Rating: 
Summary: Great product....unless you're one of the unfortunate "few"
Review: Let's start with my beefs-they are few but if you're unfortunate enough to be suffering from the most troubling of them, you're probably breathing fire from Rio's handling of the situation. I'm referring to the 'USB bug' that infects certain computers (tech support couldn't be more clear/candid about how many people were suffering from the ailment). "It's our biggest complaint" were the words of my by-now beleagured support guru, Mike. It's essentially static that bleeds into your player when music is downloaded that translates into minor static bursts (try picking one up at high volume) to an outright skipping of the song to the next track...intermittantly. Try jogging with your car radio set to 'scan' without the benefit of a regular interval and you'll know what I'm talking about. Out of the dozen or so tracks (different bit rates, repeated attempts) I downloaded, 11 of them exhibited this maddening glitch, which to me rendered the device useless. Rio's response? "They should be updating the firmware in the next 2 weeks to compensate for the problem". This after the device was available on the market for over 4 weeks. Grrrrrrr.... The work-around? Buy a USB hub: my Xircom 4 port (after a speedy 3 minute installation) licked the problem for $29. Face it: the way the industry is headed, you're probably going to use multiple USB devices eventually. Use this logic to keep you from screaming into the phone at your tech support rep about how ridiculous it is that arguably the largest MP3 audio manufacturer can screw up this badly. And don't try the website for info on the when the glitch will be patched or even acknowledgement that it exists: it's useless. My other beefs are minor, but annoying. No belt clip. Who do they think is using their product? Try the weight room or the track without the handy PMP 300 clip. Not very well thought-out. And the earbuds...it may be me, but are any of you noticing the "water ear" you get with aerobic exercise and these things? It seems that sweat gets diverted somehow diectly into your ear. If I'm not using these things correctly, please let me know. With that off my chest, I have nothing but praise for the player and the software. The LED may (or may not) chomp at the battery, but it's clear, backlit and gadgety enough to impress my friends (if they're not in the middle of 'Freebird' when it skips). The menu button is handy and the forward, back, etc paddle is nifty enough. The hold button has even moved to a place where it can be used! (See PMP 300). The audio software for file transfers is lucid as any I've seen. I especially like the visual representations of the music (attention Rio:make it a screensaver-convertible and I'll forget about the earbuds). The possibility for expansion is cool too...300+mB? I can't wait to see the price tag (and I'm hearing ADDED? battery consumption *ahem*) on that one. Who am I kidding? To hear my Barenaked Ladies CD's at 192mps, I'll snatch it up in a heartbeat. Bottom Line: If you're one of the unfortunates who picked up a computer with a 'polluted' USB, pick up a hub and some crazy glue for a belt clip. Or you could just buy a Yepp. But for my money, WMA compatibility and exponential expansion, I'll make do with a semi-scathing review on amazon.com.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't blame Rio.
Review: Don't blame RIO if you are having problems with your PC or your PC software. I've had the Rio 600 for several weeks now and it worked flawlessly from day one on my MAC Powerbook and MAC desktops. The sound is very good. As for the memory, for $169 it is a very good buy. Memory expansion modules will soon be available, making this a truly flexible unit. Think Different!
Rating: 
Summary: Some bad units out there
Review: I purchased a Rio 600 at CompUSA and returned it a week later. It exhibited the same problems a few of you have commented on: (1) the introduction of painfully loud pops and crackles into the music, and (2) the inability to play MP3 files to completion. The software is not too great. I assume, from the overwhelming positive reviews, that not everyone has this problem but beware.
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME!
