Rating: 
Summary: It's a good piece of equipment but could be better
Review: I have the 64 MB special edition one which holds around 64 minutes of music. I like the fact that it's very small and like most of the other people I use it at the gym. I also can hook it up to my car or any other stereo. I think it lacks some output, I find the sound weak when compared to a regular Discman but most people won't even notice this fact I'm sure and it's really not that disturbing. I was totally pumped up when I first ordered it on the internet because I expected so much , so there was some disappointment when i received it but I am using this a lot. I hope they improve the lack of bass in the future...
Rating: 
Summary: Record anything you want!!
Review: Yes you need a computer (my guess is that if you are reading this now you have one) BUT,you can record from radio, tape, dvd, tv, scanner, microphone, telephone, anything that has sound waves!! Just record the sound wave with a sound program that records in WAV (i like sound forge) and then convert it to MP3 (I like to use Audio Catalyst for this one). But there are many differnt programs you can use to accomplish this. Then after you have it converted to MP3, send it to the Rio. Looks like Diamon has released the Diamond Rio SPECIAL EDITION to quell these complaints about limited playback time. It doubles it! And is upgradable!
Rating:
Summary: great product, but better coming shortly
Review: Great product, excellent reproduction. However the PMP500 is on its way with a reported (Time Magazine) 14 hours! of playback time. Wait for it.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect portable tunes for people who exercise
Review: The Rio is absolutely the best device I've ever seen for providing high-quality portable audio to those who work out. It never skips, a single AA battery will keep it playing for at least 8 hours, and it weighs almost nothing. I used to make tapes to play at the gym, but now I just convert CD tracks to MP3's and download. The compression software is included, and it only takes about 15 minutes to compress an entire CD into MP3's. While it is true that the Rio only plays for about 30 minutes in near-cd quality as shipped, there is a slot for an extra 32MB flash card which doubles the playing time. This extra memory costs about $90, but it's worth the price. The Rio also ships with a $50 rebate coupon from Diamond, although I've been waiting six weeks for my rebate check. All in all, if you're looking for convenient, rugged high-quality portable audio for your workouts the Rio is the device of choice.
Rating: 
Summary: Great, but needs improvement!
Review: I borrowed one of these from a neighbor of mine. It's great, and I personally cannot tell the difference between CD and mp3. If you have the internet, it's better, because you can get free music and download other programs to allow your CD'd to be turned to mp3's, so you can have your own little megamix. However, there needs to be more RAM, or have something like an Iomega Zip Drive attached so that you can have more space. But hey, it's a start! A Great Start into the future of portable music!
Rating:
Summary: Everything has it's place!!
Review: I use my "Rio" on my Motorcycle. A CD player obviously is out of the question and the portable walkman AM-FM device loses signal strength at every turn and I don't like tape. I have added the extra 32 meg flash card to mine to enhance the playing time. I record at 80kbps for good quality and 1 1/2 hours of music. (on a motorcycle at 60 mph, CD quality isn't my main concern.) For my application and similar ones I feel the RIO is a great audio source. The lack of memory is a concern and the flash cards are expensive. The download time isn't that bad but I would have preferred a USB connection. The output level is a concern but 12 hrs of playtime on a single AA battery is great. Don't buy the RIO as a replacement for you CD player just yet. If you have a need for non-skipping, lightweight and a small audio source then the RIO is the ticket.
Rating: 
Summary: Sounds like a good idea.... But leaves much to be desired
Review: I bought my Rio about 2 months ago. It plays perfectly, and I have no complaints with the performance. But if you are going to take this with you as a truely "portable" unit you are going to be stuck with only 30 minutes of storage for cd quality music. Maybe that's not a problem for you, but personally I need more of a variety of music when I take this on a trip. And the extra 32-meg flash memory cards cost $100!! That's way too much just to hold an extra 30 minutes of music. I recently sold my Rio and purchased a portable Minidsic player/recorder for $275. My advice to people would be to save an extra $100 and go for the minidisc. It uses digital sound, and does not skip. You can use it to record mp3's from your computer and the blank 74 minute discs cost less than $5 a piece, as opposed to $100 for a 30-minute flash memory card for the Rio. Minidisc is a much better overall value than the Rio. I would not recomend any buy a portable mp3 player until the storage can be greatly increased at a much lower cost.
Rating:
Summary: Really terrific, but can't it be longer?
Review: What can I say? I love this rio. Usually when I go to listen to music, I feel it's a boring chore that I have to do to help my sound be heard. With Rio , I have a lot of fun making my life happier. I hope you guys hang around forever! This is great, keep it up! but give more space. I don't mind to pay twice, and I am not the only one. BEST, EMANUEL MORSE, EAST NORTHPORT, N.Y.
Rating: 
Summary: TRUST ME ON THIS ONE...
Review: This product is a GREAT idea. But if you want to get something similar to this that plays MP3's, you should wait a year or two so the memory increases on the product. because right now, it only plays 30 minutes of music, which is about space for about 5-8 songs. My advice is to get the MINI-DISC player for now. It will play a very long time's worth of music, and you can buy MORE blank CD's to record more. Plus you can get songs off CD's, Tapes, PC, 8-Track, and more! I'm sure there are lots of players for that you can find at amazon.com.
Rating:
Summary: I have hours of music at home but am stuck with 30 with RIO
Review: first, for all the MAC users out there, here's a dime, call someone who cares... second of all, the RIO is an internet product for an Music format created by the Net, so if you don't have a net connection...again call some that cares. The RIO is a great Idea, just let all the Technophiles out there buy the 1st gen, then when it is actually worth purchasing (ie..has more than 30 min of music time..etc) then the rest of us will purchase it...
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