The ruckus over MP3s and the Napster-focused copyright battle has overshadowed the huge portability advantages of digital music. Only a few years ago, "portable music" meant carrying around a bulky CD player and either a CD wallet or a load of plastic jewel cases. The Rio (now part of SONICblue) line of digital-audio players pioneered portable MP3 devices, and the new Rio 800 flagship model has the potential to redefine what portable audio should be--if it can overcome a few shortcomings.
This version of the Rio 800 comes with 128 MB of memory, enough for about 2 hours of near-CD quality MP3 music. (Another version comes with 64 MB of built-in memory.) It can also accommodate Windows Media Audio (WMA) files, which can double the playing time, thanks to the format's high compression. If 128 MB isn't quite enough for you, SONICblue sells proprietary Memory Backpacks (instead of standard memory cards, like SmartMedia or CompactFlash) that can boost your Rio by an additional 32 or 64 MB. Unfortunately, prices are still fairly high for these Backpacks; hopefully they'll come down as Rio's popularity increases.
Another great feature is the built-in microphone feature that lets you record meetings and notes to yourself, then play them back later. And if your tastes run more to spoken-word recordings, Audible.com media files take up even less memory.
The Rio 800 is powered by a rechargeable battery, which we found to be perfectly acceptable. It averaged around 6 to 8 hours of continuous use per charge and required only a few hours to recharge. A red light let us know when the battery was being recharged, turning off when the battery was ready. The 800's carrying case is also much improved from earlier Rio models--smartly designed, form fitting, and providing easy access to all the controls.
The control buttons are centrally located, and with some practice we were able to operate the Rio's various functions without looking at it. On the unit we tested, we had to be sure to push toward the top of the volume rocker to increase the sound level, rather than where the volume icon was located, but that barely registered as a minor irritation.
A boon for frequent exercisers is the (misnamed) Hold switch, which locks the controls in case of accidental bumps. The Rio also comes with a pair of folding headphones that look cool but were uncomfortable to wear for more than about 20 minutes.
The LCD screen is a bit larger than most and has plenty of room for information like the current song title, sample rate, time, track number, and volume. However, to display that much info means using a small font, so at times it was hard to read. And the circular display window put form over function; it looked nice but it was sometimes difficult to see objects around the edges due to the shadow projected by the circular frame. We had to tilt the unit nearly every time to see the play indicator to find out if the music was stopped or just paused.
Overall, though, these criticisms are minor quibbles compared to what the Rio 800 offers: a portable repository for all your digital audio needs, from tunes to voice recording, with high-quality playback. --Jeff Carlson
Pros:
- Great memory storage for MP3s--even better if using the WMA format
- Voice-recording function
- Rechargeable battery
Cons:
- Display can be hard to read at times
With added features and even more memory (128 MB), the Rio 800 will let you capture and play back up to two hours of near CD-quality digital audio from the Internet or your CDs. Diamond adds customizable features and high-end audio you can't get from other players. It includes a built-in rechargeable NiMH battery pack and a voice-record function.
The Rio 800 supports the most popular audio formats--MP3 and WMA--and can be upgraded 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. Also upgrade your Rio 800 with separate snap-on Memory Backpacks up to 340 MB to give you up to nine 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.
The Rio comes with a one-year warranty.
1 Very Bad product
My Rio player broke within a year of purchase. The area where I have to plug in the adapter simply loosened up and broke off. To arrange for repairs, I had to call Rio customer service VIA LONG DISTANCE since they do not have a 1-800 number for customer service or technical support, but of course they do have one for Sales Inquiries. Without a warranty, you are asked to fax (again through a long distance fax number) and are charged a fee of $49.95. I will never again buy another RIO product just to have it break within only a year.
2 Garbage
Unfortunately there is not 0 stars. The product I bought just make a humming noise. Customer service? No answer to 6 e-mails. I tried calling. First, false information provided (deliverately?): just download the firmware and it will work. Then, they mock you: just send us the details and proof of purchase and we will replace. They do not (two attemps). Never, never buy anything from this manufacture or trust it.
3 come on guys its 100 bux
the mp3 player is the greatest 1 out there(for the price of course) try 2 find an mp3 player for a 100$ betta then this 1 i mean im 15 and if i gotta get buy an mp3 player myself of couse im not goin 2 buy 1 for 400$ but when i saw this product it look great nice sleek style and pluss it was 100$ cant get betta then that so when u say that it stinks what r u baseing ur view on i guess ur setting ur standerds 2 high
4 Not That Bad
I have owned my Rio for a while now and it works great!!! I admit it has some problems but the company has solved most of them aredy.
Problem: 2-4 hours of life insted of 11-12
solution: replace the battery with an other rechargeable battery of the same type. (Nickel Metal Hydride)
Problem: does not work with XP
solution: they have resently released a installer that will seat up everything on xp. just go to support then download (on the left side of the screen). after that chose what version or rio 800 you have. then go to software and the first thing on the screen will be the support sofware for Xp. read the Warning befor downloading it.
Problem: it has stopped working
solution: due to a design flaw the charger port and the head set hock up is the same size. people have been confusing them and putting the chrger in the head set place. this will destroy the player. contact custimer support for a replacment.
problem: bad custimer supprot
reason: due to theis problems and flaws they have been backlogged in support department for some time. you will eventualy be able to get ahold of them and will send you replacemet parts and see if you will be able to get a replacement player.
5 RIO 800 is Poor At least
I have had the product for less than 6 months and after the product was charged originally, it never held a charge for more than an hour afterwards. Product drivers seem to be plentiful, but generally don't work. I have used RealOne software (which is shipped with the product)and upgrades. I have used MusicMatch Jukebox (which I think is a great product) and I have used Windows Media Player 7.1 All products hang when transferring music to the machine. I am using up to date operating software (Windows 2000 SP3). There is literaly no support I can find. RIO Support when you mail them, do not answer. I wish I could truly find an MP3 player out there that actually does what it is suppose to do .....
6 Nah
I would recommend the Rio 900 player instead. It can hold 192 MB of music and is not that more expensive. I have also found that the 900's battery does not have a problem like the 800 initially does
7 Bad Player & Bad Service
Out of the box the Rio 800 was a lemon. It crashed on half the songs I loaded, the battery showed full when it was almost empty and, best of all, the people at Rio don't exactly respond quickly to requests for repair or exchange. The unit is sitting in a drawer while I wait for their Customer diService department to get back to me. Maybe I'm too impatient, after all, I emailed them barely a month ago.
8 Just doesn't work...
Well, I bought this and based on the feature list, I could hardly wait to open the box and get started. I easily connected this up to my computer, dragged music on to the device using WMP, and plugged in the headphones. And when I pressed play and heard music, I was stoked - so I headed out on my run. After about 30 seconds, the first song started skipping so I stopped and pressed fast forward. Then the second song started skipping. And then the 4th, and this one so bad the unit locked up. So, I called tech support who just told me to pack it up and send it off to them. Not what I wanted to hear. After about a month my package came back - no paperwork, no word of what they did to fix it, nothing. Just the Rio, suspiciously packaged in the same material I sent it out to them in. Anyway, I copied the music back onto the device, pressed play, and... the same skipping as before, but this time it locked up on every song.
I think if you get lucky and get a working unit, then this is a great device. Just pray you don't need any help from their technical support department.
9 Great little gizmo!
i got my rio because i wanted to listent to Audible books. it works GREAT for this. the interface to the audible software running on your local pc and the server (usb) is fast, flawless and error-free. the memory capacity allows you to store all but the largest of books in a single pass.
battery life is good.
things i would improve: the writing for the display is microscopically small and almost impossible to read. menu system is not intuitive. there is no warning when the battery is dying. there is no car-charger, and the headphones you get with the unit are like a vice grip - unusable!
but still, for what it does, it works great.
