Rio Carbon 5 GB MP3 Player

Rating:
Summary: Better Then The Ipod Mini
Review: During Christmas break I was very upset when I opened my gift to see a Rio Carbon MP3 player. I wanted a damn Ipod but, my parents being the good consumers they are said that the Rio Carbon was much better. At first I thought they were lying to make me feel better but as I used it more and compared it with the Ipod, The Rio is the better deal. It has 25% more storage space than the Ipod mini. It is also much smaler than the Ipod. Also had a great battery life. I love the Rio and I am glad my parents got a great MP3 player!!

Rating:
Summary: Great Player
Review: Great player. Very easy to use. I didn't even need to read the directions to use the software. Excellent sound quality. Very compact. The only thing is the case is not very functional. You can't access the controls when it is in the case. I bought a generic arm band case at Target so I can store it when I walk. Definately worth the money over the Ipod. Purchased at NewEgg.com $199.00, no tax, free shipping. That is $50 less than in the stores. I bought this over two weeks ago, and I have not had to charge the battery yet (after initial charge, ofcourse). Used it in the car with a FM transmitter and had very good quality. I just order speakers for it. I also purchased new headphones for it, but the ones that came with it were fine. I just like a different style. I give this MP3 player 2 thumbs up.

Rating:
Summary: The Carbon does everything I need, and more.
Review: I (like a lot of you I'm guessing) have searched and searched for the right portable music player. Well I found the Rio Carbon to be just the right one for me and my needs. I first bought/tried out a cheap RCA Lyra but it's functions and storage are severely limited, it was cheap ($39.00) but for even the most basic of my needs it just didn't to cut it. Next I tried the Creative Nomad Zen Extra, but found it's user interface very unintuitive and when I transferred VBR (variable bit rate) MP3 files to it it would play them back at half speed (I'm guessing), and I really didn't want to go through a long and complicated process to convert the VBR files to CBR (constant bit rate) that and the UI made me return this one also. Maybe I should back up here and lay out what features I really wanted from a portable player. The ability to work with multiple online music stores i.e. Musicmatch, Napster, Wal-Mart etc.. The ability to play long MP3 files (over 2 hours), the ability to turn the unit off and have it remember where I last left off in a long MP3 file and/or the ability to bookmark my position. The ability to fast forward a long MP3 file (skip through commercials), decent size storage capacity 2-5 GB, User friendly user interface, long battery life, excellent sound quality, all at a reasonable price of course. Well the Rio Carbon does all this, and more!
What I needed some of the above features for is so that I can time shift/listen to my favorite radio show when I commute, and have the ability to just skip through the annoying commercials and station breaks. The Carbon lets me do just that, and if I want to take a break I can easily set a bookmark and come back to the same spot at which I last listened at any time I decide to do so.
I first looked at the Apple iPod but there is no bookmark function while listening to MP3 (or AAC) files. You can set bookmarks while listening to Audible (.AA) files but that's it, and if you shut the player off it automatically starts at the beginning of the track you were last listening to, so if you're an hour and a half into something and turn it off be prepared to do some lenghty fast forward button holding! There is a "work-around" to this which involves converting your MP3 files to ACC and then changing the file extension to .MP4b, but whenever I did this it shrunk the time of what I converted from 2 hours and 45 minutes to like an hour and a half, and I would find big chunks missing.
The Carbon works with both Mac and PC, it works with Audible.com files also and it has a built-in voice recorder (if that is a feature that interests you). It uses the (very fast) USB 2.0 standard. Comes with a simple software program (for Windows XP, I haven't tried it with a Mac yet) The headphones/earbuds it comes with do lack quit a bit but I knew that going in and already have my own aftermarket ' buds.
All in all this player has a very complete feature set and the sound quality is right up there with any other player I have listened to. I give the Carbon two thumbs-up and recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: I LOVE MY CARBON
Review: I have had my carbon for several months now and have NEVER had any kind of problem. I listen to audiobooks on it and love the way it shows up as another drive and I can just drop and drag. I don't care for the software bundled with other MP3 players. The battery life is AWESOME. I listen to my books everywhere I go. I bought an IPOD, but didn't like it and sent it back. I love the way the carbon looks and handles. It is so easy to use. I DO NOT LIKE THE CASE. It is AWFUL. It would be nice to have a case with a belt clip. I found a nice small cellphone case with belt clip that works great. It would be nice to have a delete feature like the MPIO has.

