With the Rio 600, Diamond adds customizable features and high-end audio you can't get from other players. Capture and play back up to a hour of digital-quality music from the Internet or your CDs. Seize your audio, master your mix, retool your memory, even select your faceplate color--it's complete freedom of choice.
The Rio 600 supports the most popular audio formats like MP3 and WMA, and it is upgradable to support emerging digital standards so your Rio is always up to date. SDMI compliance means you can download secure tracks from all the major recording labels. The 32 MB of memory will hold up to an hour of digital-quality music and 16 hours of spoken word. You can also upgrade your Rio 600 with separate snap-on memory backpacks up to 340 MB to give you up to 9 hours of music playback. The USB interface allows you to download songs from your PC or Mac to your Rio faster than with any other interface type.
Rio shatters the personal sound barrier with customizable features and high-end audio you simply cannot get anywhere else! Capture and playback up to 1 hour of digital-quality music from the Internet or your CDs. Seize your audio, master your mix, retool your memory, even select your faceplate color - it's radical freedom of choice.Rio 600 supports the dominant audio formats like MP3 and Windows Media, and can be upgraded to emerging digital standards so you can keep your Rio up-to-date. It holds 1 hour of digital quality music (32MB) or 16 hours of spoken word. Rio 600 features the following play modes: repeat one track, all tracks, or random play. Rio 600 has no moving parts so you can take the Rio anywhere and it'll never skip a beat. Featherweight ergonomic design and large, easy-to-read LCD make it perfect for extreme listening activities.
1 Great little player at the time.
I've had my little Rio for 5 years now and am passing this little jewel on to my youngest son for part of his 15th birthday. For what it is, it's an excellent little player. I use it when I'm studying and when it runs out, I know it's time for a break :-)
My only complaint about this is that I can't seem to find the memory pack anywhere now.
All in all, a great little player.
2 I use it since 2000, for nearly five years already!!
Yes I bought in early 2000 it is nearly five years. At that times this player was incredible and as I can see it is still around, and still so.. The memory was high that times now it is a little small but I put my best songs and it is enough for that. Since they are my best songs I repeat and repeat. It is robust great functioning but it consumes batteries terrible. Even it is off it consumes so take the batteries away. I bought NiMh batteries to charge and carry more than one in journeys. USB is very good and to put songs is a childs play. The software makes WMA's automatically from your CD's. Even cddb support is there. The colour the shape is still buzzy and awesome. The buttons are quality. A negative point: there is no radio. It would be better with radio. There is even playlist and other funcitons related that I found ridiculous because with just 32MB it is one playlist and it's enough.. maybe they thought about the legendery "backpacks" to boost the memory which is impossible to reach especially here in Turkey..
Sound quality is brilliant and crystal clear. A must for travellers and gadget lovers (that's me!:)
3 Cheap but Good
I have had one going non stop for 3 months and it hasn't given up. I use one to pipe in about 30 minutes of background music in a room that people visit. The software was OK and it got me up and running. It plays WMA files which are smaller then MP3 files and heck I can't tell the difference.
4 If you like shoddy craftsmanship, then purchase this player
I bought this player off of Tigerdirect, and it was great for about 3 months. (minus horrible battery life and small storage capacity, even w/ the extra 32mb backpack). After the first three months, it simply stopped working. Wouldn't turn on, no response at all.
Wrote SonicBlue, after a couple of weeks of going back and forth and finally convincing them that it wasn't a firmware update issue, they agreed to 'let' me mail it to them (at my cost) and they would repair or send me a replacement. i guess they did replace it, but after about three months of use, i am getting the same problems again. I wish I had believed other reviews about this product. If you're into masochism, then by all means, get this thing. if not, save up for an iPod or anything else but Rio. You get what you pay for... (paid $70)
5 excellent product- rio 600
I was very pleased with the Rio 600. Before recieving it, i was worried it wouldn't turn out so well because i had checked online reviews about it and said that it doesn't work, etc. However, for me it worked great! I took it on a field trip, it worked perfectly. very easy to change the battery. the battery can wear out fast, but don't keep the backlighting on so much, and remember to turn it off. by doing that, the battery lasted for three days for me. the rio-600 is a bit larger than other rio models, but yet, its still very compact. i did not use the headphones provided and the sound quality was pretty good. i didn't use the software either, but easily got mp3 files uploaded through real player. its very easy to download file from there, just add in rio- 600 as your audio device, and then copy files from there. rio-600 has little memory, but i still got it to download six files. i heard you can also add a memory card which lets it have up to 320 mb of memory! overall, i'm a satisfied owner of the rio-600.
6 Horrible battery life, cheap quality plastic design
I was not impressed with this MP3 player at all. First of all, im not sure if mine was defective but it would only go 2-3 hours of playing time before the battery would flat out die. I tried upgrading the firmware or calibrating the battery beforehand. This brings me to the quality of the design, when I try and get to the battery compartment. You have to remove the entire back cover and then open this other flimsy door to get to the one AA battery. Try and squeeze the battery in the small space while so worried that the small plastic holders are going to break off. One you got that in, you have to carefully position the back cover to fit back on with the metal contacts in place. Whew.
Goods:
-Nice blue backlight
-Small Light Design
-Somewhat easy menu system.
-Easy to copy songs using iTunes on mac [no experience with pc software]
-Fast/Easy USB.
Bads:
-Cheap flimsy plastic case
-Extremely short battery life
-Hard to replace batteries [Afraid of breaking something while squeezing that AA in an extremely small plastic holder thing.
-Horrible customer service when trying to get it fixed. They keep saying to flash the memory upgrade firmware I have done all that with no avail!
-Doesnt use any traditional upgrade memory method [compact flash or smart media] It needs some kind of special backpack to strap on the back for only another 32MB of memory.
In conclusion, I would not recommend the Rio 600, even though it was quite cheap. Spend about $20 more for a Creative Labs' Nomad IIc. It has double the memory and easy to expand.
7 Most horrible thing I ever bought
This was a horrible and udderly usless piece of junk. When I first got mine (the first one i got) it worked for about 3 days. Then it just stopped working and i just heard static when i wanted the song to play. Along with that, the software didn't work (i have a PC). I tried countless times to upgrade on its site, called costumer support(which was very inconsiderate and didn't care if it got fixed or not), and did everything possible to fix it. Then I got another one, thinking this one was just a bad one. I was wrong. Same problems with the software, and it worked for 5 days, then i just got static again.
All in all, don't buy this one and get an archos or something (archos work very well.)even if it is a little more money.
8 could be happier with it
I was so excited to buy my first mp3 player about a year ago, however I should have done a little more research first. I was happy with all the features, the display, etc., but there are a few issues worth noting with this. First of all, the battery doesn't last anywhere near the 11 hours it says. If I leave it for any length of time without using it, the battery dies as well. Then there is the memory issue. I realize that is an issue with any 32 MB mp3 player, however, the memory backpack things are impossible to find; though the wonderful people at the store I purchased it at assured me I could order them online, that was not the case. I suspect the reason they didn't have them at the store was that this model was on its way out. The website currently makes no acknowledgement of the memory "backpacks", and while they do still have software updates for the 600 model, they don't sell it anymore. I have not been able to find them ANYWHERE. If you want more than 10 songs, do not buy this.
9 A Great Niche Player
A great player for those who don't want to spend a lot of money and don't have 2000 mp3's. Works well with Windows Media Player 9. Good buy, easy to use.
10 average mp3 player
Rio 600 32 MB is an average MP3 player.
Its got more Cons than Pros!!!
Cons:
-Rio Audio Manager software is sooo useless, even amateurs can write better software than this.
-The buttons(play/pause,stop,next track etc) are soo difficult to use since they dont have the feel of a button at all. They are more like a dial which is really stupid.
-Earplugs given with this product is soo stupid and get entangled all the time.
Pros:
+Low battery consumption(about 9-10Hrs on a single battery)
+Windows Media player 9.0 detects this player immediately and is easy to transfer files(takes 10 secs to transfer a song)
+Supports WMA (Windows Media Audio) which has better compression at 64kbps.
Also I see most people pointing out that 32MB is too low to listen to a lot of songs but thats all you can do when you have a 32 MB player. Its not the fault of RIO mp3 player.
