Rating: 
Summary: Wash and Go
Review: I bought this player about a month ago. I have been impressed by the quality. I use it to listen to music while running and it is perfectly suited to the task. Yesterday I put it in the washer with clothing by accident. It went through the entire wash and I thought I would have to buy a new one. Well I didn't. It still works perfectly. I am truly impressed with the quality of the Diamond Rio.
Rating:
Summary: The NiQ Electronics reveiw- Great for an Mp3 player/300vs500
Review: I had first purchased a PMP300, but wasn't satisfied. The design of the PMP500 intigued me, and i couldn't resist. It was a very good buy. This is a review and comparison of both products.Hardware: Like the PMP300, the PMP500 can play mp3 tracks and cd tracks, but unlike the PMP300, the PMP500 can also play MPEG2.5, ADPCM, and Audible.com content. The PMP500 plays Mp3s 16 to 320 Kbps and VBR. It includes a Basic equalizer with song adjustments such as treble, bass, etc. The PMP300's equalizer consisted of only four synthetic options: Normal, Rock, Classical, and Jazz. Connection: The song transfere speed from your computer to your device for both products is relitively the same, with the PMP500 being a little faster. Connection from the PMP300 is made by parallel-port connection. It is hooked into your printer port and has another parallel port in the back for your printer so that way you can operate your printer and your player at the same time. The PMP500 has easy connection thru a USB socket. NOTICE: YOU MUST HAVE A USB SOCKET IN YOUR COMPUTER TO OPERATE THE PMP500. THE PMP500 DOES NOT WORK ON WINDOWS N/T OR WINDOWS 95. Buttons: The buttons on the PMP300 are far better than the buttons on the PMP500. The buttons on both products are easy to use and good, but the buttons on the PMP300 are bigger and cooler. Memory: Memory on the PMP500 is better than the PMP300. But keep in mind. If you buy memory chips (They are like disks. There is a slot on both product for insertion. The chips can be easily ejected. They are called Flash Cards. You can buy them here.) You can store play lists on diferent disks, label them, and when you want to hear your pesonal mix, just pop in that certain disk.
Rating:
Summary: The Rio 500 Rocks
Review: Quit considering it and just buy this thing. I did so over a month ago and I am absolutely not sorry. You'll want the car audio adapter to really make it a "take anywhere" device, but it will revolutionize the way you listen to music. Forget the record companies forcing you to listen to their CDs in their order; make your own collections and rock on!
Rating:
Summary: the best in mp3 technology out there
Review: The sleek, simple design of diamond multimedia's rio 500 MP3 player only adds to it's long list of Pro's. This player, equipped with 64mb of memory, and the possibility of upgrading to 96mb, is the best player for the value. it's simple interface keeps it easy to manage and handle, excluding any additional features other players include that are there just to take space and to try and outsell the standard rio 500. rio 500 is the best portable mp3 player out there, no doubt.
Rating: 
Summary: Good hardware - bad software
Review: I paid a premium for the Rio 500 as I liked the integrityandfunctionality of the hardware unit itself- which is excellent. Thesound quality is very good and the USB interface is a must. I also liked the expandibility of the memory card - which I purchased - (another 32mb) but did not like the fact that it is a different technology than what I use in my Casio Digital Camera. Here are my complaints: The memory expansion is not contiguous and was very difficult to figure out how to use. Once you figure it out - you have to treat it like two separate memory areas. This is not very user friendly. However, once you figure it out - it isn't such a big deal. (You would think Diamond would at least give you some detailed instructions on how to access it) I couldn't even find the info on their Web page) The software refused to work properly without continually crashing. I re-installed it several times and even downloaded the latest release and drivers. Flat out - it just didn't work reliably... The earbud headphones are terrible. What more can I say - throw them out or give them to your dog. Buy a better pair... The case that comes with it is really cheesey. I ended up buying another case. One last gripe - the instructions that come with the unit don't tell you how to use all the controls. I had to figure that out on my own. Battery life is good when just playing tunes - but watch it suck the life out of them when doing transfers with the USB interface. I bought a couple of NIMH 1500ma batteries - but they also don't last very long. I would suggest using the NIMH rechargables for your transfers and a standard alkaline battery for trips. If Diamond really wanted to be ahead of the pack - a rechargeable integrated Lithium Ion Battery with charger would be worth paying extra for. In summary - I think this product is overpriced for what you get and should include reliable Software, better instructions, better headphones and a real carrying case. If Diamond would listen to their customers - (which I have written to with no response) I think they could develop a killer product. Don't get me wrong - it's not a bad product - but for the high price, in my opinion, these items should be included. END
Rating: 
Summary: Good Hardware, Software needs work.
Review: I bought my Rio direct from Diamond on October 6th, of last year. I took them until December 17 to send it out. It included little documentation, quirky software, and the support at Diamond when I called in was horrible. The headphones are little to be desired for, but hey.. you get what you pay for. (In this case, a lot of moola for little gadgets) I suggest buying the upgraded headphones and remote from them. (For more moola) .. better get a job or save some money if you don't already!
Rating:
Summary: Great Player!
Review: This is a great player! The only problem is that I am a kid and the ear-buds dont fit in my ears. If you have "big" ears you will be fine.
Rating: 
Summary: Solution in search of a problem.
Review: I just received a Rio 500 as a gift. Turns out that the software does not support NT (or Win95). I don't have a USB board anyway. Since it was a gift, it is too awkward to explain (no, I'm not going to run out and give Microsoft more money, or buy more computer hardware just to use this thing) and near impossible to graciously return, or exchange. To be honest, I'm trying to figure out why I'd want to fill up my hard drive with "ripped", versions of my CD collection. I already own the CDs and they aren't eating up space on my hard drive. Since the Rio only comes with enough memory to hold approximately one CD anyway, what's the point? I could load the Rio with MP3's found on the net, but what's to find? Bootlegged versions of stuff I already have, or MP3's by garage bands nobody has ever heard of, and probably never will. Gadgetry for gadgetry's sake.
Rating:
Summary: Great product
Review: Best part about the Diamond Rio 500 is the super fast USBinterface that beats the pants off of a paralell port. I got one ofthese babies ... a few weeks ago and haven't bought a CD since.
Rating:
Summary: Best mp3 player so far
Review: The Rio500 is the only player (that I have seen) with 64MB of continuous memory. Nomad has 32+32 which will cause inefficiencies and not allow continuous play. Further the Rio500 is audible ready. Audible.com has tons and tons of books available for download.
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