plays MP3, WMA, and Audible (#2 and #3) formats * slot for optional SD or MMC memory cards * upgradeable firmware * backlit LCD displays MP3 ID3 info * 256MB embedded memory holds approximately 8 hours of music at 64 Kbps, or 4 hours of music at 128 Kbps *
1 Very unhappy....
I've had my Rio Forge 256 for 7 months. I only use it about 2-3 times a week no longer than one hour each use. Over the last couple months, I've been experiencing problems with my unit. More recently, it turns off for no reason. It sounds like a lot of people are experiencing problems with this unit. If you go to the Rio website, they have a Q&A of issues, I've experienced most of them. I'm still working with Rio to figure out a way to fix the problems I've been experiencing. This unit is made for active use and it doesn't seem like it's holding up very well. I'd recommend looking into a different brand if you're shopping for an MP3 player.
2 Three out of three ain't good..
I bought a 512 rio forge for my wife in December. It was great, and I bought a 256 for myself in January and another for my son in February. Then the problems started.
I am not sure what problems my son had, but I know he sent his back for warranty work once and then got the seller to take it back and let him buy another brand.
Then my wife's 512 stopped working -- It would only turn on momentarily. Customer support told her to send it back, which she did.
Three days ago, mine stopped working. It will not turn on at all. While I was talking to the customer support two days ago, I asked about my wife's. The tech said it was on the way back, but then realized they were returning a 256 instead of the 512 she sent in.
But not to worry. Since my 256 had to be sent back, I should keep the 256 they were sending, and they would return a 512 to me. And to make up for my trouble, they would e-mail me something I could use at UPS to send it back at their expense.
The e-mail never came. When I called back this morning, I was told it was going out today. If so, it did not arrive. I left a message with the woman I was dealing with this afternoon -- she was talking to someone else -- and told her I wanted to get the the thing repaired as quickly as possible, was willing to pay the mailing costs, and asked her to call back and tell me who to send the machine to. She didn't. And no e-mail arrived.
The 256 they exchanged for my wife's 512 arrived today. It does not work. She cannot turn it on.
In sum: three buys, three duds; a 100 % failure rate and very poor customer service.
3 Broken in 4 months
I bought the Rio Forge 256 Sport as a Christmas present for my 13-year-old daughter. I liked the fact that it used flash memory with no moving parts to break. It is also expandable with an SD card, but I never tried it. I paid $135 from Amazon at the time.
She used it happily for four months. It only "crashed" once with a weird memory error that wasn't obvious to reformat, but I figured it out somehow.
Last night she told me it was broken; the VOLUME DOWN button wouldn't work. UP worked fine, but she couldn't turn the volume DOWN. I knew the unit was out of the 90-day warranty so I opened it. I found the volume-down switch separating from the circuit board. Rio wants $99 to replace it, so I'm going to try my best to fix it. Either way, I'll never buy another Rio product.
I gave the unit one star since the cost of ownership in my experience is about $30/month.
4 Do the upgrade properly!
Before I graded the firmware to 1.33 (properly), the player was almost unusable (very poor FM reception). Unfortunately the upgrade instruction from the downloaded firmware file is INCORRECT. Just when I was ready to return it, I called the support line and got the CORRECT instruction to upgrade the firmware which made a HUGE difference. Now the FM reception is as good as my Sony Walman (which is acceptable). Here is the instruction:
1. remove the battery for 20min to drain the power, then reinstall.
2. press and hold the menu button while turning on the power. The display should now show "upgrade".
3. Connect the USB and run the upgrade program.
4. After the player shows "Idle", disconnect the USB. It will now turn off itself.
5. Turn on and reconfigure the player.
Note: this upgrade procedure will erase all user settings.
It gets a 4 star, because it still shuts down from time to time. Hopefully it won't get worse. (...).
5 work with it!
