Rating: 
Summary: Review for XP users
Review: I bought the Rio S35S with some reservations after reading a few reviews mentioning problems with the diver installation on PCs running XP. I just installed the driver and music transfer software on my PC (running XP) and had no problem at all. If you just pug in the device and let XP detect and install the driver automatically it will NOT work, because Sonicblue is in the process of certifying the Rio S35S driver for Windows XP. Since this certification is currently only in process the diver will not be automatically detected. What did work is to first install the music transfer software from the supplied installation CD (the music transfer software is a different piece of software than the driver), restart the PC after the installation of the music transfer software, leave the installation CD in the PC, connect the player to the PC, turn the player on, XP will tell you that an new device was found, select the detect automatically option and click next (or continue), XP will search the and find the driver on the installation CD (which you left in the PC as mentioned above). After the installation of the driver is complete, XP will tell you that the driver was installed and that the device is ready to be used. Launch the installed music transfer software and you are ready to roll...have fun!!
Rating:
Summary: Finally a good sport MP3 player
Review: I've been watching the roles of MP3 players for about 4 years now, waiting for a good one in the application for which MP3 was conceived: sport. Requirements: decent resistance to the elements/sweat, high memory capacity, immunity to shock, light-weight, decent sound, decent comfort. The RIO S35S meets or exceeds all of these.128MB built-in has me covered for 1.5+ hours of activity; plenty for most people. I'll get an expansion card anyways, just to have the option of more. It's light enough that I don't even notice it on my arm when running. The headphones are extremely comfortable and, surpisingly, I don't even notice them when running either. It's case provides ample protection from my prolific sweat. The sound, while not audiophile quality, is perfectly good for exercise. I've been using a NiMH battery with no problem (it worked even better once I found the battery setting in the menues and switched it from alkaline to NiMH ;-P). The radio reception is poor. I didn't get it to listen to the radio. If I wanted to listen to the radio, the are many sport models available at far less expense. For me, the radio is just a last resort if the battery gets too low to play MP3s. In all a very good player. Maybe a little expensive, but less than competing models like the Nike, which doesn't even have the option of a tuner. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing lil device
Review: I was getting fed up of the talkshows in the morning and the advertising tirades in the evening on my sony tuner while working-out. I depend on music quite a lot for my running, so finally had to break down and buy an mp3 player. I am so glad I chose S35S, because it fits everything I had in mind. Light, tough, efficient and trendy. I upgraded to 256MB about a day after the purchase. The 128MB MMC (card) is about 80 bucks, but a good investment as it doubles the song numbers. I have about 100 songs in .WMA(the only way to go, since mp3 is usually about double the file size as wma) saved with some space left over, and with the shuffle mode on, working out to music is a breeze. Battery life is very good, about 10-12 hours on 1 AAA. I also upgraded to a Sony streetstyle (MDR57 ??) headphones which are much better than the supplied ones. The back-lit display and menu options are very easy to learn and operate. The set up software couldn't be easier to use, with downloading and managing the songs the fastest I have seen. There is a mail-in rebate offered by SonicBlue till January 03, so go for it right now, if you're in the market for a mp3 player for the fitness minded folks, or anyone for that matter. The only negative is an abysmal tuner that fails to do anything, and will probably recieve a signal if you operate this inside a radio station. So that is a waste. And hence the 4 stars. Counting that out, this is a great product, and since I am not missing the tuner at all, I would highly recommend this product. An Update: After about a couple of months, I managed to crush my precious lil mp3 player under my truck tires in a freak accident. May be this would be an attestment to it's toughness, the display was broken, but the lil thing has refused to quit playing..Lets see your cd player beat that.
Rating:
Summary: Overall decent MP3 Player
Review: I received this as a gift and am quite pleased with the performance. As noted in other posts, if you're looking to get good radio reception, you may want to look elsewhere. This unit is sensitive to orientation, but I'm using it at the gym and it receives the signals well.
This is my 1st MP3 player, and as far as ease of use, it has intuitive menu options to configure and use the player and is ready to use out of the box (comes with a few preloaded songs.) The Rio manager software is easy to use (drag and drop) and the included software to correct MP3 tags in your library is pretty cool... Sound quality is good, but not audiophile quality for you discerning types. The included headphones are light but don't sounds as well as one would hope. I've swicthed headphones and that has made a big difference. The latest firmware upgrade now states that MMC cards up to 512MB have been sucessfully tested, making this an expandable unit.
Overall, if you're looking for a lightweight MP3 player that can take some abuse and endure a rugged workout, I think you'll be pleased with the S35S, I am.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent sound quality; ergonomics not tuned for runners.
Review: So three days before the Tucson marathon my Sony NWS-4 died on me. I was about to buy the Nike sports mp3 player when I saw a pretty good review for the S35s. Amazon.com overnighted it to me in time for the run. Within 30 minutes of receiving the package, I had the player loaded with music and ready to go. The PC interface and software are very easy to use; and unlike the Sony, they rip your CD's to mp3 not some propietary format. The headphones are comfortable and didn't bother me at all for the duration of my run (over 4 hours). But, I found the controls a bit lacking. Buttons that I'm often searching for while running were hard to find (like volume). Others, like play and pause, were not recessed and were far too sensitive to the touch. So, any amount of bumping and you can start skipping or fast forwarding. And forget about trying to switch from mp3 to FM radio while running. You have to use the tiny little plasma display and start scrolling through the menu. Maybe on a long walk or a treadmill you could do this. But not while engaged in something highly strenuous. I couldn't even read the display with the player strapped to my arm. I tried taking it off and switching, but I only succeeded in turning off all music. Basically, this is a very good item that could use some work on the look and feel of its controls. The Sony was a much better engineered package but it cost more and had only half as much memory. If you have time to figure out the controls it will probably serve you quite well. I cannot comment on the reliability, as I've only had mine a short while.
