Rating: 
Summary: Quality and Value make this a MUST have
Review: Most Importantly, Sound Quality (9/10)
The RCA Lyra RD1080 has excellent sound quality. In a line in test (we hooked the Lyra to our sound system), the Lyra scored a 9/10. The reason it scored a 9/10, and not a perfect 10, is because of the slight buzz heard in our line-in tests. It is not noticeable with headphones (or when music is playing), but when hooked up to a stereo system it's noticeable.MP3/Mp3 Pro Features of Lyra (9/10)
The Lyra had a range of features that are not present on many other Mp3 players of its class. Ease of Use (10/10!)
The reason we gave the Lyra a 10, was because of the easy drag and drop features of the Lyra. Any Lyra purchased (from RCA directly) after March 26th, 2003 is installed with the latest Firmware, making it usable right out of the box (contrary to other reviews, which were done in the past) Audio Codec Support (10/10!)
The Lyra uses the most advanced codecs available (the only current MP3 player to support MP3 Pro). P>Calendar, Organizer, or Other Bonuses (N/A)
There are no extra software applications available on the Lyra at this time. Radio Quality (6/10) -> Below Average
The radio was a nice feature, but that's not what's been tested here. 30 miles+ away from the radio station's broadcast center, you CANNOT pick up anything, in the inner city, the Lyra performed well, but outside the city the Lyra performed very poorly. Expandability (9/10) Design (9/10) - (Sleek, but our team didn't particularly like the silver like buttons)P>Overall (9/10) --> highly recommended for [the price] Lyra vs. IPOD
MAC users: IPOD wins by a long shot
WINDOWS/LINUX users: IPOD loses, as the IPOD has many compatibility problems
Rating: 
Summary: Combat Proven!
Review: Great little system: Affordable, durable, easy to use. I took this system overseas with me and it was a life saver. Held up to the sand, dust, heat, and occasional rain storm. My only complaint is the software is not too user friendly and takes a while to master the process (downloading from CDs is the hardest). Again though, for the price, it's hard to beat. And with a 256MB sandisk...I had more than enough music to listen to.
Rating:
Summary: It's a very good Player, but not without it's Quirks
Review: The player itself is very small which is a plus, I loved it the first time I saw it. It has a blue hue in the display, and it the visibility is a plus at night. Sound Quality is the best, you'll never find a MD player, or even CD player as good at this sound quality product. It even has BASS, and Treble, a complete sound processing unit. Volume goes WAY, WAY UP! Now for the BAD, which is why I did not give it a perfect 5, when recording Mp3Pro songs, the sound quality is good but it lags when you scan for music files. If your computer is not 100% lag free, then there will be some skipping during playback on your RCA Lyra. When Downloading music to the Lyra, make sure your computer has 100% CPU usage to MusicMatch Juxebox. If you have even the slightest program active, the songs will come skipping inside the lyra. I have around 3 songs out of 37 that skip. It's a good device but not perfect, I highly recommend it as a decent player with high quality playback! in the long run though, 2 Thumbs up!
Rating: 
Summary: ...
Review: WASTE OF MONEY!!! The software is just terrible, the user interface is awful, and the carrying case is a joke. I owned the late Intel mp3 player and loved it, until it broke. I tried to replace it with this one liking 128MB and FM radio... What a mistake! Song skipping takes forever, the belt clip was worthless, and Customer Service was Romper Room. I had to sell it for less than half price because everyone knows it [is bad]!...
Rating: 
Summary: Great little player! Too bad it broke...
Review: I had this inexpensive little mp3 player from November until January, and in that time, boy was it great! The size of it is the most striking feature. You could literally make a fist around it and it would be completely covered. The transfer of music to the player was very simple and musicmatch wasn't a problem at all to use. The headphones that came with the model did their job without much fuss. My only two gripes that I had with the player was that there was a barely audible whine when it was playing songs, especially on WMA formatted songs, and the joystick control button kept getting knocked into when I was excercizing, thereby fast-forwarding and skipping tracks unexpectedly. All in all, I was very impressed and satisfied with the player, until it broke. Three months after I bought it (just past the 90 day store warranty at circuit city) the volume button got stuck on the up position, constantly maxing out the volume. This annoyed me to no end, so I sent the player back to Thomson (RCA's parent-company) in February... Four months later in the middle of June, I got a refund for the damn thing. Finally! I can't say I'm completely peeved though, things could have turned out much worse. So anyway, if you're still reading this be warned: You get what you pay for, so spend a little extra on another sturdier model and save yourself several months of disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: good when it works
Review: sound quality is good, and if you don't mind using musicmatch as the ONLY option to load files, you're fine.
However, I have had to delete and reload songs up to 3 times because my player skips through some parts of the songs in fast forward. Tech support is of no help whatsoever - claimed they never heard of the problem.
Rating:
Summary: Almost a great player
Review: This is my second RCA Lyra MP3 player. Unfortunately, I liked my previous player better than this one (I forgot the model # of my previous player). I had no problems with the sound, setup or downloading of music. My biggest complaint is the layout of the MP3 player. It is almost impossible to use the navigation buttons while excercising or moving. It gets much worse when you fit the MP3 player in the plastic holder for your belt loop. I returned the unit b/c it was too painful to use!!
Rating:
Summary: It's A ... Pet Rock
Review: I really wanted to love this product (and Consumer Reports and PC Magazine said I would). I returned the first one the day after I bought it. I had clipped it to my waistband as I shot some baskets and went for a jog. I was very pleased with it, until I got home and unclipped it from my waistband. It was still playing but the display had burned out. So I returned it and got another one. I had it out twice, under similar conditions, but this time I wore it around my neck with the supplied lanyard. Then the thing just quit completely. No power, no nothing. (Yes, I tried replacing the batteries.) Given their apparently serious quality control problems, plus the chintzy plastic cover/beltclip and the [weak] headphones (I used another pair), not to mention all the aforementioned software issues, I'd say curb your desire (or at least know the return policy) before you plunk down your hard-earned [money]. Man was I disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: Just bought it for my wife
Review: With a firmware upgrade, you can drag and drop MP3 files directly into the flash - and get rid of the Musicmatch software. Plugging the unit into the PC gets it recognized as a removable hard drive.
Rating:
Summary: poor docs
Review: great product but like all software and upgradeable hardware get the latest upgrades from web site. you dont need to use music match. drag files right into your drive that shows in (my computer) when you plug it to your pc. they will run in their native format.you can use any conversion software to convert between the supported media. you can use as a small hard drive by dragging and dropping.
if you drag and drop your songs they will transfer faster.
fm radio quality is fine.Yep great product poor docs.
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