Rating: 
Summary: My Rio Riot
Review: My Rio Riot came not too long ago. At first, I couldn't wait to test it out. From the first time I saw it at CompUSA for 350 I wanted it. I searched around online and found the best deal here, at Amazon.com. First, the pros. It can hold 20 GB of music. If you have more than that, than you have too much music. It's setup is very easy to use. I just picked it up without the instructions and figured it out. The "Entertain Me" feature is unique and awesome. It takes clips from different songs and fuses them together. It's one of the coolest thigs ever offered by an MP3 Player. There are soo many more great features, I'm too lazy to write them all down. So now I have to inform you of it's cons. The only downside to the Rio Riot is that the USB port takes a while to transfer files. But if you leave it on over night, then you have no problem. If you need to store a CD collection, look no further than the Rio Riot.
Rating: 
Summary: Still has major flaws with Win XP as of Sept. 2002
Review: Even with the latest driver update (posted 4/18/02), there are still major flaws for XP users. Namely, 10-20% of all files downloaded to the Riot have clicks and pops. Additionally, some songs are cut off in the middle. Furthermore, the Real interface for file management is terribly user un-friendly. Once you've downloaded a significant number of mp3's to the Riot, it is nearly impossible to manage them from the Real Interface. Another gripe I have is that there is no way to transfer files from the Riot back to your computer. Not a big deal but still annoying . . .Sonic Blue has got the beginnings of a great product here : the storage capacity is great and the user interface on the Riot itself is excellent. All they need to due is fix the problems I mention above and they'll have a 5-star product.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic and incredible player, flaws are minor.
Review: Overall, a fantastic MP3 player. The 20 GB hard drive was one of the major determining factors in my purchase of this unit. The Nomad that I was comparing it to in the store only had a 10 GB drive, but more (what I consider to be ) extraneous features, whereas this unit seemed to me to be concerned with (what a shock!) playing music. Yes, the RealJukebox software ... pretty badly, and I wasn't too thrilled with using it, but I haven't had any of the severe problems that other people have had with it, apparently. Most software has bugs and glitches, and RealJukebox is no different. When I brought it home from the store, I immediately hooked it up and started downloading MP3's to it. Since I have a couple of thousand, it took about a day to get them all in, and I did have some minor transfer issues - one or two tops. Nothing that made me want to return it. I don't know what's going on with the other battery life issues people are having, but the battery life on this ... is pretty impressive, as far as I'm concerned. I had some calibration issues with the battery, and that was a sticky issue with me from day one, but once I upgraded the firmware, those problems disappered. I can't say enough good things about the sound quality - amazing! Absolutely amazing. Clear as a bell, no scratches, no distortion whatsoever. Of course, I'm also extremely picky about my MP3 encoding. After a few days of using the RioRiot, all of my other sound equipment seemed to pale in comparison as far as sound was concerned. The screen and display are large, clear, and are very nice feature to have. In the store I was looking at both the Nomad and the RioRiot, and I wasn't too happy with the Nomad's design. In my opinion, this is more of a "real and true" MP3 player. It's main focus is on music, not additional extraneous features. The form-fitting case included with the player is well-made and holds the device securely, whether I'm carrying it in my pocket or if I have it clipped to my belt. The only real and true complaint I have is the sorting feature - the ability to sort how I want to sort is severely lacking. But, it's minor compared to everything else. So, I suppose if you too are interested in a player that can play your MP3's and utilize their sound to the fullest extent, then this is the player for you.
Rating:
Summary: Rio Riot Good MP3 Player
Review: I bought the Rio Riot back in April to replace the Nomad Jukebox, and it was a good purchase, I feel. Yes, the Riot uses a USB cable to transfer files, and the initial transfer from your computer to the Riot will take all night, but afterwards, you can transfer 50 songs in roughly 4-5 minutes. So it's not that big a deal I feel. The negatives I have with the Riot are small. Sometimes when I create a playlist, random songs show up that I didn't select to be added. I don't know if this is a firmware issue (I use a Mac), even after I delete them from the playlist, sometimes they will show up again. That can get annoying at times. The other negative I had was you can't transfer songs from the Riot back to the computer you uploaded them from, which was something you CAN do with the Nomad Jukebox. I like to save hard drive space on occasion by trashing mp3 files. When I have the space again, I'll put them back on. Not this time. Now I have to rip over 500 CD's if I want to put them back on my computer. This isn't noted in the technical manual either. Positives: A 20GB Hard Drive is nice. Like I mentioned before, I have over 500 CD's, and while I don't archive every track from them, I still have 11 GB of Riot space to use. (The Hard Drive itself is more like 18GB instead of 20) I found the menu, and scroll wheel easy to use. The case that holds the Riot is nice. I've never taken it off the Riot as all the buttons can be reached with it on. The sound quality is EXCELLENT! With headphones or hooking it up to the speakers in your house, it's hard to tell the difference between mp3's and the CD itself. I also like the fact that I can hook it up to a cassette adapter, and play it in my car. Who needs cases of CD's when you can just bring the Riot with you? The battery will last about 8-9 hours if you don't use things like backlighting and random play. Using Random Play will bring the battery life down to 5-6 hours (for me it did). It's a decent mp3 player, but if you're looking to do more with one and desire a firewire connection, I would go with the iPod. They're the same price for the same hard drive space. If you're the type of person who likes sound quality and really doesn't care about the PC/Mac USB/Firewire thing, the Riot is a solid investment.
