Rating: 
Summary: Shoddy....
Review: After only 5-6 hours of use, there is no longer any output on the left channel. I have tried other headphones and still no luck. Piece of junk.
Rating:
Summary: Avoid anything from SonicClue/Rio......
Review: I've bought three different MP3 players from this company (including two of the SP250) and they have all been defective. They work for a couple months (just past warranty time) and then just "stop working" - no fix available. Getting customer support at Sonic Blue/Rio is impossible. Buyer Beware - do your research.
Rating: 
Summary: just as good as expected
Review: I had done a lot of reading on MP3/CD players. The RioVolt 250 is one i was looking at. Granted, it had more reviews written about it compared to it competitors. Made it easy to know what was good and what was bad.For one, it defiantly eats batteries. But they do last for a good while though. I read reviews of people saying that theres skipped alot, they must be dreaming or maybe had a defective product, because mine has yet to skip. I love haveing the FM tuner. i know normaly I am not the biggest radio listener but it is nice if i need to near the news, or tired of the mp3s or cds that i may have with me. I have also heard poor comments on the sound. Well the headphones that come with it [are not good]. I had a pair of earbuds, and I plugged them in, and wow, it sound terific. Maybe even better than my last cd player I had. Also it does not seem as flimsy as some other reviews said, but granted I still wouldn't want to drop it. Whats funny is, what portable cd player would you want to be able to drop? One thing I think that is [strange], its why would we have to purchase separately the LCD remote? The kind of bothered me. Those reviews saying the playerd stink because it didn't work when they got it, not that the players [were not good], they must have gottn a defective one because mine works fine. Only one thing that doesn't seem to work right, is trying to update the firmware. I mean right now, that the least of my concern. But might be later down the road. I also read up on the comparitive iRiver mp3/cd player. For one, there were not as nearly as many reviews on it which made it harder to get a sense of what its like. Plus the Rio seemed just as good in every form. Plus the Rio is cheaper. I got it here on Amazon.com, for [money] which included shipping, at leat cheaper then the iRiver. One comment about batteries. I am going to try different types. The rechargable ones that come with it are Nickel-Metal Hydride. ALso i am going to try to Maxell Gold that are Alkaline which they claim are for electionics. Then i am going to try AA Lithium batteries, which Energizer makes some. I would suggest you do the same.
Rating: 
Summary: cheapy looking cd player
Review: I'd like to say this cd player isn't the best one out there. Some radio stations don't come in clear which can be really annoying. The over your head headphones isn't at all comfortable after using them for a little while. I like the idea of the remote control but I would like to be able to switch from radio tuning to playing cd's when using the remote control. I agree with them, the rio volt SP250 is kinda bulky and big in it's size. Other than that i'd say this cd player is [bad} cuz after dropping it only one time, when playing cd's it would make this noise that gets annoying after awhile. Don't buy this cd player go buy yourself a quality cd player such as the panasonic model.
