Rating: 
Summary: Try a different MP3 player
Review: We have had one of these for several years; long before the proliferation of MP3 players. Besides, we thought the price was affordable for a gift for my one of my teenage sons.The whole process was a mistake from the beginning I think now in retrospect. I thought it would be easy to add a backpack for more memory and as it turned out we had a heck of a time locating them. They are only available at their website so you can't just run down to your local electronics store. That was the first problem. Next the darn thing seemed to only play for short periods and before you know it it is buried in the clutter of a teenagers room. Eventually I realized it wasn't getting much use so I hunted for the backback; you might have better luck deer hunting in the broad daylight of your big city downtown! Eventually I located the memory backpack through the website . I say eventually because they were on back order for the longest time. While I was at it I got some other accesories so after I get some feedback on the accesories including the additional memory I will report on the quality of this "upgraded" player. If you want to avoid some hassles now than look for another player. So far it has been an ongoing bad experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Happy.
Review: I go this mp3 player because I have a mac and it was one of the few that were mac compatible at the time of purchase. I already owned the Rave mp3 player by sensory science, which is an excellent peice of equipment especially for the price. First of all, loading the rio 600 is a pain and it drains the battery more than playing it does, or so it seems. and a lot of times it craps out in the middle of a song so you get half of the mp3. Secondly, the buttons are also a huge pain. I think maybe I was spoiled by the buttons on the rave player but these buttons are difficult to use, *especially* while jogging. somtimes you really have to mash them (eg. leave scratches from my fingernails) and other times you just barely brush them. Also, the on-hold-off slide is very annoying. I also didn't like the way you change the batteries. Just seems more difficult than it should be. I definitely do not recommend this product. Sonicblue engineers were a little too keen on the *cutesy* image than practicality on this one.
Rating:
Summary: Get ready for problems
Review: I should have read more of the reviews already posted before getting the RIO 600! Most of the bad experiences posted happened to me as well, starting with the ON-OFF switch falling off within two months. It is also a battery eater to end all battery eaters. I have a battery recharger but this beast only likes fresh blood, recharged batteries are a waste of time since they will only work about 10-15 minutes and then die.Next, the controls. Hard to use to say the least. Menues are in such small typeface you had better have very good vision or else forget about being able to read what is displayed. The Play/Stop/FF/Rewind single button is extremely sensitive. I can't count the times I wanted to pause something I was listening to and instead it went into FF or Rewind.
The battery location is another flimsy joke. It is hard to get the protective cover on and off and there is no reason for this. $5 kids toys have better battery compartments than this thing has. I can't count the number of times I have lost the protective cover and had to hunt it down. It is a cheezy piece of thin plastic with a couple of tabs that have to be inserted just so or it won't lock in place.
Trust me, I won't be buying another RIO product unless I see it in my hands and examine it closely for all of these types of design flaws. It is a real shame too, since the sound quality and reliability of the actual player are first rate. It is just too bad they wrapped it in a dime store quality case.
Rating:
Summary: Don't!
Review: My Rio 600 power switch fell out! The case is
so poorly designed that squeezing it in my hand causes the top
seam to open. Mine was in my backpack and must have gotten
squeezed so the switch fell out. So either I send it back
(and take my chances of getting who knows what in return) or
use a toothpick to turn it on and off.
Otherwise (!), it's a good MP3 player.
Rating: 
Summary: battery hog
Review: this player is really nice, it has a cool look, good design and awesome lcd. The EQ is one of my favorite fucntions, and the playlist editing is a must for all mp3 players. Everything is nice with it, except that it EATS BATTERIES LIKE IT IS DRACULA SUCKING OUT THE BATTERY JUICE AS IT PLAYS. ITS LIKE A HUNGRY HOG THAT INHALES ITS FOOD, ONLY ITS A BATTERY HOG AND INHALES THE BATTERIES. It says it has 6 hours of battery life left, and it all of a sudden says it has 2 minutes left and i have to replace batteries. I have had this for a month and i have used about 16 batteries already, its gone from lasting for 20 minutes(3 times) to 11 hours, but 11 hours only once or twice. On average, about 4-5 hours is what you will get from 1 battery. If this was a 2 battery unit, i wouldnt touch this, but one battery will do. Once or twice the power has shut off at a random time, but otherwise, this was a great deal.