11 cool
It was a dark and stormy night...lightning flashed in the diamond multimedia building. They had just created the ultimate mp3 player...the rio 600!! DUM DUM DUUUUUUUM. Ok i know i shouldn't be writing a review if i dont own this product but i can't help it. Courier messed up my shipping type, now the device will be here on monday. But from what i've heard the rio 600 is an awesome simple device yet has a few defects.
Pros:Large backlit lcd display
USB support
upgradable firmware and memory (future proof)
Changeble sexy faceplates
Ajustable equalizer
Cons: Only 32mb of memory
Bad customer service
Memory is only upgradeble by means of special (expensive) unreleased "backpacks"
All in all im looking forward to my rio arriving on monday
12 OK for short use but not good for the long haul
We've had two Rio 600 MP3 players for over a year now, and while they are generally good units, there are several problems that are worth noting.
First, with 32MB, we can fit around 10 songs onto the MP3 player. While this is great for a daily selection on the bus or in the car, when we've taken trips those 10 songs get old REALLY quickly. So depending on how you're going to use it, that limit may be fine or may drive you crazy.
Next, as much as we've tried to be very careful with our units, they drop sometimes. They fall out of pockets, or down the stairs, or your hands slip while using them. Sure, I don't expect the units to last if you drop them onto concrete from 30 feet. But even the smallest drop seems to damage pins and switches. We have numerous problems with our Rios, from buttons not working to bizarre behavior, from even slight mishaps.
The headphones aren't really a big deal to us because we probably have 20 sets of headphones around the house. Most people who enjoy music have headphones already - getting a set with their MP3 is the least of their worries. Yes, the default headphones are barely adequate, but that is hardly a reason to choose or not choose a MP3 player.
We found the software to be quite good - and plus, just about every other MP3 software package we use also sees the Rio. So even if you don't like the software that comes with the Rio, you're hardly stuck for options.
The main issues we have really come down to its small memory size and its flimsy quality. Sure, you can buy more memory for it. But it's probably far wiser to buy a higher quality unit that already comes with more memory, and have it last you many years.
13 a great product but...
I was looking for an inexpensive MP3 player for when I go to the gym or beach. Something that if I dropped it in the parking lot I wouldn't be heartbroken or bankrupt over the loss. This was the player for me. What they didn't tell you is that the software and Windows XP don't play well together. I tried downloading different drivers and such from their website. I just made a bigger mess than I had before. Long and short...I had to borrow a friends computer running Windows Me to get things to work. Once it did, I loved my little gadget. It was just a long process to get there.
14 A familiar tale: It's great while it lasts
I will echo what seems to be a common refrain: after a while, the Rio 600 just quit working for no apparent reason. If you turn the volume up all the way, you can hear a faint clicking and popping rendition of what would be the bass line if you could hear the music.
I got this unit free as a promotion when I bought some networking equipment. I thought it was a neat little gadget, and it worked as promised in the beginning. The software could be more intuitive, but it got the music onto the player. The earphones hurt my ears, so I replaced them with an inexpensive pair of Koss earbuds from Wal-Mart, and that worked great. I was very pleased with the sound quality of this little unit. 32 MB is really not quite enough memory, however; you could expect to get 30 to 40 minutes worth of music loaded. If you're planning on using it a lot, rechargeable batteries would be a good idea (although if it breaks fast enough, that won't matter). I tried it out for running and for downloading short clips to practice on my guitar, but the bottom line was that it was never quite convenient enough for me to use regularly.
So it sat in a drawer for many months until my wife's portable CD player started to skip. I loaded up a playlist for her, and the first time she tried it out while running, the abovementioned problem occurred. Judging from the other reviews, this is a non-repairable problem, so it looks like we'll toss the Rio 600 and try something else.
Nice try, SonicBlue, but at this point the most valuable parts of the unit are the Koss earbuds and the AA battery.
15 Amazon, PLEASE let me curse
This product was such an unpleasent experience, and it truly is more trouble than it's worth.
First, I'll state the goods. It looks really cool, has a cool lacd backlight, good sound and has really cool options. You can delete the tracks on the go, or sort them any order.
The Bad thing is.. The stupid thing only let's you have like 6 mp3 songs on it. I bought an mp3 player because I thought it had more technilogical stuff and more space than a cd plaer. Boy was I wrong.
Another reason why it ..., is that the program it comes with. It screws up a lot. I hate this product. It's more trouble than it's worth. After buying this, I was so thankful I didn't give away my cd player yet. I could just give this thing away.
16 You get what you get and you dont throw a fit.
This is a great little guy for taking a single disk on the road with you when you travel, work out or mow the lawn. I was not looking for a place to store my complete music collection, just something to use while waiting at the barber shop, doctor, oil change etc. This works perfectly.
If you upgrade to the latest version of Windows Media Player you can interface directly with this unit and not have to be bothered with additional software. Using the WMA format it sounds just fine.
It is not easily expanded, but if that is what you are after get a mini-disc so that expansion is as simple as buying additional, low cost, discs.
17 Lies
They describe this item as being epandable to 340 MB. However, the manual and an inspection of the product indicates no expansion capability. Additionally, it was shipped to me with missing parts.
18 A really good product.
This is a really great product. I really like it a lot mostly because it is small and compact not like a CD player. I can also have a lot of diffrent songs without having to buy all those CD's. What also great about it is that it doest skip. I run and jog with it and it doesn't miss a beat. The clip clips right on to me so I don't have to hold it. Also the download time is really fast. The only bad thing I can say about it is that it holds a fair amount of music it could be a little bigger but it is still a great product.
19 Avoid this product!
The Rio I purchase stopped working after a month. I tried for weeks to get technical assistance from Rio. They responded to neither email nor fax. A company that treats its customers this way and produces inferior product should go out of business soon. Buy an Apple ipod. They are made for PCs now and they work great.
20 take good care of it
Since i work at an electronics store, i get to test and play with these things. I personally own a 32 and 64 MB Rio 600. For the 32MB one, i get several people returning their rio 600's all the time. A few of those, their unit never worked at all, but to most they returned it about 2 months in use or more. I have had my Rio 600 32mb for 1 year and 3 months now, and it is still in great shape, and works like a charm. Why is this? It hasnt broke in 2 months because i have taken extremely good care of it. Most people's players die because they bend a small part in the hardware, such as in the batteries. So when i do anything with the batteries, i am EXTRA CAREFUL. Treat it like you are inserting batteries in a 2000 year old artifact that will crumble if you are the least bit rough on it. Don't try to insert the batteries in a hurry, either. Just be real careful, and try not to drop it. Also, be careful when insterting/taking out the usb cable and headphones also, to avoid bending anything.
Player Pros/Cons
Pros:
-Nice Appearance
-Good Interface and fast connection speed
-One battery thank god
-Lasts long if you take good care of it
Cons:
-32MB isnt enough, expensive expansion
-Batteries dont last long and battery indicator is wrong
-You have to take good care of it
Enjoy
21 MP3 Players Are Great...Just Not This One!
I got this player as a gift and was SO excited about it. I read some bad reviews and went, "whatever." MY personal experience was that it was a really good player at the beginning, good software [once I figured out how to use it...took me awhile as I'm not very technically inclined], and looked great. Then, the buttons got really hard to push/broke entirely...fast forward to now: it's practically un-usable. The thing sits on my bookshelf 24/7/365...which stinks. What ticks me off worse is that I wrote various e-mails to the company about a replacement or refund and received really stinky customer service e-mails back...vague and super unhelpful. The player also eats up the AA batteries pretty fast. I really don't recommend this player...don't get me wrong...buy an MP3 player [the idea rocks!] but make sure you get one from a more reliable company and one that got better Amazon.com reviews!
22 ok player when it works that is!
I got mine from audible.com, it was refurbished and it truly will work when it wants to, regardless of new battery or position.
23 Excellent player
The Rio600 has excellent sound quality. Because it supports WMA in addition to MP3, you can fit up to 16 or 17 songs onto 32 MB. The earphones are great -- until they break. I've gone through three identical Rio600 earphones, and each time, the wiring comes loose somewhere and I lose sound intermittently in one or both ears.