Rating:
Summary: A Little Pricey But Worth It
Review: I don't have much experience to base my opinion on, but I have a hard time finding fault with the RioVolt SP250 CD Player. Previously, my experience with portable CD players was limited to the one I occasionally managed to pry away from my pre-teen daughter. I have a long distance bicycle event coming, so I decided I needed one of my own. In addition to playing CDs, I did not want to give up the FM tuner my present venerable Walkman Sports offers. That immediately cut the selections down quite a bit. At present, only a handful of portable CD players offer a radio tuner. My selection was narrowed even farther by my desire to have a wide range of formats available, including compressed formats. For openers, SonicBlue has produced a CD player supporting store bought audio CDs and copies produced on popular recordable disc formats. It also supports MP3 and WMA formatted tracks enabling you to pack multiple conventional discs onto a single CD. The SP250 has a built in FM tuner that allows up to 20 preset channels. I'm still in the learning mode with his toy, so I'll just highlight the big plusses I've discovered. In as few words as possible, reproduction quality is evident. I had thought digital music is digital music, so there should be no difference. Not so. The same CD played on my daughter's player sounds good, no doubt about it, but it sounds great through the SP250, even when using the same headphones on both players. Conclusion: There are quality components inside. A set of rechargeable batteries are included, which is nice, but I'd still keep a set of AA batteries handy for a long weekend. The unit also came with an AC adapter / charger, a very nice plus as I intend to use this as a stationary personal player as well as a mobile music source. There is a remote control that you can clip in a convenient spot while the player is in a fanny pack or the provided carrying case. The remote allows access to all the functions provided on the surface mounted interface. Real sweet. Also a nice touch is the inclusion of two styles of headphones: earbuds and classic over the head style. On the negative side, there are a few things that really irritate me, but in no way detract from the technical performance of the SP250. There is a carrying case included, but holds only the player. There is no place to store the remote or a set of headphones. Given a choice, I'd sacrifice the included rechargeable batteries for better designed case. Setting the FM tuner's presets is a breeze... unfortunately, the directions don't match the actual process. Once you realize it's automatic, you get over it. If you're buying a portable CD player, you're not buying the tuner as a primary music source, so this is a minor quibble. I have not opened the software that came bundled with the SP250, so I have no opinion of it. I'm using my existing CD burning software to create music CDs by copying existing CDs and creating my own mixes with either WMA or MP3 files. There are no apparent compatibility problems. The last factor is the price. I consider this a very good price / performance ratio in that it appears to be very well made, it does provide excellent sound and the cost is in the upper mid range, but not really excessive. I saw a lot of units advertised that offered fewer technical features for more than the...MSRP of the RioVolt 250. Nonetheless, I do consider the RioVolt SP250 to be slightly overpriced because of my complaints about the carrying case. Technically, I find it very hard to fault and I highly recommend it to portable audiophiles. Shop around for the best price you can find. As a side issue, if you want to hear how good your recorded music can really sound, hook the SP250 up to a set of high end headphones, like the Bose QuietComfort Headset. You won't believe it! Addendum to my report (6/12/2002)
Over the weekend of 6/8 - 6/9/2002, I spent 150 miles on a bicycle with my SP250. All I can say is the trip reinforces my original posting. On the entire bike ride, over some of Pennsylvania and Ohio's nastiest back roads, I did not have a single skip of any duration. The CD player resided in one of the compartments of my Camelback hydration system and I used the factory supplied EarBud type headphones. The playback quality through my headphones was acceptable for what I was doing, bicycling long distance, but was not the ultimate in quality many people demand. For what I was doing, however, it was indeed great. I listened to a mix of store bought audio CDs and WMA encoded compilations and had no problems during the entire weekend. My complaints are the rechargeable batteries and the provided case. The rechargeable batteries did not last between one rest stop and the next, about 15 miles. I switched to a set of Lithium batteries and they lasted for the remainder of the tour and finally had to be replaced today, almost twelve hours of play after I first inserted them. What more need be said? The trip also reinforced my complaint about the factory supplied case. I wish I had a single place to store the headphones, remote and the SP250 itself. I'd be wiling to feed the unit Lithium batteries in exchange for a better factory issued case for everything. The OEM remote is good enough that I doubt I will want the optional remote featuring the track info display. Again, however, I'd trade the batteries for this optional feature, but I'd still want the improved case. Overall, my rating stands as originally published. I hope this clarification helps some people in deciding on what features they really need or are willing to pay for.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible sound quality
Review: On paper, the SP250 has a lot of great features, good shock protection, etc, etc, but it's lacking in the most important area - sound quality. The low end and high end response is terrible. The sould quality is so fuzzy and distorted that drums and cymbals often sound like white noise or loud pops. And this was not at maximum volume, people. I'm 31 years old and am trying to save my hearing for when I'm 70, so I don't crank it up. I tried the player with both sets of headphones that came with it, and they sounded equally bad. I also tried the player with an MP3 CD-R, copy of a CD, and a store bought CD, and while the quality was a little better with the store bought CD, it was still far worse than my (much cheaper) JVC XL-P54DR CD player I've had for five years. I tried using my Sony earbuds that sound great with my JVC XL-P54DR CD player, but the sound coming out of the SP250 was still terrible. I also tried the player with a pair of Koss headphones with independent volume control, but still no luck - there was still considerable distortion in the playback. If I hadn't already (stupidly) thrown away all the packaging, I would have returned this player. I don't use it at all.
