Rating: 
Summary: The coolest CD player I have owned
Review: A friend pointed me to the RioVolt series for MP3 playback, I got a lot more with the SP250. The display on this player is very cool, I use the remote that came with it a lot, the carry case is great, I have no complaints. I wasn't sure if I would use the FM tuner very much, but that has also been a great feature to have, highly recommend!
Rating:
Summary: Premier MP3 Player for Audiophiles!
Review: My 250 finally arrived, after two weeks of waiting, and it is pimp! It is ultra flexible, the playback is crisp and loud, and the FM radio isn't an afterthought- it's awesome! Don't buy a 90 or 100, you MUST spend the extra buck and get the 250.Notice how the only critical comments about the 250 are ppl saying it is just a downgraded iRiver? Forget them. This player has ALL the bells and whistles. I would give it 6 stars if I could!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Product
Review: I just have to write this review to say that this thing is probably the most amazing piece of electronics I have ever bought. I just got it and have already figured out most of it's plethora of features. I am not usually one to buy the model with all the features, but every feature on this thing is totally usefull. Rio really thought of everything with this unit. The sound quality is awesome. The EQ adds a great edge. Navigation through folders and files is so easy-I figured out how to navigate in about 10 minutes. The only drawback is that when you browse through files it reads the filename instead of the id3 tag, but so far I have had no problem with id3 recognition. The coolest feature is that you can be listening to a CD, take it out, put another CD in, then put that first CD back in and it remembers where you were! The remote control is great-you can do almost everything that you can do with the buttons on the unit. You can even customize what some of the buttons on the remote do. As other reviews have stated, it does not get excellent FM reception. It is usually a matter of sitting it in the right position/direction. If you are deciding between this and the SP100, this unit is definately worth the extra 30 bucks. The display in itself is worth the extra money-it is so much better that the display on the SP100. The navigation seems to be much better too. Overall, the unit is totally intuitive. This is a really well designed product. You can use the AA rechargable batteries that it comes with, or a pair of regular Alkalines. I have the Kenwood in-dash mp/cd player in my car, which I loved until I got this thing. Now I realize how a CD/mp3 player is supposed to function. This player is everything that my in-dash player is not. There are so many features, and you can customize just about anything within reason.
I've never written one of these review, but just wanted to emphasize how happy I am with this product. I'd say buy one if you're thinking about it. Hope this helps.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent quality everything.
Review: I love this cd player. I will try to hit some of the highlights and a few lowlights. SKIP: it does skip a little but i have noticed only when playing audio cds. i also was using 45 second esp (there is an option) so this may have had something to do with it. QUALITY: It is pretty well made. The case is really nice. The remote seems a little cheap, i hope this isnt a problem in the future. FEAUTRES: All the features are awesome. There are so many. Upgradable firmware also guarantees these features will be always the best they can be. Rechargeable batteries? genius. MANUAL: The manual is pretty good. The one thing i was disappointed with was the lack of instructions about charging the batteries. HEADPHONES: Good thought to include headphones and earphones, however, I noticed neither fit real well and I noticed with my sony head and ear phones that the sound is louder and better quality. ESP: Great. Like I said earlier, only minor skipping while walking briskly listening to audio cds, not mp3 cd's. PRICE: Great!! Since it does include the rechargeable batts and a case, and 2 headphones, the price is justified. DISPLAY: the display is awesome too. backlit with adjustable contract, and scrolling speed. REMOTE: Like I said earlier, a little light weight and cheap feeling, also, I dont think the button layout is very intuitive.
OVERALL: The cd player rocks! I love it!
Rating:
Summary: MP3 Players Eat Your Heart Out
Review: This revolutionary product is state of the art technology. (...) It took me a while to open the package, but the product was brand new and stylish. It plays mp3 and wma files easily without problems and it has 8 minutes of shock protection that blows the comp away. Throw in an fm digital tuner, software, a carrying case, earphones, earplugs, a remote control, LCD display screen, an AC adapter and Over 20hrs of music playback with rechargeable batteries that last over 15 hours and you got yourself a steal. The only other thing I wish this product came with was the LCD remote control instead of the standard. I just got mine yesterday and am still testing it out. All in all I say this is a great product and an investment.