24 In my case, I have been very pleased with the Rio 600
I've read some of the other reviews, and I haven't had any of the reported problems with the product. It's easy to use, the RealJukebox software is reliable and easy, and it does come with a case and belt clip. I bought it 4 months ago. I use WMA format and can store most full length cds. Storage capacity is not a problem, because I'll typically load a new cd into it practically everyday. It only takes a matter of minutes! I got 2 rechargeable AA batteries for it and so now battery life is not a problem. I use it with sony earbud headphones for better sound quality.
25 a really fun toy
I don't use my Rio much for music - I use it to listen to downloadable audiobooks from Audible.com. For this, it's great. I can take the latest bestseller and listen to it while walking the dog, working out, etc. It holds about 8 hours worth of book. I don't find the lack of a belt hook to bad as I use a bum bag anyway. When I do want music, I can download either .wma or .mp3 files from my home library.
My two dislikes are 1) the included headphones -- YECK! and the fact that you can't expand it with smart media cards -- you need to overpay Sonic Blue for "backpacks".
26 spend more, get more
POS. Pause is a joke with this thing. 75 percent of the time pausing just gets you back to the beginning of the file. Also once the battery is down to 50 percent it just shuts off.
I notice the used price keeps dropping. Once it gets to "free" I might suggest it as something good for throwning.
27 VERY UNSATISFIED
This product worked well at first. The sound was great and it was easy to understand. I battery power was long lasting but it didn't even last 3 months of regular usage. It stopped working for no reason. Now it doesn't even turn on. This player just .... Don't buy this junk.
28 Great for audio books!
I use the rio 600 to listen to audio books that I download from audible.com. It works well for this purpose. My main complaint is that I can't get the volume loud enough for situations where there is a lot of fairly loud background noise (e.g. traffic on a busy street).
29 The Best MP3 Player For Your Money!!!
I am EXTREMELY impressed with this MP3 player!!!! Dont let the specifications fool you. This product is extremely easy to use, and for the price you get the same quality as you would expensive mp3 players. It gives you song titles, and YES it does have a clip! It comes with a carrying case that you can clip on to anything! The software is easy to use. The sound quality is great! I have never been more happier in my life with this product. It is true, you do need to buy better headphones. You would with any other brand too! None of the companies give good headphones with their product. It does need more memory, but prices on that are going down. For the price, its the best Mp3 Player around. Take it from a Telecommunications major at one of the best colleges around. The Rio is you BEST value!!
30 Its Great!
Its great, I also take it everywhere with me, its lightweight, small, stylish and does not jump. The quality of the music is exellent. I have been able to get the rio 600 to hold at least 18 songs each lasting around 3.5 minuets long. Its great I really recomend everyone to buy one its worth it and it is suitable for all ages. As soon as you buy it, put a battery in it, and listen to it, there is a commentary running to tell you how to use the rio 600, I found that this was really helpful.
I hope you enjoy your Rio 600.
Thanks.
31 No good!
Yes, the headphones are unusable and don't fit human ears, but most importantly, I had to return 2 of these units because they died after anywhere between 5 and 14 days of use. I changed the battery and that didn't help, either, so there is some defect in the manufacturing process which makes these things blow up relatively quickly.
Save the money on this dud until they get it right.
32 I have two that I use *constantly*
One of the best things about MP3 players is that you can easily put on whatever type of sound interests you most - whether it's jazz music, old time rock n' roll, or even bird songs! It's perfect not only for music, but also for any hobby that involves sound! For one great price you can get yourself an easily customizeable, greatly dynamic bird song system / language training system / etc. that doubles as a portable jukebox!
I love the Rio 600 - I have 2 of them - and they're super easy to load music on and off of. Just rip your favorite CDs, rearrange them into your own personal play sets, and load them onto the Rio. Want to learn a new language? Load up a set of phrases. Going birdwatching at the beach? Stick 20 beach bird songs on there, and there's plenty of room left for some music too!
The Rio has been very sturdy for me - we've dragged them everywhere, dropped them, thrown them, and it keeps on running strong.
Highly, highly recommended!
33 Rio is outstanding !
Quite simply - I have two of them - and for the money - you cannot beat the musical experience.It's true you'll need to probably add the 64mb module to increase the amount of music stored - but you can buy the backpack modules on EBAY used if you'd like. And yes - Windows Media program is definately the transfer program to use. But it works FINE with Windows XP - it recognizes the Rio the second you plug it in. Downloads are fast and easy !
The headphones do have to be replaced for extended listening. Try finding a decent set that ships with ANY portable out there. All of them need to be replaced.
You can't beat the experience for the dollars invested ! Buy one - you'll be glad you did !
34 It's real nice...while it lasts.
The Rio 600 was a five-star product for the first three months; 3 stars for the next three, after the power slider broke --fortunately it remained in the "on" position :) ; and after six months, it stopped working altogether.
Pros:
-Stylish
-Backlit display
-Good sound quality at low volumes, can get very loud (I usually listened at the volume setting of 3 out of 20, given a quiet room--but YMMV depending on the earphones)
-Neoprene belt case at least is rugged :P
Cons:
-Poor build quality
-Poor design decisions
-Proprietary memory expansion
-Rioport software works only with CDs as far as I know
When I first received the Rio 600 I was thrilled. It felt nice and solid in the hand, the backlit LCD looked great with lots of track information, and the sound quality seemed pretty good. I even grew to like the included earphones, which I found to be perfect for the gym and bike riding, unlike earbuds. (For folks who like that type but hate getting their hair pinched, Sony makes the MDR-W08, which is all plastic).
I picked up a 64MB backpack (at a ridiculous price per MB, compared to CF, SM or SD cards) but the Rio600 was one of the few players to natively support Audible.com content, so I felt it was worth it.
A few months after I got it, the power slider became stuck in the "On" position. I gave it a tug and it broke, sliding around freely. The player stayed on, however, and since it will go into standby on its own, I didn't mind _too_ much.
But I really hated their design decision to use a d-pad button layout, instead of separate buttons for play/pause, ff, previous. I can't count the times I tried to hit pause and went to the next track, or worse yet, hit previous and went to the beginning of the audiobook. I'd rather have something you can operate easily by feel.
Then the d-pad quit working entirely (the play/pause button seems to be stuck) and I'm now in the market for a new player :( I hate to say it, but since I have a 64MB paperweight, I'm thinking about giving the Rio 600 another try. It really was nice while it lasted.
Then I press the d-pad on my broken unit (nope, still hard as a rock) and decide to look for something better.
35 I Really Like MY Rio 600!!
I have had my Rio 600 32MB Mp3 Player for almost a month now. I have not had ANY problems with it at all. Tranferring the songs onto the player is quick and very easy. It says in the instructions that you have to install the Real Player onto your computer to work it, but Musicmatch also works with the Rio, and you can reduce the bitrate for mp3 onto it, meaning you don't have to convert to wma format. I reduce mine to 64 kpbs, and it sounds great! There are only two reasons I did not give my rating a 5 star:1) it was only 32 mb, and you defintely need 64 mb, to enjoy the player to the fullest. So, I had to purchase an extra 32 mb backpack for it, but the extra backpack came with a rechargeable battery, and an adaptor, so I don't have to worry about buying new batteries every week. 2) I wasn't too impressed with the earphones that came with it, so I bought another set, which worked out great. I can fit 30 songs on this player, which is just fine with me! This is a great MP3 player, and I highly reccommend purchasing it!!
36 This is my favorite toy!
I got my player through Audible.com and I love it! It's well made and SIMPLE to use.My only recommendation is that you ignore 99% of the software that comes with it. It wants you to use RealJukebox(which is junk as far as I'm concerned). I discovered that the jukebox I already had on my computer works just fine(MusicMatch). I did eventually buy the memory backpack with the charger. Both of those are also easy to use- it's nice not having to open the back to change batteries.A 32mb player with the 32mb backpack will hold about 16 hours of audio books or a couple of music CDs(depending on the compression rate of your music).I highly, HIGHLY recommend this product.