Rating:
Summary: I EXPECTED THE BEST AND GOT THE WORST!
Review: I have been researching for the perfect mp3 cd player for months now and I finally decided on the RIO VOLT SP250. ... I was so excited because I have so many mp3s that I wanted to hear when I went out somewhere. I took it out of it's packaging and followed all the directions in how to play a mp3 cd. I inserted a cd and press the power button (which is the play button). It would not turn on, I tried the ac adapter and it still wouldnt work. I then left it on the ac adapter and attched the remote to the unit to see if I could some how turn it on from there. It turned on and then said No Disc. I realized that all the buttons in the front were broken and it would not even read regular discs at one point. I was sooooossososos [angry]. Bottom line, the material seems cheap, the carrying case is not very user friendly, its so big it doesnt seem easy to carry and its really big and bulcky from what I've experienced because I didnt even get to use it. I am returning it ...for a refund instead of exchange because I didn't know it was so big and from what happened to me I want to buy a product that will not be broken the first day I get it. ITS JUST TOO BIG!!! lol... So when I get my refund I am considering to get the Sony DCJ01CSKIT Mp3 Player, or the new IRIVER slim which both look user friendly and easy to carry...
Rating: 
Summary: small quirks in a otherwise good design
Review: Basically the machine does what it says it will do. The initialization of mp3 CDs can be a little long, and it can't be interrupted until it finishes. That makes it even more annoying when you try to turn the radio off. Because there's no dedicated "Off" button for the tuner, you use the "CD<->FM" toggle switch to switch over to the CD. But that cause the machine to start initializing the disc, and can't be turned off by the Stop button till it's done. The tuner is designed to store a frequency with the push of just one button. I found it's too easy to unintentionally store a bunch of frequencies I don't really want when scan tunning, and erase over the ones already stored. The backlit LCD is turned on whenever a button is pushed. But it doesn't stay on long enough for me to read the entire song title in the dark. I found myself using the volume up and down buttons just to keep the LCD illuminated to read what's shown. The time of the backlighting can't be changed. There're two output jacks, one for headphone and one for lineout. I was thinking the lineout jack is a constant level output that was not affected by the volume switch, like the one on a Sony Discman. But it turned out its level was controlled by the volume switch just like headphone jack. So I don't know what the difference is. Last, I'd really like Sonic Blue to include the remote with the built-in LCD instead of an extra pair of headphones, which is less useful. *** Appended Sep. 2, 2002: Just found out one kind of CD-RW this player won't recognize, AT ALL! It's CompUSA brand, 4X 74min/650MB with "W9100164 B6" written in the clear center area. The audio CD made using this kind of CD-RW played on my computer and on a Philips AZT9240 portable CD player, but the SP250 says "NO DISC". I guess the chemical formula of the disc just isn't what the Sonic Blue was designed for. Too bad I bought a whole bunch of those discs.
Rating:
Summary: Good Product
Review: this is a great cd player! it is not always joggable-but sometimes. It would be better if water resistant.
Good DISC MAN though.