Rating: 
Summary: Defective CD and missing driver + Poor customer service
Review: I bought the RioS35S 3 weeks ago, and have yet made it to play MP3. The problem is that my PC with its Windows XP + SP1fix cannot locate the driver for the RioPlayer. It does, however, recognize that there is a new USB device, namely the S35S. First, I went to the SonicBlue website in search of the missing driver, and alas, it was no where to be found. I subsequently sent an e-mail to the tech support, but received no reply. Then I called the customer service. Having spoken to at least 3 different support personnel, I have concluded that the customer service is apparently staffed by neophytes who are both incompetent and unprofessional. Case in point, the first customer representative insisted that the solution to the problem was to download Windows Service Pack 1 for XP. Just to entertain his idea, I downloaded the 170MB file, and it still refuses to locate the driver. The second customer representative dispatched me to three separate websites, none of which contained the driver. I finally spoke to a supervisor who admits that SonicBlue is aware of the problem. She, however, cannot tell me when a patch will be made available. So here I am, sitting with a $... worth of junk and piles of anger.
Rating: 
Summary: If you're looking for an mp3 with fm tuner you should pass!
Review: The main reason I wanted this was because of the FM tuner. Its a great little mp3 player and very light and easy to use! But I have yet to hear one radio station that was not unbearably staticy. I'm very disappointed with it.
Rating:
Summary: Problematic, but has potential...
Review: I bought a Rio s35s after reading a few positive reviews and the fact that Rio's/Sonic Blue's web site stated that through a firmware update (v1.20 and v1.60) it would accept 256MB and 512MB SD cards. When I received it the first thing I did was update the firmware and pop in my Sandisk 256MB SD (Secure Digital) card and tried to download songs to the player. The player's internal memory loaded the songs fine but when I tried the load a song onto the SD card I kept getting an error in the transfer queue. The SD card works fine in my PDA and in the SD card reader/writer. I sent Rio/Sonic Blue tech support an e-mail describing my problems but after a week of no response I called the "long distance" tech support number. The tech support woman who answered was pathetic at best. She offered more confusion than help. After a couple more phone calls I finally talked to someone who tried to help. I was told that he would research he problem and get back to me. The next day I received an E-Mail telling me to try another SD card. I went out bought a Sandisk 128MB SD card and to my disappointment the same thing occurred. I've tried several different brands of SD cards and different sizes right out of the package and no luck. The tech support is hit or miss and know body knows for sure what the player is capable of. I really like the player for my workouts but it would be nice to be able to triple my listening time with SD cards. I guess the only ray of hope is the fact that the firmware is upgradeable. As far as the radio reception, it's pretty bad. The s35s seems more rugged than other MP3 players due to its protective rubberized casing and it feels almost weightless. The display screen is one of the best I've seen thanks to the indiglow light. It is If I had to do it over again I'd wait to see if they fix the problems before buying one. In the mean time a better player might come along.
Rating:
Summary: Big sound out of a small package
Review: I have owned this item for close to a year now and I have been nothing but happy with this device. I think that this MP3 player is very well laid out. I run quite a bit and it is very easy for me to skip through songs and adjust the volume while the unit is strapped to my arm. The arm band that this player comes with holds the MP3 player very well, and leaves all buttons exposed so they are very easy to access. The sound quality it one of the best I've heard from a MP3 player. I recently purchased an IPOD Mini and I still find myself going back to this Rio to listen to during my workouts. I feel that the sound quality of this device is steps above the IPOD. The battery life is also impressive. It takes 1 AAA battery which lasts me a few weeks with moderate use (an hour every other day). The software it comes with is decent but not the best I've seen, but it gets the job done and it isn't difficult at all to transfer songs to the MP3 player. I only had one issue. When I first bought the player it would sometimes automatically pause after certain songs were played. I simply went to Rio's web site and updated the firmware, and I haven't had the problem since. It's been about a year and I still can highly recommend this device. It's easy to use and sounds great.
Rating:
Summary: Great little player!
Review: I've owned other MP3 players before, but this one is the easiest to use. The software is great -- just load it up and you're off and running, no instruction required, it's that simple. The display is outstanding (whatever you do, don't buy one without a backlit display; you'll be sorry!). The player itself is also intuitive; you don't have to be a mechanical genius to figure it out (yes,some of the other lower-cost players are that complex). As others have pointed out, the case doens't fit exactly, but it's not THAT bad, and the circular control is a bit sensitive so you'll want to use the lock feature, but everything else about it is so very user friendly. I like the clip -- mine has held up through a lot of abuse, and it's just as strong as ever. As for battery life, I'm getting at least 6- 7 hours. Maybe not as long as the manufacturers tell you it will get, but a lot longer than I got with my MTV player. And, best of all, the sound quality is awesome. I've had mine for about a year now, and use it for running, the gym, roller blading and yardwork, and have had no real problems whatsoever.
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