This metallic gray Rio 500 stores up to two hours of digital-quality music and up to 32 hours of spoken audio programs. Rio 500 is also the first portable digital-audio player to support both the Macintosh (iMac and G3) and Windows 9X platforms. Access thousands of music and audio files at RioPort.com and over 16,000 hours of Audible.com audio programs. Instantly create, customize, and mix your favorite music and audio selections on your PC or Mac for playback. This lightweight unit plays skip-free music, as there are no moving parts. It's the perfect companion for active people on the go.
The Rio 500 contains an updated hardware design featuring easily accessible controls and a backlit display that shows song/book title, artist, time, and more. And it uses just a single AA battery for up to 13 hours of continuous play.
1 not bad..
I've had this MP3 player since probably year 2000 and it STILL works surprisingly. Four years and it still works! I had a few problems...when I upgraded my PC to Windows XP. The drivers didn't support it so I had to search around and finally found RealOne had the Rio500 support. Well it being year 2004...there's iPods and these MP3 players that hold 5000 songs while this holds maximum 20. Well back then it was cool.
2 More Rio support for XP users
This is a durable little MP3 player. I have had mine for about 4 years and it's still going strong. I also had the issue of the software not working with XP. Rio audio products are now owned by Digital Networks, but there is little to no help at all on their website for the Rio 500. Anyway, that is my only complaint. There is a great website called Rioworld.org that has several different freeware programs available that will let your Rio 500 work with XP. There is also a couple of recovery files in case you get a gray checkerboard screen (problem that can occur if there is a power failure during upload of a song).
3 Rio 500 and Windows XP
To the person who can't transfer music to their Rio 500 under Windows XP, check out Sveta Portable Audio from http://www.dbpoweramp.com/. I've been using it since I got a new PC with XP installed and it works great, much simpler interface compared to the supplied Rio software.
4 Good player, terrible company
The player is great, small, light and easy to use. You must either use a Mac (works great with iTunes), the Riositude program (freeware, google for it)or win98. I use mine whenever Im outside:running, yardwork whatever. You'll need to replace the earbuds but if you buy a used one do you really want to use someone else's earbuds? The serial number will rub off so write it down as another reviewer suggested.
Also, if you buy a used one, make sure you get the USB cable. It's proprietary and you can't get it anywhere. (Refer to rio support coments below.)
Customer support at rio (or sonic blue or whatever they call themselves this week) is a joke. I will not buy another product of any type from them ever.
5 Excellent product Works with xp (need to download diff prog
This product is excellent!! i have one for 3 years and have never been happier. When i upgraded to xp the softwear dis not work! so i did a bit of research. there is a program called music jukebox which you can download at www.musicex.com/mediajukebox/ you download this program and then you go to settings/plug in manager and then handheld. it takes you o a site where you find the rio 500 and then download the plug-in. after that it works great!! i have not had a problem with it since!! I hope this helps all the other people who have upgraded to windows xp and found themselves stuck
Thanks!!!
6 Bummed out
I used to love my rio 500, but now i can't seem to find any help with new software that is compatable with my new computer and XP. Rioport.com is aparently out of bus. and i have been misdirected several times. If anyone has any useful information for my I would be extremly happy. as for now i don't have anyway to change my music on my rio.
7 Great player, shiffy support
The Rio 500 was way before its time. It has 64 MB of onboard memory. It plays well and only takes one AA battery since it has no moving parts. That's the good part. Well....
The problem lies in the fact that the manufacturer has dropped the ball on customer support. I have upgraded to Windows XP, just as most people have. Rio refuses to put out software which enables you to connect your Rio 500 to your computer via USB port if you have Windows XP. I have tried many solutions, including those found at Rio user sites, trying to come up with an answer to this. The outcome: the same songs are on the player for over a year. In other words: YOU CANNOT PLACE MUSIC ON THE 500 IF YOU HAVE WINDOWS XP. Unbelieveable....next...
8 Good player but doesn't support WMA
Nice MP3 player.
Don't get it if you want to play WMAs and it doesn't support generic drivers and isn't supported by Windows XP (something I found out AFTER I upgraded my PC to XP)
9 don't bother
it's an ok MP3. it did it's job while it worked. The software is [is not good], and it could use a cradle or at least let it recharge via USB. Anyway the #1 reason why not to buy this product: NO customer support. It broke after a year, and the company wouldn't reply to any emails for help. Never again will I purchase a product from them.
10 All you need is some software
... It is definitely worth its keep, especially when you are able to add a 128MB SmartMedia card. Here's what you need to know for upgrading your player before you irrationally take it apart and use it as a paper weight:
1.) If you upgraded or have Win2000/XP, upgrade your firmware to 2.16, the latest one...
2.) Also, upgrade your driver...
3.) Get rid of RioPort Audio Manager and RealPlayer RealOne...
4.) Get yourself a 128MB SmartMedia card...
Now everyone should be giving positive reviews for this product...
11 And Oldie but a Goodie
I still prefer my Rio 500 and have yet to "upgrade" to any of the newer MP3 players. It is light, smaller than a deck of cards and easy to use. I used it primarily to listen to Audible (audio books) while commuting and it has been flawless [with the exception that one time it refused to boot up properly, with a checkerboard screen]. A quick search at Rio's website (rioworld.org) revealed a recovery utility, which I ran and recovered my Rio's firmware. Whew!
12 A benchmark, other manufacturers should take note
This is a discontinued model but still reigns supreme. Ergonomically very little could be improved. It fits the hand perfectly. Not too big, not too small. It has an easily read backlit lcd display. The controls are easily reached and intuitive to use. There is a bookmark button on the side for audiobooks and long spoken word programming. The bookmark feature is not to be overlooked. I own a WinPod as well and it's worthless for audiobooks (no Audible support yet) because there is no way to bookmark. An amazing oversight by Apple and other brands. The Rio 500 is an officially supported player for Audible content. It has an expansion slot for more memory. There's a lot of aftermarket software available for the Rio 500. My favorite is RIOsitude 3.12. It serves as an interface to transfer content to the Rio 500. Very stable, clean and easy to use. The build quality is high. It has a look and feel not commonly found in this type of device. The only shortcoming is memory type and limited amount of memory it can use. This is the only reason I don't rate this product a five. The latest firmware update unofficially supports the internal 64 MB's and an expansion card of 128 for a total of 192. Not bad but I wish they had used Compact Flash. Currently Compact Flash cards support up to one GB I believe but there are 4 GB cards in the works. I have two Rio 500's. Both have survived drops, moisture and vibration. The soundquality is excellent. Lots of features including a nice equalizer. Bottom line is that I can unconditionally recommend this player assuming 192 MB's is enough.
13 Don't buy it
In less then a year after I bought this it already broke. A simple tap to it and it will turn off and back on. This makes it useless, if I am able to get it on at all. RIO provided no customer support, a bad and outdated product.
14 Excellent small mp3 player
I picked up one of these players used... It has worked flawlessly for me. I use it when I go running. It is very light, has no moving parts so it won't skip, and can handle getting sweat on a little. I didn't need a multiple GB storage player, I just wanted something small I could take out to work out, and this is perfect. With an expansion card, it can hold a couple hours of music, which is more than enough.
There is also support for it in Linux -- I got it, plugged it into my Linux box, and was off and running, very easy (the kernel module is in the 2.4.x series stock kernel, plus Hotplug for automagic USB support, and I have been playing with the graphical interface grio500, which can be found on SourceForge).
Overall, no complaints, I am very happy.
15 Rio 500 works great
I have had this product sitting on my bookshelf for over a year, never opened. I finally got a wild hair to try and see what it was about and have been pleasantly surprised. I never thought I would use a MP3 player, but now I am hooked.
In the time my unit sat on the shelf Diamond was bought out by SonicBlue...making for some issues, but easily resolved.
First, the software included with the unit only works on Win9X...of course I have already upgraded to WinXP and Win2K. I thought this was going to be a major problem, but a quick Google search found me a driver for Win2k/WinXP and a great software package called Riostude. Installed both of those and in about 10 minutes I had loaded the player up with a few MP3s and was happily listening to my tunes.
The problems I ran into were easily resolved, the unit works great and the only complaint from me is that I gave away my 128MB SmartMedia card so I need to buy a new one.
If you need you can find the drivers and software to work on Win2k/WinXP at http://www.rioworld.org/rio500.htm
16 Rio 500 Mp3 Player
Out of all the mp3 players that i've owned, this is by far my favorite. Its the perfect size and shape for taking everywhere b/c it slips in your pocket well unlike a lot of those funky designs i've seen. Its sturdy, i know because i've dropped it so much. The display is clear and backlit and it shows the title and all that stuff you want to know. The sound is pretty good, especially for it being so small. If you like a lot of songs, get another 128 expansion card and you can carry a lot. This is a very nice mp3 player.
