Rating: 
Summary: Poor Firmware, Terrible Support
Review: As far as MP3 players go, this one is quite disappointing.It is indeed capable of playing .mp3 files, but that's where the product ceases to impress. Unlike many of it's competitors, this device uses an apparently proprietary memory format and USB interface; you have to use either RioPort's bloated software or a dodgy user-written workaround to load songs. What's more, the strange formatting means that if you expand the Rio 500 with a SmartMedia card and then move that card to another device, you'll have to reformat it and lose the data currently stored there. Oh, and the bundled headphones are worthless. They fall apart after a few uses or even being carried in a pocket. Quite frankly, I don't want or expect copyright enforcement in my media player. That's kind of like making a car that the owner can't get back out of, just in case they drive it into a restricted area. Another design flaw may be found smack in the middle of the unit's back - the serial number sticker. The sticker is cheap and unprotected, which means your serial number and bar code rub off after carrying the device in your pocket a few times. Since one must have the serial number to download an updated version of the device's firmware or loading software, you would be well advised to write the number somewhere a little safer. The last problem is compatability, and it's a big one. SonicBlue and RioPort have not seen fit to develop reliable driver software for Windows 2000 or XP. This means you'll need either a lot of luck or a Windows 95/98/ME machine to use your Rio 500. I'll never buy another product with the Diamond, SonicBlue, or RioPort logo on it again. I advise you to do the same.
Rating: 
Summary: A cool and very practicle Mp3 player
Review: Assuming you can find a Rio 500 for [less], here's what I have to say about it. Rio 500 was the first (and almost only) Mp3 player I ever bought. I owned a Rio 500 for close to 2 years (until about a week ago, when I lost it on the bus). I bought my Rio 500 when it first came out, back in the days when it retailed for 300 big ones. It has certainly been worth every cent I spent on it. It's design is simplistic, compact and sleek. Even now, it would make a great Mp3 player. I've been delighted with it. I'll cover some various pros and cons below. Pros:
- 64 megabytes is enough space to hold an album's worth of music (at 128 kbps)
- With it's USB interface, it is easy to replace and change mp3's quickly
- Supports every bitrate and variable bitrate known to man
- Supports universal SmartMedia cards (up to 128mb, maybe more)
- Runs on a single double A battery Cons:
- It's software is very clumsy and difficult to use (strange, since the player itself is awesome)*
- The play time isn't extremely high - so if you use it heavily, like I did, you'll go through a lot of batteries
- As with all stock headphones, they can't be trusted - use a good pair of your own for best sound quality * Concerning the Rio's software - there are some good third party alternatives. For the last year or so, I've been using a program called "Riostude" - I highly recommend using something like it instead. Since I lost my Rio 500, I've ordered a Rio 800 128mb. I think the additional space, voice recorder and rechargeable battery look promising. Either way, I'll always be a Rio 500 fan. Steve Keiser
Rating: 
Summary: Obsolete
Review: Whatever you do, do not make the mistake of buying one of these units today (10/2002) unless you are an antique dealer and you get a REALLY good price. I bought mine in April 2000 for around ...--worked great, good quality. I have not been able to get this unit to work with WinXP--I was using it with a Mac and SoundJam previously. An item as expensive as this with such a short technological life is shameful. Sonic Blue appears to have disowned the Rio500. They claim to have a USB driver for XP but it doesn't work. Period. Bottom Line: I am extremely disappointed by Sonic Blue's disregard for Rio500 customers. I am abandoning Sonic Blue/Rio products just as Sonic Blue/Rio has abandoned Rio500 owners. Caveat Emptor!!
Rating: 
Summary: WARNING Rio Products
Review: I've had this player for a couple years at least and that should tell you something it's old as of this writing. I actually have been very pleased with it's performance up until I had the misfortune of dealing with SonicBlue tech support. First of all they split support between two sites right now ... so you can not get everything you need in one spot and have to look around. Firmware is on one site and software for the PC the other and there is no search function for downloads as of this writing on either site. This product is now considered "legacy" at SonicBlue even though as I write this there is a promotion going on through Amazon.com for brand new units. Scary right there. So what's wrong with it? I had no problem with Win98, Me, and 2000. On XP there appears to be a support gap as their usb driver consistently hangs the ability to connect and disconnect properly and prevents the system itself from shutting down properly (thats right the whole system). Now I may yet fix this if I don't just eBay it but it's a pain in the Yahoo! Secondly I recently did the upgrade to the latest version of the firmware and now the unit is only playing some songs while skipping others. No file format problems etc I've done tests on that I think it may be track ID tag incompatibility which brings me to the final point here. I haven't had input from SonicBlue yet. I have contacted support 3 times and have yet to get a reply other than the canned ham "we have received your message" thing. SonicBlue is one of the worst companies that fall into the sacrifice support quality for the bottom line category I've seen. I mean most companies do it and I understand why but these guys are really bad. I am the kind of guy that would prefer to use self help stuff and fix problems myself and that's what I do 95% of the time. Trying to find solutions, drivers, and firmware with these guys if far below par compared to that which I have seen elsewhere. It's not like its a shrinky dink outfit either check out their web page, they are intentionally negelecting it to save money. So bottom line if you aren't keen on fixing things yourself well then Rio/SonicBlue might not be the brand for you because even if you are it's harder than it should be. The number one issue at this point is support. I'm having to discern it from thier self help and the self help and tech support in general are very scarce and hard to come by. Their tech support and customer service are so bad I would recommend another vendor altogether at least for the time being anyways. When it used to function properly it was cool though.