NEW YORK CITY FOR LIFE Holla!!!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Great product, but still room for improvement
Review: This player is awesome in terms of decoder and sound quality. It can read some VBR songs that my previous Philips could not handle. There is no skipping. I love its huge buffer, which means it will only spin the CD for a few seconds to read in a song, and then play it from memory. Now to where Rio could have done a little better: (1) User manual: The manual, which comes as a 35 page PDF document, is a let down. E.g. it does not explain how to recharge the batteries. It spends 15 pages describing in excruciating detail how to set the 20-some functions and for each of the functions, it repeats how the 4 navigation buttons work. However, it fails to explain the *meaning* of many of them. And that leaves it to you, the user, to experiment around and find out what the options really do.
(2) The unit operates 5 shuffle modes, but only 2 of them make sense. There is for instance a "shuffle 1" mode, which keeps shuffling the same single song. This is really the same functionality as their "repeat 1" function, and makes no sense in the shuffle menu.
(3) VBR bitrate display: Most of my MP3s are VBRs (variable bitrate encodings). Many people including myself believe that VBR gives you a much better quality / size ratio. Unlike the popular Winamp software, the Rio does not display the average bit rate of the song. This should be a piece of cake to calculate though, since the unit already knows the length of the song and the file size.
(4) The "eq/+10" button. Two functions put on the same button that better should not be together. If I want to get to the equalizer and do not press the button long enough, I find myself all of a sudden skip 10 songs (the "+10" feature).
(5) radio reception quality: The quality is good at mono, but at stereo it just does not measure up to my little Sony FM/Cassette walkman.
(6) radio presets: It has 20 presets. In my town there are only 8 stations that I like though. Unfortunately, the firmware does not let me eliminate the remaining 12 presets, such that when I cycle through the presets, I have to skip over 12 dead stations. Well, I did not mean to bad mouth this unit. It is probably still the best portable MP3/CD player out there. Among all the rave reviews, I just wanted to point out some of what I think are weak spots. Fortunately, the firmware is upgradable, and hopefully they will at some point have a fix for some of the above issues out there...
Rating:
Summary: It's pretty slick-it, ya gotta try it!
Review: I'd like to start off mentioning that I didn't mean to make the title rhyme, but it just came out that way... This player is great. I didn't even use the instruction guide and already I know how to customize almost all of the functions it performs. The LCD is clear and utilizes the small amount space well. The back light works great and contrast is adjustable. If you plan on using this primarily as an MP3 CD player then walking while listening to the player is amazing because the player truly doesn't skip. I've had it skip on normal CDs only. The player comes with rechargables that recharge right in the player. Just plug the player in and set it to charge. The player is also able to discharge and recharge the batteries too, thus elongating the life of your rechargable batteries. You should try this player out- or atleast convince a friend to buy it so you can "borrow" it.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad Rio!
Review: Well, I have finally received my SP250 and so far it is functioning as stated, playlist choices, Equilizer, fast forward, rewind, very little if any time between MP3's. Okay, well you have probably read the specs...
The only things I am having a problem with are...
1) battery meter fluctuates between 0, full, half full, I'll just have to wait for it to die I guess and keep extra batteries in my pocket
2) the connector for the headphones (on the unit) seems not too solid, if I push the cable a little the quality of the sound changes quite a bit. A little annoying.
3) that was the hardest box I've ever had to open on something I bought, blister packed with thick plastic, it took time to even cut through the thing with scissors and I kept worrying I'd cut myself.
4) nice belt case but I keep worrying if the zipper would come undone and drop the thing on the floor.
