Rating: 
Summary: A fantastic player.
Review: All the RioVolts in the SP line (90, 100, 250) are great. I have the 100. It's anti-skip is wondefully good. I almost never am able to get mine to skip, especially when playing mp3's. It's built well, has a great shape for holding in your hand, and sounds great, too..I really don't see the purpose in getting the 250 unless you're absolutely sure the stations you'd be listening to will come in clear on it. You'd likely be better off buying a seperate little radio that would deffinately get better reception and cost you 1/4 of the price difference between the 90 and the 250. And the fact that the 250 is firmware upgradable and the 90 is not is not a big deal either; my 100 is upgradable, too, but it was fine before I upgraded it! In any case, any of these RioVolts will make you happy to own one.
Rating: 
Summary: lasts 2 months
Review: Actually, Im not an electronics fan, and I don't know too much about electronics, but I saw this ...and bought it mainly because it had the most skip protection of all the cd players [I found]. I brought it home, tried it out.... nevermind jogging, it skipped when i simply walked with it! But I kept it, since I could still listen to it lifting weights. It worked great at the gym for 2 months, then suddenly stopped working. A[n expensive]purchase that only works for 2 months? Give me a break. That's rediculous. ...
Rating:
Summary: Great Product
Review: I have had this player for a year now with no problems. It works and sounds great. The headphones it comes with are fair and diminish the sound of the player. I use Koss Sportapro's and it sounds great. It plays all my mp3's including VBR. I am very pleased with this product.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best MP3/CD players out there!
Review: I believe SonicBlue has discontinued this item in favor of their new SP350 version which has a sleeker look; however, I did read some reviews about that one and the SP350 seems to have buggy firmware. The SP250, which I bought a year ago, has always worked from the first night I took it home. I upgraded to the most recent firmware (v. 2.05 I think) and with the new options, I absolutely love this music player. My SP250 came with 2 headphones, rechargeable 1600mAh NiMH batteries, AC/DC adapter, remote, and leather case. I paid $$$ for it (early 2002), but I would assume if you can find this player at a store, the price would be lower today. I like to use earbuds generally since I wear eye glasses and over-head-headphones irritate. Thus, the best earbuds are Sennheizer MX400 or MX500 - get these! I also like my music to have "meaningful" base so I suggest turning up the base on the customizable equalizers with the Sennheizers. Together, this will make the music sound incredibly high-end, "rich," and "deep." The FM tuner has OK reception. I think because your earphone cord IS the antenna, that may have some effect on the reception. Perhaps you have to extend your cord a certain way to improve reception - I have not experimented too much with this though. I typically listen only to MP3s and CDs on this device, though its nice to have the option to switch over to NPR. The menu system has a somewhat high learning curve, but after a few days fooling around with the options, it is fairly easy to navigate. The options are tab-driven and organized fairly well. You can change just about everything: backlight settings, shuffle/repeat modes, intro modes, treble and base, skip protection, fade in (which fades in the song on startup), song title scrolling, intro banner, memory (which remembers the place in the song you were last listening to when you stop) and a host of other things. The remote is so useful. In fact, I always have the main unit on "hold" and strictly use the remote control. The buttons on the unit can be pressed easily which can drain your batteries but if the main unit is on "hold", its buttons do not function yet it still allows the remote control to work. The remote has its own separate "hold" button. I just purchased the LCD remote from SonicBlue and I can't wait to get that! In conclusion, I suggest buying the SP250 if you can find it in stores. It may not be the thinnest portable and although it is black and gray in color and not the sleek-looking silver like the SP350), the firmware on this model works wonderfully.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible Customer Service and Less than Average Product
Review: Learn from me and buy someone else's product because their customer service is horrible if you encounter any problems!
The company customer service representative informed me that they are undergoing an acquisition and cannot currently fill orders for their products. I have been waiting for my carry case, which I ordered over 3 months ago, and still have not received it. They told me on 4 occasions that the case was shipping the next day but I haven't gotten it. Now, they tell me that it is on back order again (when the last time they told me they would overnight it the next day) and I will have to wait another month or more, and they refuse to allow me to cancel the order to obtain a refund of my money. Oh yeah, if you're still crazy enough to consider buying this or any other Rio product, the player is of less than average quality, very poorly built, and very poor performing. For example, the battery cover comes open with the slightest touch and although marketed as skip-free it does skip with even minor bumping when I am walking with it in my briefcase. Do yourself a favor and buy another player!
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but I'm worried....