17 Poor Firmware, Terrible Support
As far as MP3 players go, this one is quite disappointing.
It is indeed capable of playing .mp3 files, but that's where the product ceases to impress. Unlike many of it's competitors, this device uses an apparently proprietary memory format and USB interface; you have to use either RioPort's bloated software or a dodgy user-written workaround to load songs. What's more, the strange formatting means that if you expand the Rio 500 with a SmartMedia card and then move that card to another device, you'll have to reformat it and lose the data currently stored there.
Oh, and the bundled headphones are worthless. They fall apart after a few uses or even being carried in a pocket.
Quite frankly, I don't want or expect copyright enforcement in my media player. That's kind of like making a car that the owner can't get back out of, just in case they drive it into a restricted area.
Another design flaw may be found smack in the middle of the unit's back - the serial number sticker. The sticker is cheap and unprotected, which means your serial number and bar code rub off after carrying the device in your pocket a few times. Since one must have the serial number to download an updated version of the device's firmware or loading software, you would be well advised to write the number somewhere a little safer.
The last problem is compatability, and it's a big one. SonicBlue and RioPort have not seen fit to develop reliable driver software for Windows 2000 or XP. This means you'll need either a lot of luck or a Windows 95/98/ME machine to use your Rio 500.
I'll never buy another product with the Diamond, SonicBlue, or RioPort logo on it again. I advise you to do the same.
18 A cool and very practicle Mp3 player
Assuming you can find a Rio 500 for [less], here's what I have to say about it.
Rio 500 was the first (and almost only) Mp3 player I ever bought. I owned a Rio 500 for close to 2 years (until about a week ago, when I lost it on the bus). I bought my Rio 500 when it first came out, back in the days when it retailed for 300 big ones. It has certainly been worth every cent I spent on it. It's design is simplistic, compact and sleek. Even now, it would make a great Mp3 player. I've been delighted with it. I'll cover some various pros and cons below.
Pros:
- 64 megabytes is enough space to hold an album's worth of music (at 128 kbps)
- With it's USB interface, it is easy to replace and change mp3's quickly
- Supports every bitrate and variable bitrate known to man
- Supports universal SmartMedia cards (up to 128mb, maybe more)
- Runs on a single double A battery
Cons:
- It's software is very clumsy and difficult to use (strange, since the player itself is awesome)*
- The play time isn't extremely high - so if you use it heavily, like I did, you'll go through a lot of batteries
- As with all stock headphones, they can't be trusted - use a good pair of your own for best sound quality
* Concerning the Rio's software - there are some good third party alternatives. For the last year or so, I've been using a program called "Riostude" - I highly recommend using something like it instead.
Since I lost my Rio 500, I've ordered a Rio 800 128mb. I think the additional space, voice recorder and rechargeable battery look promising. Either way, I'll always be a Rio 500 fan.
Steve Keiser
19 Obsolete
Whatever you do, do not make the mistake of buying one of these units today (10/2002) unless you are an antique dealer and you get a REALLY good price.
I bought mine in April 2000 for around ...--worked great, good quality. I have not been able to get this unit to work with WinXP--I was using it with a Mac and SoundJam previously. An item as expensive as this with such a short technological life is shameful.
Sonic Blue appears to have disowned the Rio500. They claim to have a USB driver for XP but it doesn't work. Period.
Bottom Line: I am extremely disappointed by Sonic Blue's disregard for Rio500 customers. I am abandoning Sonic Blue/Rio products just as Sonic Blue/Rio has abandoned Rio500 owners.
Caveat Emptor!!
20 WARNING Rio Products
I've had this player for a couple years at least and that should tell you something it's old as of this writing. I actually have been very pleased with it's performance up until I had the misfortune of dealing with SonicBlue tech support.
First of all they split support between two sites right now ... so you can not get everything you need in one spot and have to look around. Firmware is on one site and software for the PC the other and there is no search function for downloads as of this writing on either site. This product is now considered "legacy" at SonicBlue even though as I write this there is a promotion going on through Amazon.com for brand new units. Scary right there.
So what's wrong with it? I had no problem with Win98, Me, and 2000. On XP there appears to be a support gap as their usb driver consistently hangs the ability to connect and disconnect properly and prevents the system itself from shutting down properly (thats right the whole system). Now I may yet fix this if I don't just eBay it but it's a pain in the Yahoo! Secondly I recently did the upgrade to the latest version of the firmware and now the unit is only playing some songs while skipping others. No file format problems etc I've done tests on that I think it may be track ID tag incompatibility which brings me to the final point here. I haven't had input from SonicBlue yet.
I have contacted support 3 times and have yet to get a reply other than the canned ham "we have received your message" thing. SonicBlue is one of the worst companies that fall into the sacrifice support quality for the bottom line category I've seen. I mean most companies do it and I understand why but these guys are really bad. I am the kind of guy that would prefer to use self help stuff and fix problems myself and that's what I do 95% of the time. Trying to find solutions, drivers, and firmware with these guys if far below par compared to that which I have seen elsewhere. It's not like its a shrinky dink outfit either check out their web page, they are intentionally negelecting it to save money.
So bottom line if you aren't keen on fixing things yourself well then Rio/SonicBlue might not be the brand for you because even if you are it's harder than it should be. The number one issue at this point is support. I'm having to discern it from thier self help and the self help and tech support in general are very scarce and hard to come by. Their tech support and customer service are so bad I would recommend another vendor altogether at least for the time being anyways.
When it used to function properly it was cool though.
21 Poor product, horrible customer service
I received a Rio 500 as part of a promotion... It worked reasonably well for a couple months; however, even during the time that it worked there were several annoyances--it didn't allow use of all of audible.com's functionality, the buttons were cheap and difficult to use (they were either too stiff or too sensitive); and the carrying case was horrible and clearly thrown together without much thought.
A few months later, while downloading to the unit, the batteries died, which apparently kills the machine. I cannot turn it back on for the life of me. Sonic Blue's support is awful (basically not-existent). Ironically (or stupidly), I replaced it with another Sonic Blue product--the Rio 600 because it is one of the few MP3 players that work with audible.com. The Rio 600 still works, but I would discourage anyone from buying that unit also.
22 A good player for beginniners
I bought my mp3 player over 2 years ago. After changing jobs I didn't have access to usb and I stopped thinking about it. I just got a new computer and, after jumping through all the hoops to upgrade the softwear, it is finally working. Now I read those other reviews that talk about how it stops after a few days. Mayybe that will happen to me. I,however, only download cds to my RIO and used softwear reccommended by the company.
I can do my kickbox warm up with it on and plan to bike with it attached to my helmut. Would I get the 400? Maybe,but I think my next plan is for the really big one.
23 It sounded too good to be true, and it was
The fact that this device is made to load on windows 95/98 and not XP must have been written in small print, because I didn't see it. As I was completing the order the Amazon window popped up saying people who ordered this unit also ordered smart cards and among those offered was a 128 mb card I figured, hey more music, so I added one to my order. When I got the unit the blurb on the side of the box said you could expand it to 96mb no more. It makes no difference since the software won't load anyway. Thanx Amazon I have a nice little...paper weight.
24 Great MP3 player but problems
Back Back Back when I broght the rio 500 it was the best of the best. It was like whoa I can download any song in the world and take it with me every where more like 20 songs. 3 years later I accidently downloaded a corruped MP3 and put it on my rio. I tryed to delete it but it just stayed on. So i downloaded the software to fotmatt the whole thing and upgraded the OS. When I was done boom. It had a black screen everytime I turned it on and would not stop. The only way was too download more software too get rid of the black screen. It worked. Then it came back. I ran the software again and It did not work again again and again. My computer froze everytime because once it restarted the rio it was waiting for a resonce. Because it did not work it never got a responce. So I ignored it thinking it will go away some day. I turned it on then it still had it. I contaced rio and then they said WE DO NOT SUPPORT THAT MP3 PLAYER ANY MORE. SO I never got it repired. Now took it apart and had fun torchering it. Now it is a beat up little electionic that does not work in my closet. I blame it on the Rio and the person [on line] that gave me the MP3.
25 Take THAT, RIAA!
So, I just bought this wee beastie via Amazon's used marketplace, and, right off the bat, I'm pretty happy. The price was right ...; it's worth the hunt), the size is right (bigger and thinner than a pager), and, hey, it holds an hour of music right out of the box! I have yet to see if the firmware update holds true; supposedly, I'll be able to pop a 64 meg flash card into my Rio and carry two hours around with me.
Pluses: no skipping. Good, strong sound. Took it to the gym this afternoon, and, for the first time in years, I didn't have to listen to disco when I worked out. The Rio stayed snug in my pocket, and I could lift in peace.
