Rating: 
Summary: AVOID if you jog/run!
Review: I think this is Rio's first foray into making CD players and they seem to have a few lessons still to learn. One is that that long anti skip memory is NO SUBSTITUTE for a stable CD player. This unit is useless for running/jogging or any physical activity involving minor shocks for longer than 4-5 minutes (if you're playing MP3s). The unit is unable to read the CD while you run AT ALL. You will have to walk gently for 20 seconds or so every 4-5 minutes to let the player load music into memory and then it will play without interruption from memory (for another 4-5 minutes! etc.). The situation is MUCH worse if you try play regular CDs while running. That simply won't work. It barely loads few seconds of music (Nowhere near the 180 seconds advertised. more like 10-15 seconds) each time you stop. if you are not planning on using it while doing a physical activity more streneous than walking then this player is cool. but then you might want to save your money and just get the model with smaller memory.
Rating: 
Summary: A Formula One Car with a Slow Pit Stop Crew
Review: I spent a few hours comparing various mp3 players. Conclusion: I want the Sony NW-MS9. Problem: I don't have that much money to play with. Solution: the RioVolt SP250! I burned one mp3 CD, which is about at least several hours of music. It's an awesome piece of hardware.The Pros:
-high data capacity
-LOTS of neat functions
-reads audio, data CDs (including DirectCD!)
-comes with all necessary accessories (remote control, case, earphones AND headphones, etc.) -inconspicuous(anti-burglar) (doesn't look like a Formula One car, but it handles like one) Cons:
-size is a bit larger than a regular CD player
-m3u format compatibility is not true as far as I can tell. I burned a few m3u files along with my CD, but the hardware doesn't see it. Checked for firmware updates, but this didn't solve the problem. All they needed to do was to post a page explaining m3u. It's not a big problem, but I feel like I've been lied to.
-Customer service is virtually nonexistent. I contacted them via web regarding the m3u format, with very specific details. They sent me a general FAQ, which had nothing about m3u formats. I emailed them again. It's been a week or two. Still waiting.
-Radio has bad reception. Conclusion:
If you have more money, get something smaller. If you want m3u compatibility, go elsewhere. If you can handle a Formula One car without a pit stop crew, get it. It's good for people who want to have lots of music. The hardware is incredible, the customer service isn't very good to say the least.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing product
Review: I've wanted to buy an mp3 player for years, but will the first models you had 32-64mb of storage space. The main advantage of mp3's is great sound quality with small storage need. So what's the point of only being able to load an hours worth of music on to a player? When CD/Mp3 players came out I was finally ready to buy a player. This one has everything. Ease of navigation (I rarely spent more than 30secs looking for a song), great sound quality, and feature rich. The online FAQ says that is may not be able to handle VBR files, but I had no problems with any of my VBR files. The only problem I had with the RioVolt is the lack of documentation on how to get WinAmp playlists working. Overall this is an excellent product.
Rating:
Summary: forget the others . . . .this one takes it all!!
Review: i bought the RioVolt SP250 like about a month ago. i'd say this thing is everything! i'm pretty impressed with the overall features of this thing. especially the remote and the screen. i played some japanese songs with the ID3 tag of japanese characters and i'm impressed how it looks like on the screen! one of the best ones too are the timer. man, i love that feature. everytime i wanna go to sleep, i just set the time of how long the RioVolt would be on, set a program and finish! i don't need to wake up because i know the RioVolt would turn off by itself. the only problem is, when you have batteries on it and it's gonna show a menu of whether to charge or not instead of shutting completely.
if you wanna buy an mp3/cd player, then this is a must-buy!!
Rating: 
Summary: Skipping tracks constantly!
Review: When I received the item it was skipping the tracks. The another major problem was with the batteries. After recharging the batteries for a night, the indicator was showing that they are still almost empty. As result the player was not playing more than 30-45 minutes. I bought new rechargable batteries, but it didn't help. I heard that RioVolt players have a problems with skipping tracks, but anyway bought it.:( Today I sent it back to Amazon.