5) buttons were not intuitive but once I looked at the manual it was fine As for good stuff,
very readable LCD panel
count down option for time remaining in song
option to turn off annoying beeps
Rating:
Summary: Best of the 4 MP3 CD players that I bought
Review: I purchased 4 different MP3 playing CD players and this one was the best one by far. I tried to go cheap with the others, but this one was well worth the money (You may be able to shop around at other e-tailers for a better price -- hint hint). This model has backlighting. This is great, because I use it at night a lot. It also has a wired remote (also acts as an extension for your headphones). I use this at the gym so I can put the unit on the floor, and it won't skip at all. Other people might put it in their backpack and just keep the wired remote outside their backpack for easy access. It only takes two AA batteries and it comes with two rechargeable ones! This is excellent. This is one of the main reasons I purchased this model. This by itself is worth upgrading from the RioVolt SP100. This model also has an excellent LCD display. It has a much higher resolution than the other RioVolts and the best display of all the models I have tried. Most others only fit 8 characters or so on a line with LCD characters that resemble an alarm clock. This one uses a nice dot matrix display. It also has excellent ID3 tag (MP3 artist and track information) support. Navigation through the folders is easier than any other unit that I purchased. Oh yeah -- don't forget the FM tuner! The reception isn't that great, but it works! But then again, why would you need it if you can fit 10+ hours worth of music on one CD? One thing I don't understand is why the wired remote does not have an LCD display like the SP100. I also wish it came with "street-style" (around the back) headphones. It came with ear-bud phones and foldable over-the-top phones that stunk. I ended up buying some nice Sony sport street-style headphones to use at the gym. My Other purchases (these are all units that I returned): My first purchase was a Philips model that I could not get to work at all. I returned it the same day. My second purchase was the lowest end Rio - the SP90. The display stinks. It is tiny. Half of the display is used to show people dancing - for what reason, I do not know. There is no backlighting, so it is impossible to change tracks on a CD with 170+ songs on it at night. This one also skipped a lot. I returned this after one week. My third purchase was an RCA model. This one skipped a lot and would jump tracks for no reason. It took 4 AA batteries that it went through in half a week. I returned this after one week.
Rating:
Summary: Finally ... an Mp3 cd player that works ... and how!!!
Review: This player is the most awesome piece of equipment so far developed in the world of mp3 cd players ... as I talk I`m listening to a great track .. Dark soho - depth of emotion, at full volume, and I`m just going nuts .. for all the goa heads out there :) anyways getting back to the review .. This player looks great, sounds incredible, and recognizes every single .. and that means EVERY ONE OF THEM .... MP3 CD I throw at it ... tht means about 50 mp3 cd`s Ive tried on it so far. Another thing, it even beats any portable cd player in the department of playing just cd`s, it is just so incredibly feature full and has such an incredible display that even if it were simply a standalone cd player, I`d still buy it .. yes, it is that good!! Its EQ settings allow one to adjust the sound, and the presets for the EQ setting are excellent. The 8 minute shock protection really does work, which means that with heavy jerking on a treadmill for 20 minutes, IT DID NOT SKIP EVEN ONCE. Its also got a lot of other neat features, and the FM tuner can keep u company in case U run out and forget to carry a CD. The best part though is that this player has the best display I have seen so far. Its also ridiculously easy to navigate, unlike most other mp3 cd players for which you need a doctorate to navigate across songs. The firmware upgradeability, which is a feature shared by the SP 100 and the AVC Soul is also supposedly a cool feature. I haven`t needed to use it yet, but am sure it will be very useful once I actually do. Now, I have in the past owned the MPfit (the worst of the lot), the Pine D-music 200C +, the philips expanium, and the genica tavaura ....
of those, the only one tht comes close is the Pine, but even that is not nearly as good .. This player truly does set a new standard for MP3 cd players. So, if you`re willing to spend the extra cash, choose this over the SP 100 and the AVC Soul
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