I purchased the rio forge before reading all the negative customer reviews and I just hoped it wasn't all true. I had no problems at all getting started and it's only downfall was that the clip didn't hold the player in place when I went for my first run. Luckily, the headphone jack is a very tight fit (you have to be sure to push it in all the way) and so my player didn't go far. I fixed this problem by just putting a rubberband around the whole arm band, at the location of the clip. No more worries there. I decided to risk it and try to upgrade the memory, even though many people have had problems with their players after that. It was one of the main reasons that I wanted this player. Well I went for the 1 GB SD card, Sandisk, which after a great deal and rebate, was affordable. When I first loaded a couple more songs (I had filled up the 256 MB already) it seemed to work fine so I downloaded a couple of cd's and then tried to put them in their own playlist. Well this threw the player for a loop and it locked up tighter than a drum. The only way to stop it was to remove the battery. I was ready to throw in the towel and then remembered that there was a reformatting procedure on the disk that came with it (also a FULL manual for the forge) and I tried it. That seemed to fix the problem right away and I went back and loaded it up, going well into my new memory card and so far so good. I even have 4 different play lists and it seems to have everything in order and be fully operational. I'll hope for good things at this point, as I'm still quite skeptical, but right now it's performing very well for me.
6 Buy an Apple...
My Forge 256 crashed when adding an expansion card. Can't even turn it on anymore. Nothing the help line suggests works and they've made no move to accept responsibility. I'm furious with Rio and will never buy their product again.
7 bad product, bad support
heed the advice of others on here. this is a defective product with extremely poor customer support, waiting weeks for responses. my player died two weeks after i got it. buy something else, the aggravation isn't worth it. and rio obviously is not concerned about customer support after the sale.
8 Avoid the Rio Forge
After a month the problems started with my Rio player. First the volume couldn't be turned down, then the songs couldn't be advanced. I patiently contacted online support and had to wait a week for a response. Each time the response wasn't complete. It told me to download something but didn't say from where. They told me to send info (including credit card #, which I didn't) and then told me my phone # was missing (which it wasn't). I re-sent the info and heard nothing for 2 1/2 weeks. After following up they told me to fax in my original receipt but didn't give a fax #. Their site has a tab for phone and fax contact info but doesn't include a fax number.
Buy an iPod. You'll save yourself a lot of aggravation and time.
9 DO NOT BUY - 2 HAVE CRASHED
I bought one - tried to add expansion card - it crashed. Returned it figuring it was a fluke. NOPE! Second one crashed too. I am using latest firmware (1.33) and have tried all of their suggested "fixes". What's worse - Rio appears to know they have a problem and continue to sell it without a solution.
10 Poor Quality
Despite reading all the reviews on poor quality, I still purchased the Rio forge. I have owned a Rio mp3 player in some form since they first came to market. I felt it was a good purchase based on my good experiences with their products in the past.
However, almost a day after the warranty ending the player died. The replacement from Rio would be more than just buying a new one. When the Forge was working, it has various problems from shutting off when it hit a deleted song to not starting up at all until you pulled the battery.
It is not worth the money when there are so many alternatives out there. It has cool features, but features doesn't mean a thing if the product will not last past 3 months.
11 It makes me want to curse.
It's silver, it's sexy, and the sound quality is AMAZING. When it works. That's all this player has going for it.
I was hesitant, based on all the reviews. I bought one anyway and enjoyed it for almost a month. Did a couple of downloads, yada yada yada. One day after attempting to record something from the radio, the internal memory assumed some unknown format. I could not find any instructions anywhere on how to re-format the device. Formatting issues caused by a feature of the device raised a big red flag, so I decided to return it to the store (thankfully I still had a couple days left before the 30-day period).
Unfortunately, I returned it for another Forge. This time, the player crashed after a few hours of use.
I'm done with the Forge. I am exchanging this piece of crap for the iRiver 512MB player.
I would give this zero stars if that was possible.
