Rating: 
Summary: XP Problems.
Review: I had the usual battery problems with the unit. Rio kept telling me that I didn't need to replace the battery charger. I'd about given up on the unit when I upgrade my desktop to Windows XP. Well, the fun was just getting started. Now I couldn't upload music at all. I had to work with three or four different programs (Rio Audio Manager, Windows Media Player, RealOne and some other off the shelf MP3 manager.) WMA files wouldn't play or spun through the player locking up the machine. MP3s were somewhat better but I was getting glitches and squeals.A couple of e-mails to RIO support proved that they hadn't a clue as to what was wrong. So I paid the shipping fee and they send me another unit. Same problem. By now, I was using an older machine running ME to upload files with no problems. (Other than a small hard drive that necessitated deleting files after uploading them making it a real pain in the you-know-what.) This was all sent to Rio Support who denies that there is any problem at all. I contacted Microsoft to see if they had any issues. Well, of course they did. The drivers are not supported in XP and Rio knows that because they've already got a beta driver up for the new Riot, which, apparently is having the same problems with XP that I'm (not according to Rio) having with the 800. (There is some issue with USB uploads that MS is aware of.) The Riot driver won't work with the 800. So I will make do with my 800 which is the LAST thing I will ever buy from these folks.
Rating: 
Summary: sobicblue 8000
Review: this is a awsome mp3 player. its a great choice for mac ppl and pc alike
Rating:
Summary: A few minor things, but a great player
Review: The battery calibration is a bit annoying, but it easily accomplished again if you mess up if you let the battery drain and recalibrate (it tells you to do this when you first charge it. If you do not allow for a full charge the player will get confused, and think "full" is whenever you stopped the charge. Just let it charge all the way up and repeat the calibration next time if this happens. My only other complaints about this player is the fact that it did not come out of the box with a charged battery (I had to wait an excruciating 5 hours to use it the day I bought it!) The software shipped with it is very out of date, and confuses you by asking you to uninstall the newer stuff you have. Very nice that it will work with Windows Media, so you don't have to worry about losing any proprietary software. I have Windows XP and it works great, despite the fact that the box doesn't specify XP compatibility. Display is also hard to read at times, headphones really [are bad]. Great player overall once you get everything setup and buy new headphones. Very compact and a great case comes wih it with a belt clip.
Rating:
Summary: I Gambled On It....And Lost
Review: I read all of the reviews and knew that most of them complained about the product breaking right after being put into use. I figured that I would try my luck, since it does have 120MB and it's not as [costly] as other MP3 players with comperable memory. When I received it I was relieved that it worked...for 2 days. Then it just shut down and would not turn on. Nothing would help it, so I had to return it.
Rating:
Summary: Piece of junk
Review: 1.Charged the battery for 5-6 hours.
2.Loaded my MP3 files without any problem.
3.Upgraded the firmware to make it Audible ready (to be able to listen to Audible.com audio books). My mp3 files on the unit got corrupted. I don't know if this is related to the firmware upgrade.
4.eMailed SonicBlue and Audible tech support. SonicBlue reacted as if it was a new problem and wanted more details (OK...no problem).
5. Deleted all content from the unit.
6. Loaded my Audible books without any problem.
7. Listened to my Audio books OK during the next 1-2 days OK.
9. Unit stopped working the next day....tried recharging to no avail.
10. returned it to the store and got my money back.
Rating:
Summary: Piece of [junk]. Plain and simple.
