Rio Karma 20 GB MP3 Player

Rating:
Summary: Great Product
Review: In mid-December 2003 I bought this player and used it a lot since then. First off I have to write that the included software is very easy to use. You want to rip your CD's into the player? Two mouse clicks will do so.

I even installed and used the software on my parents old 333Mhz PII PC and had no trouble.

I also brought the piece along to my Switzerland vacation, where I used in sub-zero enviroment while snowboarding. Neither the cold nor the shaking bothered the device and it worked fine as ever.

The reason for 4 instead 5 stars is that the front gets scratched easily. My player is already full of small scratches. The whole player is very robust but the front plate is too soft if it celebrates a get together with your car keys in your pocket.

Other than that no trouble and I am very happy that I bought it. I used it in the office, at home and in the car.

Rating:
Summary: Great Product!
Review: I've had this player for a couple of weeks and have been really pleased so far. I orginally purchased it for long plane trips, but it comes in handy on road trips too. When it came to buying a hard drive player it came down to the Karma and the iPod. The Karma won because of better battery life (almost double), included extras, and lower price. Here is a quick synopsis:

Pros:
Great interface; easy to find songs, bands or albums.
Provided software works well.
Dock has USB, ethernet, and RCA output.
Great battery life.
Ogg Vorbis support.

Cons:
A little clunky in the hand.
Few aftermarket accessories (especially cases)
No remote.

The most surprising thing about the player is the Ogg Vorbis support. This is a far superior codec to MP3 or WMA. The music sounds fantastic compared to the muddy tones of the MP3 or WMA at roughly the same file size. I didn't think I would utilize the Ogg feature but after listening to one song ripped 3 ways, I'll never go back.

Count me as a happy customer!

Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: I got the player in mid Dec 2003. I'll keep the rest of the review in the pro/con format.
Pro: great sound, loud (i travelled in a plane), great docking station, great design and handling, easy navigation, charges in dock, light weight, great battery life

Cons: not mounting as USB hard drive, song access can be slow, fast forwarding can be slow (but I have no comparison to other players), Real Player plugin not available stand alone, battery not replaceable, no case included (the little bag is a joke) nor available as an accessory, not many accessories available.

Summary: I love the player and the experience of carrying 1000nds of songs with me. the handling is great and mechanics seem sturdy. Rio has been in the MP3 player business a long time. I opted for this player after reading the review of others and because I got a good deal on an open box item. Better value than IPod IMHO. from the review I was also considering the iRiver player but never found a good deal. If I had to pay full price I would probably prefer iRiver due to the Cons listed above.

Rating:
Summary: Mine died within a month.
Review: It was fantastic while it lasted, but after less than four weeks of occasional use, my Rio Karma died without warning.

This was with the latest firmware update.

Caveat emptor -- before buying this player, I was warned that a large number of buyers have had longevity issues with the Karma.

I will say that, when it's functional, it's definitely the best portable MP3 player available.

Rating:
Summary: I am SO happy so far...
Review: Background: I had already purchased a 10 GB Creative Labs Jukebox Nomad 2. I hated the experience from the beginning where I had to find 3rd party software (ha, called Notmad instead of Nomad) just to get songs onto the &*%# thing, to the end (only two months later) when it died and would no longer boot.

Doh.

I was about to buy the hype and just drop the money on an iPod. But armed with hands-on experience, reading the iPod reviews gave me an intuition that things would very possibly be just as problematic for a winbloze user. Nor were the reviews glowing about the method by which iPod generates/updates it's playlists. It all just sounded fishy, but who knows, people who love their iPods, LOVE their iPods.

I was scared when I got my Rio Karma because the songs they bundled on the player would hang at random points in almost every song. So I was gloomy as I set about getting my own mp3s on the player.

But I have been absolutely BLOWN AWAY. Every step of this has gone smoothly, and I am the case that developers abhor--everything is spit, bubble gum, & rubber bands with me. But I got the docking bay all hooked up, software loaded, songs transferred and now I'm just having an EASY first day back at work in the New Year, coolin' and kickin' it with all my favorite beats--NO SKIPS SO FAR.

This player is sweet. The interface (which is SOOOOOO important when you start talking about having thousands and thousands of songs) is SO easy to navigate. It fits in either my right or left hand and can be easily used both ways.

I haven't used RioTaxi, so I don't know how well this is really going to function as a portable harddrive--do I need to have the RioTaxi software on my buddy's computer when I swing by his pad? I dunno, but that's totally not what I bought this thing for. I just want dependable, easy music all hours of the day, and that's what I've got.