Rating:
Summary: Poor Design, Awkward interface.
Review: The RIO 500 was excellent. When in ceased working I sent it to the folks for repair. SEVERAL MONTHS LATER!!! I gave up and asked for a replacement. The Rio 600 came shortly. The memory is non-standard. If you want more, Rio is the only place. The battery compartment is difficult to get to. The interface could be better. Hmmm On the plus side
It is Audible Ready. It has (as far as I can tell) unlimited bookmarks.
Rating:
Summary: There's a problem!!!
Review: If you have one of these and you can only fit about 6-8 songs on this(I have had the same problem), don't go looking for another mp3player! You just have to buy a backpack 64mb or higher. If you don't have this problem, then I think this is a great mp3player! It has great sound(which you can customize) and it doesn't skip at all! If you are looking for a good mp3player at a good price, then this is it! It's Great!I guarruntee that of you buy this product with another backpack (64mb or highter), then you will think it is great also!
Rating:
Summary: Cheaply made
Review: I admit - when I got the RIO, I was excited! I thought it was a good size, light, and worked just fine, despite having severly limited memory. Well, that's all changed. The thing must have been made from the cheapest materials available. My power switch broke after 2 weeks, and I wan't even flipping it that often. The battery indicator gives NO accurate indication of the juice you have left. Every time you look, it says there's plenty of power left, yet the thing can die at any time. The software is clunky and buggy. Also to top it off, when you get that "memory backpack," it's still a disappointment, because it's treated as a separate player. Suppose you have a bunch of MP3s that are around 4MB, and you use all but 3.6MB of your player's internal memory. Adding a backpack is like adding a hard drive - it just gives another location, and it's a real pain to have to switch your "source" back and forth to juggle the tracks so that you can make THESE ones fit on THIS memory part, and THESE others fit on THAT one. Couldn't the software try to calculate where to put the tracks so that it wasn't so tedious, and was easier not to waste space? This turned out to be a real turkey, and I have 3 friends who also have had the things break on them within two months.
Rating: 
Summary: Mine is Great
Review: I ordered this thing and then read the reviews(dumb I know). When it arrived I was concerned. I use it for Audible Books. I opened the box hooked it to the computer. I had no trouble getting it up and running. It seems like a quality product. Not at all [as bad]as others have stated. I use my own ear buds as preference, the ones that came with it work fine. I have used it for many many hours and have not had a single glitch. I am very pleased with this product. I really don't see what the others were complaining about.
Rating:
Summary: Nice concept, but I'm not a fan....
Review: I bought this player because my first one, Rio PMP 300, was a good little unit until the transfer port gave out (I had it for about three years). I had high hopes because it got generally good reviews. After about a week exploring software options, I settled on using the MusicMatch interface, which wasn't the best, but it worked. The software that was recommended, RioPort Audio, did not work at all with my computer's usb running Windows 98. I was greatly surprised that after about a week of use (the sound quality was excellent), I was disappointed when my headphones started fading in and out. Well, after trying to rotate the headphone jack in different orientations, the entire connection finally failed and no sound at all came out of the unit's jack (I even tried different headphones). I assume that this was because the same port is used to connect the usb transfer cable and that somehow I had damaged the connection contacts. I returned it to Amazon for a refund. All in all, I have to say that my experience with my PMP 300 was a good one, but the Rio 600 failed to live up to my expectations. It seemed to be a quite fragile construction and I need a durable unit since I like to jog with it about three times a week. I love the concept of an MP3 player for jogging, but I haven't found a good, reliable unit with the features that provide the excellent listening experience that I expect.
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