10 Poor Customer Service
I have 2 RIO MP3 Players. Both of them were purchased in June 2002. The buttons on one of them have stopped working and I have been trying to return it under warranty for 2 weeks. I have been e-mailing and calling there support center everyday. They request that you fax proof of purchase, which normally would not be a problem, except there fax machine is a voice/fax and if you do not hit the send button at exactly the right second it doesn't go through. After spending 20 minutes on the phone I now have an address to return it to. However, I have little hope of getting it fixed and returned. I would look for a more reliable product next time.
11 Great player -- you can replace the batteries
I bought the Rio 800 128 for my wife for Mother's Day in 2001. She absolutly loves it and has used it almost every day since for her workouts. However, about 4 months ago she started having battery-life problems like those described in the other reviews (less than 3hrs of battery life, wouldn't hold a charge, etc.) I contacted SonicBlue and they sent me a replacement backpack and new charger. Followed all instructions (calibrate the battery, make sure firmware upgraded to the the correct version, etc.) The Rio worked for about 20 minutes. Out of frustration, I removed the backpack from the unit and replaced the battery with an Olympus NiMH AA battery from my camera and the Rio works like a dream again. I even use the Rio charger to recharge the unit. Note that there is a warning label on the battery compartment cover that says not to do this. I safely ignored the warning and the player gives over 10 hours of playtime on a single charge.
12 A Disappointing Product
My Rio 800 worked great for about two months, but after that short time, I have experienced a number of problems with it. I typically use the unit at the gym, and while it is lightweight and has a more than adequeate storage capacity, the negatives now outweigh the positives for me.
The battery life, like many others have said, is poor. I typically get about three hours of playing time out of my unit before it fails. In addition, the player crashes at random, requiring removal and re-insertion of the battery pack before it will operate. On some occassions, this does not fix the crash, with the player displaying "ready to download," and only replacing the firmware fixes the crash. In addition, many MP3s suffer in the transfer process, with annoying screeches and pauses being added.
In all, I would recommend not buying this product and saving your money for an iPod.
13 Rio 800 128mb-don't buy it!
Whatever you do-don't buy this!
Pro-
the actual player is cool, and the headphones are tite
Con-
the software doesn't work-three different computers wouldn't recognize the player-two with windows xp, and one with '98se. then, i saw in the instructions that i should download some software from the web site, so i tried to, but it wasn't at the site.-so, if u want a cool player that can't be recognized, get it. otherwise, steer clear.
14 It's the best choice going
I researched this thing intensely. I was looking for a solid state player primarily for workouts (running - treadmill and outdoors) and although I tried very hard to find something better overall, I kept coming back to the RIO 800 128mb. I actually bought the Yepp 30sh (128mb) and man is it small! But frankly, the inability to play other than mp3 and the inability to do firmware upgrades made me bring it back same day and get the RIO. Size really isn't an issue anyway (no pun intended). The RIO with it's included belt clip/case is practically weightless and stays firmly on your waistband. I've had the player two weeks, no battery or other problems. Headphones included are not so comfortable but this is a minor issue(Yepp came with earbuds which I just can't use). Bought some Phillips over the ear type for nine bucks. That's it, this RIO is the right player right now (8/2002). Go for it.
15 Improved Storage Capacity but Poor Battery Performance
This is the fifth different MP3 player I have owned. In the past the chief limitation of these devices has been their small storage capacity. Because of this, I found myself having to transfer files with almost every use so I wouldn't be stuck listening to the same content over and over. With 128MB of memory, the RIO 800 relieves some of that headache. To eliminate it altogether I heartily recommend the RIO Riot which has 20GB of memory but is considerably bulkier than the RIO 800.
I like to listen to spoken-word files from audible.com, which are only available in their proprietary formats. The RIO 800 handles these formats (and MP3, WMA) without difficulty. I find that I can load about 15 hours of spoken-word content in Audible's (compressed) Format 3 without sacrificing much in the way of sound quality. Currently, the RIO Riot cannot play proprietary files from audible.com, although that is reportedly under development.
Unfortunately, the RIO 800 has major battery problems which cause the device I own to play only about three hours between charges instead of 11 (as advertised). I have been back and forth with SonicBlue's tech support for two months over this (update: 3 months now), only to be told that replacement batteries are on back order with no definite delivery date. They told me they have been "overwhelmed" with battery replacement requests. While I can still use the RIO 800 with the shorter battery life, it's annoying to have to recharge it so often. The problem is compounded by the fact that the battery-level indicator is completely inaccurate, so you have to keep mental track of probable remaining battery life (or recharge it after every use). The RIO Riot, on the other hand, gets about nine hours per charge and the battery-level indicator is accurate.
The other complaint I have is that the RIO 800 and RIO Riot have LCD displays that are hard to read, especially the RIO 800. Unless you are eagle-eyed, there is no way you can read the RIO 800 time-counter display and jog (or workout) at the same time.
16 Be forewarned...
Let me just share something with anyone considering this product: I am a pretty tech-savvy twenty-something, and I was disappointed with SONICblue's Rio products, not once, but twice.
I purchased a Rio 600 (64MB) MP3 player a few months ago. I received the product, perfectly sealed in it's packaging -- missing an ON/OFF switch. Thinking that this would have been easily caught by any person in Quality Control, I was still openminded, and decided to purchase the Rio 800 (128MB) MP3. I thought it would be far superior to have more memory, and be able to recharge the player.
It was a wonderful player... for about two or three weeks, until the firmware failed. After receiving tech support & uninstalling/reinstalling, they said it was simply a defective unit, and I returned that one as well.
Perhaps I am particularly unlucky? Or perhaps the Rio product from this relatively unknown company is an inferior product, that has not really made it over all of the hurdles of quality testing? Not for me to say, but I thought I would warn other potential purchasers.
17 Nice Design, Durable and easy to use
Recessed buttons are nice as you avoid accidental bumps and sudden changes while playing.
Visually nice design. Seems to be durable, I've dropped it several times without it skipping, stopping or breaking.
New 900 is out with more memory but not much change otherwise.
18 This thing blows don't buy it!
After reading all the crappy reviews of this product I though maybe I'd be one of the lucky ones. I was wrong. I got this and transfered about 22 MP3s to it. As I listened to it as I rode my bike I realized that all the MP3s had a "hiccup" in them. Sounds kinda like a skip on a cd. All of the files I had on it came from a cd or right off my computer from being downloaded. All the files had this "skip" sound in them. But all the files, when I listend to them on my computer, where fine. I also tried transfering an entire cd using Windows Media Player. They were transfered by converting them to WMA files. When I played them back on the RI0 800 POS it couldnt even get through most of the songs without gettin all grabled and skiping to the next track. Dont buy this product. Too many people are having issues with it.
19 Poor Design & Quality
I purchased my Rio 128 only six months ago. The charger was designed poorly so by accidentally plugging it into the headphone socket, the Rio was damaged. Sent back and received a newly designed charger (which prevents plugging into the wrong socket) as well as a new or remanufactured Rio 128. It had numerous problems with sound quality from popping to cutting out, to skipping. I got authorization to send it back and waited 2 months for my replacement. What I got in replacement was a Rio 64. It has the same problems as the Rio 128 I sent in. E-mails to customer support get me no response now. This is the poorest quality electronic product I have ever owned. Definately not ready for prime time. Go back to the drawing board.
20 Nice Features, Bad Quality
This is the 4th Rio product in my household. I bought a Rio500, my wife has a Rio500 and now I have the Rio800. We also very briefly had a RioVolt 90 CD player. The quality on all 4 products has been abysmal. The Rio800 has rechargable batteries which they claim have 11 hours of use between charges. 5 hours is more like it for the first 6 months, now it's about 4 hours (a little over a year old). There is no option for replacing the battery. I've also noticed after a year of use (now out of warranty), I get these bizzare screeching or warbling noises in the middle of playing music or audio books. Now the thing stopped working all together. The features of this product were right on target, but Rio really has a lot to learn about quality.