Rating:
Summary: I couldn't be happier. . .
Review: I feel like I'm wasting my time writing another rave review about the Karma, but I'm so sattisfied with this product that I just had to comment. I edited my previous post so that I could publish it in my school newspaper, and here's the final review with some extra notes.

I had been shopping for an MP3 player that had enough capacity to carry around my entire music library with me. I looked at the iPod first, it's a great device, but it's not perfectly compatible with Windows computers, I wouldn't have been able to copy any of my Windows Media Audio (WMA) files to it, and half of my collection is in that format. I looked around online for other similar devices from all different brands, including Dell, Philips, and Creative among others, but none came close to what the iPod offers. After lots of research, I found a player that broke the bland rectangular mold common in hard-drive MP3 players, and that's just the first thing that sets the Rio Karma apart from the rest.

I've had my Karma for a couple of weeks now and I still love the idea of carrying around most of my entire music collection. I'm still in the process of ripping all of my cds ' even the bad ones ' into the highest quality. I've tried using all of the compatible formats, they all work beautifully, especially the uncompressed FLAC format which produces amazing quality and subsequently large file sizes. I'm really making an effort to fill up the Karma's 20 gigabyte hard-drive which is bigger than the hard-drive on my laptop.

My favorite feature of my Karma is the response time when changing tracks. It's so fast that it surprised a bunch of my friends when I skipped a track that somebody didn't like, the next song just started instantly when I pressed the next button. It might seem like a big deal, but it really is that fast.

I can very easily control it with one hand (or even one finger) without even looking. The ability to create and name playlists on the fly is phenomenal, I can create a playlist whenever and wherever I'd like. I have all different playlists: one for driving, one for driving at night, one for when I have girls in the car, one for sleeping, and tons of others.

One of the accessories that come with the Karma is a stylish dock that, among other things, lights up blue. Besides how cool it looks, it's very useful. The dock can connect to a computer by USB or by Ethernet; with the latter you'd be able to send files to the Karma in your room from the computer in the basement over your network. The dock also has audio cable outputs for a very simple connection to most stereo systems.

The first time I held it I was pleased with the way it perfectly fit in my hand, it feels very sturdy, the buttons are all conveniently placed, and it weighs a little less than the iPod. The combination of the stick on the front and the scroll wheel on the side is brilliant. Any basic functions can be done blindfolded, it's all very intuitive.

If you're not very keen with computers, it's okay because Rio makes the software setup a breeze. It only takes a few clicks to install everything you need plus it downloads important updates and installs them automatically. Rio's software is very simple and allows you to rip music from your cds into one of the many compatible formats. Using the USB connection I was able to completely transfer my 6 gigabyte collection while it charged in one night.

The battery life has been fantastic, I haven't even come close to running out of battery life ' and I've been trying just for fun. Apple states that the iPod's battery lasts for eight hours while Rio states that the Karma's battery lasts for a staggering 15 hours.

One of the accessories that come with the Karma is a little carrying bag to hold the Karma, it's not great because it doesn't protect from drops or bumps, but I think the Karma's body is tough enough on its own. Sadly, there's no remote included in the accessories, but I can live without it.

I haven't experienced ANY problems with it yet, nor do I expect to, so I honestly cannot comment on the customer service, however anyone who says that it's SonicBlue is wrong because another company now owns Rio. By the way, the Karma comes with just installation instructions, it does NOT come with a manual, but you can print one out from their website if you need help with anything. The Karma and the accompanying software is so simple and intuitive that you don't really need the manual anyway.

If I left anything out, if I made any mistakes, or if you'd like to ask me any questions, please feel free to email me: [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Please read - average consumer's review!
Review: I purchase the Karma a couple of days again and I could not be happier! This is THE mp3! Being that I shelled out the money myself I researched mp3 players to death. cnet.com is great for reviews on products.
Anyway, the only two players in the running were Karma & the Ipod. I have a few friends who have the new Ipod and although it is the prettiest thing out there it doesn't have half the features that the Karma has including: Rio Dj (a kind of Tevo like program that learns what your loves, likes and dislikes and with the 5,000 songs that's no small feat! Karma is the only mp3 on the market with this feature.
The price is about $100 cheaper than the 20gb Ipod, I would recommend buying through a Circuit City or Bestbuy because you should opt for the extend warranty. All mp3s are at best a 90 day manufacture's warranty which isn't saying much when you spend $300 or more on a mp3.
The software is simple and straight forward even for beginners and the Rio Karma manager is amazing for organizing all that music! You don't need to fiddle with editting on the mp3 at all because when you dock (incl.) your mp3 player to charge it syncs any new music!
The only cons are: no remote which if used in a packback or purse is a bit annoying, no revomable battery (get a good warranty and it's covered) and the fact that there is no case for it. But those are secondary issues and should not detour from purchasing this mp3 player!
If you want something trendy then go for the Ipod but remember when the battery dies which it will between 1 year to 1 1/2 (Apple's est. not mine) you will have to send it in and pay anywhere from $99 to $250 to have the battery replace and it will take 2 - 6 wks. This information is directly from Apple customer service.
If you have questions about it the Rio Karma you can email me at [e-mail] and I'll do my best to answer them from one average joe to another.