Rating:
Summary: Great, unless it's broken
Review: I love my Rio. But, the first time I ran on my treadmill with it, I knocked it off the stand and the wheel got pushed in and no longer works. Well, because I dropped it, the warranty doesn't cover it so I figured I would just mail it in and get it repaired. Little did I know...Rio does not repair its products. I can simply mail it in and pay $149 for a REFURBISHED one. This is over half the cost of the original one...why would I pay that much? Anyway, I just think they have bad customer service because the lady was not even nice to me about it. So, if you are even remotely likely to drop your Rio, don't buy one because it will cost you almost as much if you break it.

Rating:
Summary: pretty good itunes integration
Review: I won't go over the ipod mini comparisons, as there's plenty of review material on this subject.

I'm pretty happy with this player, having an iBook/itunes as my home music library and itunes on WinXP at the office. The Carbon shows up as a device on itunes mac os x after installing a simple plug-in, though it's a bit slow with an ibook G3 that has older USB 1.0 ports. You can drag songs, albums, and playlists to the Carbon, but the playlists are not retained--it simply copies all the files to the Carbon. I don't make extensive use of playlists, as I ususally just browse by artist/album. The scroll wheel moves thru menus at a constant speed and doesn't accelerate, so it does sometimes take a number of turns (easier with two hands, I have to admit) to find what you're looking for. However, for 5GB, the album and artists lists don't get unmanagably long. Scrolling thru your whole track list would probably be too long, but I never do this--I always know at least the artist or album and can browse to there first.

There is no itunes plug-in for Windoze, but the device just shows up as a lettered drive, and dragging files directly from the file explorer is convenient enough (if you let itunes "keep your music organized"--see itunes prefs).


Rating:
Summary: Rio - Horrible Warranty Service
Review: I'm all for paying for a superior product that I believe in but in this day and age of competition, there are a lot of similar products out there. While the Carbon isn't perfect, it was my choice at the time of my purchase in October 2004. But dealing with their customer service and the warranty replacement process has led me to the conclusion that I would gladly purchase a 5gb mp3 player from a "creative" competitor. I can honestly say that I will no longer purchase any Rio products and will not advocate any of their products to others. With my electronics purchases lately, I am learning more and more that it's not only about the product itself but a lot about the warranty and customer service that comes along with the product. As for the Carbon itself, well.....only 90 days warranty and it died on me in 6 weeks. I have been 2 months to date without my Carbon due to Rio's lacking and unacceptable warranty replacement process. And it looks like it's going to be another 2 weeks before I get what is hopefully my final unit. I just can't believe that I sent them a 6 week-old brand new looking Carbon (due to failed power) and they send me back a refurbished unit with a lot of scratches and even large pieces of dust dislodged in the lcd. And they even told me that they were going to send me a new unit to replace my defective one and that it would take 3-4 weeks because they were expecting new inventory then. 6 weeks later, I receive a highly refurbished, scratched up unit. That's messed up. And over 2 hours of phone calls, etc., I have to arrange to send back the scratched up refurb unit and they don't even do anything about expediting my replacement even though they admit their faults. Lying or incompetency.....call it what you may! The saga continues for another 2 weeks.

Rating:
Summary: Very Simple to use!
Review: This is a very nice looking MP3 player. If you are looking at this review that means you have already done your initial research on the smaller size MP3 players already. For those people with too many things to worry about already, why make your life more complicated?

Get this MP3 player. It is EXTREMELY easy to use! From opening the package to listening 1st mp3, it only takes about 5 minutes! Of these 5 minutes, 3 minutes was used to open the package.



Rating:
Summary: A Great Player!
Review: Well, my parents gave me the money for an mp3 player this Christmas, and after much investigation I got the Rio Carbon. This is a great little player, I have played around with my friend's Ipod mini, but the Carbon has better battery life and more space for my music. The only reason I didn't give this thing 5 stars is that the volume wheel is pretty fragile. Mine broke, but the folks at Rio were very helpful. They definately have some great customer service. If you want an Mp3 player to take with you on trips, or to listen to on your down time, I'd strongly recomend the Rio Carbon, great quality AND customer service!

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money, buy an IPOD
Review: You know how everyone is comparing this, as well as all other mp3 players, to the apple IPOD? Well there is a reason. The Ipod offers features that the others can't fathom, and has the reliability and customer service that one expects when making a large purchase such as this.
My Rio is fine, but when comparing it to the Ipod I was only dissapointed. I cannot get an FM transmitter, and the file organization is pathetic in comparison. The case is awkard, and I only have one choice for cases. And of course, the interface itself on it just is not up to par. The Ipod has obviously been refined time and time again, and they have a very polished product. The Rio Carbon may be a good item in a couple generations, but they have a long way to go. The battery life is the one advantage that it holds over the Ipod, and that is a nice feature.
In short, if you are going to spend this much money, you might as well buy a quality product such as the Ipod.