Rating: 
Summary: bla....
Review: A decent design, but the oval display window cuts off some part of the outter characters. The volume on this thing is HORRIBLE. At the maximum of 40, you barely get just enough volume for a quiet room. Again, signature of Sonicblue, the claimed 15 hrs of battery life is NOT attainable with normal use. Build quality is actually decent, but the joystick key is really [bad]. The down arrow key doesn't work very well, i have to press it soo hard to activate, so hard that i am afraid i might punch through the circuit board underneath it. I think sonicblue's sp100 unit is the only one I like... everything else is just downhill from there...
Rating: 
Summary: A great value
Review: A lot of the previous reviews have stated that the volume for the unit doesn't go high enough- this is not correct- the volume is sufficiently loud even at a medium setting. The people who wrote those reviews likely had their headphones plugged into the "line in" jack rather than the headphone jack (I encountered this the first time I used it, but then realized my error). If you're looking for a general-use player, then this is your best bet... if you're looking to run or exercise with it, you may be better off shelling out the extra bucks to get a "sportier" player with a strap and more anti-skip protection. All in all, an incredible value for only $40, in my opinion
Rating: 
Summary: Great player...No problems! great value
Review: After doing my extensive research ,(as I usually do before purchasing a product)I came to the conclusion that buying this product may be a bargain. Many people rated this product very poorly and i really cannot seem to understand why. I purchased my product [online]and only paid $...after a...rebate - an EXCELLENT price (rebate available until 6/30/03). And so I was willing to take the gamble. I was looking for an mp3/CD player and i know I made the right decision. The RioVolt has extremely good skip protection and every variable can be tweaked to your satisfaction: Treble,Bass,ID3,scrollspeed,backlight time,traks,skip. First and foremost this product has Extremely good sound especially with the in-box earbuds. the player has unique features such as ID3 tags, which display ON SCREEN title, track, time, artist, album. It is really great. There is also a battery indicator w/ 3 levels. The weight is very little, the player is sleek and stylish as well. I am yet to have a single problem with any of the features of this player. I use it everyday with Rechargeable 2AA batteries (recommended). Now days it seems that one NEEDS an mp3 player, my CD-Rs, 700MB hold no less than 200songs about 5-6MB each. I have put maximum usage on my player (i'm a teenager) music all day long!
OKAY FEATURES (IF ANY):
Resume feature - only returns to last listened track not exact second.
NO AC ADAPTER included - i have one (4.5V) myself, so it wasn't that big a problem.
NO Remote - not a necessity but would be nice to have.
NO Upgradeable firmware/drivers...YET - In depth User manual, drivers, ID3 changer (excellent software) all available [online]... a great player, great value...
Rating:
Summary: Great player, but a few dissapointments.
Review: After reading reviews and descirptions about this item I ordered my SP150 from a user on Amazon.com who was selling his factory sealed unit for $49. It was a pretty good bargain, considering that its regular price is $99. This workhorse plays WMA's and Mp3's both, has No-Skip (160 sec for CD, 16 min for MP3/WMA), a lit 3-line display, and an adjustable "user defined" setting for the Equalizer. The case is also pretty neat looking, feels like it has some sort of rubberized plastic coating. The view window (so you can see your cd spinning) is pretty small, but I know why.. Direct sunlight and high heat aren't good for CD's, especially cheaply made CDR's. The Navigation is confusing at first but you get the hang of it after a while. Its like using video game's directional pad. Play is Up, Stop is Down, and Rewind and Skip are Left and Right. Now for my 3 complaints. #1-The volume: 40 is the highest it goes.. and at this level it should be blaringly loud, right? Enough to devestate my eardums?! But its not, the music is audible.. but just barely, it seems. How can I listen to Slayer, Manson, or NIN without a deafeningly loud volume? I guess this is some way that the designers are trying to decrease the chances of hearing loss.. Sorry guys but I don't need AVL. I (and the rest of the audiophiles) like music to be LOUD. The cheap $25 Mp3/CD player I got at Wal-Mart actually had better volume. At 20 it was pretty loud, (enough to drown out the country music my mother plays in the car) at 32 (its highest) it was piercing. I have to turn my SP150 all the way up just to be able to hear my music at near-satisfactory loudness. Maybe there's some acessory out there that I can plug the buds into that will let me have some extra loudness. Or perhaps you folks at Sonic Blue will make it part of the next version of firmware. #2-The Buds: The earbuds that came with the unit are supposed to be high quality, they're good but I had to fight to get them in my ear. A cheap $4 pair of Maxell buds I got from Rite Aid had more intricate and pleasing sound, but the only way I can even hear my music with the SP150 is to use the buds that came with the set. The SP150's buds would be better if the unit had 10 more notches in its volume. #3-The Equalizer:
Being able to adjust treble and bass is nice, but being able to adjust midrange as well wouldn't hurt. #4-The batteries?:
Those "NIMH" batteries that are supposed to come with the unit? Well I got GP brand "super" alkalines with mine. Is that what was supposed to come with it? #4-The Software CD-Rom:
I'm pretty sure that there was supposed to have been a CD-Rom that came with this unit, well I didn't see one when I opened my package. Other than those 4 things I'm pretty happy that I bought this. It'll give me lots of enjoyment on the Greyhound ride home to Seattle,WA from Lansing,MI. (a 3 day trip.) -Chris Morrow
Rating:
Summary: works great
Review: been using it for frequent 2-mile walks... no skips... easy to burn mp3 cds using my macintosh/itunes, keeping albums in seperate folders. fast selection between songs in different folders when playing random. the cd spin-down is cool, saves battery life.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor quality, awful technical support
Review: Bottom line, don't bother with this unit. It stopped working after about 10 hours of play. I also have an SP100 which is still working and seems to be higher quality. When I tried to call for technical support I got the same recorded message "due to the high volume of calls, I should try back later". Must have attempted to reach them 10 times over a 2 days period, each time got the same recording. I will NOT buy other products from this company.
Rating:
Summary: Where is the volume???
Review: Horrible volume control for any medium (cd, mp3...etc) that you listen to. The only way the volume is acceptable is if you intergrate the unit with a car playback kit. Then you are using the car stereo and not the RIO itself. I have to keep searching for a better MP3 player that uses CDs as a recording medium, this is NOT the one!
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I absolutely loved my RioVolt100. So I tried this one, after I dropped my other player. I read the reviews, and didn't believe customer support could be that bad. But they were hopeless. I asked about the features of the machine and may as well been asking about a model they didn't even manufacturer. I purchased it after giving up on technical support being able to list the features. I had to send it back. It will not to allow you to program tracks. Too bad. I highly recommend going with the iRiver 150, which costs less and has many more features. But I'm sure this is a fine player if it has the features you want. Look at the user guide online rather than relying on technical supports answers.
Rating:
Summary: Junk Junk Junk
Review: I bought this a over a month ago it appears and it over heats and stops working. Called customer support appears to be a recall of these units as he said many have been returned with the same problem. Something with bad transistors. It takes a while to figure out it has a problem as the unit will play and then crash and eat batteries after about 1/2 and hour or so. I would buy this unit anyway as it doesn't come with an external plug and finding one to fit it properly is a nightmare. Stay away you've been warned.
Rating:
Summary: terrible; don't buy it!
Review: I bought this for my husband. He took a about a week trying to figure out how to work it. He tried getting some sort of customer service by phone or internet, with no results. Then the buttons started to go haywire. It ended up in the trash, despite the hundred or so dollars I paid for it. He really tried to make it work since it was a gift, but it just wasn't happening.
| 