21 Satisfied Customer
I still remember the first time I saw a solid state MP3 player: the original Rio at a small side room at Comdex a few years back. For me, it was one of those "wow" moments, like the first time I used the Mosaic browser and clicked hyperlinks. Even though I was excited, I held off from buying a player because of the cost and the limited memory. Well, I finally bought my first MP3 player (Rio 800) last month and am pretty satisfied.
I read all of the reviews and was worried that I'd have the battery issues but so far I haven't. My only beef is how long it takes to transfer songs with USB1.X (not a problem for just Rio 800). It takes me almost 30 minutes to load 128 MBs of music, so it's not exactly a spontaneous thing 5 minutes before going to the gym. I now understand the hype arround Firewire and USB 2.0.
Things I like:
- rechargeable battery (that works). I hate having to swap out batteries, even if they are rechargeable. If you ever moved from a PalmIII to a PalmV, or if you use a digital camera with a built in rechargeable battery like a Fuji FinePix 6800, you know what I mean
- very light, nice form factor. no mechanical parts
- plays my r3mix.net VBR encoded MP3s
- can fast forward through long MP3 tracks. I ripped all my Pink Floyd albums each as a single MP3 track to avoid gaps and was worried that I couldn't fast forward. I discovered accidentally that if you leave the next track button depressed, it FFs.
You definitely want to use another set of headphones. I'm also beginning to think that for my commute in the car I should eventually get a 20GB jukebox when the prices go down (and use the Rio 800 for the gym, office, and the great outdoors).
Good luck if you get this device.
22 100% Satisfied
After having a disasterous experience with the SonicBlue's Nike PSA 120, I was a little hesitant to give the Rio 800 a try. But I'm very glad I did. I'm using a Macintosh running OS X and iTunes. I took the Rio 800 straight out of the box, plugged it into my computer with the included USB cable, copied songs to it in iTunes, and was listening to them in seconds. That's the way technology is supposed to work. The player is lightweight and comes with a belt clip. This thing is great for the treadmill or lifting weights. The sound quality on the included headphones isn't as good as I would like, so I use some I already had. Overall, a great piece of equipment.
23 B.Y.O.B
Bring Your Own Battery! I was having the same charging problems as many of you so I took the thing apart, put in a plain-old Duracell AA, and the thing works great. So far it's run about 5 hours and all is well... Granted,it's a money-eater over time, but if you're stuck with it anyhow, it's a valid alternative.
24 It shut off and never came back on
I loved the Rio 800... when it was working the first 2 days I had it. Then suddenly it shut off and nothing would get it to come back on. I even had the most recent version that supposedly had all the "bugs" fixed, with the newest power adapter and all. Unfortunately I bought it without reading all these reviews first.
I would highly recommend this product if you can keep it functioning.
25 Where is the...Quality Control????
So, you think that MAYBE you might get lucky and get something from RIO that acutally has been through a QA process. Wrong!!
Just got a 128 Rio800 w/ the new battery pack. Did the charge as directed (unit topped off w/150 min left) - did the firmware upgrade to vs156 - installed software, did download of audio and MP3....now the fun starts.
Play the audio - it sounds like grinding glass w/static
Play the MP3 - unit locks up and you have to take off the battery pack to get it to turn off.
Bottom line - it doesn't play.
Now we will see how long Customer Support takes to give some support.......
26 It's OK, but..............
I had bought my Rio 800 in July of 2001 and like many of the reviewers, I have had problems with it. The battery died after 5 months, also I had the thing replaced 3 times (for various reasons)! It is so delicate, that if you first drop it (without it being in the case), you won't hear anything. The headphones were OK, but get different headphones because they are so uncomfortable in the ears. I had sent it back in January 2002 and it took 2 months to get both parts!!! So far it's working great, since Rio has improved it's player. I love it anyway, despite how many times I had to replace it and how long I had to wait for a new one after I sent it back.
27 OVERRATED
This product, and all products from Rio or Sonicblue, is overrated. For the money spent the product is less than satisfactory. The unit itself is made from thin ... plastic that can easily break, it is notorious for having power problems with its backpacks,you get ... unreliable headphones, the hardware and software do not always recognize each other when installing on the PC harddrive, incredibly poor customer service. Oh yeah, you have to buy memory expansion backpacks from them as opposed to the smart media cards that most mp3 players and portable electronics use now. The only thing good about this Rio 800 is its attractive design and backlit LCD display. Buy an mp3 player from a more reliable company; like the Techno Yepp or Pendant Yepp from Samsung which are comparably priced. Or, splurge and get the Sony mp3 Network Walkman. Don't let the "professional" magazine reviews fool you.
28 Big Expectations. . .And a Big Disappointment!
I am on my third 800 Extreme (last two were remanufactured replacements under the warranty.) Let me first say that the product is superbly designed. However, the execution is extremely poor. It does not turn on most times (I have to take the battery pack off and reset the MP3 player), sometimes it won't turn off, some times it freezes on a song. The battery life which is rated for 12 hours has lasted from 4 hours to literally just two songs before the battery failed!!! In addition, the software is very buggy. It hangs up telling me that it does not have enough memory (it does), it can't fidn the player (it hooked up!), it tells me that there is no external memory ... and it generally hangs up for no reason. ...
29 Smooth as silk!
I've worked with computers and networks for many years but had never ventured into the world of portable audio (i.e., MP3) until May of this year. I had read many negative reviews of the Rio 800 (mainly problems with the rechargeable battery and firmware upgrade)and hesitated to buy it but it was one of a very few that is compatible with Audible.com downloadable books so I decided to take a chance. I rec'd it yesterday and looked over the quick-start instructions. The first order of business is to properly calibrate and charge the battery. I think this may be where a lot of problems can occur. I followed the instructions and left the unit on charge overnight. The next morning, though bleary-eyed, I installed the software (instructions say you MUST do this BEFORE attaching the Rio to your computer), then plugged in the Rio and turned it on. My computer (Dell Inspiron 5000 running Win98SE) had no problem installing this new USB device. That was encouraging! Then I launched Audible Manager (software for downloading audio books from audible.com). It immediately detected that the device was "ready" but that a firmware upgrade was needed before I could download my book. I followed the onscreen instructions for upgrading the firmware and that also went very smoothly. No reboots required (except possibly at the beginning...don't remember). After the firmware was upgraded I was able to download a 6 hour book into the Rio with room to spare in its memory (128MB). Using the menu on the Rio itself is a bit of a challenge but not difficult to overcome. My biggest problem was being able to see the screen as the factory default for the contrast is extremely low. Happily, I was able to change this (which may well impact the amount of battery time...we'll see). Playing it couldn't be easier and the sound quality was very good. I haven't yet downloaded any music but that will definitely be in the future. I'll report back if the battery ends up giving me any problems. As it stands now, I highly recommend this unit!
30 Another love hate relationship
The Hate Part.
I have had my RIO 800 (64MB) about 14 months. I had the usual battery problems and total failure of unit problems and the manufacturers support much like the Microsoft helicopter joke "accurate but totally usless". Eventualy I found a sympathetic ear at Sonic Blue he got my unit repaired and shipped back to after about 6 weeks of waiting. He also provide me with the back of an old RIO 600 unit which uses a standard AA battery.
The Love Part
This is a great unit for exercise holds about 45 minutes of music in 64MB and is easy to upload with Windows Media Player. I dumped the original headset and bought a Sony MDR-NC5 noise cancelling headset which is great in a noisy environment including commercial flights. The unit has proven reliable after the initial problems. This is my second Rio (RIO 300)and I like the product even with it's limitations and poor support.
