Rating: 
Summary: Various playback problems
Review: In a nutshell: I will be returning this player to the store soon. I have found many problems with this unit.Long version:
After reading many reviews online, I decided to buy this RCA Lyra. It charged up fast. Installing the software under XP was easy (although not essential; WinXP SP1 is sufficient). Lyra was recognized as a hard drive. I had USB 1.1 so transfer was slow, then bought USB 2.0 and it worked much better. Interestingly enough, the player seems to rely only on ID3v2 tags, not ID3v1 tags - I wish I had not spent that much time fixing up my ID3v1 tags. Some programs let you copy v1 to v2 tags - so not a huge deal. However, the unit soon showed some problems. Some files seem to produce a nasty burr-buzz sound and sometimes play slower than normal speed - truly bizzare. There is no pattern in this - files are usually regular constant-rate MP3s (mine are 160+ kbps) and if you "reboot" the player, they'll usually play just fine, and some other file will eventially start this behavior. In addition, the player would freeze after a number of songs - it shows the song it is "playing" on the screen, but no sound comes out. Clicking "next" does not help - just shows the name of a different song. In addition, the shuffle + repeat function seems to cycle some songs more than others (before the whole thing freezes that is). I realize that I may have gotten a bad unit and most of them are good. However, the freezing problem has been reported on other sites by people who've had the Lyra for a while. I am glad mine showed it in the first 24 hrs so I can get rid of it fast. Most people in my situation go and buy an iPod - they seem better made (and you pay for it). However, I have quite a few WMA's and an MP3-only player would be a last resort. I'll try something else. However, I had bad experiences with the Creative Zen Nomad, and the Archos is MP3 only. I guess you need to do VERY careful research before you buy, or you could end up with a lemon. Maybe the portable MP3 player jukebox as a device category is not ready for prime time yet? One good thing about this device: wonderful external hard drive, esp if you have USB 2.0
Rating: 
Summary: Way better than Creative or Archos.....
Review: I have owned the Archos Jukebox as well as the Creative Jukebox and this RCA Lyra 40GB is the best. I can't comment on the infamous iPod as I simply refuse to put down $500 (I'm cheap)! I am completely happy with this purchase and the only additional comment I would ad is this: buy a pair of Sennheiser PXC 250 Noise Cancelling headphones to go with! Together, you will achieve Nirvana!
Rating:
Summary: RCA stomps the competition!
Review: Once again RCA has proven that they are still in the High-Quality Audio Business. The RD2840 is compact, sleek, shiny, and powerful! Although it's larger than the ipod, it still fits nicely into the palm of your hand while delivering exceptional sound quality (even through the included "ear-clips" earphones). RCA puts both the zen (creative) and the ipod (apple) to shame with it's ingenuous idea to allow transferring of files using it like an external hard drive (no cumbersome software to install on every computer you need to use it with! *That was the selling point for me). And, while zen includes generic earbuds, RCA included some amazing headphones which simply clip over your ears comfortably, while delivering crystal clear, premium quality sound. And just look at the price! Almost half the price of a 40GB ipod! The accessories also prevail against the rivals; everything you need to make your audio experience totally portable and every part is high-quality! Bravo RCA!
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad, needs some firmware upgrades.
Review: This is my second harddrive mp3 player, first was the archos, which I found difficult to control and too slow to transfer files. I have been waiting for the RD2840 for some time and was very excited to find it. I like the case on the RD2840 and the controls are ok, maybe a bit confusing at first. The controls are set in a little bit, so they should not get pressed accidently too much. Really holds around 38Gigs of music.
Sounds great, and shows the information from the id3 tags. Problems:
File transfer from an XP box with USB 2.0 using a program called Filesync, was approximately 7MS, seems you could do that with USB 1.0. Still not too bad, took maybe three hours or so. Playlist created from Music Match do not work. I found the workaround, edit the playlist with a text editor and replace the drive descriptor, like 'E:' with '..'. Maybe I left out a step, but I did not see any more instructions in the manual. No Resume!! ok, a playlist with 8000 songs. go figure how much work it is to get back to where you were playing music when you have to start at the top menu, select 'user playlist', find the playlist, and then cursor down to the song you were playing... If someone found a way to resume playback, please post. If rca will get back with me and promise new firmware to resume playback, then I will keep the unit, else it goes back where it came from. May have to fork out the cash for an ipod..
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: I had been looking for an MP3 Jukebox player for my cd collection and this one fits the bill. My collection is about 28gb worth, stored on an external Maxtor hard drive. I had previously used the Rio Riot and at 20gb was impressed with it's size for the price, but not the sound quality. When looking for a player with more capacity I came across the new Lyra 40gb and I highly recommend it! It's heavier than an iPod, but with the belt clip, I never noticed the difference. Only downside is no Firewire support. It took a LONG time to transfer nearly 30gb of songs via USB, but once the transfer is complete, that's no longer an issue. Sound quality is outstanding. The headphones that come with it are not. I don't like the clip-on headphones. If you do, then you'll enjoy them. But I prefer earbuds or something larger yet more comfortable. Despite the headphones, sound quality is outstanding, controls are easy to use, the carry case is secure and works well during a commute or while at the gym. For a 40gb player, you can't beat this for the price! Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Bulky, difficult controls, cheap headphones
Review: This is my first MP3 player, so I have nothing to compare it to but my PC.