37 short of expectations
The Rio 600 was a bit of a disappointment. First of all, within a week or two, the supplied earplugs separated and the control pad used to play the songs became increasingly more difficult to depress. Getting a song to play was at times almost impossible. One thing that I really did not like was the inaccurate power monitor for the batteries. When the Rio said that I had < 4 hrs playing time, it would not play. According to the power monitor, the battery still had 1/3 of its power, but yet the Rio did not play. I must say that I have been dissappointed with the Rio. I would recommend the Rio as a[n]..alternative to people...
38 No Problems with Audio Books !!
i got one of these through a book club and i haven't had any problems...i see all these poor reviews and wonder if there was a BAD lot...this player is easy to use and about the only minor problem is you should really purchase the optional battery backpack which gives you more memory and a recharger....i will say i haven't downloaded songs on to this player, i only go to my book site and listen to books so maybe there are problems with mp3 listening that im not aware of...if you are reading this because you are thinking of signing up for the book club, then don't hesitate, as far as the books are concerned, i am very satisfied with this product.
39 Poor Software and Customer support
I wish I could tell you how this product performs. Unfortunately the software, real Jukebox that comes with it or the Windows Media player intermittingly does not recognize the device. It took me several hours to figure out how to load songs onto the device. The Real Jukebox software is very intrusive, loading many things onto your computer. When I tried updating the software, it would only give me a 14-day trial to the new software and asked me for a credit card. I am a literate computer user and fond this device to be very difficult to load songs. Customer support give you the wrong email address and cannot forward you email to the proper division.
40 Pretty, sexy and stylish MP3 player
Just bought this little player from Amazon.com in an unbeatable price...
I like its good workmanship, stylish and most important...high qualily sound! The case fit nice and tight with a belt clip on the back. It is cushioned to protect it from dropping accidentally.
Installing the software is easy and when you register it online you can upgrade to a new BASIC version for FREE.
The only thing I don't like is it uses it's own back pack memory.... that means high price tag. It would be perfect if it takes smartmedia card.
One more thing I don't like is the ear phone. My ears hurt after wearing them for awhile.
41 Rio 600, a nice little MP3 player.
I bought this MP3 player a few months ago. I think it is a great little device. I would recommend that you purchase one, except that it isn't perfect.
The main problem with this cute little thing is that it doesn't take a standard (and cheap) memory format. If you want to expand its memory, you have to spend way too much money buying proprietary 'backpacks' instead of something cheap like MMC's.
The second problem with this player is the small carrying case. The neoprene case with belt clip... is a welcome layer of protection and convience. However, the plastic 'window' is of no use whatsoever and and actually damages the MP3 player. The case is very snug, which isn't a problem. The problem is that the snug neoprene pulls the clear plastic window down too firmly onto the buttons of the player. Specifically, the 'Menu' button can become damaged and then is super sensitive. What you do is stuff two or three socks into the case and let it sit for a couple days. If it doesn't seem like they'll fit, keep trying (I am not responsible if you blow up your case, haha). This stretches out the case and prevents damage to the player. Also, the window is a source of frustration, as if you try to change songs or volume without taking the player out of the case, the menu will pop up first. Also, you can only see the bottom 1/5 of the display while in the case. So, it would have been better if they had just left the window out of the whole thing, but no one asked me...
Finally, 32MB of memory is enough. The only catch is that you have to just shove that CD that came with the MP3 player up the constricted hind-ends of whomever wrote it and use Windows Media Player, which does a fine job of interfacing with the Rio 600. WMP is availble freely for download for Windows users. WMP even converts to WMA on the fly at whatever bitrate you desire, so you don't have to 'convert your whole collection'. Finally, WMA does sound better at 64kbps than MP3 does. However, songs that are heavy in percussive high pitch noises can be slightly distorted. I've found this isn't an issue with about 80% of the music I listen to. You'll have to find a song (I suggest Hail, Hail by Pearl Jam) and convert it to 64kpbs WMA. If you don't mind how it sounds, you'll be fine with the stock 32MB that the player comes with.
If you are still reading this, and I haven't scared you away, here are the good things about this player.
Dirt cheap (I got mine for $[money] after a mail-in rebate).
Beautiful and somewhat sturdy (except for that poor, abused menu button).
Lots of cool accessories (like different colored faceplates, inline FM tuners)
Lasts about 8-10 hours on a freshly charged Nickle Metal Hydride battery (forget Nicads, this thing eats them for breakfast. Also, if you use alkaline and throw them away, I hope you have to drink water contaminated with used batteries).
Beautiful and easy to use interface / display. Tons of information, lots of cool little screens. Hi-res (for an MP3 player!).
If you want to listen to tons of music on a small player, get something that costs $[money] and takes MMC. If you want something to replace your cassette walkman (holds about 60 minutes of music, convert and transfer music quickly) then get this.
42 Just got one...
I just bought one of these at a local electronics store. I can't say for the device (since it hasn't worked, yet), but the software is trash. If you get one you should know that you will:
a) have to register it with the manufacturer with unique ID codes and your email before it will run. (before that, it will just crash anytime you try to send data to the device. But, SURPRISE, once you register it, it works perfectly! Or, at least, it starts working at all...)
b) pay them a monthly fee to use the software. You are allowed a free mode, disabling several features, including storing data on CD's, but to use the rest of the features, you have to pay a monthly [fee]...P>Just keep these things in mind, when you're considering the low upfront price of this device.
43 Defective product and insulting service
I purchased a Rio 600 for my son's Christmas present. It became defective after a couple of weeks. I spent more weeks getting to tech support and running through tests before they would issue an RMA.
Their RMA process says that if the unit is defective, they will replace it, provided they have replacements in stock in their service center. Guess what? They don't have any in the service center, even as they sell them on-line. They have no expectation of getting any and require that customers wait indefinitely for the replacement units.
I get the impression that there is a high defect rate and it is clearly compounded by awful service.
44 Perfect for audiobooks!
I love my Rio 600. I purchased it along with a subscription to Audible.com (highly recommeded also)and it works just wonderfully for audiobooks. Software loaded perfectly, and I get 9 hours of book playback on this incredibly light, very durable player. It comes with a little case with a belt clip, and I just clip it to my clothes at work and listen to my books. Dowloads are quick and easy, and it plays just crystal-clear. I haven't tried it for music, but it's just perfect for audiobooks. The best part is that you can load several different books at one time, if you're like me and like to listen to several at once, depending on your mood. Audible.com's software allows you to load specified times to the player, so you can load one hour of Steven King, 3.14 hours of John Grisham, and so on up to 9 hours. The backlit screen on the front is easy to use, and as long as you hit stop before you turn off the unit, it remembers where you left off and starts there again. It's also very easy to scroll between the various books you have downloaded. I highly recommend this player for audiobooks.
45 Great... if its free!
I received my Rio 600 for [price] (a refurbished one) when I signed up for a years [store]. I use it exclusively for [store] books. It holds about 6 hours at a time. For back and forth to work, its great. My Rio does not restart every time I shut it off. It resumes from where I was. Setting a bookmark though proved to not work. It does set me back to zero, so I just shut off. Two major complaints. The foldup headphones look good, but hurt my ears. I'd prefer something softer. Secondly, the single AA battery compartment is shabby. Occasionally the Rio won't turn on, although I get no low battery warning. I just open the case, and reinsert the same battery. Voila! Doesn't happen too often. The battery lasts about 6 hours, which is good for me. Wish I had a cassette player in my car! Mine came with the adapter, but I only have a CD player. Like I say, if its [price], the quirks are quite livable!
46 better to burn your money than buy this product
This was the worst purchase I have ever made. My pet rock has gotten more use than this techno ... I returned two of them within the first month of purchase. The darn thing just would not work. Wait until the price drops ... just not worth the money, time or trouble.
47 VERY Disappointing - BROKE at first battery change...
mp3 players are wonderful! And I was in love with this unit - until the first time I tried to change the battery. The battery is attached thru the memory "backpack" and sliding this unit off and on is difficult. When the pins for the memory chip failed to line up perfectly, they broke - rendering this product useless. Make sure that the mp3 player you end up with uses Compact Flash cards for memory, is upgradable, and has more than 32mb of memory (32mb holds 6 to 8 songs). Good luck!!
48 Don't buy this if you have XP
I bought the unit to use with my Win XP platform and could not get the software to recognized the unit. There were no Website updates to download, no tips on using the unit with XP and documentation was terribly lacking in troubleshooting the unit.