Minuses: included headphones are weak. Age. Lack of Win2K audio management software support (though I remedied this with a few ... searches. While RioPort or Real aren't all that interested in supporting their legacy products, there's a strong Open Source contingent that thinks the Rio 500 is the bee's knees. I downloaded RIOsitude, which works beautifully, so much so that I sent the creator a couple of bucks ...). Lack of AC adaptor jack, though that's ofset by the (supposed) long battery life. We'll see about that one.
All in all, I'm happy. I got just what I wanted for a decent price. How often can you say that when it comes to consumer electronics.
Update: after a week of working fine, my little Rio gave up the ghost. No clue. Might have been the firmware update, might have been gremlins. This definitely brings my score down a notch, though I'm now using a friend's Rio 500 (he upgraded to a player with a microdrive) and it's going okay. Caveat emptor.
26 Worthless if you run Windows 2000
I loved my Rio 500 until I loaded Windows 2000. From what I can tell, it is not compatible and SONICblue is not offering a fix. Now my beloved Rio 500 is worthless and I am not likely to buy another SONICblue product.
27 I'd give it no stars if I could.
This player worked great - for the first 12 days. After that, it would no longer load, no longer display information, and no longer play. Customer service is a joke. Three different reps sent the same repair files to download. Of course, none worked. In response for my plea for a return number (don't dare to return the item without a return number) I was sent different repair files to download. After considerable complaining on my part they agreed to let me send back the item. Six weeks later I called to ask about the status and was told they would send a replacement. It is now 3 months since I sent the player back, and still no replacement. Today I was told they will replace the unit with a Rio 600. Judging from the reviews of the 600, it looks like I'm in for more hassle ahead. To recap, if you want a player that will fail within a month, with "customer service" that responds only after you have convinced them you are not going away, and you have a couple hundred dollars you were just going to throw in the street anyway, this is your player.
28 Great Player - Poor Software
I've had mine for 2 years or more. It's been great but the software hasn't worked for over 2 years. There's some great freeware stuff you can download that works well and even some Linux loaders for it. The company is worthless, no help, no support, etc. While trying to upload the firmware upgrade mine died and I haven't been able to recover it. No help from the manufacturer and of course the warranty is well past It's a shame such a good product has such terrible support.
29 Reliable, easy to use, and great features
I have owned the Rio 500 for almost 2 years. It is all I hoped it would be and more! The software is very easy to use. I download MP3 songs from the Internet and it automatically adds them to my playlist. Transferring songs to the Rio is easy with the USB connection.
I use my player almost 7 days a week. I workout with it. The beltclip it comes with keeps it affixed even when I jog. I also use it at work. 1-AA battery lasts me almost a full week. I have dropped it many times, but the soft cover has protected it nicely. I am going to buy another one for my wife. I would recommend some different headphones, but that is it. Great product!
30 Not a long lasting product
I got this player about 2 years ago and i loved it when i bought it. however, i started having problems with it about six months later. the screen was suddenly going black and white checkered and when i emailed the company about this problem, they told me it happened often and not to worry, it would eventually go away. it did, but now the slightest touch turns the player off and on again. overall, the sound quality id good, but i'd buy a newer player with more memory.
31 Not a long lasting product
I got this player about 2 years ago and i loved it when i bought it. however, i started having problems with it about six months later. the screen was suddenly going black and white checkered and when i emailed the company about this problem, they told me it happened often and not to worry, it would eventually go away. it did, but now the slightest touch turns the player off and on again. overall, the sound quality id good, but i'd buy a newer player with more memory.
32 THE PRODUCT IS DECENT, SERVICE IS PATHETIC
First of all, the equipment itself is decent- I would have given it 4 stars. The sound is clear, the blue backlight is nice. However, the thing broke (for no explicable reason) just 9 days after one-year (right after the warranty expired) of moderate use. An MP3 player that sounds nice that NO LONGER works defeats the purpose of offering nice sound, right? Now I'm out $... only after a year. I recommend that if you ever buy an MP3 player, you should invest in an extended warranty of at least 2 years.
Here's my warning though. STAY AWAY FROM DIAMOND RIO (a/k/a Sonic Blue) because IF you ever need help or customer service, repair, etc. get ready to be on hold FOREVER. I would give the RIO company itself NO STARS. I was on hold for 30 minutes, never even spoke to a human, was transferred 3 times, and was ultimately informed by a recording that my call "could not be connected." I had to e-mail them and wait four days to get a not-so-helpful (generic) e-mail back from them. Nonetheless, I find myself looking to spend another $... for a replacement unit - and LORD KNOWS it will NOT be a RIO. Also, beware, Rio also makes NIKE'S MP3 Players.
33 Great Player, ... Software
The Rio 500 is a great MP3 player. It has all the features I wanted, pretty good battery life, and is a perfect size.
PROS:
-Basic, easy to use interface.
-Decent battery life, although not as long as the manufacturer claims.
CONS:
-I hate the software interface. It is slow, unstable and poorly designed. I suggest you use Windows Media Player instead to upload files to the device.
-As of firmware version 2.15 (availible from ftp://ftp.s3.com/pub/multimedia/rio/rio500_firmware_215.exe), the player only supports additional smartmedia cards of up to 64mb, to give it 128mb of total memory. Although this is a decent amount, 128mb smartmedia cards have gotten a lot cheaper....
-There is no Windows XP support with the included software. It will work with XP using 3rd party software, which, consequently, is better than the included software...
34 If you got windows, dont buy
This thing basically (is bad). The firewire option is great- if it worked half the time. I had to remove the drivers of the usb port, restart constantally, reinstall the program which transfers files, and half the time it still didnt work. And no i didnt just use one computer, we have 3 in my house. I returned it, got another one, same problems. The only way i got it to work is to use a horrible old version of the software which screwed up the names of songs so you have to guess on which one you are adding- big waste of money.
35 GREAT PLAYER
I owned a Rio 600 and it broke. I got two replacements and they broke too. Then I traded it for the Rio 500. I have had no problems with it. It is a great player and very reliable. One other think I like is the 64MB of memory. I bought another 64Mb card and memory is dirt cheap, much unlike the rip-off 600 backpacks.
The thing never skips and is ok with batteries. Not the best but... If your looking for a great player stop right here. This rocks and I like it.
Some bad stuff it you have to pay for the full software and it likes batteries.
36 Solid
I've had this player for over a year now and all I can say is that it is extremely durable and a joy to listen to. (Bad) headphones out-of-the-box. Be sure to get a new pair. Also, the bundled software has bugs, so you're best bet is to download the latest version from (website). After putting up with these initial glitches, it has not given me any problems. It handles well during exercise as well. Overall, it's definitely worth the price.
37 Rio 500
This is a very well designed player. It shipped without instructions of any kind (from Audible) but they are available on the web.
Mine doesn't play MP3s well, they sound fuzzy and distorted. As I use mine primarily for audio books it's not a huge issue. If you get one, check it right away for playing quality. I didn't and they won't allow me to return it now.
My biggest complaint is it's sensativity. If I bump it, it resets to the beginning of the audio track or song. I don't know if their other products do this but this one is awful in that regard.
38 one of my best acheevments
if you get this item make sher you by an extra memery card/only holds 12 songs with out
39 Good for what its supposed to do
the rio 500, nearly impossible to get now, is one of the best rio mp3 players out since of its smartmedia card design, apart form the expensive memory backpacks for the rio 600 & 800. Not speicla about it, no extra features on it, just a simple mp3 player, but it plays mp3's well, very satisfied with the product...shouldn't have discontinued them. gets loud, usually mp3 players are bad in that area and batteries last twice as long as a cd player...looks good too
sincerely
BOB
40 Not great but better than most
Not the smallest or best built, but not that bad. I'm not disappointed. That is more than I can say for many MP3 players.
41 Looks like a brick, plays like a champ
I actually got this player free with an offer at audible. I had every intention of using my Pocket PC to play the books, but I ended up using this little guy more than I thought I would. At first glance, it seems far more bulky than it is. It slips easily into your pocket or similarly sized space making it perfect for travel. I use it almost everywhere now to listen to audiobooks: in the car, riding my bike, when I work out, etc.
One customer complained about the batteries, but the MP3 player takes maybe 1/4 the battery power used to operate a portable CD player. You only need one battery at a time and the battery display lets you know how much juice you have at all times. My only complaint is that the 64 megs of on-board memory isn't enough for music. It's more than enough for audiobooks however. I managed to fit the entire unabridged Black House by King and Straub on the little feller and listened to it the whole way through. Also, it has the ability to upgrade with memory cards, which I've yet to do.
I always thought MP3 players were a bit of a scam, especially with the high prices of some players, but after owning this one, I'll definitely upgrade when and if this little guy ever gives out.
