Rio Forge 256 MB Sport MP3 Player

Rating:
Summary: Poor Quality
Review: Despite reading all the reviews on poor quality, I still purchased the Rio forge. I have owned a Rio mp3 player in some form since they first came to market. I felt it was a good purchase based on my good experiences with their products in the past.

However, almost a day after the warranty ending the player died. The replacement from Rio would be more than just buying a new one. When the Forge was working, it has various problems from shutting off when it hit a deleted song to not starting up at all until you pulled the battery.

It is not worth the money when there are so many alternatives out there. It has cool features, but features doesn't mean a thing if the product will not last past 3 months.




Rating:
Summary: Flash memory doesn't work
Review: Great player for mp3s, but the FM tuner is worthless because you can't get any stations and the sound quality is poor.

I also trashed 2 512mb sd cards trying to upgrade the memory.

Called Rio support last June and told them. They said they would get back to me, and that there was a problem with memory cards and this unit. Still have not gotten back to me and it is January 2005 as of this writing.

Don't buy this unit unless you are looking for an MP3 flash player ONLY and are willing to accept the limited memory that ships with the unit. You can't expect sd cards to work.

I like the ease of use and the advantages of flash memory, also the arm band, which allows me to run with it and not have to worry about damaging a hard drive.

Rating:
Summary: Okay purchase if no memory card added
Review: I bought the Rio Forge specifically for the gym and because of its FM Tuner. My gym has television sets up with an FM tuner so you can hear the audio side. However, the tuner has NEVER worked at the gym and I can only get one regular radio station to work inside the building.

Also after adding a 512MB memory card to the RIO, I have had non-stop problems with the RIO shutting off at the start-up. Rio's customer service has been quick in responding to my emails, but their suggestions haven't worked. It seems like I need to reformat my RIO every week, and also need to change batteries every week to "trick" the RIO into working.

The RIO did work fine before the memory card was added, but if it is going to be advertised with an expandable memory slot, it should work when used.

It's been a lot of hassle since I bought it, and I'm regretting my choice of MP3 players. I would stay away from this product until something more stable comes out.

Rating:
Summary: Defective product
Review: I bought this player as a gift for my husband for xmas. After 1 week of use, the darn thing won't even power up. No lights, no display, no nothing!!! It seems that other reviewers of this product have had the same problem too. Looks like this is a known problem, see Document 5823 under support options at http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/rioaudio/ Unfortunately because I did my xmas shopping too early I cannot return this product because the last refund date has already passed. Going to try my hand with the warranty...and looks like it's only a 90 day warranty at that...which is almost passed as well. I don't recommend this purchase at all. It's a waste of money.

Rating:
Summary: better than reviews say
Review: i got this product for this past Chirtsmas...I am just a high school kid, and I needed something great to workout in, and run with. This product is the ebst thing I have. I am obsessed with it. Everything about it is great. The Rio Music Manager program organizes the songs in a completley understandable way. It is easy to use the product, i have had no problems at all. I am not very experienced with things like these, but i feel like a pro using it.
PROS...
--small (not bulky liek other MP3 players)
--great for working out (stopwatch is great)
--easy to figure out
--great sound quality
--very nice look about it
--easily upgradable to 1 Gig

CONS...
--waste of batteyr (8 hours) i wish it was like 20 hrs. or something but what can i do?
--headphones...the headphones it comes with are horrible (BUY NEW ONES!!!)
--claims to hold 120 songs at 256 MB, but i have 58 songs and i need to upgrade....:(

other than a few cons, this is a great MP3 player ofr anyone...unless you want to listen to thousands of songs, which nobody actually does, this is a great product to get!

Rating:
Summary: A TOTAL WASTE OF YOUR MONEY
Review: I received the forge 256 mb for christmas, and I was at first excited about using the player. The design is sleek and modern, and the player seemed to abound with many useful features.

Setting it up, I found it easy to use, with a very intuitive interface and setup. It was able to easily integrate with a 1 GB sd memory card I bought, and I was able to successfully fill it up to its maximum capacity.