I reinstalled a virgin copy of XP with no luck as well as a Win98 with USB support and had the same problem.
Emailing manufacturer resulted in no reply after 10 days and calling them kept me on the phone for 45 min on my dime. I was forced to return the unit before the the return warranty period expired.
I suggest this unit not be used if you use XP and need manufacturer support.
49 It's a shame they can't make one that works
I really wanted to like this gadget. It does just about everyting a portable MP3 player should. It's display is easily readable. The menu functions are intuitive. It supports id3 tags, playlists, and bookmarks. It remembers where I was in the playlist if it powers down. The sound quality is great. The earphones are decent. It is fully supported by iTunes and my Mac. And the price was right. My only real criticism is the skimpy 32MB and the use of non standard memory for upgrades.
But.....
In three tries, I could not get one that functioned properly. The first one would "wink-out" from time to time. The second one had a defective display backlight. The third wouldn't power up at all. I finally gave up. Fortunately, [...] exchanges and returns were fairly painless.
50 Inevitably, everything comes to an end
13 months, 12 days. This is exactly how long my RIO 600 worked for me. And yet according to many reviews, I lucked out...I think that by eclipsing the one-year mark I broke the record!
So now what do I have? A purplish plastic thingy that refuses to turn on when I give it that very command. I'm not asking it to factor 200 digit numbers. Nor am I asking it to draft an economically feasible flat-tax proposal. I am just asking it to turn on, and yet it can't.
This seems to be easily, the most common defect among RIO products, particularly their portable MP3 players. I think that they might have to start advertising these things as disposable, we should be able to buy them in six-packs.
Anyway, I am going to avoid the temptation of getting another one of these stylish numbers, and I am recommending that anyone thinking of buying one look at another brand. Intel is looking better and better, but I really wish that Sony would get in the MP3 game.
Bottom line: if this gizmo could last longer than a hockey season it would be great. Features are wonderful, great sound, yada yada yada. Sadly though, it just aint gonna last, and that's a fact.
51 Has a great first run, then watch out!
I was on cloud 9 with this product for about a week: wma compatible, nice headphones, etc. Then I needed to change the battery, and all hell broke loose. The backpack failed to snap back on after replacing the battery, then the off/on switch snapped and wouldn't work anymore. Within a week, this had turned into one useless product. So I took it back and exchanged it for the Intel 3000: it may look a little clunkier and the headphones aren't as nice, but it's been great so far, and I haven't had any problems changing batteries.
Buyer beware!
52 Rio 600 for spoken word
Overall, I found the Diamond Rio 600 only marginally satisfactory for my needs. In fairness, I should add that my needs are apt to be different from that of many other people. I bought the Rio 600 primarily to listen to spoken word, such as from Audible, not primarily for listening to music, and my most of my complaints about the Rio are of less importance for playing music.
Before turning to specific problems, let me say that there are several quite good things about the Rio. The USB drivers work flawlessly and downloading to the unit is fast and nearly trouble free. The only problem I had (using Windows 2000) was that the Rio Manager could not see the unit from a user account after installation from the Administrator account. I upgraded the user account to have administrative privileges and reinstalled the software from the user account to solve this problem. This compromises security, but it does work.
The connectors are solid and most of the buttons on the unit work with solid tactile feel and respond reliably. The only exception is the round shuttle which is quite sensitive to direction and which often does surprising things. In particular, any attempt to set a bookmark is a gamble on par with a Las Vegas slot machine. Most of the time you just loose (in this case, no money, just your place in the program).
On top of that, when you just stop the Rio, you automatically loose your place in whatever your were listening to. With music this may not be a major annoyance, but with spoken word it is an extremely annoying deficiency. After listening to the first forty-six minutes of a news program on my drive to work, I'd like to listen to the remaining forteen minutes later in the day - not start over from the beginning. Unfortunately, the Rio assumes that I would prefer to start over.
One other problem (for my admitedly peculiar needs) is recording density. The unit only supports monaural MP-3; it will not play monaural WMA. The impact of this is that it un-necessarily restricts the amount of material that I can record on the device.
Trying to notify Diamond of these problems revealed what is probably the biggest reason I regret buying the Rio 600. Their customer service stinks! If you call them on the phone they suggest sending email to avoid waiting. But don't believe this suggestion! They never answer email. Never, ever! Stay on the line! It may take an hour or two of waiting but this is the only away to get a response. When you do reach someone, they are apt to be knowledgeable and helpful, but obviously over-worked and way too busy to waste much time with you.
53 good, good, good...
a superb player, with great great terrific sound quality... after i was kinda resent the tiny amount of memory it came with, but after discovered how easy it is to use it with windows xp's windows media player, i was totally hooked with 64kps wma format which have great sound quality and can hold twice as many songs...
54 Piece of Junk
I loved this unit when I first got it and used it daily for 2 months. Then the on/off switch broke. Technical Support is impossible to reach unless you call 3 minutes before they open. I finally got them and returned the unit. 3 weeks later my new unit arrived and worked great for a week. Then it starting having memory problems and I could not get it to play anything. I complained to management and got a new unit about 1 week later. It connected to my computer and loaded music fine but all I hear is static. I have now had 3 units in the first 4 months and all had different problems but none works.
55 Really Good
I think that the Rio 600 is really good. Umm, I'm using the 64 MB backpack right now. I love the rechargable battery thing. It only takes like 10 minutes for it to be finished. I really like the light on the LCD screen. I can see it when I'm in bed. I really like the shape and color it's "snazzy!" There are two small things that I don't like about the Rio 600: it runs out of batteries kind of fast (so just carry extra), and the search buttons are a little bit hard to use. Other than those two things it's a really great MP3 player at a really great price too! Enjoy!
56 Nice, but reliability problems
I had a problem from the day I bought it, when the battery gets to about 60% power, the player would restart when pressing the play button. Happens every time when this situation exists. I have sent a couple of e-mails to the company asking how I can get the player fixed, but no reply yet after about a week. I am quite unhappy because of the product being defective out of the box.
Not counting the reliability problems, it seems like a nice player, but 32meg is not enough. I cannot put one album on the player at higher quality levels.
57 Defective Product
I too have fallen victim to one of Rio's defective products. This is the second MP3 player I have owned (the first was a Diamond PMP300). Unfortunately the "Joypad" button failed to work properly from the start. Previous postings are correct when they say that the product is great....if you get one that works. The unknown is if build quality is this inconsistent how long will the player keep working?
58 Be wary of defective players
If you get one that works, it's great...quick downloads, easy to use, good quality music. However, my first one had TONS of problems (music would "disappear," pushing play would shut the thing off, it would freeze, etc, etc, etc.) If you start noticing problems early on, return it IMMEDIATELY because the problems only get worse. My new one is great...let's just hope I don't have problems down the road.
59 A good 32MB MP3 player
I've had the Rio 600 for over a 7 months. In that time I've dropped it countless times, stood on it, fell on it (bicycling), spilt coffee on it and other varieties of abuse! And it's survived unscathed. If you're looking for a player for outdoor use then the Rio is excellent.
The main drawback with this model is the buttons. If you aim to fast forward or to skip a tune, you generally hit the pause key. The headphones are poor quality (but aren't all headphones that come with these units!) and the software is pretty unfriendly. That said though, as it's only 32MB, it doesn't require much to transfer those 5-15 tunes.
Definitely go for the 64MB model as even compressing tunes down to a reasonable 96 kps only fits 10-12.
I had this given to me as a present, but I would certainly recommend buying one to my friends.
60 Too many problems!!! The "Yugo" of MP3 players!!
This is my first gripe review. The backpack slips off when jogging, working out at the gym, or walking across a room holding it in your hand. The little "slider" that switched the player on and off, upload, somehow slipped into the molding. The only way I've been able to turn it on is with a small eyeglass screwdriver. NOW, two days ago, the unit began unexpectedly turning itself off!!
Unless your immobile and treat this like its a Tiffany vase, DON'T BUY IT!! I'm already looking for a replacement and never buying anything else from this company, EVER!
61 does what its supposed to do
the backpack supplied does not really snap into place..you must always use the supplied case to insure that it does not fall off..supplied earphones are a little awkward (the ones that wrap and hang on the outside of your ear) but the unit itself works great..buttons laid out nicely. Great supplied software also...