42 Great, but not so good
I have a love hate relationship with this item. I love it when its playing I hate it because it takes 50 batteries a month to use it!!
43 Tiny!
This is one of the greatest things; the Rio 500 is teeny-tiny, which means you can fit it in any pocket easily. Some devices claim to be able to be carried in a pocket, but doing so would cause said pocket to tear and rip to shreds.
Also, 64MB is just built-in memory; you can add even more with the SmartCard module attached. Lotsa lotsa good music, and great for working out, cause it doesn't skip. Ever. Even tapes skip if you abuse the player hard enough, but solid-state electronics don't. :)
44 Great until !!
I was enjoying listening to books and occasionally music but mostly books. Suddenly it stopped and now it doesn't work at all. Put in new battery - no go. What do I do now?
45 Feature-rich and versatile MP3/audiobook player
I've had my Rio 500 for about 6 months now, and I've had absolutely no problems with the player. Battery life is about the same as my old Rio 300, but it's shorter if you use headphones with in-line volume control. I've upgraded it with a 64meg smartmedia card, and at 32k/sec bitrate I can have over 130 songs available. At 32k the sound quality is satisfactory and I'd rather have a large variety than CD-quality. The Rio 300 allowed a 24k bitrate but the lowest on the Rio 500 is 32k. The backlight, bookmarks and random play modes are also great features. I don't use the equalizer very often. I also listen to audiobooks from an online site, where I got my Rio 500. The sound quality is usually okay, but due to a slow modem I have to download the lowest available quality. The higher quality files are huge but would probably sound much better. The bookmarking feature on the Rio is great for audiobooks as it allows you to easily resume listening after an interruption. I do have two complaints about the Rio. One is the plastic carrying case which makes it difficult to use the side controls for bookmarking, volume, etc. But it is move convenient to just slide the clasp over my jeans pocket instead of putting it inside a pocket. Secondly, the RioPort software is very clunky when compared to MusicMatch Jukebox or WinAmp. But there are several replacements available at another online site, I usually use Riorio or Riositude. You can search for either name and find the software.
46 No dissapointment. The best sounding MP3 player
I had my rio 500 for 2 years now, and it served me well. I also bought one for my brother. The sound quality is better than other mp3 players. I actually compared it to the Rio 300 and the Rave MP220. The rio 500's sound processing was very near cd quality, and much much better sounding (even low quality mp3s sound great) than the other mp3 players I tested out.
If you want an mp3 player this one will not dissapoint.
But it is not a multitasking player (no voice recorder or fm radio like the Nomad) But still the sound quality, and ruggedness (I dropped my rio 500 countless times and the music never skipped, and the memory never ever corrupted), and the power stamina (one AA battery lasts me a More than 13 hours of continuous play). Other mp3 players drained the battery in a few hours, not 12 like they advertised.
The Rio 500 is an efficient, beautiful, strong, ergonomic, hi quality mp3 player.
That is why the price of it hasn't come down that much. The cheesy mp3 players' prices drop to bargain levels, while this one still stays up there.
Basically you get what you pay for. And this one does not dissapoint.
47 Long time user and lover!
Gosh, I think I've had my Rio 500 Diamond for over a year and a half... AWESOME. I'm gonna buy my first memory card tonight. Never really needed it. As long as you put songs 3 minutes or under, you can get quite a bit of music on it. Right now I have 14 tracks ranging from 6 minutes 1:25 (on average 3 min). I love it for running...small, light weight...unlike walkmans or portable CD players. The case is very protective (don't worry about dropping, it won't be phased) and has a clip which is very sturdy--holds in place even with loose running shorts while running! Turn off backlight to conserve battery (as with all electronics). I've never used the bookmark. Random feature is great for speeding up the download time (don't have to organize order to seperate songs by the same artist). Rio software is easy and fairly quick. CD quality sound as far as I'm concerned, only better cuz there's no skipping. Head phones are good, but I've found louder(not necessarily better). They thinly and conveniently wrap around your ear to stay on your head and leave your hair free. Nice style, compact size. If you plan on going on long trips and don't like listenting to the same songs over and over, a minidisk player is probably better. This was a gift from a person who did a lot of research at the time and said it was the best on the market. And by the way, Rio's were also the first!
48 Rio 500 mp3 Player
This mp3 player is by far one of the best on the market. I hav had it for about 2 months now and have had no trouble with it. It has many features that can be used easily even without using the manual if you just play around with it. The software it comes with is very easy to use and quick. The USB connection allows it to transfer songs at 4-5 seconds per song. However, I did have to adjust the software settings a little before I could start transferring. Although it does not have a FM tuner or Voice Recorder, I still find it very good compared to the Rio 600 and 800. You can use SmartMedia Cards to expand your memory instead of going through Rio to by the "Rio Backpacks" to expand the 600 and 800.
49 Love my rio 500!
I've had my rio 500 and I love it to bits! It goes everywhere I go, and is so easy to lose into my pocket. {That's a good thing, it fits!} It has 64 built in memory, which is great, and can take up to 2 more extrenal memory cards, which makes it greater. The only thing that makes it less valuable is that the external and internal memories are counted as seperate storage areas, meaning you can't have half a song on each one. This makes sense since you can easily remove the memory card at any given time.
This thing is also very durable. I've dropped it on rocks, cement, and even stepped on it and have never had any change in the playing quality. I have, however cracked the LCD while running and hitting the ground at 30mph, but I think anything would break like that.
This product also incudes a random mode, program list, and some other options to make the sound quality better. I strongly recommend the rio 500, it really beats the old CD players and other low-memory portable devices.
50 Sleek & [Nice]
Droped it Like A Walkman Numerous times Didn't phase the Rio at all The Sound is excellent A class by itself. I never got into anything new kept my LP's & Cassetes Skip the CD Revoultion.The rio 500 gave me vision. New is sometimes better!
51 A year later and still works perfectly
I bought my Rio 500 about a year ago, and I have greatly enjoyed this product. More importantly, I've had no problems with it, which amazes me since I've dropped it many times, gotten it wet several times (it even survived a nice fall into the ocean,) and I've downloaded/uploaded many songs with no glitches whatsoever. Overall, its a great product that I'd recommend to anyone. Only one complaint, though: playing time on an AA battery is nowhere near 11 hours (like they say,) its more like 5-7 hours.
52 Newest Firmware Upgrade Compatible With 128mg Ext. Cards
I won't rehash most of the comments hear except to say that I am generally pleased with this player. The sound is good, though it lacks some punch and detail, and it can be a little cranky about handling files consistently (skips or forgets bookmarks, etc.).
Mostly, I want to let folks know that the newest firmware upgrade (for free, available on the Rio website) allows the player to recognize 128 smartmedia cards. So currently I have 192 megs of music on my player! This alone makes this a very convenient player.
53 Good player, software.....?
Well, i must say that the player is very good...music quality is very good...The software [is not good], but you can use Realjukebox... Many people have complaints regarding the support. My rio broke down one day, for no raeson (checkerboard error, couldn't fix it with the patch...). I e-mailed for support and i explained my problem. 2 days later, i got a mail back saying that i could send my rio to them and they would replace it...3 weeks later i had my new player. I think that this is an example of very good support...
54 Quality Control Issues
I'm sure that this is a great product - if you can get the included software working (Rioport Manager.) I downloaded one song to the Rio, but now the app freezes whenever I try to connect.
The firmware update program is a joke - still says v1.04, even after supposedly upgrading to 1.15 I use several other USB devices with no problem, but not this one.
Diamond MM seems to have an overall quality control problem, even dating back to my Diamond Stealth video card from 1993 - it worked okay, but just try to get new drivers or tech support (same problems back then!)
Sorry for the negative review - but I'm looking for a different brand.
55 Best Mp3 player I had ever had!
Got my Rio 500 last week and so far I love it. It is a billon times better then the Rio 600. All of the Rio 600 I had which was 4 of them was broke never worked. But now I know that all of the Rio's that were made PMP300,PMP500,600,and 800 the PMP300 and PMP500 were the best because they have the mark "Diamond Multimidia" on them. But the Rio 600 and 800 don't have that on them. I guess that is the reason that the Rio 600 and 800 broke out of the box. But the Rio 500 is the best for me now. I got 128 MB with a 64 MB smart card. The card works great just put it in and format. A lot better than those backpacks that the Rio 600 and 800 takes. $100 Bucks for a 32 MB backpack! It's only $63.99 for a 64 MB card for the Rio 500. This is a lot better then the Rio 600 and 800. This is a great Mp3 Player!...