31 Whew! Rio 800 is working fine..........
I bought my Rio 800 on April 5th 2002. I usually do extensive review perusing before I purchase an expensive electronic item. The Rio was an execption. It was a Friday afternoon spur of the moment purchase. A bit later I read the extremely low ratings for the 800. I was sure I had just thrown my money into a pit! I am pleased to say that one month and 1/2 later the unit is working extremely well. Battery life has been reasonably close to the estimates. The unit is shipped with a Rio version of Real Jukebox. You can go to Rio's site and download the driver for Windows Media Player. I prefer the Windows Media Player interface. Transfer rates are much slower with Windows Media Player. So I am sticking with Real Jukebox for now. My favorite use: connecting the Rio VIA AN AUDIO OUTPUT CABLE directly into the stereo. Comes in handy in case your friends have a lot of lame music. Just hook up your Rio to their stereo and ROCK ON!
32 RIO 600-800 32 mbytes to 384 mbytes
I have a RIO 600 with 64 Mbytes and external 64 mb. I have a RIO 800 with 32 mbytes and external 128 mbyte. I have a RIO 800 Xtream with 384 mbytes(256 internal and 128 external). I had a problem with batteries and disregarding instructions from SonicBlue, I installed an Nimh 1800 mah AA batteries in all three. I have a couple of spare backpacks but have only done initial charge on them. I purchased these in December 2001 and got straight in January. I have converted from MP3 to WMA and this gives me so much more time it is rediculus. I have a 6 part book in 7 hour increments plus 5 other books loaded on the extreme and then in the external I have 72 wma music files which I converted from MP3 at 128 KBPS to 48 KBPS in WMA. I use the two 64 Megs unit for my daughter who drives 45 miles to work and then back each day. She plays it through tape player on the car system and really enjoys. She gets two weeks from each load. My wife has the 32 meg/128 meg and she likes to walk. She enjoys the books from audible.com but I snag a few songs on there for a change up. They get by with one recharge per week while I usually need two or more. We took them on a two week vacation and we had plenty for the trip. I thought about loading the spare backpacks to take along but turned out we didn't need any more. I have a hewlett packard that came with a 1.1 GHZ P4 and Windows 95 which I have upgraded to 1.7 GHZ P4 and Windows XP. Added a 17.4 inch TFT and I use RIO Audio Software and Audible.com manager. I keep a set of music as MP3 @ 128 and a set as WMA at 48.
I have to say these are very hardy pieces since I have dropped the Extreme a dozen times or more while working out at the Gym and once in the parking lot. It bounces but didn't break. I don't want that you should do this cause yours might not be as lucky as mine. I have gone through several chargers and have not experienced the problems charged to them. I can't specifically recommend that you replace SonicBlues battery cause they tell us that we should not and I have probably lost any warrantee claims I might have used but I haven't had any problem since changing and doing the 5 hr charge.
33 good things to say about SonicBlue Rio 800 128MB
I have read so many bad reviews of the Rio 800's battery problems that I almost cancelled my order. But it had so many good points (good price for 128MB + ability to voice record + accessories that come with it + design + positive editorial reviews), that I decided to try it anyway. At the moment, I'm thrilled (but still holding my breath) and wanted to send some positive feedback to tip it's rating scale. I followed instructions PRECISELY on calibration. I did not need the v1.55 update because mine came with it (although, I have now been informed by SonicBlue that there is a v1.56, which I will download). Mine also came with the new power charger/ac adapter. I found the directions straight forward and easy to understand and execute. The first re-charge worked perfectly and far more quickly than I had expected from other reviewers comments.
PROs: sound is great - holds about 35 mp3 files - very compact & well-designed and carrying case is great & well thought-out so that it doesn't interfere with the player's functions - although not the originally stated 9 hours of running time, it does run about 6 (they now advertise it as 4 hours) - it seems to be everything I was looking for at a very good price (for 128MB, that is) - any support questions I've had about the product (mostly through email) have always been promptly and efficiently responded to
CONs: display, although large, accommodates so much information that it is hard to read - I had to set the back-lighting to stay on all the time in order to be able to read it - controls are a little hard to operate, at least for a woman with long fingernails
If this product keeps functioning as it has so far for me, I love it!!
34 Difficult at first
Initially I thought, like many people this would be easy, I was wrong for the first 5 hours. It does take 5 hours to charge initially, that is before you do ANYTHING at all. A warning do not shut off the player during this 5 hours or you will have to start over. It's a bit of a pain but you never have to do it again. The headphones are awful unless you are bald. They are uncomfortable, they pull your hair like a dull razor, throw them out! Software. You unfortunately have to use Realjukebox and at first it was confusing. Just remember when you are copying to your player, to initiate transfer after you have copied the list, you have to go up to tools and select 'begin transfer' (at least I think that's the button). Otherwise the software is pretty easy to use. If you get confused read the online instructions. It is smooth sailing from then on unless you have big fingers. I found the memory to be a little too small for my needs I have roughly 40 Mp3s. It's a good size I almost bought a bigger model with 10gigs, but I figure I've got it on the computer the transfer rate is relatively quick. Enjoy it.
35 Battery problems, poor interface
The Rio has very serious battery problems. The first unit I got couldn't hold a charge, so I returned it and received another one which couldn't hold a charge. This even after I had received a new adapter of the type recommended by Sonic Blue.
Besides the battery performance, the interface was difficult to use and non-intuitive. It was never really clear to me that the center button functioned as an "OK" or "select" button - maybe it should have been labelled.
I would also stay from this product for other reasons. The first one I got didn't play sound to the right earphone, even when I changed headphones.
Overall, a very disappointing experience. I would never buy a SonicBlue product again.
36 XP Problems.
I had the usual battery problems with the unit. Rio kept telling me that I didn't need to replace the battery charger. I'd about given up on the unit when I upgrade my desktop to Windows XP. Well, the fun was just getting started. Now I couldn't upload music at all. I had to work with three or four different programs (Rio Audio Manager, Windows Media Player, RealOne and some other off the shelf MP3 manager.) WMA files wouldn't play or spun through the player locking up the machine. MP3s were somewhat better but I was getting glitches and squeals.
A couple of e-mails to RIO support proved that they hadn't a clue as to what was wrong. So I paid the shipping fee and they send me another unit. Same problem. By now, I was using an older machine running ME to upload files with no problems. (Other than a small hard drive that necessitated deleting files after uploading them making it a real pain in the you-know-what.)
This was all sent to Rio Support who denies that there is any problem at all. I contacted Microsoft to see if they had any issues. Well, of course they did. The drivers are not supported in XP and Rio knows that because they've already got a beta driver up for the new Riot, which, apparently is having the same problems with XP that I'm (not according to Rio) having with the 800.
(There is some issue with USB uploads that MS is aware of.) The Riot driver won't work with the 800. So I will make do with my 800 which is the LAST thing I will ever buy from these folks.
37 sobicblue 8000
this is a awsome mp3 player. its a great choice for mac ppl and pc alike
38 A few minor things, but a great player
The battery calibration is a bit annoying, but it easily accomplished again if you mess up if you let the battery drain and recalibrate (it tells you to do this when you first charge it. If you do not allow for a full charge the player will get confused, and think "full" is whenever you stopped the charge. Just let it charge all the way up and repeat the calibration next time if this happens. My only other complaints about this player is the fact that it did not come out of the box with a charged battery (I had to wait an excruciating 5 hours to use it the day I bought it!) The software shipped with it is very out of date, and confuses you by asking you to uninstall the newer stuff you have. Very nice that it will work with Windows Media, so you don't have to worry about losing any proprietary software. I have Windows XP and it works great, despite the fact that the box doesn't specify XP compatibility. Display is also hard to read at times, headphones really [are bad]. Great player overall once you get everything setup and buy new headphones. Very compact and a great case comes wih it with a belt clip.
39 I Gambled On It....And Lost
I read all of the reviews and knew that most of them complained about the product breaking right after being put into use. I figured that I would try my luck, since it does have 120MB and it's not as [costly] as other MP3 players with comperable memory.
When I received it I was relieved that it worked...for 2 days. Then it just shut down and would not turn on. Nothing would help it, so I had to return it.
40 Piece of junk
1.Charged the battery for 5-6 hours.
2.Loaded my MP3 files without any problem.