62 This is Probably The Worst MP3 Player Ever!!!
I got this mp3 player as a birthday present and i was really excited because i had wanted one. The software had a lot of problems resulting in a lot of changes to my computer system. Some of the songs i had wouldn't load on to the mp3 player even though they were in mp3 format and the songs i could get to load would skip and were very bad quality. The power switch which controls on/off/hold functions fell out almost every time i used it, and if you have seen this mp3 player you know that the switch is pretty small. So after i took off the backpack and opened up the mp3 player i had to get out my tweezers and carefully place the switch plate back on to the actual switch that is about the size of a pinhead. Not Very fun since music is my life and i bring my mp3 or Cd player every where i go. So, if you are considering this mp3 player, DON'T BUY IT!!
63 Rio 600 pretty nice
This is a really nice little MP3 player. I take mine with me to the gym all the time and havent had any problems with it. The software is pretty easy to install, I also have WIndows XP and didnt have any problems. The songs transfer fast. I had it working within a few minutes out of the box. It is user friendly. I wish it had alttle more memory but you can buy expansion backpacks for them. The batteries seem to last for a pretty long time. This is a nice first mp3 player.
64 Not Good at ALL!
I think that this player is not good, i am 13 years old, and i wanted this player so bad!!! When i got is it worked for a day, then broke, it ruined my weekend. I soon got another one, because i thought the first one was defective, it once again did the same thing, after i finished crying my mom bought online, a different type. She bought a Nomad 64MB, i have never been happier, i love it, and even though it cost a little bit more, it was worth it. Dont buy it.
65 Improvement over the Rio 500
I was the happy owner of a Rio 500 until about two months ago when I left it on top of my car when I was putting my daughter in the carseat. I drove off and haven't seen it since. Oops. It took me this long to get back into the market for an MP3 player. When I did, I found that the Rio 500, which I was generally happy with despite a few quirks, was no longer available. I read the reviews and decided to go with the Rio 600. It's a choice I'm glad I made. It's sturdier than the 500, has better volume control, and the controls are easy to access and use. The major selling point for me, over the Rio 800, however, was the use of a standard AA battery. The Rio 800 uses a rechargable battery, which is, in theory, a great way to go. However, I've found the power on such items always runs out at the most inconvenient times. With the Rio 600, I simply carry a spare AA battery in my pocket at all times and I'm covered for many, many hours of listening; I've found I get 11 to 14 hours out of a single battery. There's no question that I'd recommend this sturdy little player to other listeners with the following caveat: When you receive it, go purchase a cheap pair of in-the-ear headphones from any electronics store, they'll give you better sound and in my opinion are far more comfortable. And happy listening.
66 Love it!
I got this for Christmas 2K, and have been pleased with it since... I quickly figured out that if you convert your mp3z into WMA files you can get almost twice as many songs on there... I can sometimes get up to 20. Though it has the capacity for one battery, it sure lasts quite a while. Sometimes the battery just dies on me though, it'll say it's at 70% and then just die.
The rubbery coating on the outside has started peeling, so it looks kinda ghetto now, but I love it when I'm working out, or walking to school.
67 no problem with it.
The audio quality is exceptional. It is small and rugged. I have had not a single problem with it so I am wondering if the other reviewers are high or something. One reservation I have with it is the cost. At like ($) they could have at least included the battery charger feature that is available in the BackPack upgrades. It could not have added much to the manufacturing cost, I don't think, except maybe dip their profit margin a fraction. The other reservation I have is the curvy body. I like my electronics hard and straight and this design is a little too fruity for me (Stupid Apple Computer!). Also there are some annoying quirks. If you pause it and don't play for like a minute, it turns itself off.... Overall this is an good unit but terribly short on features.
68 Be careful replacing the battery!!!
I am a parent of a 16 year old. Last Christmas I bought her a Rio 600. She is an avid sports player, and the Rio seemed like a good solution that would allow her to listen to music while practicing. The Rio worked well for about the first 60 days, and then all of a sudden it didn't work. We contacted the manufacturer, and they told us that we would have to send the Rio along with $100 dollars in order to fix it. Come on! I took the Rio to a friend of mine that is an electronics wizard to see if he could do something with it. He reported back that one of the gold pins that is located in the battery unit was bent, and it had pushed out the female side. It couldn't be fixed. I am really disappointed with the design of the Rio. The target population is teenagers, and I really wonder what would possess a company to think that most teenagers could be careful with such a delicate part. Maybe they were counting on it breaking?
69 I really enjoy the RIO 600
I think this item is fantastic! and the fact you can upgrade it is pretty cool. In my case I wanted the 64mb model, but it was too pricey at the time i really wanted a player so i went for the lower model and then found out I could upgrade it and I thought that was really cool. The RIO model of mp3 players is great and sooo easy to use. I encourage any person who enjoys mp3's to get a RIO player because they are simple and you can change the faceplates,which is great if your not into blue.
70 Unless you love headaches, go look at another MP3 player
One word sums up this player: unreliable. It is very temperamental. Some days it'll work fine, while others it will just turn off by itself with no provocation. It's not funny when you are in the middle of a song, then having to turn the switch to off and then backs to on, then pressing the fwd button until you reach the point you want. I've only had one problem with a song not downloading properly, so it's not a major problem with my unit. A battery will last a good day, two to three with moderate playtime. However, Rio could've found a better place to put the battery. Every time I replace the battery, I'm afraid of breaking the golden pins on the battery side of the unit. Overall, if you want a really good investment for your dollar, don't buy this product. Go look somewhere else.
71 I've tried 2, both broke
I had a Rio 600, two in fact. One broke, I returned it, and now the second one is broken. Everything in this review I found to be consistant with BOTH of them. First of all, the 32 MB it comes with is not nearly enough, the backback is essential. Second, the device will go through battery power even when the device is in the off position. I would put a new battery in, use it for an hour or two, turn it off, and the next time I would go to use it the battery would be dead. What I ended up doing was taking the battery out and only putting it into the device when I was ready to use it. A major pain in the a**. The final problem I had with BOTH of the devices I had was that after using it for about 3 months something would break that caused the audio output to be full of static. The songs would load fine (and play fine on my PC) they just would sound like garbage coming through the headphones. I tried anything I could think of...new headphones, new battery, formatting the memory, different songs, emailing their tech support (4 times...no response yet) and nothing worked. So it is currently sitting in a box waiting for someone from Rio to get back to me. My advice to anyone looking to get an MP3 player would be to stay away from this one.
72 and got a rio volt
I bought this 'cool rio' thinking is was going to be the end to my audio needs. I soon learned it was comparable to the title. It coulnd't handle the everyday use. Like say the backpack of a high school student. It broke within a month and rio wouldnt help me out. I'm not even gonna mention 32 mb of storage, and 64 mb upgrages cost as much as a new unit itself. I got smart and trashed that and got a rio volt. best sound investment ever.
73 satisfied but
I like it a lot, it dos not bother me that it only holds 6 to 8 snngs , but i cant seam to get any length of play time out of my batteries if i let it sit for a few days without use the battery goes dead.
74 Is that the best you can do?
At first, the Rio 600 seemed like a dream come true. It was very simple to transfer songs from the computer to the device. The only major problem(or so I thought)was that it used up a lot of AA batteries in one week. After about 3 months, I was no longer able to add songs to the Rio library, therefore making it so I could no longer listen to newly downloaded songs, only old ones. I could still transfer songs that I had downloaded before though. About a month later, I was unable to transfer any songs to the device. It said on my computer screen that the songs were being transferred, yet they failed to find their way to my player. Now, the mp3 player won't even turn on. I've tried putting in new batteries, but nothing will get it to turn back on. Too bad there wasn't a four month warranty.
75 The Rio 600 is good but the program stinks
When i was givin my rio i was really excited. I opened it and quickly download songs onto it from "NAPSTER". As soon as the songs were downloaded i started to listen. I had the same songs on it for a few weeks so i decided to change them. As soon as the songs were done i listened and ALL OF THE SONGS had big skips. i was really P/O so i tryed it again. This time half of the songs didn't even download and the ones that did had skips. Theats when i decided to reinstall it. when i reinstalled it, it wouldn't install. It came up with an error message saying that the cd was not working. so i checked for a scratch and there wasn't one. So now i am going to call rio and ask for a refund.
