Rating: 
Summary: fairly product -- Diamond Rio 500
Review: I've just got it yesterday, it's a great look view with "iMac like" style. But when I install it, i get into trouble. I dont like USB device, since it's probably un-stable on the Windows platform, althought the transfeer speed is five time then pareall port.The memory seems better then Creative NOMAD (nomad has 32mb internal, 32mb external) , but 64MB is not enough when I tried higher sample rate for MP3 encoding (160K for 60Min CD , maxinium is 256K) And the memory module is expensive for 32MB/100 USD, its incredible price! Totally, if you want to buy the Rio 500 right now, it's a good choice and i'll bet you will like it, but if you want to buy a MP3 Player/Walkman in the near future, I suggest you prefer the Creative NOMAD 2 (NOMAD 2 is not released yet) multi-functional, greate style, and much more memory size.
Rating: 
Summary: A good recorder with some problems
Review: The documentation to get started is sketchy at best. I almost took the unit back and thought it was flawed because I could not get it to download to the recorder. Ripping from a CD is fast, and downloading is also fast, but it appears that battery life might be a problem since it shows considerable use after a couple of hours. I also have a mini disk player and will not throw this away since it is more flexible in repeating songs and the disks aren't that big that they are a pain to carry. In essence, the price may be a bit high, but the quality is great and the unit is nice to carry. I am not sorry that I bought it since it is nice to download songs right from the net. Jim
Rating: 
Summary: Rio is Fantastic
Review: I bought the Rio for exercising and using at work. Now it goes everywhere with me. The USB lets me load songs fast. I can jam 3 hours of music on it at FM radio quality (64 kbps/ 22kHz) with the 32 MB expansion card. And the battery lasts for days.
Rating:
Summary: a suggestion
Review: I've read other reviews here that say you can't use the RIO 500with Win 2000. Is it possible to use musicmatch jukebox and download the rio plugin to work on Win 2000? It'sjust a suggestion to all those wanting to use the Rio with an OS other than Win 98.
Rating: 
Summary: Please don't buy this, it would sadden me....
Review: Ok, some loyal review readers might know that I have the original RIO PMP300. I have basically the same opinion about this player. GOOD - Lightweight, small, decent on battery power, no moving parts BAD - Holds about 44 minutes at 192kbps (almost CD Quality), somewhat pricey UGLY - $100 for an extra 32mb card (22 minutes of almost CD-Quality), Bad memory clusters cause skips over time So, unlike my review of the PMP300, with this model I have to recomend not purchasing this item. For this price, you are MUCH better off buying a MiniDisc recorder from Amazon.com! (don't worry Amazon, you aren't losing any business) You can purchase blank MiniDiscs for $1.50 now, and that gives you much more then you get with the Rio for $100 in flash memory (the blank media that music is stored on in the Rio) So, in short, go with something like the Aiwa AM F70 MiniDisc Recorder, I guarentee you will thank me!
Rating:
Summary: A Great Gadget!
Review: The Rio 500 is by far the greatest gadget I own. I have had it since about November and it has worked great. I listen to more music now than I ever did before buying this mp3 player. I was able to install the software and get out the door in about 5 minutes. However, the software could use some improvements. I prefer using Realjutbox/player software instead. It is much easier to use. I use the player while I am skiing and it works fine. I could never do this with my cd player or my friends md player. The one downfall with the player that I have found is that tha flash ram cards are very expensive. I have found that some of the flash ram cards made by other companies a bit cheaper than rio. All in all this is a great product that has become my favorite toy.
Rating:
Summary: Little for Lots: Almost zero features for a million dollars
Review: My opinion is that the Rio player, along with most MP3 players, lack features that other types of players are capable of. One of these features that it lacks is that Rio has a lot of memory for a MP3 player these days, and it can only play 2 HOURS of songs with its onboard memory. After that, its $100 for a 1 hour (32mb) flash card. With CD's and MD's, the hour is for about $3. Also, there are not many different models to choose from, whoch is a drawback. There is also the problem of BATTERIES. Now, I have a suckie CD player, so I only get 6 hours every 2 batteries, but some CD players can accomnplish 50+ hours of CD playing on 2 batteries. 12 hrs/1 battery is pretty much outragous (thats why I need a new CD player). Wait a couple years for better MP3 players. Untill then, I recommend a MiniDisc System or A CD System. Much Better Value.
Rating:
Summary: Need support for a real OS!
Review: I hate Win 98 I have 2000 or NT on all my computers and now I have to dual boot to get the thing to work. My win2000 Pro picked up the player and the USB, but the audio manager software didnt work so I am out of luck for a while.
Rating:
Summary: 30 Second Setup! Great Sound!
Review: Excellent! One of my smartest buys. USB is great, the program is simple, and the sound quality is great. What a great package from such a TINY machine.
Rating:
Summary: Overall, well designed product; but still a bit overpriced
Review: I got my Rio 500 a few days ago, and so far, I'm pretty satisfied with it. It's a really cool, well designed piece of technology. It has a nice back lit display that shows the artist and song name, something the 300 didn't have (although the display didn't include the bitrate info, which the 300 DID have). Also, the unit has a menu which you can customize your playlist and adjust the equalizer (including custom bass and treble settings) among other things. The 500 sounded excellent using my own headphones although the bass was extremely lacking. On the negative, the documentation included with the Rio was terrible, if you are new to MP3's, it could be frustrating. The software was decent, but not that fast at encoding songs. I've heard complaints that there's no FM tune (but if you have your MP3's, why on earth would you listen to the radio?). And I still think the it drains batteries WAY too fast; it says 12 hours - that's your whole one hour playlist 12 times in a row- but I've yet to have a battery last over 4 (maybe they meant at a below 128 bitrate). Overall, I think that $250+ might be a tad overpriced. If it gets down to 150, then it would DEFINITELY be worth it.
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