56 MiniDisk VS. MP3 (a better review)
If you look around you, the world is turning digital. Everything from your refridgerator to your bed will be somehow connected to the internet. CD's are already on their way out but now what? Well, since the world will be digital and not even need 'portable minidisks' than why go back to disks at all? If we can listen to music without replacing anything than why should we. What I'm saying is, the Rio is most likely one of the best and easiest MP3's to have. Minidisks are just going back to disks when we should be done with them already. Forget MiniDisks, they were old before they started. Get this MP3 player, it is great.
57 Hardware is good, but more supports are needed.
I just bought Rio 500 along with a HP9150i CDRW totalling $160 (incl. tax) in the promotion of CompuUSA. I found this player works well, but a few things need to be noted:
1. Buy a SONY earphone, don't use its own earphone, although it's "free". You will feel the difference. A lot of people has mentioned this. 2. Go to www.rioport.com to download the latest win98/Me/2k driver and Rioport Audio Manager software. You need these stuff to make it work under Windows2000. The system may ask for riousb.ini file. Just search under c: dirve, you may find it under c:\winnt\system32\drivers\. There are a few problems when I tried to install it under win2k. There should be no problems under win98. 3. Go to http://www.riohome.com/RioSupport.htm to update the firmware. It will fix a lot of problems. 4. It seems that the battery drains fast when I transfer files. Any experiences?
If the price is good, it is worth to have a try.
58 rio 500 is great
i got a rio 500 mp3 player for christmas and in just a few minutes i had it ready to put mp3 files on from my computer. it is really easy to use and to change files when you get bored with a song. the sound quality is usually cd quality (depending on the file you download). it also works better than a cd player in that it doesn't skip because there are no moving parts. finally, 64 megabytes fits as much as a cd would and you can also get a memory card for even more room (but are $50 to $100). even though it is more expensive than some others the rio 500 is worth the price.
59 Great MP3 player!!
I searched around for an awful long time trying to find the best MP3 player to buy, for the best price. The Rio 500 is hands down the best MP3 player I've ever seen. Sure, you can get a Nomad Jukebox if you want to listen to a lotta music at once, but this MP3 player can hold a lot. I thought 64 MB wouldn't be enough for the songs I wanted to take with me. I was wrong. I have 13 songs PLUS an Audible.com audio book store on just 64 MB of space. Considering the low price of this player, getting a 64 MB SmartMedia card is not so expensive. The size is perfect, the shape is perfect. I am kinda tired of these MP3 players that are silly shapes. I know that an MP3 player does not require a specific case shape, unlike a CD player or cassette player, but they could stick to a simple rectangle shape for once. If you are new to MP3 players and want a simple, effective player, get the Rio 500, it is da bomb!
60 Very Satisfied!
Overall, I'm extremely pleased with this device. I can keep about 15 very good quality songs on the player (64MB). This gives me about one hour of playing time. The "2 hours" of time as advertised would be close to achievable if I went through most audio files and re-recorded them at lower quality bitrates; that won't happen any time soon.
I use the Rio to work out, jog, and when my wife makes me wash dishes and clean house - definitely helps things go faster! It never skips, the sound quality is excellent, and the features on the player offer enough playback options. I bought some Sony miniature headphones (MDR-W08) instead of using the included ones.
The Rio software is relatively easy to use, although it could be more user friendly. USB transfers are fast and the software makes it easy to convert existing CDs to MP3 format.
I used Rio's rebate to buy my Rio 500 and received the check about three months later - I had heard rumors of problems with this process.
61 Great machine. Easy to use. Great sound.
Very well made unit. Great sound. Connects via USB cable to PC. Battery life is so-so. Good support from manufacturer. You can get firmware updates easily at their website. Comes with a "card", not a manual. But there is a good manual, and a printable version, at the RIO website. Provided headphones stink. You can get a NICE leather case from the Sonicblue website store. 64mb stores a lot of music. I added 64mb card, which are coming down nicely in price. I have two RIO500's, one for music, and one for my audio books. Decent headphone volume. Display with latest firmware is sometimes hard to read. If you pull the USB plug during download, or if download is interrupted, the RIO will lock up, good. BUT, Sonicblue tech support website does have program you can download for free that will fix it (usually). This happened to me, and the program worked fine!
Right now, I think it is good buy. The other RIO MP3 players use expensive memory "backpacks", or rechargable batteries (RIO800). I prefer alkalines. Regular rechargable AA batteries are not recommended for the 500.
I think it's a great unit. 5 stars easily!!
62 Great Product
This is a great product. When I first bought it, it was lacking several features I felt it needed to have in order to be a good product. Recently, I went to their website and upgraded both my software and my firmware. This update provided me with all the features I felt were lacking. The only thing it needs now is a better software interface to transfer songs to the device.
63 Save your money (and your time)
After spending several days tracking one of these down, I finally got it installed on my laptop. That's when the problems started. (1) My laptop routinely fails to recognize the USB connection. No better results on either of the two desktops I tried as well. (2) Customer service is a joke. You can stay on hold for hours while the company conducts departmental meetings or trains the morons that work there. (3) e-mail support results in an immediate automated response, but then it'll be 3-4 days before you get an actual response (I guess the "e" in e-mail stands for "eventually" --- have fun not using the thing while you wait for someone to help you. (4) The software is not very user-friendly, but then neither is the company.
While I enjoy hearing the initial music I loaded onto the unit, no one can seem to figure out how to obtain a relaible connection so I can change the tunes around. It works fine --- when it works. All in all you'd be better off spending your time and money elsewhere.
64 Nice player, bad everything else
No qualms about the player itself, but the Audio Manager program is very shaky depending on your system setup. Though I had the minimum requirements for running the prog, it flickered repetitively after clicking on the "Devices" button, and the Rio would stop responding after spending so much time fighting with the prog. Here's my basic setup for interested buyers:
HP Pavillion 8500 series Pentium 3 666 MHz proc. 64 meg RAM
You may wish to consult others who have similar computers and see how well the device runs on their system. My biggest problem with the Diamond RIO, and perhaps a problem that will ultimately lead me to averting all further products by this company, is their lack of technical support. I initially emailed them about the problem, and they replied with advice that I had already tried. Immediately after, I responded, explaining everything I had tried as well as the behaviour of the equipment. Two weeks later, I have still not recieved a response.
65 Great MP3 player; needs to support more memory
I got my player a few weeks ago and have had a great time with it. The sound quality is terrific and the controls are easy enough to use without referencing a manual. My only complaint is that I want the ability to use more memory. The unit ships with 64 meg (which is nice), but you can only add an additional 32 meg (using smartmedia card). While I am up to 96 meg, it's still not enough! I also downloaded a ROM patch to give the unit more usability and features. Now, waiting for ROM patch to allow access of greater memory levels. My suggestion to all who are thinking about the unit -- get one! You will not be disappointed.
66 MP3 is nice, but audible books make this a must-have!
What really sets this device apart is its support of the Audible file format, allowing you to download books. While I will occasionally listen to music on my Rio, I won't travel without it because of the ability to listen to books.
The standard 64 megs of RAM will accommodate more than 28 hours of books - meaning that you'll find the Rio a terrific companion on long trips. It has a slot for an additional compact flash card (the newer firmware upgrade will let you double your memory to 128 megs), but if you're using the Rio primarily for books you probably won't need the additional memory.
The device itself has a sturdy feel to it. It's light, about the dimensions of a credit card, and has a "lock" feature that lets you freeze out the controls (so an errant button push won't disrupt playback). Sound quality is excellent - on MP3s, you'll think you're listening to a CD.
Other reviewers rightly complain about the earphones - they're awful. I've already thrown mine out after less than a week of owning the unit. The connection would often produce static, and the foam covers over the earpieces fell off every time I took them out of my ears. Once I replaced the earphones, I haven't had a problem.
If you do get the Rio, I would recommend checking out Audible - their subscription deals give you a great way to regularly download books at a reasonable cost.
67 Great Product but Crappy Software
The RIO 500 is great for gym workouts, train listening, etc. It's small, light and sounds good enough for listening in an environment with ambient noise.
My biggest complaint is the RIOPort software. There is NO SIMPLE WAY to download songs directly to the device from a folder or CD ROM. Instead, you have to import the songs into a database and then create playlists. If you move songs from one subdirectory to another, you have to manually edit database entries for every song that you moved--a tedious and time-consuming process. If you re-add the songs to the database after the move, you get duplicate entries, only one of which is valid. However, you can't tell which entry is the valid one.
Another gripe--after paying this much money for an audio player, it seems wrong to have to shell out another $9.95 to unlock the software.
In short--great product once you get the songs loaded, but reaching that point is frustrating at times.