Rating:
Summary: Better than I expected
Review: The RioVolt SP250 is an item, I found through reading through many Amazon reviews. I had some misgivings however, but they did not come to pass. I have gotten the "No Disc" message on occassion, but it always goes away when I power off and back on. Mostly I get it when I'm turning the unit off for the night. TWO SETS OF EARPHONES, BOTH NOT THE MOST COMFORTABLE:
As a fan of over the ear earphones when faced with hard plastic fold up ones that set in the entrance of your ear and ear buds I was less than thrilled. They are not as bad as I expected, easy to store and easier to wear than I first assumed. The sound quality is good. However, a nice set of folding over the ear headphones would be nice for the price of this CD player. One thing nice about ear buds is that you can lie on your side and listen to them. This to me is their only advantage, as removing them a couple times due to interruptions made my ears hurt after awhile. No, I do know how to place them, maybe I just have sensitive ears. The 4 rating was due to this. SOFTWARE THAT WAS BUNDLED WAS FREE ON INTERNET:
I was disappointed that the software was the same stuff I can get off the web. Real Jukebox as a part of Real Player is the special software bundled with this. No sooner did I download it, did it need to be upgraded. This is not surprising, but I could have gotten this, without the RioVolt player. I don't know what was provided for Macintosh. I have the disk, but can't speak to the above, as cannot use it, as I have a PC. ACCESSORIES PROVIDED WERE OKAY:
Provide with this player was a carrier, charger and chargeable batteries. It would have been nice to have a car kit too. Apparently, some deals offer this as well. However, I bought and reviewed the car kit separately here. Carrier will be nice to use, but it would have been nice if it had a storage pouch for the ear buds and folding headphones as well. CONTROLS WERE EASY TO FIGURE OUT, THAT IS WHAT COUNTS: The controls seemed straightforward enough with the fast forward, rewind, stop and play 4-way button. The volume too, was easy to understand. The CD/FM toggle easy enough. Mode was kind of cool, with the ability to play all, play one over and over, repeat all in a directory, repeat all on CD, shuffle whole CD, shuffle directory, play track intros (this one threw me for a loop, I though my CD was messing up intially). However without the manual in front of you the icons were a bit cryptic, but easy enough to learn, once you got the logic that was used.
The +10/EQ button allows you to set the equalizer dependent on the music. The choices are: Normal, Rock, Jazz, Classic, U Bass and User customized. The +10 means you can advance 10 songs at a time. This is essential for a CD that holds in excess of 170 songs. When you use the radio, you need to set it up for the first time to your channels. You should have your favorite station list next to you to do it by, because this is easier to do all at once. You can scan for a signal, but depending on where you are, it may miss your favorite frequencies, so unless you have the frequencies listed for you to choose, you may have to do it over if done by ear alone. It did not seem to pick up a number of local signals that are normally strong on other radios. I'll be honest, I have not used the radio much yet. I will re-review when I do. However, the one button, I have not tried yet, is program, where you can select sequences to repeat, create list or play from a playlist. This makes perfect sense given that the two CDs I've burned so far have 170 and 176 songs on them each. I will re-review this once I try it out. Also nice is the display that gives you the folder name and song name, the track number, time its codec, sampling and compression. You also get an equalizer display while the song is playing. The light times out soon enough so you don't eat up the chargeable batteries too fast. The setup menu gives you 5 tabs of stuff to adjust. For my person usage, everything was fine as it is. I'm not a super user yet, so this will change with time. BATTERY:
The battery situation confuses me. The quickstart guide, doesn't tell you much more than to charge them for a full 7 hours. However, when you turn it off, you get a "discharge and charge" and a "charge" option to deal with. If you just want to charge for a couple of hours and the default option is "discharge and charge", when you turn it off prior to this you are not entirely sure which to use. You wonder if you will grab it in the disharge phase all tapped out, or fully recharged. Yes, I know, it may be in the CD manual, but lets face, most people don't read manuals and even less so if you need to do it on a computer. Another concern, I have is the power port and the speakers/car adapter port. Though it does not look it, on the quick start guide they are about the same size. No problem plugging the speaker in the power port, however, the reverse, is easy. My CD player has spent many a night with the power cord plugged into the speaker/car adapter port. This doesn't do much for the battery. LOOKS:
I hesitated buying the Riovolt, because I'm ashamed to say, I didn't like the look and the packaging. Used to Panasonics, well done graphics and sleek industrial design, the Riovolt's packaging and Industrial design looked cheap. The black plastic exterior, though true to its material, suffered in comparison to Panasonic's silver painted exteriors. In the long run, the Riovolt is likely to keep its appearance better. Let's face it also, do you keep the packaging?? This is a true case of Function over Form. I will write again later, and update you on the program functions and the radio performance. However, in one I have to first figure them out and in the other, I possibly need to reprogram my stations. All in all, so far I think it was worth the premium price.
| 