Review: THE DIAMOND RIO 600 IS UNREAL! SURE, IT MIGHT ONLY ME 32MEGS, BUT IT'S AWESOME! THE SOUND QUALITY IS AS GOOD AS THE RIO 500 OR NOMAD, BUT THE BUNDLED HEADPHONES ARE ONLY AVERAGE. THE PLAYER IS LOADED WITH FEATURES INCLUDING A COO BLUE BACKLIT DISPLAY, DSP (SAME AS EQ) SETTINGS AND HEAPS MORE. IT EVEN HAS 'NOKIAPHONE' STYLE CHANGEABLE COVERS! HOVEVER, THE BLUE STILL LOOKS GREAT! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS PLAYER! THE SOFTWARE IS ALSO GREAT AND THE PLAYER ITSELF IS REASONABLY SMALL AND VERY LIGHT. IT ALSO HAS A SLOT FOR MEMORY EXPANSIONS UP TO 420MB! THAT'S ENOUGH FOR AROUND 110 CD-QUALITY MP3 FILES! THIS PLAYER ALSO SUPPORTS WMA. BUY IT TODAY!
Rating: 
Summary: Wait for More Memory
Review: Most MP3 players are not made that well, RIO is the best of the lot. The 600 is functional but has little memory, and as of yet, expansion memory is not available, and no prices are set for it as well; you really don't know what you're going to be charged. There is an 800 model coming out with twice the memory, definitely worth waiting for. Buy a RIO, just not this one, yet. Wait for more information.
Rating:
Summary: Worse than I thought. I have 2 in my hands right now
Review: Hm.. lets see. After reading all these great reviews.. i went ahead and ordered one from amazon. Then the day before it arrived, my gf bought me one from a local store. So I figured, hey, Ill keep both and try them both out just in case one has a problem.. well.. after 8 hrs of playing around with both of them with 2 sets of cables.. I am pretty disappointed. Let me tell you why.. First of all, the detection of the unit by the USB cable is relatively poor. I had to exit and restart the audio manager a few times and turn the power on and off the unit itself before it detected it. That is one of the main reasons Im returning both units tomorrow. It is rather annoying to play guess games to see if it picks up on the unit. Second major flaw. I didnt get any skipping as few other reviewers have, but however, the tracks I did record onto the player was periodically interrupted with annoying (and loud) white noise.. I even went as far as to record the SAME exact track on both of the units.. and guess what? Both units had the same problem.. except the noise interruptions were showing up on different part of the track .. so if it was my mp3 (which played fine on winamp) .. the noises should of at least showed up at the same time on both units. The noises aren't long.. just about a faction of a second or so.. however.. it is much louder than the set volume of the music and even as a collge student, my head hurt after listening to a few tracks. I recorded and re-recorded tracks and on both units, they were all interrupted with periodic chirps or white noise. Anyhow, you get the idea. I really wish I had gotten a unit that was as perfect as all the other reviewers had received. However, this is the truth from my experiences with the units and I had not exagerrated any of the above. Im running on an Intel 700 so I really dont think it was my computer's problem. Anyhow. Thanks for reading...
Rating:
Summary: Great Player, but it has a problem.
Review: I just got the Rio 600, and it is great. It transfers files quickly and plays them perfectly. I like all of the features, especially the cool display and menus. The only problem I'm having is that the circular button combo thing is always jammed. The Play/Pause button, the rewind button, and the stop button have worked fine, but the fast forward/next track button doesn't work right. It somehow makes the songs Play or Pause too. That really doesn't matter though because the remote control will replace all the buttons and it should be fine.