68 The Best Mp3 Player By Far
The Diamond Rio 500 has far surpassed my expectations in Mp3 players. Having only dealt with a lower-end 32MB player before (I will not mention it's name, it was that horrible) the 500 was a amazing upgrade. It's speed with downloading files is surprising. Giving it the biggest task I could, I filled it's memory will some well-sized songs, and it finished within 10 minutes. The sound is quite impressive, staying clear and beautiful. And, the volume control goes up to a loud setting without skyrocketing to ridiculous volumes that will blast your ears out. Hell, even as an extra plus it comes with in-your-ear headphones with ear-clips so they'll STAY IN PLACE. Go out, get the Diamond Rio 500, and be happy.
69 Best MP3 Player on the Market!
The quality of sound on the Rio 500 is amazing. I bought it and I loved it. All I have to say is that you slould buy it.
70 BY FAR THE BEST MP3 PLAYER ON THE MARKET
Before buying this product i did a lot of searching for the best one. After about 2 months of shopping and getting different oppinions I came to the choice of my RIO 500. I definately dont regret this choice at all. This Rio is VERY durable for i have dropped it many times and it never got a scratch. Many of my frends went out and bought MP3 players after they saw mine. A lot of them got different ones though and even after using theres the RIO 500 doesnt have ANY flaw. Some say that the software sucks. The only time i had a problem with it was when i tryed installing it on my friends 100mhz computer, a very old one. I have also heard many times on these reviews about the RIO just not working anymore. About six months after my purchase I had this problem but about 2 days later I realized that the battery juust came loose(probably from the falls) in the back i simply took and exacto knife and made the spring longer and it was fixed for good. The RIO is so small that I would carry it around with me almost wherever i went cause it was smaller than my wallet, so you never notice it. One day i realized i had left it at a movie theater and never got it back. To this day even after the RIO 600 and the upcoming RIO 800 i have been reading about I am still about to buy another RIO 500, even over the other highly acclamed MP3 player, the NOMAD II whcich i have used many times. SIMPLY THE RIO 500 is the best MP3 player on the market and i dont see any upcoming ones beating it.
71 I wish I had one in college!
When the Rio 300 first came out, I couldn't believe the freedom that I was buying myself. After years of relying on cassette tapes and endless times of rewinding to hear a song again or fast-forwarding past a song that I wanted to hear at the time of taping but changed my mind when I was on the road, I would finally have the random access that a CD gives you along with the flexibility to mix artists that a cassette has. Sure you could burn a CD, but then you're going to wind up with a bunch of CDs every time you want to add a new song to your traveling collection.
When I got a RIO 500, my musical freedom grew.
The Rio 500 has the ability to store up to 4+ hours of quality audio with the Rio's built in 64megs or an hour of high quality music. Adding an additional 64 megs doubles that capacity and will allow you also listen to 2+ hours of music at other times.
Battery life is quite decent. About 4+ hours of listening time before a change. And besides, since it only takes a singe AA battery, a spare in the pocket doesn't take up that much room. Battery life will depend on the volume you play your songs, if you use the backlight, etc..
Are MP3s CD quality? Only those recorded at 160kbps or greater. Unfortunately, MP3s at that setting will use up your ram within a few songs. I tend to aim for 128 or 96 bitrates. In a quiet room with no other background noise, if you're familiar with the piece, you'll be able to note the difference. If you take mass transit, are on a plane, on the road, or in the streets, you'll be pressed to hear the differences between a song encoded at 96 or 160.
Once you upgrade the firmware, you'll be able to control the equalizer, backlight options, and playlists. The firmware upgrade is available at the Diamond Rio site.
I also recommend you look into audible.com for audio books. Since the Rio 500 has the ability to save it's files to folders, you'll be able to have a folder with an audio book and have another one with music. I was never a fan of audiobooks, but I've been won over. Try it while commuting and you'll see what I mean.
The Rio software is quite weak when it comes to organizing your song library. I recommend Real Jukebox (the free version can categorize up to 1000 songs).
If your digital camera also accepts smartmedia, then you can share any extra memory you purchase between your camera and Rio.
A thing to note is that the RIO's internal memory and the external memory act as two independent recording mediums rather than a single seamless one. What this means is that you have to record tracks to the internal memory and to the external memory separately. If you happen to use Real Jukebox as your Rio interface, Real Jukebox will automatically flow the extra tracks to the external memory when you use up the internal memory. That's a great feature, but if you decide that you want to delete a track from the internal memory, tracks from the external memory are not shifted over. In essence, you need to treat each RAM module as an independent recording medium.
Things I don't like about the 500: 1) I don't like the case it came with. You can't control the volume or anything else that well though it. 2) The 500 has a spinning wheel to control the volume and some of the menu options. The 300 had no moving parts whatsoever. 3) Sometimes when you just want to rewind a section, you can easily jump strait to the beginning of a long passage instead. This can be quite annoying when you're listening to a long section on an audiobook. 4) The Rioport software should be more flexible. 5) I didn't like the headsets that it came with.
Get this and you'll be the envy of all those people who still use cassette tapes and bulky CD-Players. Besides, it's so cool!
72 Brillant
EXECALLANT many many options (after updating firmware) i don't know why people complain about sound it is PERFECT great quality.. although i do wish it had 96 megs o' memory it dosn't really matter.. the headpones it comes are dog-do but that dosn't matter. I do tend to find the usb transfers to lag a little but other than those it is absolutly brillant!! HIGHLY RECOMMENED
73 Rio Bravo
This player rocks! If you want a durable MP3 player you can't go wrong with the 500. I take oRIOn (cool name huh?) with me on bike rides. One time I was riding down a stretch of road and while replacing the batteries and it flew out of my hand and skidded down the pavement. I thought oRIOn was dead! Needless to say he was AOK (just a little scarred up).
PROs Tough as nails. Plenty of memory. Button layout. Volume level range. You can actually hear the music! USB.
CONs
Software - Can't delete multiple songs from the database with a single selection. Battery is a little tough to get to (see above).
The moral of the story? Don't replace and ride.
74 Best In Its Class!
The Rio 500 is still the best player in its class, and the cheapest, to boot! I took a long time to decide which player to buy, and I've never been anything but completely satisfied. The design is slick, the battery life is long, the screen is clear and backlit, the buttons are convenient, it has 64 megs expandable, and the USB port is great! It's true that the enclosed headphones, software, and carrying case are pure junk, but are easily replaced. (Use MusicMatch or Riorio to upload songs.) The firmware is upgradable, and version 2.15 now has more functions (like ID3 support) and more detailed functions, as well as a volume control up to 25 now. The one thing I do wish this player had, though, is an AC adapter. However, even without one, this player is still great and well worth your money!
75 Rio Customer Service
I just bought my rio in a bulk config from sonic blue. I had several questions concerning setup with the unit without a install disk. I emailed them saturday morning. James at riohome got back to me Tuesday morning and answered all of my questions. As for the software, it's nothing spectacular but it works. Media Jukebox and Music Match Jukebox have crashed my win98 system several times. All in all I'm impressed with service, the player and the software will work.
76 Except for headphones.... great for the price
I was going to say that the volume was so low at the highest setting of "20" that it wouldn't be a good buy. But fortunately I read some of the other reviewers here who spoke of the lousy headphones included. I tried some others I had handy and ---- low and behold, new improved volume! So.. Now I would only say that it was an incredibly dumb marketing more to bundle a quite decent mp3 player with beyond tacky headphones! 4 stars to the player, 3 stars to the software that wants to "get all over your drive and make things complicated" instead of just letting you transfer files directly over, and a "0" star (as in complete fizzle) on the headphones.
77 Great MP3 player - and a TRULY GREAT way to read audio books
I owned the first Rio PMP 300 and it was novel. It was enough to get me interested in a website called Audible.com (now a direct link from Amazon.com under the talking books section). To make a long story short, when the Rio 500 came out earlier in the year I simply had to own one. It holds up to 26 hours of audio for audio books. That means you can get up to 4 whole books in the unit at once! Unabridged books, if they are short. If you are a "books on tape" person, you should look at the Rio's Audible Manager software that comes with it and you should check out Audible.com's 14,000 titles (again, a direct link from Amazon.com's talking books). When I commute, I don't have to fumble with tapes and I can listen to my books. I can also have them on airplanes and in hotel rooms. About the size of a single cassette, this little jewel is sized for portability and travel needs. Don't overlook this potential benefit when shopping for MP3 players.
78 Perfect for audible books
I use my Rio for audible books, not MP3, but I must say it's fantastic. Amazon apparently doesn't carry it anymore but it was Amazon that sent me an email directing me to audible.com to buy it there. The unit was(...) [inexpensive] after rebate. The sound is wonderful because they included a free bonus cassette player adapter so I can listen in the car w/out headphones. The loud pops refered to in a previous review can only happen if the Rio is set at its highest volume and the cassette player at its lowest. A little common sense and patience is required when you buy any new gadget. The software included is very easy to use. The Rio 500 is easy to carry and use and the 64MB is upgradeable to 128 which is hardly necessary since the 64 holds about 30 hours of reading material. I thought it was a pretty sweet deal considering the price of the unit and now the ability to download audiobooks at a fraction of the price and no bulky tapes to lug around.