Rating:
Summary: Very good audio player
Review: I've used my Karma for a few days now and am very pleased with it. I had some teething problems due to the inability of Karma to use multi-level directory structures (as mentioned by other users) but once I resolved that, the player has worked flawlessly.

The Rio Music Manager gives you a much improved user interface on the PC side than the Rio Taxi that early users refer to.

The Karma users interface is easy to use, thorough and intuitive. Importantly, the display is easy to read for aging (mine) eyes. I have an Iriver player that is just about impossible to read. Karma's displays are a tremendous improvement. The player did need the (available) software update to remedy a persistent inability to play some files. When I attempted to play some files, the player would start, then pause. I couldn't get it to play those files at all. The software update cured the problem and everything seems to work well now. The sound is great but bear in mind that I have 55 year old shooter's ears so my hearing probably rolls off at 8KHz.

Summary: works great with the software upgrade, some problems without it. Easy to see and use & sounds great. Will hold most of my music collection.

Rating:
Summary: Good MP3 player, horrible customer service.
Review: I purchased the Rio for my spouse for a x-mas present. I looked at both the Karma and the iPod, and opted for the former for a combination of PC friendly hardware/software and for the 15 hour battery (being a slave to a charger didn't appeal to me).

Overall, the player performs as promised. It has a good interface, great sound (Ogg support is a big plus - though be careful encoding in it as most players don't support it...). The joystick works well and the size of the player is small. My iPod friends were showing some jealousy - until it hung up and I had to contact customer support.

While loading songs, my Rio Karma hung - displaying the hourglass but being immune to any other keys. I couldn't power it down - this was two days before x-mas (I was loading mp3s on for my spouse - off of CDs I own, by the way) and I was in a panic. I sent an e-mail to customer support, but finally succumbed and called them (which was a good thing).

After going through the situation with the customer support rep (who was somewhere in India), and clarifying that when my system "dropped" the player, it didn't really fall to the ground, the customer support rep reminded me of the reset button at the bottom of the player. I found a paperclip small enough to fit, and - voila - problem solved. So why am I complaining about customer support? Read on...

Today, I received an e-mail to my original e-mail request for help with the hung player. It said "If you need help installing the Rio Music Manager, download the latest version and try again." I am still trying to figure out how that relates to a hung player.

The net - I like it - better than the iPod's I've played with. But I hope I never have anything go wrong with it, because customer support - Marantz or no Marantz - looks pretty hit and miss.

Rating:
Summary: Great porduct for 5 days - FIXED and EDITED REVIEW.
Review: OK. The battery was fully discharged after some 10 hours of the HD trying to do something. The only way out of the lock up was to wait until the battery was gone. The reset button wouldn't work either.

After that I charged the battery, went to Rio's website and downloaded the new firmware v.1.25.

After updating the firmware, it's been working like it's supposed to. Thought hard about the iPod and played with one at the local Apple store. iPod, the display is better, I like the controls better, the looks are very cool, BUT, Karma sounds better and iPod To Do List, Work Out, Contacts, etc (which I thought were a great PLUS) according to Apple's website will not work on a PC. That kills it for me. Also noticed too many complains from PC users when interfacing the iPod with the desktops.

I'm going from 1 star to 5 stars based on the very good support from Rio's website and giving it a confidence vote on this new firmware which many users have said to be more stable.

Time will tell... For now 5 stars!

*************************************************
Good sound, easy interface. Joystick too delicate, but still great product.

On the 5th day it crashed. It just hangs with a lot of noises coming out of the HD engine, etc, and it won't reset, and it won't turn off.

I was out for a walk and in the middle of playback it stopped playing but it wouldn't tunr off either.

Frustated... It's going back to vendor.

Now I'm not sure what to do. I'm a PC user and fear interface issues with the iPod and the i-hp120 is a bit too big.

I was considering those 3 players before and after much reading decided for the Karma and I think I'd rather get another Rio, but with my bad experience I'm questioning its reliability.