Review: I bought this product in July for my birthday. I was so exited to recieve it. The player is very nice, however, like a lot of other reviews that are posted, it has weak radio reception and it isn't very durable. I however, have not come across a problem with it in the nine months thay I have owned it (probably because I hate radio). One time I did drop it without the case (KEEP IT IN THE CASE!! TRUST ME!!) and the top fell off. I was able to get it back on. It worked fine after that. Also, though, it sometimes doesn't read all of my MP3 or WMA files. It's probably the disc. Over all, I can't really complain about much. The battery life is alright. I just put it to charge while I sleep so I don't have to worry about it. I did, however, find out that the product doesn't do too well on battery life when you play CD's. I don't play them because why should I? I bought this for MP3s. It defiantly satisfies me for that purpose. I did find that when I walk or jog that it does skip for some strange reason. It's only a minor problem, though. The headphones that it came with are terrible but it sounds great with a nice pair. Also, the features are very easy to use and nicely customisable.
I'm also worried that it may break. I treat it nicely and it treats me nicely back. Listen, people. You get what you pay for. I got a nice player. I would have prefered a 20 Gigabyte hardrive player over this because of the storage capacity. However, it was $ at the time, so I settled with this.
In short, this player is okay. Don't buy it for a CD player, though. And be careful. Always keep it in the case. That is what it's there for.
Rating:
Summary: Muy buen Reproductor de CD/MP3
Review: Tengo aproximadamente 1 año con este aparato y hasta el momento su desempeño ha sido excelente. Cosas que podrian mejorar: Alargar el tiempo de funcionamiento con baterias(aunque son recargables, pero no te duran lo que dicen los fabricantes), la fidelidad con que se escuchan las emisoras en la radio no es muy buena (aunque he probado otras marcas con esta funcionalidad y en todos pasa lo mismo). Las cosas buenas que tiene son muchas: Puedes crear cd's con los archivos mp3 almacenados en Directorios y el reproductor te permite navegar por estos y si quieres solamente tocar los temas contenidos en un directorio, o mezclarlos con el modo random, o crear listas de reproducción dinamicas, tambien te reconoce tambien listas que hayas grabado desde tu pc al cd, varios modos de ecualización, iluminación de la pantalla, apagado automatico, el estuche de protección, y un sinnumero de etc... De verdad para mi ha sido una muy buena compra, y lo recomiendo
Rating:
Summary: Could have been good... IF it ever Worked
Review: Yeah i used to have one, i bought it and it came broken, it wouldn't load up any type of cd, the radio worked fine, and that helped me in what way?? I got an RMA from SonicBlue, guess what, more than six months and i still haven't gotten my replacement. At this point I don't even want it any more, any company that authorizes a return and then never sends back its replacement, should be ignored by anyone, BEWARE OF SONICBLUE their customer service is awful If you don't believe me try calling them and you'll see
Rating:
Summary: A Great MP3 Player
Review: This was the first MP3 player I ever had. It has everything. You can hold the remote control right in your hand while you listen. The FM tuner has excellent reception so you can listen to your favorite radio station. You can use it while your running and it won't skip. You can use it during the day and recharge the rechargable batteries at night and have enough energy for 15 hours. I suggest you buy your own headphones because after wearing them for a while they start to hurt your ears. You can scroll through your music easily using the remote control. You can preset the bass and treble. There is a shuffle feature which is very impressive. I suggest this product to anyone who listens to MP3s. You can use it in your car and you don't have to install a new stereo, just buy an adapter. It may be a little expensive, but its worth it. If it every breaks you can return it to Sonic Blue for a new one using your warrenty. This is a great MP3 player.
Rating:
Summary: Not exactly what you would think...
Review: First of all, this player is a very good deal overall. It worked fine for me for about 8 months, but I don't recommend this for heavy use. This player sounds great, works flawlessly, and is very easy to operate(for a few months). The first problem I discovered was that the screws that held the metal piecs that contained the LCD screens and buttons to the cover fell out. The plastic that they were screwed into broke one by one until I had to glue the metal piece to the cover. This became very annoying and I was upset that something that I spent a lot of money on could disappoint me. The second problem is that even with the very long 8-minute shock protection, it still skipped if you were running or even walking. I wanted something that I could put in my pocket and forget about, but this player demanded that I hold it flat and steady while it played. The third problem was what really made me mad. On every portable cd player there is a little pin that pushes a button when the cover is closed to keep the cd from running while the cover is open. While I was taking out the CD, it clipped the pin and it broke off like it was glass. The final problem came about when I dropped it. I know that was my fault, but I have dropped CD players before and not seen such a devastating effect. The cover broke off, things flew, and little pieces of plastic were everywhere. While almost all of the problems were my fault I expected more out of a piece of equiptment that doesn't come very cheap. The RioVolt has what it takes technically, but I wouldn't ever associate the word "dependable" with this product. It'd work great at a desk or next to a bed, but be careful how hard you push the buttons, and if you take it somewhere, build it an airbag. Go for a regular mp3 player- the ones that cost the same as this hold more somgs, dont skip, and are probably less work to maintain.
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