3.Upgraded the firmware to make it Audible ready (to be able to listen to Audible.com audio books). My mp3 files on the unit got corrupted. I don't know if this is related to the firmware upgrade.
4.eMailed SonicBlue and Audible tech support. SonicBlue reacted as if it was a new problem and wanted more details (OK...no problem).
5. Deleted all content from the unit.
6. Loaded my Audible books without any problem.
7. Listened to my Audio books OK during the next 1-2 days OK.
9. Unit stopped working the next day....tried recharging to no avail.
10. returned it to the store and got my money back.
41 Piece of [junk]. Plain and simple.
I don't have the money for an iPod or other real MP3/WMA player, so I settled on the Rio800. Big mistake.
I followed the directions to the letter. I calibrated the battery and fully charged it up before using the player. I then opt'd (thank God) to use Windows Media Player 8 to manage the transfers instead of the supplied software.
That part when fine. Playing the songs was another issue. At 128kbps, there was popping, scratching, and a sound I can only describe as a hiccup on 25/30 songs loaded. On other songs the player would just stop in the middle of one song and skip to the next.
Other times it would simply "crash" or freeze up. The remedy was to switch the power off and remove the battery pack then reattach it. Charming.
Giving the Rio the benefit of the doubt, I thought maybe my MP3s were corrupt or got horked on the transfer. So, I made fresh new MP3s from CDs at 160kbps.
Same issues as before but worse. Some songs were unplayable and the unit kept freezing up. ok, fine. I figured I'd try WMA format.
Yeah right. at 96kbps (WMA), the Rio just choked. I could not play ANY song without it freezing, let alone skipping tracks, popping/hiccup noises.
Contacting SONICblue was a joke. They told me that I was doing something wrong and the player was properly working. Ok, so skipping, hiccup/popping, and locking up is considered "working properly?" I think not.
The only thing good about is the player is that it looks great, and the buttons/menus are easy to access and use. The battery life per charge is much better than I had expected.
However, all those good points are moot considering that the POS unit doesn't work correctly and "support" from SONICblue is atrociously horrible.
When a product gets 2 stars out of 5, then something has to be true. If you have any doubts about the legitimacy of these reviews, then buy this product. You'll be humbled that you didn't take the warnings before throwing your money away on this digital music "player." Please keep in mind that I use the term "player" loosely.
42 From someone with the a clue...
I've got no problems with this player whatsoever in terms of sound quality, and reliability. Bass-Boost is important if you want quality sound as opposed to the crashy treble tone you get from other players. (However, it's still an MP3 player and sound can always be better based on what bitrate you use for you're files). One thing that separates me from people who have problems with this player is that I READ THE INSTRUCTIONS thoroughly. Another thing is that the one I received came pre-packaged with the new power adapter, so I knew the one I have should have all prior bugs fixed from older shipments of the same model.
The reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is because the software had a slight learning curve, as opposed to my bro's Nomad 2 MG, or my cousin's Hard Drive Jukebox where managing and transferring mp3's is easy. My suggestion is to use the Jukebox software that came with the CD. But aside from that, using this product is a breeze. I personally like the physical layout of the Rio 800 because it's light and all the buttons are easily accessible. Other models I've looked at have functions not worth mentioning; such as radio tuners who's reception is so bad you're better off saving yourself the couple of bucks to buy a nice lunch.
My suggestion to all those with problems is return their players and get a new one with updated hardware instead of going out on a limb to pay another hundred something dollars for a different model. Unless you're rich and don't mind throwing hundreds of dollars away when I am telling you I have no problems!
43 This product and company are horrible
I bought this player and worked for about 3 months. Then it just stopped playing the audio all together. I sent it back to SONICblue to get it fixed and instead of sending the player back to me, they sent me a frickin' power adapter! Their support is absolutely horrible and I will never buy a product from them again. I suggest you do the same.
44 battery problems not fixed; customer support is awful
I have spent the last several months trying to get a working Rio 800 128 meg unit. I am on my FIFTH defective unit, all exhibiting the same battery charging problems already documented here (charges up to 11 hours, then dies after about an hour or less). Do NOT give SonicBlue your money! I heartily recommend the Apple iPod if you are looking for a superb MP3 player (and it's got a 5 or 10 GB hard drive as well) and much better customer support. I am thoroughly disgusted with SonicBlue. They refuse to refund my money, too, in spite of the fact that I'm on the fifth non-working unit.
45 One of the worst pieces of electronics I've ever bought
This is absolutely one of the worst pieces of electronics I've ever bought. First, the software that comes with it is absolutely terrible, and the company that makes the software has gone out of business. Second, the player typically breaks within 2-3 days. I've read a number of other reviews, and based on my own experience with the product, you get about two decent days out of it. When you have to return it (when, not if) there is no customer service number to call, and the emails that you send typically don't get answered for 2-3 weeks. My first Rio 800 broke back in Nov-01, and it took unitl Apr-02 for them to finally ship me a new one. This new one broke within a week, and I have now started the ...process of replacing it. ... Based on the level of customer service and product quality I've seen in the Rio 800, I would also be wary of buying other SonicBlue products.
46 Strange software support.
The player doesn't die. They fixed the problem.
I love the machine but the software. I first installed the Real JukeBox. and found it too slow- compare to Windows Media Player. give it up. Then I tried Windows Media Player. It works fine there, except for it doesn't display the artist on the screen of the rio800(if you transfer files from Real Juke Box, it does display artist and albumn).
My mp3 files are not named by the number of the track(without the title of the song). The player only display the filename of the mp3 file. Thus, if you want to have the song's name showed on the scree, my gotta name the mp3 file as the title of the song. For example, A_New_Day_Has_Come.mp3
The mp3 player package doesn't include a remote control. The headphone is weird. I never use it.
I guess, take into account of the price for a 128MB player, Rio800 is a good one.
47 Do not buy SONICblue RIO product
My RIO 800 lasted only 2 month, it started with battery charging problem and then no sound. It takes at least 20 min to talk to tech support (It is not 800 number. you have to pay the phone bill) - I guess there are so many problems on Rio product that 20 min waiting is normal for Tech support.
I am kind of lucky?? That at least this one is still under warranty (90 days) otherwise I had to pay to get tech support.
I sent back to them two weeks ago on my expense but I have not received it yet... Let's how long it takes...
48 BUY THIS MP3 Player
This is the 3d MP3 player I have purchased, and by far, the best. I have ZERO problems with the player. Installation was a breeze. After charging up the battery, it took me about 5 minutes to have music downloaded to my player. I have used the player every day for the past 2 weeks on runs and gym workouts - and the battery is still going strong!
The player is light, easy to use and operate. It has a nice intuitive feel in your hand and the buttons are simple to operate. Disregard any negative press you read about this player. The 128 MBs are perfect for about 40 songs in mp3 format. The expandable backpack feature seems like a great addition and will open up more possibilities for longer hikes/runs.
You can't beat the price and the quality of this great MP3 player. Buy this player!!!!-Sully
49 Non-existant Windows XP support
I hooked the Rio 800 up my Windows XP system, it detects it and install a driver it had. Great. Try to use the applications that are supposed to be able to transfer music to it. No dice. And what's more, Sonic Blue doesn't include an app they create, they ship an OLD version of the Real Audio Jukebox.
I called tech support, they tell me its best to use the old drivers on the CDROM. Well XP won't recognize them, and its near impossible to get the drivers that XP automatically installs.. out of the operating system.
The old drivers are older than the actual release of XP. POOR XP SUPPORT.. they don't support the current drivers shipping with XP! This Sonic Blue isn't the company that Diamond was... sad.
50 Terrible RMA process
My player failed after 2 month. It is 3 month since I sent to Rio repair center. Player is still there. They are telling that new units are backordered and they still didn't receive any. But this is Rio own repair center. I figure that they don't care about existing customers and prefer to send new proucts to stores.
51 Outstanding for Audible books
It's been great for downloading Audible (audible.com) audio books, holding 10 hrs or more of good listening. I couldn't be happier.