Unfortunately, success was only temporary. The radio tuner is completely useless. The unit was not able to pick up the strongest station in my area, and I live in a major metropolitan area. As such, the fm record feature is completely worthless. The whole player is made of a cheap plastic, the chrome ring being only cosmetic. The player will load songs fine. But when actual use is attempted, the slightest bump will cause the player to shut down. Booting up again, the rio logo dislays, only for the unit to shut down again. Apparently it has something to do with the battery compartment design. It's slightly to large, and a little plastic piece on the positive end prevents a proper connection. It gets stuck in a shut-down mode, and an internal settings-saving battery will keep it in this mode, even if the AAA battery is removed. The stopwatch is okay, but the small buttons make it difficult to use.

The shortcomings of this product are a result of the physical design of the hardware itself. No patch, firmware upgrade, or settings change will ever fix these flaws. Within a few weeks, the Rio Forge 256 mb will be reduced to paperweight, though it could possibly find use as A FREAKING HOCKEY PUCK! I am very disapointed in Rio, and will tell anyone to stay as far away from this product as they possibly can. I am hoping that I can return it, but I've already wasted at least $60 bucks on a sd card I have no use for.

If you're looking for flash-based players, there are plenty of others on the market. Unforunately, the Rios are the only prominent ones I can find with an sd expansion slot. Maybe another player, like the cali or chiba would work. I haven't tried those, but I can tell you that iriver has an excellent line of products. I've boughten both an Ihp-140 hard-drive player and one of their mp3-cd players. Both of these function flawlessly. Their flash-based players are more compact, although they do not have expanasion slots. Ultimately, if 128, 256, or 512 mb is enough for you, go with the iriver (or wait and see what the flash-based ipod is like). If you need more and still still need the shock-resistance of a completely solid-state device, go with an alternative rio model. (Just be sure to read the reviews BEFORE YOU BUY OR START USING.) If I had read the other reviews, I would have returned the Rio Forge before I even opened the box.

Rating:
Summary: Please save your money.. ZERO stars!
Review: I should have read the reviews before I got this.. I exchanged my Xmas gift for this one, and it has already stopped working; only after 6 weeks. I used to love this product, but the Rio Forge 256 has recenlty disappointed me along with their customer "support"
As an daily runner, I thought this "rugged design" would last... I haven't even dropped this... but it stopped working. I am completely outraged at a company which would put out an expensive product knowing it will stop working. I am in the process of trying to return it... however, I applied for a mail in rebate; so I have no UPC code. Maybe the BBB can help me out.

angry in NJ...

Rating:
Summary: Good while it worked..
Review: Like another Rio I owned, this thing broke down within two weeks. The sound and design are pretty impressive and the unit is quite stylish and comfortable to hold and operate while running. I don't use the FM tuner so the apparent inadequacies in that department don't matter to me. However, after I left the Rio in my car overnight during a sub-zero spell here in Chicago, the thing will no longer turn on. Thankfully this happened while I can still return the stupid thing. Do not buy Rios! When I had my 128mp unit I did try calling customer service and after getting the complete runaround and no help I threw the unit away.

Rating:
Summary: Simply doesn't work after first download
Review: This player completely froze while loading music. After that it wouldn't even power on. I couldn't get anyone at technical service. I am returning this piece of garbage. I have never been so displeased with an electronic product in my life. I urge you all to stay away.



Rating:
Summary: Negatives outweigh the Positives
Review: This was my second MP3 player, yet I am ready for my third. At first I thought this was better then the Creative Labs Nomad II, that I had. It has more memory, better arm band, and the sound is pretty good. Yet after a month of using it I now see the negatives outweigh the positives. The FM radio is alright. I live close to town and the radio would still cut in and out as I turn my body or move my arm. The software would not let me place the songs in the order that I want them to be. It has arrow icons to move up or down, yet it would not let me highlight a song and move it around. Perhaps I am using it wrong, yet there is no trouble shoot guide that states what I am doing wrong. The top problem that I noticed is that if I bump it in the gym or even tap it, the player will shut off and restart. So I exchanged it for another one and it did the same thing with a light tap. I am so disappointed with this, because it should have been much better then the Nomad II. I give this 2 stars and I am being generous.