12 Please save your money.. ZERO stars!
I should have read the reviews before I got this.. I exchanged my Xmas gift for this one, and it has already stopped working; only after 6 weeks. I used to love this product, but the Rio Forge 256 has recenlty disappointed me along with their customer "support"
As an daily runner, I thought this "rugged design" would last... I haven't even dropped this... but it stopped working. I am completely outraged at a company which would put out an expensive product knowing it will stop working. I am in the process of trying to return it... however, I applied for a mail in rebate; so I have no UPC code. Maybe the BBB can help me out.
angry in NJ...
13 Negatives outweigh the Positives
This was my second MP3 player, yet I am ready for my third. At first I thought this was better then the Creative Labs Nomad II, that I had. It has more memory, better arm band, and the sound is pretty good. Yet after a month of using it I now see the negatives outweigh the positives. The FM radio is alright. I live close to town and the radio would still cut in and out as I turn my body or move my arm. The software would not let me place the songs in the order that I want them to be. It has arrow icons to move up or down, yet it would not let me highlight a song and move it around. Perhaps I am using it wrong, yet there is no trouble shoot guide that states what I am doing wrong. The top problem that I noticed is that if I bump it in the gym or even tap it, the player will shut off and restart. So I exchanged it for another one and it did the same thing with a light tap. I am so disappointed with this, because it should have been much better then the Nomad II. I give this 2 stars and I am being generous.
14 Okay purchase if no memory card added
I bought the Rio Forge specifically for the gym and because of its FM Tuner. My gym has television sets up with an FM tuner so you can hear the audio side. However, the tuner has NEVER worked at the gym and I can only get one regular radio station to work inside the building.
Also after adding a 512MB memory card to the RIO, I have had non-stop problems with the RIO shutting off at the start-up. Rio's customer service has been quick in responding to my emails, but their suggestions haven't worked. It seems like I need to reformat my RIO every week, and also need to change batteries every week to "trick" the RIO into working.
The RIO did work fine before the memory card was added, but if it is going to be advertised with an expandable memory slot, it should work when used.
It's been a lot of hassle since I bought it, and I'm regretting my choice of MP3 players. I would stay away from this product until something more stable comes out.
15 Defective product
I bought this player as a gift for my husband for xmas. After 1 week of use, the darn thing won't even power up. No lights, no display, no nothing!!! It seems that other reviewers of this product have had the same problem too. Looks like this is a known problem, see Document 5823 under support options at http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/rioaudio/ Unfortunately because I did my xmas shopping too early I cannot return this product because the last refund date has already passed. Going to try my hand with the warranty...and looks like it's only a 90 day warranty at that...which is almost passed as well. I don't recommend this purchase at all. It's a waste of money.
16 Good while it worked..
Like another Rio I owned, this thing broke down within two weeks. The sound and design are pretty impressive and the unit is quite stylish and comfortable to hold and operate while running. I don't use the FM tuner so the apparent inadequacies in that department don't matter to me. However, after I left the Rio in my car overnight during a sub-zero spell here in Chicago, the thing will no longer turn on. Thankfully this happened while I can still return the stupid thing. Do not buy Rios! When I had my 128mp unit I did try calling customer service and after getting the complete runaround and no help I threw the unit away.
17 Flash memory doesn't work
Great player for mp3s, but the FM tuner is worthless because you can't get any stations and the sound quality is poor.
I also trashed 2 512mb sd cards trying to upgrade the memory.
Called Rio support last June and told them. They said they would get back to me, and that there was a problem with memory cards and this unit. Still have not gotten back to me and it is January 2005 as of this writing.
Don't buy this unit unless you are looking for an MP3 flash player ONLY and are willing to accept the limited memory that ships with the unit. You can't expect sd cards to work.
I like the ease of use and the advantages of flash memory, also the arm band, which allows me to run with it and not have to worry about damaging a hard drive.
18 Simply doesn't work after first download
This player completely froze while loading music. After that it wouldn't even power on. I couldn't get anyone at technical service. I am returning this piece of garbage. I have never been so displeased with an electronic product in my life. I urge you all to stay away.