Rating: 
Summary: Buying a Second Riot
Review: I'm not sure what the problem is? I loved my Riot - past tense - as I just this morning discovered my first Riot was accidentally sent down the garbage chute in my building, never to return. My reaction? Buy a second Riot immediately, on two day delivery. This is a great machine, period. It is large, but it also sports by far the best interface of any of its competitors, Ipod included. The sound is spectacular. The criticisms are fair but overstated. Being forced to use the rather pathetic Real One software is a hassle - it does crash with some regularity - but it's not nearly the problem some make it out to be. Transfer times are slow, but the Nomad is the only comparable with firewire, and I tested it and appreciated the Riot all the more for its interface. Flaws aside, this is my choice, not once but twice. As for the Apple Mafia's complaints - Excuse us! It's not an Ipod, but Windows users can't buy the Ipod anyway. Bottom line - Forget the hype. If you want a 20GB jukebox, take it from someone who had the Riot for 6 months and can't live without a replacement for more than a few days. This puppy's for real. Period.
Rating: 
Summary: A very disappointing and frustrating experience
Review: I could not recommend this product to anyone - based on my experience. I found that songs which played fine on my PC would skip on the Rio Riot, often followed by it hanging up. I had to carry a safety pin with me everywhere so I could use it to get to the recessed hard reset button (apprx every 20 minutes). I tried to wipe the memory completely and reload everything several times but to no avail. The skipping continued. I also found that after rebooting my PC, the real jukebox software that comes included would never be able to see that the Riot was connected - that meant re-installing the Real Jukebox software every time I wanted to change the songs loaded on the Riot. Have now invested in an iPod for windows and the experience has been a delight. Apple iPod - 5 stars
Rio Riot - 1 star (only because your scale doesn't go negative :)
Rating: 
Summary: Close, but no cigar
Review: good:
device Interface very good
with wma got thousands on songs on the device with great quality
product support were helpful
bad:
Continual problems downloading tracks to device. when downloading a number of albums at one time, at least one track (randomly) is always getting corrupted.
Albums with long names and 2 cd's get merged into one in the albums listing
I spent hours trying old /new drivers, closing windows apps and services (from support: so the USB tranfer would not get interupted)
Is't recognised in Explorer as a device, limited software available for downloading (Win Media player not supported) when downloading with real player its not even smart enough to exclude songs already on the device (get to listen to songs repeatadly without the repeat button)
It's in the post on it's way back
regards, Paul
Rating:
Summary: Ah, Well, It is great! Had no problem whatsoever!
Review: I won't write the thousand words, just 989. As a ex-aerospace electronics test technician (24 years at it) and well versed in electronic techy-type equipment, I can sum it up quite nicely:
The Rio Riot is great; I've not seen glitches of any kind. SonicBlue did a nice job with the RioRiot. Yes, the random is seed number type random, not true random, but I didn't feel that to be an issue.
I have been using it very heavily for a month now. I have had no trouble at all with software, hardware, battery, or uploading cds. No battery problems whatsoever.
I took it to my hospital after I uploaded my CDs and used it with amall battery powered speakers, and all the nurses on my floor loved everything about it (old Billy Idol!!). I do cardiac nursing on 12 hour nightshifts and we listened to my Rio Riot for about 11.5 hours absolutely nonstop at about half power , (I was trying to drain the battery, which had about two hours play time at the gym used on it for that charge) the other nurses were impressed. They keep asking me to bring it back. They are now spoiled with all the cd's to choose from. A 12 hour shift is a LONG night. I have used it 4 times at work now.
I take it to the gym 5 or 6 times a week and have used it extensively on cardio machines and weight machines with headphones. No skipping, popping or anything despite all my continuous movement. I clip it to my belt and it doesn't feel much bigger than my cassette walkman or sony cd walkman. I made up playlists for using at the gym, and that is quite entertaining. I've memorized the button sequence so I don't even have to lift my t-shirt to play music while I am on the machines.
I bought the cassette adapter and cigarette lighter power adapter and WOW, I think it is awesome to have my whole 350 CD collection with me as I drive to Las Vegas tomorrow. I honestly cannot tell the difference on my car system from CDs.
I was already quite accustomed to using rechargeables and haven't found the Riot's battery system to be a problem.
I am going to do some sewing with neoprene this weekend and make a nice velcro fitted belt holder so I can go potty without it clipped to my waistband, it did fall off one time when I was in a hurry!! LOL!!
I do want to get the new type headphones, the ones that go down behind your head. I am ordering them today!!
Rating:
Summary: It's a great machine!
Review: Before buying the Riot, I looked at a lot of players. I went with the Riot because of the 20GB hard-drive, which is hard to beat. Overall, I've had no problems. I've put almost 3000 songs on my player, and it's working out great for me.
The software isn't too bad. Before transfering songs, I had to be sure that each song's tag was correct. If you don't do this, you may have problems locating specific files on the Riot. It takes a while for songs to transfer, but it's no big deal. One great feature is that you can transfer songs while the battery is charging; it's great to do this at night when you're asleep.
Some people complain that the Riot is too big, but I haven't had any trouble with this. The carry-case easily clips on to a belt, and the entire player can fit into a back-pocket. Don't let the size keep you from buying it.
It's also really easy to navigate with the Riot. Everything is listed alphabetically, by genre, artist, and song. The sound quality is great as well. You won't be let down with this little machine.
Rating:
Summary: Lots of Room but slow transfers
Review: I like the layout of the Rio Riot, and I love the fact that it has 20gb of storage. I have a large MP3 collection. However if you want to transfer the full amount prepare to spend quite a bit of time. With the USB1.1 connection it's slow, plus the horrible Real Jukebox software slows the dumb thing down even more. I also had to load a new firmware (I like the ability to do that),because the original firmware would drain the batt, if it went into sleep mode. Currently I'm waiting to get my unit back from Sonic Blue, as the on/off switch broke. So watch out for that. If I had to do it over again I would have waited for the Nomad 3, (the 3 wasn't out when I bought the Riot).
| 