Rating:
Summary: Easily the best portable, but there's room for improvement
Review: The Diamond Rio 600 is a paradox. It's twice as good as anything currently on the market, but half as much as you need. There's something very right about each of the three components of the system--headphones, body and software--and yet there are serious deficiencies with each part. The Rio's headphones are marginally tinny at any volume, and stressed at higher volumes, but good enough for a portable you'll probably use in a noisy environment anyway. To be sure, other headphones will be needed to fully realize the sound possibilities of the Rio, but the ones included give you at least the beginnings of great sound. Their rather odd, around-the-ear construction is both sensible and awkward. They're perfect for using while working out, because they never fall out, regardless of how vigorously one behaves. But they're hard to get used to because they do take a comparatively longer time to put in than other headphones. Serious audiophiles will dismiss them outright; those of us just looking for workout music will probably get used to their oddness. The body of the Rio is its clear strength. It's about the size of a pager-but lighter. Of all the portable music solutions I shopped--CD, cassette, and digital alike-this one is the very best in terms of size/quality ratio. It's the best thing I've ever used for working out. It's also the best device currently available in terms of expandability. Though on the surface it seems to have less memory than the Rio 500, and than many other newer .mp3 players, it has the capacity for adding on 340 mb. Also, the fact that it takes the .wma (Windows Media) format effectively means that you can store what would be the equivalent of 64mb of songs in the .mp3 format There are some reservations, though. First, its small size means that the battery is tucked away in a pretty inaccessible place. It's somewhat tricky seating a new battery. It's not impossible, mind you, and it's worth the effort given the benefit of the unit's small size, but it's still frustrating on occasion. Second, while a battery does actually give 10 hours of use, the unit's battery life estimator is never accurate. It deducts time too slowly at the start of a battery, so that by the time you get to 6 hours of apparent time left, you actually have only 1 or 2 hours. It's not a huge problem, once you figure it out, but it can be infuriating at first. Third, the unit doesn't come with a belt clip holder or an FM tuner. They're both available, but they're extra. I can understand the FM tuner being extra, but it seems ridiculous for a portable music player to come without the means to make it truly portable. Finally, there's the software. Easily the weakest element of the Diamond Rio 600, it's only a *little* more than a way to add on $20 to the price of the unit. It's entirely too difficult to install and get running. I installed the version off the included CD. When I got it running, it linked me to rioport.com, which informed me there was an update available. This update, however, was really only for the Rio 300 and 500, and so it failed to recognize the Rio 600 as being present. So I uninstalled the update and tried again with the CD version. Then after a mere 50 rips, it told me I had to pay to "unlock" the program. So I tried to unlock, but the software never allowed me to get to the "pay" screen. I then reinstalled the update and miraculously was allowed to unlock the program. But this version still didn't recognize the Rio 600. So I uninstalled the update and reinstalled the original. Finally, everything worked. Hardly an encouraging start. Then, I instructed the program to search my hard drives and come up with a database of playable media. This it did, but it found a lot of 'junk' files I wanted to delete. Unbelievably, the program doesn't allow you to group delete, so I had to individually delete each file I didn't want. Finally, after hours of time and $20, I got the software set up and ready to use. But then came another one of those little Rio paradoxes. One of the strengths of the software is that it allows you to read a CD at a variety of different compressions. You can decide to fit more of your songs on the Rio and sacrifice a little quality. The problem is that you might want a song at the highest quality to burn a CD (which the software also does) but at a lower one to send to the Rio. The result is that you practically have to read each CD twice. That's a lot of hard disk space to dedicate to your music library. Hopefully updates will include some sort of converter, so that you only have to scan CDs once. On balance, I highly recommend the Rio, especially if you're just looking for workout music. Be warned, however, that it won't be quite the effortless pathway to great music that the merchandising proclaims, and that the Rio is based on modularity. It has the greatest potential of any current .mp3 player--it can be worn comfortably, has the largest potential memory, can play FM music, and can even be used on your car's lighter--but you're going to have to pay for each added function.
Rating:
Summary: Rio 600 Rocks!!!
Review: After extensive research (and using reviews listed here), I bought the Rio 600 this past weekend and it rocks. The software to load new music is basically "drag & drop" and the sound quality is awesome. My only complaint is the 32 MB fills up real fast and I can't wait to buy the 340MB backup. If you're looking to make your co-workers jealous, this is the toy to get.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: I was a little nervous about buying a player with only 32MB of memory, but since the Rio 600 supports WMA files it acts like a 64MB player. It's very cool to be able to have a playlist with both MP3 and WMA files, and the software makes it VERY easy to do that. The one AA battery seems to last forever. The box says 10 hours, but I think I'm getting at least 11 or 12. Great player and the best looking one on the market! My brother wants me to trade for his Sony player - No deal!!
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