79 Diamond Rio 500 is great but software is so so
The Diamond Rio is fantastic in that it is easy to use, extremely small, and has tons of memory. The player itself is as great as all the reviews have said. The buttons on the player are simple...the player isn't jammed with a ton of buttons and options you don't need. When you press anything, an indiglo light illuminates the display so you can see. There is also a power bar on the display which lets you know how much battery power you have left.
The Koss headphones it comes with though are not very good...not the most comfortable things to loop around your ears.
The player is great but the software is not the best...it took me some time to figure out that you had to (within the Rio program) manually choose the device and set the software to work with the Rio Diamond 500 before you could send music from the USB port to the player. But now that I have figured out how to work the software correctly, I love the player.
For the price, it is definitely worth it compared to the competition.
80 The MP3 Player for the smart consumer
After 3 weeks with my Diamond Rio 500, all I can say is "Wow!" Diamond is known for their fabulous multimedia products, and this is just one more example of this. After trying a few different players, including the Rio 600, the 500 is the crown jewel of portable MP3 technology. There are only a few very minute downsides, all of which are fairly inconsequential.
First, the price is very comparable to other MP3 players....
The Rio comes with great software that is very easy to use. Basically, you can just drag playlist files into the playlist window and send them to your Rio. With the USB connection, they transfer FAST as well.
The battery life is very good also. I got about 10 hours out of a normal alkaline battery, and about 13 out of an ultra alkaline. This is assuming you don't change the songs on your Rio during this time, as this seems to drain the battery life much faster. But if you take it on trips like I do, this isn't an issue.
The durability is better than most all other units in this category, and light years ahead of the Rio 600. I have admittedly dropped the unit about 4 times, with no results. My original purchase of the Rio 600 broke after one drop. The unit just seems a lot more sturdy than other units in this range.
The case is handy, and you will use it often while walking or running. This is assuming you don't want to have to fiddle with the buttons or change songs or volume, as this is virtually impossible with the Rio in the case. You would usually have the Rio on hold during a situation like this, so this is very inconsequential.
The headphones that come with the Rio are horrible. They are the trendy over-the-ear style and rediculously uncomfortable. They also sound horrible. I added a cheap pair of Sony MDR-W08's, and the sound quality jumped about 200%. The firmware upgrade will also improve the unit's sound, and increase general volume.
The programmable functions are more robust that most portables, and certainly better than almost all portable cd players. The browse and bookmark functions are nice, but icing. You might use browse every now and then, but the bookmark is farily useless.
The memory is very good, with up to 128 megs able to be used immediately with a firmware upgrade. This is usually MORE than enough for anyone.
If you're looking for a great MP3 player, and even if you're not on a budget, buy this one, you won't be disappointed.
81 Overall a Great Product
Great product for the slightly-higher-than-entry-level set. Perfect amount of memory for those people who would like to take music along to the gym. Lightweight, comes with a soft case that clips onto a belt, and has great sound quality and volume control.
Downsides: 1. The ear phones that come with this thing are not the greatest and don't really stay on while jogging. I switched back to a 'traditional' set, and no problems. 2. If you are working out and need to change the volume or skip songs, you have to fumble with the unit in the middle of your workout. (although, I hear they make earphones that have volume and song controls along the wire) 3. I can't stand the software that comes with it. It searched my entire hard drive for mp3s and found half-downloaded files that were abandoned, as well as their completed counterparts (frustration occurs when the names are the same). Also, I wish I could just 'drag and drop' my files directly into the player. 4. Battery H-O-G. Invest in some double A's that you can recharge.
One important note: this is USB interface, and I've found that you really need to let it have a dedicated USB port (can't use a hub). With a hub it freezes up-- software, everything-- and you have to restart. After taking it off the hub and using it in the dedicated port (by itself)-- no problems. :)
All in all, I recommend it to the new MP3 user, or the jogger that wants to upgrade to something nicer and lighter.
82 Top Quality sound.
This is a great little player. If you have a fast internet connection like a DSL or cable modem and can download good quailty mp3's then this player produces great sound. I get a lot of my tracks from [top20mp3] as they have high quality stuff, some of the other places have skips or fuzzy bits in the files. This player is great. I wish they made a waterproof version though.
83 even better player with firmware update
When I first played songs on the Rio 500, I thought it was a quiet player compared to a D-Link DMP-100 player. The first thing to is get rid of the included Koss headphones. They have poor sensitivity and a low max power handling rating. You'll see the difference once you plug in something like a pair of Sony MDR-A34, which has a better freq. range and a max power rating of 100 mW. The next thing is to download the firmware update. I could, for example, play the Rio at full blast under version 1.04 and still hear the t.v. in the background. Once you update to the current version (2.12), your ears start hurting at a volume of 10. After doing these two things, I started enjoying my Rio tremendously. Songs sound wonderful even at 96 kbps, and it is clear enough to hear soft classical sounds and even harmonies within your favorite rock songs. Mac software and the Rio controls are fairly intuitive to use. The only complaints are the sliding OFF/HOLD/ON switch and the volume dial. The lock positions in the switch are so close to each other that you can accidently turn the player off when you're trying to put it in hold. The volume dial is hard to get to when the player is in its included neoprene case.
84 Great Mp3 Player
This is a great mp3 player. The best that I own. With the 64 MB, I can fit about 20 songs on it.
Pros: Very small and lightweight, comes with nice earplugs, good volume controll, longlasting batteries.
Cons: There aren't many, just that the software is pretty hard to use and you have to know something about it to make it work.
Overall, this is a great portable mp3 player, best one I've seen. I recommend it for anyone and everyone, Diamond puts out another amazing product.
85 I AM IN LOVE!!!!!!!!!
I have only owned this little piece of heaven for a few hours and already I can't live without it. The sound quality blows me away, I can't believe how great it is. It may as well be CD's playing - to my ears anyway. It took me TWELVE MINUTES to load up the cd and then download 64 Megs of beautiful music. I had absolutely no problems with the connection or the software. The headphones are not the greatest so I use my own. I could not be happier. I just can't wait until the larger memory cards come out. I will write another review when I've owned this thingie more than four hours!! :)
86 Delivers the Goods...
The Diamond Rio 500 doesnt have any fancy features like voice recording or digital address books - but seriously do you really need these? As an mp3 player it delivers the goods though - the additional expandability is priceless and after a few days of using it you will be very glad to have this feature. The controls are intuitive once you get the hang of what each button does - especially the bookmark key which is VERY handy for transcribing music and the cool blue backlighting. I have deducted a star due to the non-existant manual which makes getting up and running with the machine a little harder and the poor quality headphones. I am listening at home on a Sennheisser 570 and it is like night and day compared to the factory Koss headphones. Overall i think you will be pleased with this player.
87 A great purchase -- well worth it
After researching and reviewing a number of mp3 players before making this purchase, I decided on the Diamond Rio 500, mainly for its 64megs of memory on board.
A week after the purchase, I could not be more impressed. Within 15 minutes of opening the box, I had the software and drivers installed and the first set of songs uploaded. I also upgraded the firmware from the Rio site, which gave me several more preferences and options (equalizer, program play, backlight options, etc.)
A few points for consideration when purchasing, which took me days to gather and confirm:
** I can get anywhere from 13 to 17 songs on the 64 megs on board. That is more than I expected, but I will be investing in a 64 meg Smart Card (which the Rio can accept once you upgrade the firmware) to have more songs at my disposal.
** The Rioport Audio Manager software (what you use to transfer songs to the player) is not great, but not nearly as bad as I had read. It is not intuitive and does not come with directions, so it's a trial and error thing. I will try MusicMatch or Real Jukebox to see if it's any easier.
** The player itself comes with very weak documentation. I suggest going to the Rio website and looking for the manual, which is slightly better. I usually learn hardware without the book anyway, but if you are manual-dependent, this may be a problem.
** I'm up to about 7 hours on my first battery, including 3 transfers of songs. This is not nearly the battery hog I expected it to be. I have purchased lithium batteries because I read that I can get more play time off them, but I'm still waiting for the first battery to die!
** The song quality is excellent, both with mp3s I've downloaded off the web and those I've converted from CD. I will complain about the headphones. Not because they mess up sound quality but because the pads keep falling off them! They aren't as comfortable as I prefer.
** I use the Rio for jogging/walking and 90 minutes of train travel to work every day. It is small, compact and impossible to make skip. It suits my needs (compact, ease of use, more mobile than a CD player) just fine. It has also been dropped once with no ill effects.