With that said:
LIKES:
1: It's only $300 for 40gigs
2: USB 2.0
3: Plug and play with XP
4: Comes with Musicmatch driver that makes Syncing with your PC super easy DISLIKES:
1: It's bulky & heavy
2: The main control used is very difficult to make go "down", especially with the case on
3: Not very loud
4: The headphones do not sound high quality (but fit me just fine) I'm returning it and will probably go for an iPOD
Rating:
Summary: I must have got a good one.
Review: I've been using a 256 MB flash player which has worked well except that capacity had become an issue. When I saw the Lyra on sale for not much more than what I had paid for the flash player I bought one. So far I've had the unit for ten days and have put about 100 CDs/1900 tracks on the unit. This is my experience so far. (With firmware 1.5) Setup was easy (XP Home system). I had all the software installed and was listening to tracks on the player within an hour without ever referring to the manual. The player ships with Musicmatch 7.5 which I upgraded to 8.2 pro for 20 dollars. It's ok for ripping and labelling tracks but using MM to sync the libraries is incredibly slow. Use the LyraSync tool or drag and drop instead. Also use your computer to profile - it's much faster than the internal profiler. Syncing 20 CDs took about 3 minutes with LyraSync and USB 2.0. Drag and drop would be even faster. A plus is that the Lyra can store other files as an external hard drive. I've never had the unit freeze up. It has never taken more than a second or two to complete any operation. Startup does take 3 or 4 seconds - so what? Navigation features are adequate, especially if you are smart about setting up the folders. There is one thing I consider a bug. If you are scanning titles and select one to view it's information, when you go back to the title list you jump back to the top of the list. Annoying, but I usually scan by album anyway. The controls on the top of the player (menu button, select/scroll button and play button) are good enough that I can use the buttons by feel in the dark. Again you have to let the unit catch up when you try to do something. I would imagine that frantically pushing buttons trying to get an instantaneous response would tend to lock up the player. The side buttons (volume +/-, power) are not so good. There simply isn't enough tactile feed back from them so that you can tell what button your on by feel. I've been able to kind of use the buttons by feel using a fingernail, but it's still hit or miss. The display window does seem to be very soft and scratchable. A piece of mylar and some tape fixed that. This is invisible when the player is in it's case. The battery is a plus. Charging in a couple of hours, it will get me through the day. I can't say exactly how much playing time is available but it's at least six hours. The shuffle function is not important to me as I listen mostly to classical music, either by album or playlists. I use MM to create the playlist and then edit the text file to point to the directories on the Lyra. A little clumsy but not brain surgery. The graphic equalizer on the Lyra is a nice touch. Capacity wise the thing is freaky. It's mind boggling to think that you can have three weeks of continuous CD quality playback from something that fits in your hand. It may be just a tad bulky for your pocket however (unless you wear those geek electronics pants), but the belt clip gets you around that. There's a lot of stuff that comes with the player, adapters, headphones and so on. I've got some earbuds that I prefer to the supplied headphones but this is really very subjective. A good option for playback is the Tivoli Audio PAL radio. The bottom line is that with the Lyra and the PAL I can carry my entire (500+) CD collection around and get high fidelity playback with a system that takes up as much volume as a quart of milk. To me it's a dream come true. Of course the dream may die if there are durability issues. To head that one off I bought the extended in-store warranty for $50 from the dealer. Even with that I am still well below Amazon's listed price. I would have rated 5 stars except for the volume buttons, soft display and title search bug. Overall I am quite happy with the player.
Rating: 
Summary: Defective and Draining
Review: This product was a huge dissapointment. I've received two defective products. The first one had buttons sticking so that I couldn't operate that machine, and once I was able to un-stick the button, I discovered that the battery was leaking from my machine and that it would there for not hold a charge. I assumed I just received a lemon, however once I returned the product and got a replacement I face a similar problem. The product will only function when it is plugged in despite the fact that it says the batter is fully charged. It's rediculous. Beyond the above problems, the player is much too bulky to use for much more than sitting around with head phones on. The controls are akward and set up in a confusing/annoying manner. Forcing you to use one button to scroll and another to select. This isn't a huge problem but if you're trying to use it with one hand while you're doing something, working out for example, it's virtually impossible. Also, if you want to have your personal Playlists on the player, be prepared for lots of tediousness in attempting to get it on the player.You have to have computer knowledge in order to get them onto the machine and even then, it's difficult. Once they are on there, it's selective about when the playlists are actually read. The pluses? Good sound quality...but I'm sure you can find an MP3 player that has good sound quality without all the above problems for a lot less money. I'm trying the Archos Gmini, hopefully that will be more useful than this expensive paperweight.
Rating:
Summary: dont bother buying it
Review: I bought this 4 months ago b/c i couldnt wait to buy a regular ipod that wasnt in stock.the worse think i ever done.the player doesnt work,i call custumer serv. they give me the run around. it is terrible and now it gets worse i tried to exchange it at the store i got it and they said it was to late b/c i was missing sum papers that came with it all i say is stick with teh ipod.the reason y its more money than teh RCA b/c u pay for the Name of Apple and theyr great service ( i have a ipod mini and im loving it) buy the real thing.. not a knock off
Rating:
Summary: Mine just stopped working
Review: Around 9 months after purchase, my Lyra Jukebox RD2840 just stopped working. Resetting it did nothing. Doesn't turn on, nothing. Just sits there dead. And judging by some of the other reviews, I'm probably not even going to bother with RCA support since it looks like that's useless. I'm gonna rip the thing apart, and see if I can fix it (or completely destroy it). Good thing I backed up all 20GB of songs before it died, but I'm still pretty angry over it dying.
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