers, and easy to arrange different playlists. I also bought a good pair of headphones from Labtech, which makes a big difference. I am not sure why some people have had problems, but after 8 months I still get great sound and the player is wonderful in every way. Yes documentation is poor and as far as service goes, I haven't required any, so I can't really comment. You can't go wrong especially now with lower prices too!
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic product, says one satisfied customer
Review: At first I couldn't decide between a CD burner or an mp3 player. I chose the latter for its cheaper overall price, skip-free design, and just plain coolness factor. However, being new to the mp3 player market, I was unsure which one to buy. After days of careful consideration, I narrowed it down to the Nomad II and the Rio 500. I finally settled on the Rio 500, and I feel that I made the best choice. The factors I weighed heavily were onboard base memory, features, sound quality, and price. The Rio, with 64 MB base memory, is one of the highest out there, at least for now. And with SmartMedia or Flash cards, you can boost it up to 128 MB. The Rio features easy to find and push buttons, bright LCD screen with backlight, bookmarking, and a handy scroll button that lets you tweak the volume, equalizer, and choose a song while another is playing. There's no radio or phonebook, but hey, I want my mp3 player to play mp3's, not be a palm pilot. Oh, and buy new headphones; like all the ones that come bundled with mp3 players, they stink. Anyway, this little beauty has everything you're looking for in a mp3 player, and at the awesome Amazon.com price, it's worth every penny.
Rating:
Summary: best new toy in a while
Review: well, i too was skeptical about some of the bad reviews on this product - THERE ARE NO BAD REVIEWS. This product is everything it appears to be, and more. I have two suggestions - first, regarding battery life - use lithium or photo batteries if possible (you can get them in Home Depot or any camera store). They last about 3x-4x times longer than Alkaline, but are 2x more expensive. Second - throw out the CD that comes with the unit and download MusicMatch free from the web. Be sure to get the Rio-500 add-in as well. As far a storage, 64M gets you over 2 hours of music if recorded at 64M samples/second. I haven't found the 32M removable card yet, but that will add a 3rd hour. I wasn't really able to tell the difference between 128K and 64K sampling through earphones. I love this thing.
Rating:
Summary: Too expensive! Only an hour for $200!
Review: This is great for jogging and sports, but for most, an hour of music isn't enough. If I added an hour more as in memory, it would cost me $150/64megs! I spend at least 4 hours(10 hours max)listening to music... while I could saved it for the new Mp3 players(capacity in the Gigs!) arriving later this year, well that's what they said. People who will be using it for a short while every day should buy it, but downloading Mp3s with a 56k modem is a huge problem. It's easy to use from buying it to using it. The size made me realize to get it, but I'm still using Cd players for the rest of the day. It did what I expected(only jogging), but I rather have those with Gigs as in memory instead of only megs. It's useless during vacations! AAARRRGGGHHH!
Rating:
Summary: What a great toy!
Review: This is just a great gadget. I bought it for ski trips, rollarblading and running. It's perfect! No skipping, light weight, and it sounds great.
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