Rating: 
Summary: Excellent product for the money
Review: I've had my Cali for about two weeks and really like it. I'm a military officer and use the Cali on training runs. It performs perfectly and is very lightweight. I recommend it to all runners. Plus, if you get it through Letsrun.com, you can save $30 and get free shipping (still shipped from Amazon.com).
Rating: 
Summary: great player, poor software
Review: i really love the rio cali, esp after i added an additional 256mb for a total of 11 hours of music. the one thing i dislike is the software that comes with it to manage your mp3 collection. it is o.k., but i want some more customizable features, like a file view of my mp3s.
Rating: 
Summary: Maybe fragile, Maybe error prone, Nice features
Review: For ~$120 a player with SD card support, AAC and Mp3 compatibility, and seemless integration with itunes is nice. If only the player didn't feel as if it were on the verge of shattering, and if only the syncing would conclude without asking me several times to reformat the player. Ah well, such nice features for so cheap - and 10.3.1 compatible!! I hope it lasts...
Rating:
Summary: Confusing, Maybe Fragile, Maybe Error Prone, Unique Features
Review: I bought to run with itunes on my G4 10.3 system. Once I got the nerve to jam the usb cable into the player , (really its like violating it, it feels like you;re breaking the player I had the cord half-way in end thought it was a driver problem...) it synced fine, except every couple of song transfers it prompts you to reformat the cali's memory...hmm... I am using an additional 256 SD card which is this device's real advantage. For ~$120 for an SD Mp3 AAC player with full itunes support there is no better option. For the price difference and feature set I'm willing to work with the player for now...I will wait to send in the rebate though and I'm glad I purchased the extended warranty... Worked fine with Panther 10.3.1 on my G4/G5 systems.
Rating:
Summary: Cali 128Mb rules!
Review: I run 3-4 times a week, and researched all brands of MP3 players looking for one to use on my runs. I need 1-2 hours of music. The Cali is great. I read horror stories about MP3 player failures, lack of "random play", need to install RealOne software with advertisement, etc. in runner's forums before making my choice. I picked Cali because it's a 2nd generation player, which means 18 hours/AA battery instead of 10, and hoped for a reliable unit. I am very pleased with my choice. The arm-band is the only deficiency in the package. The software works great (simple, does the job), the player plays well - including random selections and FM radio -, the belt holster works very well for me. In summary, I run with it all the time and haven't had a problem. One watchout about the software - The software connects to the web to collect CD/track information while "ripping" songs from the CD - this makes it possible for the player to show titles without you having to type them in. In my W2K installation the software could not connect to the web server that provides title info, however in my Windows Me installation everything was fine. I know I have driver problems with W2K, so it's not a Cali problem, but if you can't get the info from the web then adding track info manually is a royal pain. The work around is to type the info manually BEFORE ripping the song. The text is encoded with the track and if you don't add it at the right time then it does not get added to the track. This is an area of the software that could be improved (for the benefit of those folks who for whatever reason aren't getting the track info from the web). I encoded in wma format because Rio DOES NOT provide MP3 encoding with the package (to get it fork over $$ via a website that doesn't work). The MP3 format has a 224 mhz sampling rate while wma can be selected as 96, 128, or 196 mhz. For this reason alone wma is more economical with memory and MP3 encoding is not needed (if you already have MP3 songs they'll load fine anyway, I use Roxio Platinum to rip MP3 and it works great). I tried 96 and 128 mhz encoding and prefer 128. I get 30-34 songs into my 128Mb Cali, which is sufficient. When I start running longer I'll just add a 128Mb memory card.
Rating:
Summary: Rio worth the $
Review: Have had a Rio player for a while now and am upgrading to a newer model for no particular reason. Rio is a good brand with excellent customer service. My 1st player was faulty and they replaced it no problem. Cannot say enough good things about these players.
Rating:
Summary: If You run, this is the best choice
Review: I purchaced this item to run with. I down loaded the USMC running cadences. Running has never been easy, but when you can listen to an entire platoon, five miles is a piece of cake. It's small and easily adjusted while running. It does not get in the way at all. I have also used it while lifting weights, Scroll passed the marines and put on the Tu-pac and you lift like never before. I like the software it comes with also, it's easy to use I was up and running in a couple of minutes.
Rating:
Summary: If you are looking for a best friend...
Review: If you are looking for a best friend while running, look no further. The Cali 256 is easy to setup and loads plenty of music for my long Saturday runs. The arm band remains in place and the lightweight Cali 256 is barely noticeable. The joystick is nice, but it's hard to read the screen while running (this is probably the case with most mp3 players). I would highly suggest this player if you are an active person who wants to listen to their own music as well as an FM radio. Happy Training.
Rating:
Summary: Best Sport Portable Music Player Out There
Review: Much improved over my Rio Sport 35S. I use it for working out at the gym and while bicycle touring. It's first class for both. Massive storage allows me to put just about all the music I like to listen to on the player. I cut all my music using RealOne and it works fine on the player. RealOne doesn't have a driver for the Cali yet so you can't transfer direct to the player - you have to use the Rio Music Manager - which works fine. I use the Bang & Olfsen headphones which are great with player - the phone supplied don't fit my ears very well (I sort of wish I didn't have to pay for them). Software loading was pretty easy and automatically updated via the Rio website. My impression is that this is the best sport portable on the market. Pretty nice job by Digital Networks of listening to its customers. If I were to ask for something on the next model update it would be a jack to attach a radio antenna to get better reception when bicycle touring.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing wrong with this player
Review: I recently bought a rio cali and there hasn't been a problem yet. I've gone through quite a few mp3 players and this one doesn't seem that bad compared to some. The display is good. The controls are good. But the design isn't the best. I don't know what inspired Rio to put the headphone jack at he bottom side ofthe player. The battery cover does seem a little flismy so you need to becareful with it or it seems like it will break. The software is fairly easy to use. I could easily pull the songs i wanted from a directory and transfer it to the player. I haven't encountered any glitches so far.
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