76 Haven't had a problem so far :)
I got this as a Christmas present December 2000, and have used it moderately throughout the whole time. Overall, it's a great mp3 player, and one of the cheaper ones out there (too bad it hasn't gone done in price at all it seems :(. It's compact, cool-looking, and durable (I accidentally dropped it over a 3 story balcony and it still works!). Beyond all the technical expandability stuff, I think the software is pretty good. It transfers the 32mb within 5 minutes on my computer (AMD-K6 400 with 64mb RAM only ;). Also, the software converts my cds into a more compact mp3 format than other programs I've used (but I don't really fiddle with the settings in them), and it sounds great. As a college studend and an athelete, I really appreciate how these mp3 players don't skip a beat (I've taken it on all our trips)!
Some cons I've seen... well 32mb stores at most 1 hour of music, which is fine for me since I can listen to my music over and over again, but depends on your tolerance. I sometimes carry my CD player around just in case I get a craving for something else, but comparatively, the Rio is much easier to have around. Also, I don't change the music on it much, since I don't have access to my computer much (sometimes I don't go home for days), but again it depends on your situation. Otherwise, if you have some extra cash and easy access to your computer, I'd highly recommend the Rio 600. It's worked well for me so far.
Oh, one more thing... I find that wrapping the earphone cords with it still attached will eventually expose some wires at connection (strain and stress and all that), so I take out the cord before I wrap it now... no biggy.
77 Diamond Rio 600 stinks
Well, I went and got one and the next day I suffered an electrical shock through my ear drums.To make matters worse the item stopped playing.How about calling customer service? Well, that was 2 months ago and still waiting for a call back.If you like waisting money on new toys like I did than buy it, if not keep using your CD player its all hype.Also, 32mb of music only amounts to 6 (4min) songs.
78 The third time's the charm?
My pre-teen son saved his money for quite some time to be able to buy himself an MP-3 player. He bought an open box Rio 600 the first time,(saved $25) and it never worked for more than 1 hour. There was either no sound or alot of crackling/popping sounds. Thinking that it was due to the open box or the headphones, we returned it and were able to exchange it for a new Rio 600 (and he bought new headphones). This one had the identical problems as well as a great deal of trouble turning off and on. Once again, we returned it. We decided that this couldn't possibly happen again, and tried one last time. Although, the power switch seemed lose,it worked for about a month, then the switch completely broke (you can hear the plastic rattling around inside). Tech support has been NO help at all, and my son has learned an important but expensive lesson...stick with a company which will support its products (not Sonicblue).
79 Great Product - while it worked
I have had the same experience with this player that others have written about regarding the higher end players. Everything was going along fine when suddenly the player emitted a high shriek and ceased to work. This problem is not documented at all and there is no way to troubleshoot it. Nothing fixes it and it is dead in the water....
80 D.O.A.
Dead on Arrival --Shouda listened to the other reviewers... Rio support was just ducky...said, "for $29.95 we can replace it" even though I had it only for 2 hours...oh well. I was able to return it through Apple...
81 Good for the price
I got this player and I had a few problems so far. The software is a bit buggy but once you get the hang of it it works fine. The fact that it dosent take digital cards but you have to buy a special extra memory pack dose kinda suck, and the player will skip a song if it detects a problem so be sure if your downloading an MP3 its as clean a download as possible it wont except even the slightes corrupted file!
82 I reluctantly give it one star...
The first Rio I bought was easy to use and pretty quick. Fun stuff! When I went running (the indicator said 78% battery power), it suddenly indicated 0% power and shut off. I changed the battery and yet, the darn thing kept shutting off. Tech support was really unhelpful. They recommended I upload the firmware. This did not help. Frustrated, I reasoned that I probably just got a lemon. So I exchanged it. For another lemon. The new one distorted the sound (sounded like a tape being chewed up) and eventually stopped playing. After that horrendous experience, I returned it and shelled out double the money for an Intel Pocket Concert. It just seems sturdier. Equally easy to use -- more memory. And it works like a dream!! Completely worth the extra cash!! Save yourselves, people!!
83 don't buy it
I have a Rio 600... actually it is my 5th Rio 600 since January...but now this one has stopped working as well.When it works, the sound is incredible, but that will only last for about 2-3 weeks. Then the player will stop working. I would not recommend that anyone buy a Rio 600. I am sorry to give it even 1 star, but they don't let you give negative stars.
84 Rollercoaster of Emotions. Good, Static, Won't Stay On
I got the Rio 600 for my girlfriend for valentine's day. She really wanted an MP3 player she could use at school. At first the Rio 600 was great, it took her alittle while to get use to the software but that was fine. Then all it did was play static. Now it won't stay on for more than a few seconds. A real piece of ... and I'm stuck looking like a jerk, because this thing doesn't work and trying to reach Diamond about the issue is like trying to get blood from a stone. Buy something else. A few weeks later my cousin bought the same unit, and he is experiencing the same problems.
85 Great Player! (so far)
I bought my player exactly one month ago and then read all of your reviews (i bought from a different site). It made me wonder if it would break, but so far it has been perfect! I don't what you are talking about when you say it only holds 6-7 songs and 30 mins of mp3s because mine holds 12 songs and 53 minutes of mp3s. I can't tell how bad the software is on pcs because i have a mac but soundjam is perfect! A best buy as long as you don't get a buggy copy. I am still keeping my fingers crossed that it will keep working, but so far good!
86 Mad in Miami
If it didn't cost so much, I would chuck this thing. I was a happy listener for 6 days. Although the battery life is like 2 minutes, I was happy with the great sound and I was able to put about 27 songs. (Mixture of MP3s and WMAs) BUT now... for no reason, the only sound I get is STATIC and POPS. It seems like I am not the only one. I am not sure that I want them to replace this again. I think I will look elsewhere in the future. The 2 stars are for the sound - when it works!!
87 Buyer Beware!
For Christmas, my wife and I both received Rio 600s. Hers did not work, mine lasted 2 months. Her replacement Rio lasted two months and is now being serviced. My replacement is still being serviced. Foolishly thinking that I couldn't possibly get burned again by the same product, I decided to buy the Rio 800 with 128mg (the 600 didn't have enough memory anyway and the upgrades are expensive). The 800 was awesome...for two uses! Then it stopped transmitting sound (same as two of the other faulty players). On top of that, the software corrupted my operating system and I had to get my hard drive re-burned. It does not seem possible, but between us we went through 5 faulty Rios. I conceded defeat and bought the Intel 128mg. It has worked well and I actually like its features and functionality better than the Rio (of course, I am biased now). Plus, you can get more than a thirty-day warranty with Intel, which is not the case with the Rio 128mg.
88 It would be great, if it worked.
I recieved the Rio 600 for christmas and besides for its small storage space it seemed like a pretty good mp3 player, but then it stoped putting out sound. Headphones didn't work, car adapters didn't work, nothing worked. So I emailed the company and they agreed to send me a new one. They informed me they would send a new rio, 2nd day air, but it took over 2 weeks to arrive. The worst part was the fact that the "new one" was actually a Referbished one that was even worse. From the first time that I used the rio it began to freeze, infact the only way to remedy the situation, was to remove the power supply. Once again I emailed customer service and requested either a refund or a non-referbished replacement. The only response that I got was that they would try and send me another referbished replacement. Well that one hasn't arrived yet, but when it does I hope it works! I don't think that I will be purchasing any more Rio/Sonic blue products in the future.
89 Great if used for the right purposes
The Rio 600 is pretty sleek. It's well designed so that it's small enough to take jogging and easily fits in the grip of your hand. However, there are numerous drawbacks. 1) I listen to my Rio in my car 95%+ of the time. (I use my car cassette adapter from my CD player to hook it up.) However, the Rio doesn't have a corresponding cord to plug into your cigarette lighter -- unfortunately, this means that it eats thru batteries pretty quickly.
2) 32MB of music is pretty small. This works out to 6-7 songs which is not a lot.
