Rating: 
Summary: Rio Volt seems good, so far...
Review: I just got this yesterday, but i really like it so far. I immediatly upgraded to version 2, so I dont know any of the problems with the earlier versions, and I like it as of now. I really like the fact that I can fit 15 albums onto a single cd. This is going to be a big help when I travel. One thing I noticed was that the battery level didn't work. I don't know whether it is a mechanical problem or a problem with the firmware. I did notice that someone else had this problem with their unit. Other than that, I am happy with this product.
Rating:
Summary: Fine product, but not for joggers...
Review: Don't get me wrong--this is a cool machine, and it does all the things it promises. If you're looking for a good (perhaps, the best) CD/MP3 hybrid, then go with this one. However, if you are buying a CD player to jog or run with, stay the heck away from the RIO Volt. Most CD players have decent shock protection, but not this machine. Yes, it has 120-second shock protection, but you have to stand still for half a minute to get two minutes of skip-free play. Unless that's the way you exercise--stand 30 seconds, run two minutes, stand another 30 seconds, run two minutes--then the RIO Volt isn't for you. Seriously. I returned mine, because I need a portable player that will go jogging with me.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Music Accessory I Have Ever Owned
Review: I just received this for my birthday and I have been very impressed. I looked at MP3 players for a while and could not decide on the best memory/$ ratio, since there are from 32MB all the way up to 12GB, some with plugable cards. This solution is ideal since you get 650 MB per CD and obviously they are swapable. So as soon as I got it, I went to my computer and selected two entire Phish concerts (usually about 3 hours a piece), an MMW concert and another CD and burned them all to one CD. The reporoduction of each track was excellent and each track title scrolled across the display as it was playing. (You must name the tracks specifically for this to work, but I have been methodical in storing my MP3s since I started collecting.) When the CD first starts, there appears to be some delay during initialization. This lasts about 10 seconds. Subsequently, the next/prev track response is immediate, as is skip forward/back within the same track. The unit itself has the basic navigational buttons, Volume (buttons, not fial) track repeat mode (there are several and I have not figured them all out yet ) , program, plus an equalizer button which switches between presets for Normal, Rock, Jazz and Ultra Bass. It also has a hold switch which disables all buttons, but conveniently, it does not disable the buttons on the remote which has its own hold switch. There is also a navigation button but I have not figured out how it works yet, There is a headphone output, a line output and 4.5V DC power supply input on the side. Underneath there is an Electronic Shock Protection switch to select between 40 and 10 seconds, the former presumably consuming less battery power. I think this switch only applies to regular CDs (not MP3s) since the MP3 shock protection is much longer. The remote, (which plugs in between the unit and your headphones, has the same stop/start, pause, prev and next buttons, also has the equalizer and volume control buttons, plus a nice little clip on the back. The performance of the MP3 player is sort of interesting. It buffers what it needs and then stops spinning. My rough estimate is that it spins every 2.5 minutes for 20 seconds. I assume this preserves battery life by eliminating redundant spinning. The unit also comes with a leatherlike holding pack (which this consumer will not be wearing) and an AC power supply, as well as several pieces of software which I have not opened yet. I think the potential of MP3 CD players is awesome ( I am sure high end stack stereo systems will have this capability soon) and this is a good showing of the technology. I think I can now burn every album of each of my favorite bands onto just a couple of CDs. For example, Phish's Hampton Comes Alive, a six CD live set will now fit onto one CD. And yes, I realize there is degradation in sound quality, but I hardly notice it. I have also started burning all available CD material of bands I like onto one CD, so for example, all of MMW's CDs will fit on one MP3 CD. Another excellent feature is the upgradeable ROM. You simply go to the RioVolt web site, download the latest (as of this writing it is 2.01) file, burn it to a CD and place the CD in the player and press play. Upgrades offer enhancements such as improved caching, shorter wait times between tracks and increase the sampling rate on MP3s. I should also point out that the player also supports Windows Media format. Compared to MP3, this may seem trivial, but I have found that I am able to download and save ASF and WMA streams which I can then burn to CD and listen to on my Rio. (eYada archives for example). I am not sure if ASF are supported directly, but renaming them to WMA files makes the play fine. Burn away and enjoy !