52 Defective Battery!
My wife ordered this MP3 player for my birthday. I was very excited with the look and sound. Functionally, I found it very easy to use. The 128mb memory is adequate for me. I calibrated and charged the batter IAW the instructions. Immediately after unplugging the charger, the battery meter droped to 12%. It then seemd to play for about 2-3 hours (in high contrast with the advertised 11 hours). I re-calibrated it and the problem re-ocurred.... If they were unable to design/obtain a reliable rechargable battery system, they should have just built it for disposable ones. It really is a shame because this is the only problem I had with my RIO 800....
53 All problems have been solved!!!
Just recently, SonicBlue has changed to problem with the battery charger. They have made a new one that has no problems. This mp3 player is great. The LCD screen is very easy to read and even when you want to listen at night, it lights up whenever you press any button so you can see what you are doing in the dark. The headphones are great, even though I don't use them, they are awesome because they are foldable and have great sound quality. The usb cable makes it much faster to download songs onto the player. It has 8 preset Eq sounds so you can choose the sound that is best for you. It also has playlists you can choose you favorite songs and put them in one folder. The voice recording is outstanding. You can clearly hear everything you record and the quality is wonderful. The carrying case is very stylish and has a belt clip, you can listen while you are running or working out without any pauses. I used to own the Samsung Yepp 128mb player, but when I found out that the Rio 800 has fixed all of its problems, I decided to return the Yepp and get the Rio. Overall, this is the best 128MB mp3 player out there. IF you want to get an 128mb mp3 player, get the Rio because you can't find anything better.
54 mine has no problems
I HAD -ZERO- PROBLEMS.
-People say the battery runs out quickly. I think thats because people leave it on charge for a short period of time. I leave it on overnight for about 8 hours and it works for 3 ENTIRE DAYS.
-Recently the adaptor that came with my Rio stopped charging. I first thought the player died but no. I got a new adaptor and it works just fine. So if there's a problem, obviously it's the adaptor NOT THE PLAYER.
-When you first get your player, the calibration is important. Leave it on as long as the player says. DON'T UNPLUG IT BECAUSE THE LIGHT WENT OUT. THERE'S A PROBLEM WITH THE INDICATOR
-The ONLY thing I don't like (which I ignore since I only want to listen to music) is the vague software. Don't use Rio Audio Manager... Use RealJukebox.
This is a great player with loads of memory. If you're the traveling type, dont get this one though. Get one of those that have gigs. of memory. I use mine on my way to school, while running or riding.
55 Horrible
They may have fixed all of the problems they were having with the player but I doubt they fixed their horrible tech support. Even if rio did finally fix the problems I would never buy anyhting from a company that realeases something so dysfunctional. I had all the same problems everyone else had. The player would only work for about 3 minutes at a time and in the end it stopped turning on all together. I sent it back once and they sent me one with the exact same problems. I told them the new one didn't work, wrote them two emails, and they never responded. It was a complete waste of money not to mention all the time I spent recallibrating that stupid battery. I just got the intel pocket concert and I love it. It works great, I would spend the extra [money] for a product that is really going to work.
56 this is a bomb player
i don't know about every body else are they trying to destroy the market for this beautiful piece of electronic or something else. I bought this the other day they fixed every problem they said in the others review.
57 go back and redo the lot
...its great when it wants to be - but the glitches, and the battery problem ( yes you can change it quite easily- pry off the cover gently and replace the chinese NiMh with any good rechargeable
similar AA.) - its just not worth it...DONT BUY IT
58 Defective gear - BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE
Had all the features i wanted in a player, including great sound and a decent display. It stopped working properly within weeks, not holding a charge, and was sent back for exchange. New unit finally arrived after several months. It worked for about 2 days and failed in the same way - cant charge battery ! Giving up on SonicBlue and their RIO products.
59 Battery problems, Bad support
The quality problems are described in other reviews. I got this as a gift in Dec 2001 and have had nothing but problems since. The support is attrocious and it is hassle trying to return it.
I would look at other players. They should be ashamed for releasing it.
60 Battery issue not fixed
Still have issues with battery. After following directions, battery is good for less than 1 hour. The battery timer is completely inaccurate. Customer support leaves a lot to be desired. Either no response or the run around. This is definitely not a top of the line model. Save your money.
61 Why did it die?
I loved it until one day (about 3-4 months after I got it), it died for no apparent reason -- I hadn't even dropped it or anything; I've taken very good care of it. It is an expensive little machine to only be usuable for less than a year!
62 Fell for it again. SonicBlue = Quality problems
I was told that the March version of the Rio 800 was fixed.
Well, the battery problem seems to be fixed (so far), but now I'm having a problem with audio quality. All of my tracks (which play fine on my computer and CD MP3 player) are all garbled. I'm assuming this is a problem with the flash memory.
I was a huge SonicBlue fan because of their innovative products, but their horrific customer service and technical support has changed my view. SonicBlue just doesn't seem to get it. I've sold all my stock and am returning this product.
63 A well designed piece of junk!!
On the outside this is one of the best mp3 players. However, it has so many problems I don't even want to list because I am so disgusted with the horrible quality of this product. Don't buy this piece of junk!!
64 Total waste of money
This thing just died on me and I can't get it work again. I've tried just about everything. I hate it.
65 This player is great...they fixed the problems.
I bought my Rio 800 recently and I absolutely love it and have had no problems with it. Rio stopped shipment of their previous Rio 800 models due to all the battery charger problems (described in many of the reviews on this site). However, they just this month (March 2002) started shipping new Rio 800 models that have fixed all of the previous bugs.
This is by far the best player out there. I held off on buying this until they completely fixed all of the battery charger problems. And now that they have, there is nothing to dislike about this player.
66 Buy the Intel
Trust me, get the Intel Pocket Pro. I have both. Had the RIO for 6 months. Sent back once when it died. Finally got tired of the crummy battery not charging properly and the inaccuracy of the battery indicator.
Intel is easier to use and it works.
Plus it has an FM Tuner (listen to TVs in the GYM) and can support regular batteries instead of the pitiful battery architecture on the RIO.
Trust me, don't buy this.
67 Whoa.. top of the line? NOT
So, I was very excited when I purchased this product... until it actually arrived. The feature list sounds fantastic! 128 MB, built in rechargeable battery, USB, support for mp3 and the superior wma formats... I could hardly wait! But alas, the bubble burst when the product actually arrived. I downloaded my running music on to the Rio 800, about 2.5 CD's worth in WMA format, charged up the battery and hit the road. Based on my previous experience with other Rio's I've owned, I was totally suprised when half way through the first song I heard a "skip". Then, in the next song it is "skipped" again and then immediately jumped to the next song. By the time it tried to play the fourth song (all songs have notable distortion and loud audible skips) the Rio 800 locked up and the only way I could reset it was to stop and pry the battery off the unit. So, in a fit of desperation I re-ripped my music library in .mp3 format and re-loaded my music on the Rio 800. This didn't help, and in fact may have been worse since the skipping seems to have increased and hard-locking now occurs at random. Safe to say this is not what I expect when I purchase something at the high end (arguably too high-end) of the personal mp3 player spectrum. I've been unsucessful at this point contacting tech support and fear that I'll be told that my only option is to RMA the unit.
Hope this helps someone make an informed decision on this unit. I certainly have learned my lesson.
68 Failure out of the box
I was so excited to get the Rio 800 and an extra backpack for some trips is was going to take. But the charger in the extra backpack failed. Then the origonal backpack failed and fried the player in the process. It was quite a dissapointment. It asside from the buggy audio manager the player was great... while it worked.
69 Failure out of the box
I was so excited to get the Rio 800 and an extra backpack for some trips is was going to take. But the charger in the extra backpack failed. Then the origonal backpack failed and fried the player in the process. It was quite a dissapointment. It asside from the buggy audio manager the player was great... while it worked.