3) If you're not looking at the Rio when you're changing tunes, you often press the wrong button (I usually end up pausing when I'm trying to scroll) -- this is pretty typical since I'm often driving or running with my Rio when I'm trying to change songs. It's nothing defective as when I actually look and hit one of the buttons, I hit it, but the design could be improved (notice that the main buttons are part of a circular pad.)
All in all, I'm pretty happy with my Rio. I would caution that if you're looking for a lot more music time or are planning on using your Rio extensively in your car to wait for newer models that hopefully will have features that accommodate these types of users.
90 wow!
i've had this player for a bit now and i must say its wonderful! its small and light. fits in any pocket and looks really kewl. it can download BOTH cd and internet songs. many other players can't download from cd's. the headphones and case are really kewl too. it holds a load of cd music(i guess the files aren't as large as internet). i can fit about 15 songs on mine with half and half of cd and mp3. depends on how long the songs are. something i don't get, practically every review said the software is very confusing and frustrating. i thought it was a snap! it downloads the songs in seconds. i barley needed to look in the instructions! i've had a harder time with social studies homework! the sound is great and very clear. the LCD screen is very readable and bright. its strong and durable. i don't know why so many people said they had so many probelems. mebye the company has redone it with an upgraded model or somthing. well, if your thinking of buying an mp3 player, keep this one in mind. its a great player!
91 Wonderful little player!
The Rio600 certainly is an impressive player. Small and sexy, it holds a load of music at an amazingly high quality. The difference between storing in WMA format at 64k or 128k is almost undetectable, giving virtual CD quality on the move.The LCD display gives plenty of track info, and there are lots of customisable options too, such as many different tonal balances to suit different tastes etc. On the subject of tone, dump the supplied earphones, which amazingly are far too poor for the player. With a half decent pair and the right tone settings, you'll get it sounding just how you want. The underlying source sound quality is astonishingly good.
Apart from the supplied earphones, the only other down sides worth mentioning are the battery life indicator (the batteries will die suddenly with the indicator still showing 50% life!) and a slight software "sting in the tail". Don't get me wrong, the CD copying/transfer software is a joy to use, doing its' job in minutes, and it even collects all the track info from the Internet in seconds. But why does it appear to be limited to copying only 50 CDs? After that, you have to pay for an "unlimited" update version, for a few dollars. A cheap trick, I thought.
But all in all, a hell of an impressive player which will soon become the only way you listen to your albums on the move.
92 So so
I bought this product last year. I was very satisfied with it for a while. But, I must tell you, you can only put 30 minutes or less music. If you exercise and want to listen the music, it is not enough. (at least for me). In addition to it, a battery goes deat so quickly. I have constantly changing batteries all the time. If you want to buy this product, I would recommend that you buy additional back memory and battery.
93 Definetly Not Worth $150....
To put it simply, the Rio 600 has many benefits, but there are of course many flaws. Pros: Great sound quality, WMA support, Fast transfers from computer to device, Skip-free, Very sleek and tiny for easy portibility, Nice battery life compared to skip-free CD players
Cons: Low storage, Software is way too confusing, Often has problems associated with it
My personal expireience with it was overall pretty bad. Even though Rio says it can hold up to an hour of music, they neglect to say what that really means. 32MB can only carry about 20 or so minutes worth of MP3s. Even if you downsize it to WMA files, I've only been able to get about 40 minutes worth. You'd have to lower the quality a lot in order to get an entire hour. Also, the software will often give you a headache when you attempt to load music on to it. It forces you to first make a playlist (which is more complicated than one may assume) and then load the playlist at a different section and drag the files over to a device. The people who created the software obviously didn't create it for people on the go. However, the biggest problem is how faulty the thing is. I had mine for about two weeks when I decided to do some yardwork with it in my pocket. Although I didn't even touch while raking up frozen leaves, I suddenly felt a shcok in my right ear and I yanked the headphones off. The player said it was still playing, so I figured the provided headphones broke. I tried a new pair, and they didn't let me hear anything either. About a day or two later, the on/off switch jammed, so even if it was working I couldn't hear music anyway. Being that these are common problems, I'd steer clear of the Rio 600. Besides, there are skip-free CD Players out there, and not only are they $100 cheaper, they let you hold a lot more music and they don't break ridiculously like the player.
94 whats everybody talking about!?
i bought a rio 600 a few months ago and its great. i am having the time of my life with it. i was so excited with it untill i saw all the bad reviews. everyone was Saying it broke in a day or the software was frustrating.i haven't had a single problem with mine at all. the software can be a little confusing but THATS WHAT INSTUCTIONS ARE FOR! the only reason i didn't give it 5 stars was the battery lid. its really fragile and easy to break. if you've been feeling doubtfull about buying this becuase of all the bad reviews, don't totally believe them. if your careful and take good care of it, your gonna have it for A LONG TIME! buy it if YOU want, don't let the reviews tell you down.
95 Rio 600 - Average Life Span = 20 mins
I am on my fifth Rio 600. They are lovely, for the 20 minutes that they work. The on/off switch broke on the first one - like so many others have stated. The sound went after 20 mins - 2 weeks on the next four - you get a loud pop, followed by nothing but static. Rio has replaced my unit each time, and claim that they've never heard of the problem. But from the reviews here it appears that many have encountered the same problem. I will not be replacing my Rio until I hear some more favorable reviews. . .It's not worth the phone time!!
96 Good product so far, extra memory too expensive
I just purchased the RIO 600 yesterday, and it works like it'ssupposed to--sounds great, gets about 55 min. of WMA audio at64kb/s. The 'joypad' which selects FF/play/pause and stop is a littlehard to use--you have to touch in just the right spot or you will skipto the next or previous track instead of playing or pausing. Mybiggest complaint is that the extra memory 'backpacks' are sopricey. $... for another 32MB!! 64MB costs as much as the playeritself. It's scary to contemplate what the 340 MB backpack might cost,if it ever is released. If you can get by with 45-55 minutes of musicto take with you, it's a good buy. If you need more memory, buy aplayer that uses smart media cards--they're about a dollar a megabyte
97 Good Performance, Buy MANY batteries!
I got the Rio 600 through the Pepsi Points promotion last year (2000). The audio is great, the menu structure is very understandable, the screen has a light function that's very similar to Indiglo, and the casing fits your hand well enough that you can operate it with one hand. Unfortunately, the Rio 600 has some flaws. First, the Rio says it can run off one AA battery for 11 hours. That's true in more than one sense of the word. The clock inside runs off the battery, greatly reducing playtime. Unless you use the Rio constantly, you're going to be changing batteries every two weeks. Second, 32 Mb of memory is not a lot unless you convert your mp3s to Windows Media Audio (WMA). To do this, you will need to download the powertoys package for the Windows Media Player, it does not ship with the Rio (at least when I got mine). Finally, the control program you install on your computer to transfer songs is very cumbersome. I have a part-time job as a computer lab consultant and even I have to look around in order to make the program work. I don't even use it anymore, I just use the "Portable Device function" in Windows Media Player--which is a lot easier to use. In short, the Rio 600 has a short battery life and a complicated control program, but makes up for it with an affordable price and excellent sound quality. If you get it, I recommend getting the rechargeable battery.
98 The Good, The Bad,& The Ugly
The good: The Price! I found it on sale brand new for 100.00 Also good is the player itself. The sound quality is on par with digital cd sound. The Bad: 32mb of storage makes it inconvenient for some one who likes to hear a variety of music daily. Formating and making a new playlist every day is too much hassle. Also bad is the expensive backpacks that can upgrade your storage to as much as 340mb. The Ugly: The software. Many have reported having no problem using it. So I thought I would give it a chance. After three days of frustration I am going to take back this player solely because the program is riddled with bugs that I could not iron out. Customer support is basically non-existant.
99 RIO 600 IS JUNK
I got a Rio 600 and I have not had it for more than one month. Why??? It keeps breaking, first the light, than the firmware. I cannot stand it. THEN THE SOFTWARE AND HEADPHONES BROKE!!! I would never by this product again. However I do like the player size and function but it is junk. THINK ELSEWARE!!!
100 Broke in One Day
The item worked for the first day and no longer. I wrote email to SonicBlue and get no response. Earphones worked on other MP3 player. Recorded songs, but playback had nothing but static. Burns you up when a company won't support it's products.