I could not be more pleased with this purchase, and highly recommend it for others looking for mp3 players!
88 Great player for music or audio books.
Simple to use, compact, one rechargable AA battery lasts more than 12 hours, great quality. Great value. I enjoy it everyday.
89 Like most things, the truth is somewhere in the middle.
On balance, my experience has been much more positive than negative. I have used RealJukebox from the beginning, which has eliminated the issues with Audible. I have also found the headphones (a common source of complaint) to be fine. Sound quality is not true audiophile standard, but when you're running or biking, that is of little importance. It sounds fine in 99% of the situations in which you would likely be using it. I agree, however, that there seems to be a slight quality control problem. When my arrived, the play, stop and pause buttons all did the same thing (paused the music). I didn't think it was a sufficient problem to return it, but it has been a minor annoyance. The volume is also not particularly loud when you're outside. Other than some minor quibbles, I would recommend it pretty strongly.
90 Great player but support and software is AWFUL
I'm writing this with a little sadness because i really do love my Rio player and it has given me many hours of happiness when i otherwise would have been bored on the treadmill. Still, if I had it to do over again I would buy a different player because I have had no end of problems. Both Mac and PC versions of the software are buggy and there are no fewer than three different customer support departments (one for the player and two for the software), each of which are very sorry, but another department has to handle my problem. I've given up on them & will never buy another Diamond product again.
91 Thank goodness this company doesn't make cars
So far I've owned three products manufactured by this company and ALL three were defective. I bought a RIO 600 which never worked. I had the same problems that eight billion other people had -- loud pops and the unit's inability to play a song over 60 seconds.
I called the company and asked if this was a common defect and they answered... NO.
I also had two separate RIO 500s that each stopped working after a month. The software never worked because it refused to recognize the RIO 500 or 600.
I WOULDN'T BUY A DOG TOY FROM THIS COMPANY!!
92 Nifty, Useful Gadget!
The DiamondRio500 works great! My husband and I commute 200 miles each work day and because of this we enjoy listening to many audible books.
We tried switching over from cassette books to CD books but we were never able to get our portable CD players to put forth sound loud enough to hear over the road and car noise. (we tried 3 diiferent portable CD players). After we bought an Inverter and a regular 'boom box' CD player we finally got decent sound. But the inconvenience of trying to handle the boombox in our car was exceptionally bothersome.
Then we bought the DiamondRio500. Sound quality is wonderful! We can hear every word even with road noise! It's lightweight and very easy to use. It holds many hours of spoken sound. After we figured out a few tricks it was very easy to load in new reading material. We use the Audible.com reader service. We have been very satified with this product and recommend it to anyone who enjoys listening to recorded books.
93 Easiest MP3 Player to use on the market
If you want an easy to use, great sounding, lightweight, small mp3 player with lots of expansion, you'd be a nimrod not to buy this little gem. Manufactured by THE soundcard maker in the market. Forget the competitors, this is the cat's meow.
94 So far, so good!
... I still can't figure out the equalizer feature! That aside, the unit is great.
The first thing I did was chuck the headphones that came with it. They were dificult to hear and caused me to have to play it with the volume very high. I opted for the earpiece style by Sony and now listen to it at about half volume.
Don't put too much stock in this "up to 15 hours on a single AA battery" nonsense. While this may indeed be true in outerspace at volume setting number 1, in the real world (jogging or at the Gym) it's about 5-7 hours. I don't know why they promote this... I wouldn't have been disappointed at all if they hadn't ever mentioned a battery life.
If you are expecting to fit an entire CD on the Rio 500, plan on purchasing a Flash memory card,... I have had to drop a song or two on most cds -- which doesn't bother me too much since most cds have a least one "dog" on them.
Overall, I am very happy with the unit. It was worth the price just to never hear another skip at the Gym or while jogging!
95 bad design
i like this but the design isn't that good, hate the design
96 Great Player
This Mp3 player was the best. The battery lasted for about 5 hours and the sound was great (It left my ears ringing). The space capacity was also great cause I was downloading songs that took only 2MB per song, so I could put around 30 songs on this player. The software that came with this was easy to install and use. The performance of this Mp3 player is great, I would recommend this player to anyone.
97 A Wonderful MP3 Player for Beginners...
If you're a newbie to portable MP3 players, then this is definitely the player for you. It's extremely easy to use and it can store many songs. With it's fast USB port connection to your computer, it can quickly snatch the MP3's of your computer in just several minutes. I found everything about it to be very easy to use. It may not look like the coolest MP3 player, but under the hood, it definitely is.
98 Rio 500 Review
The Rio 500 is a nice compact light MP3 player. It has a nice screen and a quality backlight. The song name are easy to read. The only problem I have it that it loses its USB connection when transferring songs sometimes. One feature I really like is that the single AA battery lasts for 13 hours of continuous play. The software works very well and can be updated online for free. I think that it's a good package and worth buying. Even though it has a minor connection problem, I would recommend it 100%. -Satisfied Customer
99 I've returned once, I'll need to return again...
This MP3 was nice, when it worked. I returned my first Rio because it stopped working on me within the 1st month of my purchase. Fortunately, Amazon has a great return policy so this was no hassle at all. Although I was without an MP3 player for about 1 week.
When the 2nd player came in the mail I was all overjoyed. I bought 2 32MB Smartmedia cards to improve my listening experience. I listened to the 2nd player for about 2 months when it broke. Again, it just stopped working.
I am very diligent when it comes to caring for my electronics. I know that in no way I could be responsible for such a horrible experience with my 2 Rio's.
I guess I'll spend the extra $ and buy the new NOMAD player, and keep my fingers and toes crossed hoping that I don't have the same experience.
100 My Final Pick
After purchasing (and returning) a number of other mp3 players I decided to try out the Rio 500.
First Impressions Very small and light, Buttons in convenient locations, Nice scrolling display, No AC Adapter, Headphone buds (Junk), Instructions (very bad), Included software (Not easy to use),
Ok the first thing I did was to visit the Rioport.com site and download the firmware upgrade soft ware. The unit came with 1.04 firmware. I upgraded it to 2.12. One thing this upgrade gives you is access to the 64meg smart cards. This will take the unit up to 128meg.
I installed the default management software but I prefer MusicMatch. I downloaded the Rio plug in for MusicMatch and was up and running. One down side of the plug in for MusicMatch is the fact that it defaults to rio300 and you must manually change it each time to upload to the player.
The other mp3 players I tested used parallel ports and the Rio claims 5 times faster than parallel ports. They must be comparing results to some old ancient port as I saw no difference in upload speeds. However the USB is easier to install and did not have the hardware compatibility problems the parallel ports did.
As far as sound quality goes the Rio was similar to the others with one difference. The built in EQ settings seem to be more noticeable. In other words there seem to be more noticeable results when selecting EQ setting of JAZZ or ROCK for instance. Other players did not seem to have much difference between the settings. The lack of a graphic equalizer did not seem to affect the quality. The volume is more than adequate. It has ha setting between 0 and 20 and I keep mine around 6-8.
I have found the display quit acceptable. The name of the song is the file in which the mp3 file was saved. And it scrolls across the screen as it is being played. This enables quite long titles to be displayed with out truncating them
The lack of a AC adapter port was a bit of a disappointment but is a little offset with the 13 hour play time. You do get this with alkaline batteries but expect about 4-5 hours playtime with rechargeable AA's
Make sure you have a good charge on the batteries before uploading to the player. The unit died once when I was uploading. This totally corrupted the Rio. Could not even turn the unit off. The unit was totally locked up. I called the support line at the diamond site adn was promptly told to download a recovery program from there web site. After installing the software on the PC and following the instructions I was back up and running. Apparently this software talks to the USB port and resets the firmware in the unit.
One of the best features on the Rio is the audio book feature. Here is what they are.
Bookmark -> You can store up to 16 bookmarks on the Rio. These come in very handy when listening to a book in a public location such as a doctor's office waiting room.
Variable speed rewind/fast forward -> If you have a recording that is over a few minutes in length it can be quite a pain fast-forwarding to say the 28:00 minute point. With the Rio you just hold down the FF and it starts out at about 10 times speed but it increases the longer you hold the button down.
Browse feature -> By clicking the browse button once you can scroll between items in a folder. By clicking twice you can scroll between folders. By click a third time you can scroll between bookmarks.
Audible support -> The main reason I purchased a mp3 player is for books on tape. And the above features are the best I have seen for a MP3 player but after signing up for audible (Rio is one of the players supported) I can listen to a 15 hour book in one sitting. This is a different format than my other mp3 files but I have found it very useable as well.
Final thoughts -> I really like the Rio 500 and the ability to accept mp3 and audible file formats makes it a keeper in by book. As a mater of fact I ordered a second for my wife.