70 Failure out of the box
I was so excited to get the Rio 800 and an extra backpack for some trips is was going to take. But the charger in the extra backpack failed. Then the origonal backpack failed and fried the player in the process. It was quite a dissapointment. It asside from the buggy audio manager the player was great... while it worked.
71 Serious Recharging Problems and no support
The product was wonderful for the first 3 months and the recharging socket broke. I could not get any support from their website, and had to dig throughout their site to get the phone support. They told me that the backpack was out of warranty. So I bought an 32MB expansion backpack. It was really cool at first, extra 32MB of space and it charged fine. Then 2 months later it quit charging. I called support 6 times. Twice they had no record of my calls, and I had to get 2 RMA numbers. They have been out of stock for 7 weeks now. No status. Impossible support techs that provide no help. Their email service doesn't respond but once every 10 days and it's of no help.
72 A great player!
I got my rio 800 and I love it. It has lots of memory and looks great. I used to have a rio 500 and it was stolen. I was so happy with it that I bought the 800. For those who have had problems with the player turning off, you might want to check "power saving" under the "prefs" on the menu. Your player might be turning off because you accidentally set it like that. Just set the power saving time to 0 and your rio shouldn't shut off. I haven't had any problems with this player and it has survived many droppings. This is the best player with 128MB. Does anyone know if there is a rio 600/800 Fm tuner remote?
73 Sonic Black & Blue Rio 800
I never spent so much money on something so worthless. I have had this for less than 2 months, and have only heard 8 songs on it. The battery won't keep a charge any longer, even though it indicates it is fully charged. If you need a decent door stop, this will suffice, but if you want to listen to music....
74 Be Very Careful
When you plan to spend more than US$200.00 on a portable MP3 Player you expect to buy the Top of the line, or at least one of the best. Incredibly the Rio 800 is the worst electronic piece I ever turned my hands on. First, when you download your music (even 128 bit) when you play it back you hear some jumpin' and sounds in your songs, when you check your originals they are 100% fine, so it's just the MP3 player. But that's not the worst, the worst is when it get halted, you have to take out the battery and put it again in irder to reset it. I take it to the store and they told me that it was ok, after 5 minutes it went halted again. A humble recommendation DO NOT BUY IT.
75 Not dependable
I bought this in August, it is now January and I have gotten less than 20 hours of use out of it. The battery never kept charge and it kept turning off. Now all it plays is static. The 1 year warranty is okay - but after spending $299 dollars, I now have to pay $30 to have a replacement sent. Then it took almost 6 weeks to get a response from the time I first emailed them with the problem - I eventually ended up calling tech support on my money. Now it should be sent 'when it is in stock.'
76 after 8 months of use
I bought the player because of its compatibility with formats from Audible - audio books. After 8 months, the battery is at 30% of its supposed strength, if you are lucky you can use it 3 hours instead of the claimed 11 hours. The battery dies real quick even if you do not switch it on. The display is flimsy. Hard to read - the oval display does not allow to see the full text. The menu has a lot of features, and 128MB is quite helpful, if your battery makes it. The box is made of cheap material that can break to easy. I also own a Rio 500,
which is not working anymore.
These are my last buys of Rio products. I do not understand its popularity: must be good marketing. I recommend using a device with AA battery slots, so you can put fresh power in, where ever you are.
77 Dead within 24 hours
My story goes as follows: I purchased the Rio 800 128MB despite the poor reviews (big mistake), I charged overnight as per instructions. Next morning it lasted about an hour and died. Then I recharged it and used it again for about 2 hours, paused it, then it died again. Tried another recharge and it was totally dead this time - wouldn't even turn on. The software also froze on me three times trying to get MP3's copied onto the unit (Windows ME). I rang Tech Support and was told that 'sometimes the customer can damage the unit charging it - it must be returned'. IMHO a piece of junk.
78 The best MP3 player for mac.
I have been owing the sonic 800, 128 mega bytes for the past year. It is the best electronic gadget I have recently owned. It is an extension of my palm during jogging, and it is very easy to make a new song selection in matter of few minutes using the mac iTune. It is very user freindly, and I belive it is better than so publicized iPod. it is lighter and more compact and less expensive.
I am saddened to say that my unit heat up one day during being recharged and stopped working. I have no explanation as to why this happened. But, luckily I had the circuit city replacement plan, and a have requested a new unit at no cost. However, it is sold out till mid feburary. It is worth the wait.
79 waste of money
i bought this last summer and it's just been a completely defective product. it's impossible to get anything resolved with the manufacturer when the product crashed and the customer service people are not responsive or sympathetic. i supposedly will be getting a replacement within the week (it's been gone for 4 already). i will not do business with rio again.
80 Great display, sound, size. Unreliable battery.
The display is the better than any other players in this category. It's nice to be able to see the track title, artist, and the file size of each song. The sound is excellent. It is also shaped very well for holding while exercising, like jogging on a treadmill or lifting weights (it comes with a carrying case with belt clip as well.) The last thing that is cool is th microphone. All you have to do is hit 2 buttons to start recording ambient sounds. The worst part is what everyone complains about - the battery/memory unit. It seems like half the time it either isn't seated properly, or it just didn't charge, even though the indicator shows fully charged. Overall, I'm glad I bought it and plan to keep it.
81 Lousy product, lousy support...
So, I got one of these for my birthday. It seemed like a good choice, but the product was defective out of the package. It kept simply shutting down when I used it. I took it back to the store and exchanged it for another. This one took a month to break - the on/off switch just moves freely and does not turn the product on or off anymore. I first contacted Rio (SonicBlue) nearly two months ago via e-mail. They took over two weeks to reply, stating that the product appeared to be defective (duh) and to get back to them with the same info I had already supplied (don't you love automation?). It has been now nearly a month since that last e-mail (which stressed NOT to send the product back without an RMA). So, I call them (toll call) and they first disconnected me since all lines were busy, then when I called back - they told me there was a 20 minute wait (on my dime). Now I am on hold while waiting to talk to them.
I would highy recommend staying away from RIO altogether.
82 Awesome product if it works
I experienced the same charging problems everyone else had after first calibration. The red lamp went off after about 1 hour into calibration. The countdown numbers dissappeared with about 150 minutes left. I waited until the unit said "battery calibrated", since I could no longer see the timer. The unit then lasted about an hour before it died. I recalibrated, but this time set the unit face down, so the heat would rise out the backpack instead of up into the unit. My thought being that maybe the unit uses temp to tell when the battery is charged, and therefore shutting the charge off prematurely. I have no idea whether it made any difference or not. The lamp stayed lit for about 4 hours on the second attempt, however the timer still disappeared. When the lamp went out, I unplugged the charger and plugged it back in, without interrupting the calibration cycle. The lamp lit back up but went out shortly after. I waited until the unit said "battery calibrated", and unplugged the unit. A charge now lasts me approx. 9-10 hours, and the battery meter is reporting correctly, so I seem to be one of the lucky ones. If the battery is the only problem, I was thinking of replacing the 1.2V 1600mAh AA NiMH battery with my own, but that would void the warranty. There seem to be a lot of problems with these things, but if you can get a working one, they are well worth it. The sound quality, volume, and feature sets are exceptional. The Rioport manager was pretty easy to set up, and was a lot faster transferring than the WMP plugin. WMP is useless to me since I could not figure out how to transfer MP3's directly to the player thru WMP, without first transcoding them to .WMF format. Way too long.
If it weren't for all the other people having problems(which can't be just coincidence), and the confusing calibration ordeal, I would have easily given this product 5 stars.
83 Great front half --horrible back!
This unit comes in two detachable halves: the front half which contains the player, controls, and internal memory, and the back which contains the combined external memory and battery. The front is a beautiful work of art, the back piece is a TOTAL DISASTER:
The back is a permanent (they say) NiMH battery and 128mb memory fused together at a [high] price (to buy spares). These external tunes will cost you... per hour to store --I can buy 128mb Smartmedia... so what gives?
