Rating: 
Summary: New Rio's Excellent
Review: I just got my Rio today and all i have to say is that it's amazing! The sound quality is really great,and it can store alot of songs, and its very light and eay to travel with. I read all of the other reviews about people having problems with the battery lid and it freezing up and things like that, well diamond has fixed all of those problems. The battery lid stays on fine, and there have been no freezing problems. If you've been waiting for all these problems to be fixed before you buy your rio, well you can go ahead, because diamond is now selling the new rio 300 without all of the previous defaluts when it first came out.
Rating:
Summary: New Rio's Excellent
Review: I just got my Rio today and all i have to say is that it's amazing! The sound quality is really great, it can store alot of songs, and its very light and easy to travel with. I read all of the other reviews about people having problems with the battery lid and it freezing up and things like that, well diamond has fixed all of those problems. The battery lid stays on fine, and there have been no freezing problems. If you've been waiting for all these problems to be fixed before you buy your rio, well you can go ahead, because diamond is now selling the new rio 300 without all of the previous defaluts when it first came out.
Rating: 
Summary: Rio: Serves its purpose well, don't expect so much
Review: I just recently received my RIO300. The 300 comes with outdated software that is a pain to use, but you will only need to download the free version of RealPlayerJukebox to be able to take full advantage of the RIO. The fact that the 300 uses a parallel connector, opposed to the 500's USB connector, means it will take about 5 minutes to fill 32MB. But considering it'll take much-much longer to rip 32Megs of songs from a CD, this wait to download tot he RIO is neglegable to all but the most impatient. At 64Kbps, the sound quality is still pretty good. For those who would take their RIO's to the gym, you won't notice the little distortions. Actually, it's more of a "fading" effect as you tone down to 64Kbps, easily corrected by turning up the volume. The volume doesn't go as high as to make your ears bleed, but you it can be high enough to have them ringing nicely if that's your pleasure. At 64Kbps, you can hold almost 1 1/2 hours of music. So with that nifty 32MB Upgrade for ONLY $100 (ouch) you'll have enough tunes to last you through Titanic. While the newer portable MP3 players are MUCH nicer and probably come with better software, it doesn't take an economist to see that they're WAY overpriced. The RIO300 shouldn't be compared to a new home entertainment system, especially since it's the only portable mp3 player that isn't priced like one. --Pulse
Rating: 
Summary: OK Sound Quality, Solid Product, Messed up LCD.
Review: I purchased the Diamond Rio, and it has great sound. One problem: The LCD is messed up. I don't feel like returning it, but I hate when something has a problem like that. I am still neutral because of the LCD problem, but one more problem with it and it's going back. It could also use a better warranty
Rating:
Summary: very conveniet, but can be improved
Review: I got this Rio PMP300 for my birthday, and I love it! It's lightweight, and has a belt clip so I can wear it and do whatever I want to (walk, run)...and it still won't skip. It has a very long battery life (about 12 hours with one AA battery), especially if you use Duracell Ultra, which is included with this. The sound quality is surprisingly good considering its portability. However, Diamond has decided to distribute earbud headphones with the Rio now (not the ones pictured here), and their quality is not very good. The music will sound better if you use another pair of headphones instead. There is a hold function that disables all buttons when it is turned on, which is extremely convenient for me, since I carry the Rio around in my backpack where other things sometimes accidentally press against the keys and could turn the player on. The Rio does not play wav files, but that problem can be solved since wav files can be converted to mp3. The PMP300's memory is less than what I would like -- only 32MB. Flash cards can be used to expand the memory, but they cost even more than the Rio itself (with rebate, it is a great deal)! The software included with this is easy to install and use, and will convert your CDs into mp3s for you. There is also a CD sampler with lots of mp3 files on it.
Rating:
Summary: It IS worth it
Review: I read every single review on this page before making my purchase, and all I can say is that IT IS DEFINITELY WORTH IT, but only if you have a fast internet connection (I have cable). I also suggest getting the additional flash card. It takes 3-4 minutes to download a 4 MB song from the Internet. You need a lot of HD space or a ZIP drive also, because once you start downloading songs, you can kind of get addicted to downloading them and being able to hear new stuff. And the convenience and sound quality is amazing. I primarily use it on my drive to and from work, and the 64 MB of space holds plenty of music (15-17 songs), until I get home and can change out the songs. That is so much more convenient than having to switch CD's every time you want to hear your favorite songs, or having to wait for the CD Changer in your car to shuttle between discs just to hear one song. The leather carrying case is worth it, although I had to rig a small strap onto it in order to hang it from the Stairmaster at the gym. I'm sure there are better MP3 players available, but they're so much more expensive, and you're better served using that money towards more memory. P.S. Don't believe Sony's hype. All you MiniDisc lovers spent too much money on a format that's going the way of the Betamax.
Rating: 
Summary: Numerous problems with hardware and software - Don't Buy
Review: PROS:
The form factor of the device is good. It is small, easy to exercise with. CONS:
+ NT drivers are horrible. They don't support NT. You have to find shareware to download MP3's to it.
+ On Win98 machine, the out-of-the-box software that Rio came with would not recognize my second memory card.
+ The base 32MB of memory was corrupted on mine. Some songs skip around or get mixed up as a result. + Rio customer service is sub-par. I waited about an hour to talk to someone.
All in all, a very bad customer experience. I will probably buy a different MP3 player to replace this.
Rating:
Summary: If only it was better made....
Review: Unlike many of the other Minidisc owners on here, I happen to like MP3. The minidisks are great....but for something small and light to tuck in my pocket, nothing beats the Rio! It's at least half the size and a third the weight of my minidisk player. And yes, the size DOES make a difference to many people. I love getting free MP3's off the web, and while I *could* put them on minidisks, I like being able to every day or so put a completely different assortment of songs on the Rio to listen to. It's certainly not much harder than recording a disk and I'm one of those people that can listen to favorite songs over and over so a little repetition doesn't bother ME any. Unfortunately, the Rio is not without faults. In fact, I have a hard time recommending it. 32 meg is definitely NOT enough. I got a Flash card, and have started having varying problems, first with my memory being unusable, and then having small chunks become corrupted. Am now having problems with the player intermittently stopping on its own and freezing up so I have to remove the battery. Oh, should mention that the first Rio I got had a broken battery compartment and was returned. Am still waiting on my rebates. HATE not being able to use it on Windows NT, and not having USB. And the headsets that come with it are worthless for many people. Personally, I'm not sure I even want to try the later Rio models, as I've had so much trouble with this one in only a few months of owning it.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Ever
Review: I love listening to music, this is the best. Easy to use, excellent sound quality no matter what your musical taste. Download from the net, or record your own play list. It doesn't get any better than this. Less expensive then other players, but much better. Take it anywhere, it doesn't skip. I can't say enough about this.
Rating:
Summary: RIO is the greatest thing going!
Review: The Rio pmp300 is great! I use it all the time.. It is great to work out or exercize or even run with... I am into punk rock and i can fit about 16-17 songs on it... I really am happy with this item..
|