Rating:
Summary: A New Age of Audio is here
Review: This this is great. I wish it did not cost so much, but I guess I was willing to pay the price so it must be worth it. The EQ is decent, and the remote is nice. I will probably end up buying the LCD remote later to view the song titles. The ESP is great. I have not used the 8 Minute ESP only the 45 second (Great on the CTA). The menu structure is not the easiset but with 100's of songs on a CD what do you expect. I love the recharger, but I also beleive the headphones leave much to be desired.
Rating:
Summary: A "Must Have" Item for every music lover.
Review: I've been into the whole MP3 thing for quite a long time (long before napster) however as much fun as mp3's are most MP3 portable players have miserable storage capacity. For me the Hard Drive units looked promising but expensive,but an MP3 CD player was something I knew I had to get. Researched, read reviews, and bought the SP250. No Regrets. Sound quality is excellent although I'd recommend getting a seperate pair of high-grade headphones. The two that come with it are adequate for the most part, but nothing special. Don't let the price fool you either, you ARE getting your money's worth. The rechargeable batteries and AC adapter are a nice (included) addition that'll save quite a lot of money as once you try this thing out, you'll have a hard time turning it off. Any Gripes? Yes, the user manual is a joke. The included (on the Rio Volt CD) .pdf manual is a bit better, but it could have been a little clearer.
Rating:
Summary: wow all this for such a great price!
Review: okay, i have to say that i love this thing, it is awesome, has tons of features, and looks really cool. so far i have no complaints wutsoever, except that the folding headphones that come with it r odd looking and sound [bad]. the earbuds however r great. the remote is very convenient and acts as an extension for ur headphones. oh and the shock protection is superb--i keep it on 45 sec mode and it still never skips, i would prolly reccommend keeping it on this bc the 8 min mode drains ur batteries. the FM tuner has pretty good reception but keep in mind there isnt an antenna sticking out, so sometimes u cant get a good signal, i guess it depends on where u are and if ur moving. overral, the thing is pretty self explanatory as far as how to use it, the mp3 mode is great cuz i can carry around all my favortie songs, as many as 250 all on one cd.the sound quality on this thing is great too, it has like 3 different repeat modes, shuffle modes, and intro mode- which is like it play the first 10 secs of every song. oh and the only other thing is that the package it comes in is a pain to open, its one of those plastic, sealed ones wehre u need like a boxcutter or scisors to open. the thing also comes with Real Jukebox software (and iTunes for Macs) so u can burn, download, and play cds,although i just stick with Adaptec easy cd creator cuz thats wut im used to. the carrying case looks pretty good but i hardly use it, it has a strap u can take off. (...) my advice: if ur getting a cd/mp3 player, spend a little extra and get this one, u wont regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Great unless you plan on running with it ...
Review: I purchased the RioVolt SP250. It is excellent in many ways.
I am quite impressed with it in all ways except that you can't
jog with it. When the ad says
"8-minute shock protection that stores multiple songs in memory and stops the disc from spinning, protecting music from skipping, regardless of conditions. " ... the regardless of conditions part is JUST NOT TRUE. I called RioVolt's tech support to ask about it, and all they would say is that it WAS NOT MEANT FOR RUNNING. Well, I have a fairly old Panasonic CD player that only has 10 seconds of anti-skip protection but I can put it in my tune belt, and run with hardly ever a skip. But with the rio, even if I let it load for a long while before I start running, after around 5 minutes it doesn't just skip .. but rather it cuts out altogether until I stop jogging and walk a few steps. Then I can get anywhere between 1-3 minutes before again it cuts out and I have to stop jogging and walk a few steps before it will play again. I think any manufacturer advertising long anti-skip times should have to also tell you "if it can be jogged with" if they are going to have their tech support reps say "it wasn't meant for it". If jogging with it (or similar active use) doesn't matter to you then I do recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!!!
Review: What an incredible CD player! I bought one as a gift and was so impressed with it that I bought another for myself. It has so many functions, yet is incredibly easy to opperate. The sound quality is wonderful, but I agree with the other reviewers, get some other headphones. The ones that come with the player are not so great. There is an optional remote avaliable on the Rio website that ads a LCD display, great when using this in the gym. The ability to upgrade the unit is very nice considering how fast technology changes. All and all this is the one outstanding player!
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