The battery and charging system have some major issues which I got past because I'm mechanically inclined. I think most of those units being returned do not have defective batteries --the battery is either not seated correctly, or the charging routine misread the charge state and needed to be rerun, or people unplugged them from the initial charge too early. They should have just provided a loose NiMH battery and left the battery choice up to the owner. This is a public relations nightmare. The battery *does* come out even though they tell you not to remove it. They are the same as what works in my digital camera.
I predict these backs will be redesigned. Or perhaps a third party could do it better and cheaper.
Save for the above problems, this is a very nice player in form and function. The sound is great and the player controls are almost perfect. A minor problem is they need a better way to rearrange the play order of the tunes in-player. The included headphones look like they were designed for a the head of a space alien (the ear-pieces are pointing in a funny direction). Expect to replace them.
The PC software: I don't want mp3 software that is chock full of obtrusive ads and nag screens (like real junkbox), I just want a simple window container that I can drag and drop tunes to AND from. Why cant this software extract from the player as well as write to it?
My main requirement was solid-state memory. I was mislead by many of the tech sites that listed the Rio as being able to accommodate Compactflash external memory so I dont know if I will keep this one. If they had a back that took Compactflash or Smartmedia and a generic AA slot, it would be the perfect player.
84 Don't buy the Rio 800
It's all been said already, but I thought I'd put in my 2 cents.
I've gone through two of these, both would not charge (this after following the awful manual exactly). Not sure if it was a bad batch or what. The tech support left plenty to be desired (still waiting after 2 weeks for an email - long distance phone tech support booted me off). Save yourself the pain and choose another player.
85 What a waste!
I received my Rio as a gift and was really excited about it at first. After the calibration I went to work. The sound was great and the display is awesome, yet the battery indicator was all over the place. After another calibration I thought that the battery problem was solved. Wrong. After the charging the unit wouldn't even turn on. I received another battery (helps to have spares) and the unit worked again. I was in for a surprise when after another calibration the unit stopped working again...Which made me go online to view user feedback (was I the only one with this problem?). I was not surprised to find many with the same problem, yet some Rios do work fine (as my lucky cousin's). I am not going to take a chance and have the unit replaces, I'm off for another toy...
86 JUNK!!!
Exactly what other reviews have said. I got this for Christmas and was so excited. It worked for 1 hour then lost all power. I could not get it restored and tried EVERYTHING. I returned it to BestBuy and exchanged for the same model. The EXACT same thing happened....What a waste of time, money, and 3 ounces. Terrible product and even when it did work briefly, the sound quality of the WMA files was horrible.
I will now have to waste even more time returing this one for a REAL player.
87 Defective problems?
My brother and I each got one of these for Xmas.
I followed all the directions including properly calibrating the battery. Mine worked for about 3 days and then it died. It no longer turns on. If I plug the player into the AC adapter, the power LED on the battery blinks but the unit will not turn on. I decided to take the unit back and order a new one (everyone appears to be sold out though).
Now my brother said he recently had a problem where his unit wouldn't power on either until he turned it off and on 3 or 4 times. I wonder if his is going to flake out on him too.
I really like this player, but it appears there may be a quality issue.
88 I wish I'd read the reviews...
You're taking your chances if you buy this one. I bought mine yesterday, and it is dead. I read the manual and followed the directions. The technical support guy, "Mike," sounded very surprised that I would have problems. By the way, it took 45 minutes of long-distance hold time to get through. He said I need to return it. What a headache.
89 ...
... I have just wasted ~$... on this piece of junk. The battery won't hold a charge, I can't hook it up to my typewriter to "download" songs....
90 Great product, great features -- if it only worked...
When I was in the market for a digital audio player, the choice of a Rio seemed logical enough. First to market, well-known name, and I was unaware of any horror stories.
Indeed, the Rio 800 seemed to offer everything I wanted, and more... Rechargeable batteries, great backlit display, simple menu-driven interface, logical controls.
Everything went great -- at first. A full overnight calibrated charge cycle, loaded some tunes the next morning, and ventured out for a walk with it. Not 15 minutes later, the thing went dead.
I tested the battery with a meter -- full charge. But the thing wouldn't come back on for anything. Plugged-in the AC adapter, and it came back to life -- for about 10 seconds. That was enough... It went back immediately.
No wonder they're out of stock at every store in town, and as of late December 2001, out of stock here too They're all gone because people have been exchanging every other one as defective (if the reviews here are to be believed, that is).
Truly, this is literally the ideal MP3 player for my use... If it only worked. And thanks to the reviews here, I won't be trying another one (or any other SONICBlue product either, for that matter). It would certainly appear that a more rigorous quality control program would do wonders for these folks. Meanwhile, I think I'll try the Intel Pocket Concert.
91 It's like a Cadillac with a extremely small gas tank.
This product looks good, sounds good and is easy to configure. However, Like all the other reviews here.. The "10 hour" battery life is more like 1 hour. If you're lucky..
I calibrated battery correctly, even tried it twice. I had the most recent revised battery adapter connector that the company 'says' is the correct connector as per their docs.
But yet, this product has turned into nothing more than a BUZZKILL to the person whom I bought this for, for Christmas.
Yes, and "Customer Support" is the usual bad joke.
Obviously will have to just return the product to the store and try another product with the same features and specs.
Seems like the Rio 800 series will do nothing more than increase returns for SonicBlue and sales for the Intel Concert.
Highly disappointing product, don't waste your time.
WCH
92 Do not buy this product! (Repeat) Do not buy this product!
This is the worst Mp3 player on the market. After I recieved the Rio 800 for Christmas, I opened the box and it was the worst thing I had ever done!! When I had finished calibrating my player,I loaded it up with music. Two minutes later my Rio had shut itself off and I could not turn it on. My Rio was ruined because the Company sends each Rio with a defective charger. I trusted Rio for a long time. Now I am very dissapointed. If you are reading this review,don't buy this product! If you do,you will be very sorry that you did!!
93 Do not buy this product! (Repeat) Do not buy this product!
This is the worst Mp3 player on the market. After I recieved the Rio 800 for Christmas, I opened the box and it was the worst thing I had ever done!! When I had finished calibrating my player,I loaded it up with music. Two minutes later my Rio had shut itself off and I could not turn it on. My Rio was ruined because the Company sends each Rio with a defective charger. I trusted Rio for a long time. Now I am very dissapointed. If you are reading this review,don't buy this product! If you do,you will be very sorry that you did!!
94 Bargain Player...better than you think
The Rio 800 has had some poor press, but the problem is not the player but the documentation accompanying it. The battery seems to be a major problem until you figure out that it must be calibrated several times until the screen says, "the battery is calibrated" and not that there are 0 minutes left to charge. By the third time, I finally got 10hrs. playing time. The sounds tends to be a little "tinny" but that is a headphone problem and the sound can be adjusted on the device. I'm not a "tech" type, but you just need to play with this for a while to learn what it will do. Then, you'll be more than happy for the price.
95 Zero if it was possible. i have never been more dissapointed
I recieved this player on christmas morning of this year, and boy was I excited. I took the player out of the box, and found that it needed a whole 5 hours of "calibration" time before it could be used by me. I followed every direction in the box flawlessly, plugged the piece into the wall, and let it charge. Things started looking bad as soon as my display light decided to go off and then my charge light went off. This kinda got me worried but I figured I would just let the time run off and then unhook the rio and see what happens. After about 5 hours, the little red light came back on and started blinking at me... great. I unhooked it from the charger, tried turning it on and nothing happened at all. The unit died on my and will not turn back on at all with the charger plugged in or not. My brother also got one of these players from this company for christmas also, and his is the same story. I was so incredibly dissapointed and very mad. If you are going to be spending 240 quality dollars on a product, you kinda expect it to at least work for more than the initial charge and then breaks. Really folks, DO NOT BUY THIS. Sonic Blue had to of known of these defective players also as I have read the other reviews on this site now. Some one should sue this company.