Rating: 
Summary: Some fatal flaws
Review: All in all I really like the player, and it's trying hard to fill a void that Sony has left open for too long. But I must say I have discovered something about it which makes it MUCH less useful to me. In order for the player to recognize and play mp3 files, those files must have the ".mp3" suffix. I have a huge backlog of backup discs full of mp3's, some appended .mp3, many not. I would have to manually add the .mp3 suffix to all those files, and reburn the discs, just to get the player to recognize my files. Too much work. I'm returning it, and waiting to see if they upgrade the firmware to just see my mp3's.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't beleve those stars.Do not buy it.
Review: How can it be good if it skips like crazy? You can just gently walk with it and it will skip. What's the point of making a portable player that needs to be put on the desk to be listened to. I don't know who wrote those positive reviews, had to be the insiders.I brought mine back the same day I baught it. Later I purchased a Phillips, which doesn't skip at all. I would 've given it 0 stars, if Amazon.com had this option
Rating:
Summary: This Rocks
Review: People are saying that this mp3 player skips so much, It skipped once on my half a mile trip of walking with it in a pouch beating against my legs and the ESP was set on ten seconds. The reviews all say that the headphones arent worth anything but yet, I tested them against a friends high-end headphones on another cd player and these worked better. I agree that 15 hours for batteries is a little short but I'm mostly using this with the adapter so it isnt that much of a problem. How are you supposed to use that dumb carrying case? The remote is an awesome feature but I keep having it fall off of my pouch I bought for my rio volt, or it will turn upside down and I will take the track back instead of foward but that's probably just me. The loading time is at the slowest I've had it 15 seconds, but I do have this on shuffle and on a regular cd player it takes a few seconds for shuffle. I had some problems when I first got the player but that was before I upgraded it, and then everything worked Right. This is a Great mp3 player that I would recommend anyone buy.
Rating:
Summary: buy it
Review: this player is very good well worth it, you wont be mad
Rating:
Summary: The best thing since cassette tapes.........
Review: You got it. This muscic lovers device has it all. From the makers of PC hardware(Diamond), they really did an outstanding job in engineering. Having upgradeable firmware makes this divine electronic being separates it from the wannabe's. Despite the supposed downfalls of other reviews, the ear buds are really not that bad. As for the carrying case, it would be nice to stow the phones and remote in it. Don't look for the power switch like I did out of the box(or that sealed for your protection impossible to get into plastic). It don't got none. You depress the center of that D-pad to power up. To turn off, simply press the stop symbol on the D-pad and it shuts off after around 10 seconds or pop the hood. The latest firmware has lots of enhancements such as faster loading time. I think this is the best MP3 device on the market right now. What would top it is the 6 gigabyte player that cost 500 bucks. But who wants to upload all that music anyway? This is no disappointment. Thank you Diamond Multimedia.
Rating:
Summary: Firmware update v2.0 fixes MAJOR shortcomming
Review: IF you're thinking of buying a player WITHOUT the ability to upgrade it's firmware save your money. Prior to the Riovolt I had a Phillips Expanium 103 - played beautifully but lacked some essential features - ID3 tag display, EQ settings, and fast forward of MP3s. The Riovolt doesn't suffer from these lacks thanks to the latest release of their firmware. I'm sure others will like the additional features of v2.0, but the ability to FF through a 45min MP3 book file is THE feature for audio book enthusiasts. Also, it seems that the recently added resume feature actually will place you back to your stopping place WITHIN the MP3. The only lack for ME now is that the display contains too little info in that the track title etc. scrolls across the single display line slowly and too few characters are displayed initially, in NAVI mode it takes forever to search through 200 MP3s to find a song if the important differentiating info isn't in the first 12 characters!!! A multiline display with a wrap option so that a single listing continues on the second line (3rd line too if you could kill that damn dancer.) Bottom end is I love it till something better comes along, but that would take MAJOR changes at this point. I will say that out of the box my player contained a defect; the battery level indicator does not work, but I'm willing to live with that rather than have to go back to Best Buy and exchange it. I'd rather BLEED than go to Best Buy if I could avoid it.
Rating:
Summary: Great Mp3 Player!
Review: Purchased this player last week from Amazon and love it. Initial load time is only 5 to 10 seconds for a full CD, and load time between tracks is about one second on random shuffle! Love the random feature, can randomize full CD or within a folder, looks great and never skips. I use it in my car, the car adapter is not included and about $45 so they get you in the greens for that. But overall I really like the product and feel it's the best choice out there today for a portable mp3 player.
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