Review: I don't have the money for an iPod or other real MP3/WMA player, so I settled on the Rio800. Big mistake. I followed the directions to the letter. I calibrated the battery and fully charged it up before using the player. I then opt'd (thank God) to use Windows Media Player 8 to manage the transfers instead of the supplied software. That part when fine. Playing the songs was another issue. At 128kbps, there was popping, scratching, and a sound I can only describe as a hiccup on 25/30 songs loaded. On other songs the player would just stop in the middle of one song and skip to the next. Other times it would simply "crash" or freeze up. The remedy was to switch the power off and remove the battery pack then reattach it. Charming. Giving the Rio the benefit of the doubt, I thought maybe my MP3s were corrupt or got horked on the transfer. So, I made fresh new MP3s from CDs at 160kbps. Same issues as before but worse. Some songs were unplayable and the unit kept freezing up. ok, fine. I figured I'd try WMA format. Yeah right. at 96kbps (WMA), the Rio just choked. I could not play ANY song without it freezing, let alone skipping tracks, popping/hiccup noises. Contacting SONICblue was a joke. They told me that I was doing something wrong and the player was properly working. Ok, so skipping, hiccup/popping, and locking up is considered "working properly?" I think not. The only thing good about is the player is that it looks great, and the buttons/menus are easy to access and use. The battery life per charge is much better than I had expected. However, all those good points are moot considering that the POS unit doesn't work correctly and "support" from SONICblue is atrociously horrible. When a product gets 2 stars out of 5, then something has to be true. If you have any doubts about the legitimacy of these reviews, then buy this product. You'll be humbled that you didn't take the warnings before throwing your money away on this digital music "player." Please keep in mind that I use the term "player" loosely.
Rating:
Summary: From someone with the a clue...
Review: I've got no problems with this player whatsoever in terms of sound quality, and reliability. Bass-Boost is important if you want quality sound as opposed to the crashy treble tone you get from other players. (However, it's still an MP3 player and sound can always be better based on what bitrate you use for you're files). One thing that separates me from people who have problems with this player is that I READ THE INSTRUCTIONS thoroughly. Another thing is that the one I received came pre-packaged with the new power adapter, so I knew the one I have should have all prior bugs fixed from older shipments of the same model. The reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is because the software had a slight learning curve, as opposed to my bro's Nomad 2 MG, or my cousin's Hard Drive Jukebox where managing and transferring mp3's is easy. My suggestion is to use the Jukebox software that came with the CD. But aside from that, using this product is a breeze. I personally like the physical layout of the Rio 800 because it's light and all the buttons are easily accessible. Other models I've looked at have functions not worth mentioning; such as radio tuners who's reception is so bad you're better off saving yourself the couple of bucks to buy a nice lunch. My suggestion to all those with problems is return their players and get a new one with updated hardware instead of going out on a limb to pay another hundred something dollars for a different model. Unless you're rich and don't mind throwing hundreds of dollars away when I am telling you I have no problems!
Rating:
Summary: This product and company are horrible
Review: I bought this player and worked for about 3 months. Then it just stopped playing the audio all together. I sent it back to SONICblue to get it fixed and instead of sending the player back to me, they sent me a frickin' power adapter! Their support is absolutely horrible and I will never buy a product from them again. I suggest you do the same.
Rating:
Summary: battery problems not fixed; customer support is awful
Review: I have spent the last several months trying to get a working Rio 800 128 meg unit. I am on my FIFTH defective unit, all exhibiting the same battery charging problems already documented here (charges up to 11 hours, then dies after about an hour or less). Do NOT give SonicBlue your money! I heartily recommend the Apple iPod if you are looking for a superb MP3 player (and it's got a 5 or 10 GB hard drive as well) and much better customer support. I am thoroughly disgusted with SonicBlue. They refuse to refund my money, too, in spite of the fact that I'm on the fifth non-working unit.
Rating:
Summary: One of the worst pieces of electronics I've ever bought
Review: This is absolutely one of the worst pieces of electronics I've ever bought. First, the software that comes with it is absolutely terrible, and the company that makes the software has gone out of business. Second, the player typically breaks within 2-3 days. I've read a number of other reviews, and based on my own experience with the product, you get about two decent days out of it. When you have to return it (when, not if) there is no customer service number to call, and the emails that you send typically don't get answered for 2-3 weeks. My first Rio 800 broke back in Nov-01, and it took unitl Apr-02 for them to finally ship me a new one. This new one broke within a week, and I have now started the ...process of replacing it. ... Based on the level of customer service and product quality I've seen in the Rio 800, I would also be wary of buying other SonicBlue products.
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