Rating:
Summary: Poor product, horrible customer service
Review: I received a Rio 500 as part of a promotion... It worked reasonably well for a couple months; however, even during the time that it worked there were several annoyances--it didn't allow use of all of audible.com's functionality, the buttons were cheap and difficult to use (they were either too stiff or too sensitive); and the carrying case was horrible and clearly thrown together without much thought. A few months later, while downloading to the unit, the batteries died, which apparently kills the machine. I cannot turn it back on for the life of me. Sonic Blue's support is awful (basically not-existent). Ironically (or stupidly), I replaced it with another Sonic Blue product--the Rio 600 because it is one of the few MP3 players that work with audible.com. The Rio 600 still works, but I would discourage anyone from buying that unit also.
Rating: 
Summary: A good player for beginniners
Review: I bought my mp3 player over 2 years ago. After changing jobs I didn't have access to usb and I stopped thinking about it. I just got a new computer and, after jumping through all the hoops to upgrade the softwear, it is finally working. Now I read those other reviews that talk about how it stops after a few days. Mayybe that will happen to me. I,however, only download cds to my RIO and used softwear reccommended by the company.
I can do my kickbox warm up with it on and plan to bike with it attached to my helmut. Would I get the 400? Maybe,but I think my next plan is for the really big one.
Rating:
Summary: It sounded too good to be true, and it was
Review: The fact that this device is made to load on windows 95/98 and not XP must have been written in small print, because I didn't see it. As I was completing the order the Amazon window popped up saying people who ordered this unit also ordered smart cards and among those offered was a 128 mb card I figured, hey more music, so I added one to my order. When I got the unit the blurb on the side of the box said you could expand it to 96mb no more. It makes no difference since the software won't load anyway. Thanx Amazon I have a nice little...paper weight.
Rating:
Summary: Great MP3 player but problems
Review: Back Back Back when I broght the rio 500 it was the best of the best. It was like whoa I can download any song in the world and take it with me every where more like 20 songs. 3 years later I accidently downloaded a corruped MP3 and put it on my rio. I tryed to delete it but it just stayed on. So i downloaded the software to fotmatt the whole thing and upgraded the OS. When I was done boom. It had a black screen everytime I turned it on and would not stop. The only way was too download more software too get rid of the black screen. It worked. Then it came back. I ran the software again and It did not work again again and again. My computer froze everytime because once it restarted the rio it was waiting for a resonce. Because it did not work it never got a responce. So I ignored it thinking it will go away some day. I turned it on then it still had it. I contaced rio and then they said WE DO NOT SUPPORT THAT MP3 PLAYER ANY MORE. SO I never got it repired. Now took it apart and had fun torchering it. Now it is a beat up little electionic that does not work in my closet. I blame it on the Rio and the person [on line] that gave me the MP3.
Rating:
Summary: Take THAT, RIAA!
Review: So, I just bought this wee beastie via Amazon's used marketplace, and, right off the bat, I'm pretty happy. The price was right ...; it's worth the hunt), the size is right (bigger and thinner than a pager), and, hey, it holds an hour of music right out of the box! I have yet to see if the firmware update holds true; supposedly, I'll be able to pop a 64 meg flash card into my Rio and carry two hours around with me. Pluses: no skipping. Good, strong sound. Took it to the gym this afternoon, and, for the first time in years, I didn't have to listen to disco when I worked out. The Rio stayed snug in my pocket, and I could lift in peace. Minuses: included headphones are weak. Age. Lack of Win2K audio management software support (though I remedied this with a few ... searches. While RioPort or Real aren't all that interested in supporting their legacy products, there's a strong Open Source contingent that thinks the Rio 500 is the bee's knees. I downloaded RIOsitude, which works beautifully, so much so that I sent the creator a couple of bucks ...). Lack of AC adaptor jack, though that's ofset by the (supposed) long battery life. We'll see about that one. All in all, I'm happy. I got just what I wanted for a decent price. How often can you say that when it comes to consumer electronics. Update: after a week of working fine, my little Rio gave up the ghost. No clue. Might have been the firmware update, might have been gremlins. This definitely brings my score down a notch, though I'm now using a friend's Rio 500 (he upgraded to a player with a microdrive) and it's going okay. Caveat emptor.
Rating:
Summary: Worthless if you run Windows 2000
Review: I loved my Rio 500 until I loaded Windows 2000. From what I can tell, it is not compatible and SONICblue is not offering a fix. Now my beloved Rio 500 is worthless and I am not likely to buy another SONICblue product.
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