19 A TOTAL WASTE OF YOUR MONEY
I received the forge 256 mb for christmas, and I was at first excited about using the player. The design is sleek and modern, and the player seemed to abound with many useful features.
Setting it up, I found it easy to use, with a very intuitive interface and setup. It was able to easily integrate with a 1 GB sd memory card I bought, and I was able to successfully fill it up to its maximum capacity.
Unfortunately, success was only temporary. The radio tuner is completely useless. The unit was not able to pick up the strongest station in my area, and I live in a major metropolitan area. As such, the fm record feature is completely worthless. The whole player is made of a cheap plastic, the chrome ring being only cosmetic. The player will load songs fine. But when actual use is attempted, the slightest bump will cause the player to shut down. Booting up again, the rio logo dislays, only for the unit to shut down again. Apparently it has something to do with the battery compartment design. It's slightly to large, and a little plastic piece on the positive end prevents a proper connection. It gets stuck in a shut-down mode, and an internal settings-saving battery will keep it in this mode, even if the AAA battery is removed. The stopwatch is okay, but the small buttons make it difficult to use.
The shortcomings of this product are a result of the physical design of the hardware itself. No patch, firmware upgrade, or settings change will ever fix these flaws. Within a few weeks, the Rio Forge 256 mb will be reduced to paperweight, though it could possibly find use as A FREAKING HOCKEY PUCK! I am very disapointed in Rio, and will tell anyone to stay as far away from this product as they possibly can. I am hoping that I can return it, but I've already wasted at least $60 bucks on a sd card I have no use for.
If you're looking for flash-based players, there are plenty of others on the market. Unforunately, the Rios are the only prominent ones I can find with an sd expansion slot. Maybe another player, like the cali or chiba would work. I haven't tried those, but I can tell you that iriver has an excellent line of products. I've boughten both an Ihp-140 hard-drive player and one of their mp3-cd players. Both of these function flawlessly. Their flash-based players are more compact, although they do not have expanasion slots. Ultimately, if 128, 256, or 512 mb is enough for you, go with the iriver (or wait and see what the flash-based ipod is like). If you need more and still still need the shock-resistance of a completely solid-state device, go with an alternative rio model. (Just be sure to read the reviews BEFORE YOU BUY OR START USING.) If I had read the other reviews, I would have returned the Rio Forge before I even opened the box.
20 better than reviews say
i got this product for this past Chirtsmas...I am just a high school kid, and I needed something great to workout in, and run with. This product is the ebst thing I have. I am obsessed with it. Everything about it is great. The Rio Music Manager program organizes the songs in a completley understandable way. It is easy to use the product, i have had no problems at all. I am not very experienced with things like these, but i feel like a pro using it.
PROS...
--small (not bulky liek other MP3 players)
--great for working out (stopwatch is great)
--easy to figure out
--great sound quality
--very nice look about it
--easily upgradable to 1 Gig
CONS...
--waste of batteyr (8 hours) i wish it was like 20 hrs. or something but what can i do?
--headphones...the headphones it comes with are horrible (BUY NEW ONES!!!)
--claims to hold 120 songs at 256 MB, but i have 58 songs and i need to upgrade....:(
other than a few cons, this is a great MP3 player ofr anyone...unless you want to listen to thousands of songs, which nobody actually does, this is a great product to get!
21 AWESOME.... then it crashes and NO LONGER WORKS!
Folks,
These reviews you are reading ARE CREDIBLE... I prayed they weren't after I'd already purchased...
The story - Bought in November... PHENOMENAL!... I loved this thing, durable, crystal clear sound, never skipped... About mid December it began randomly shutting off. I thought bad battery... turns out BAD PRODUCT. This eventually became the norm - random shut offs in the middle of runs.. and for a 220lb guy trying to get back in shape, shutting off during runs is HELL! Eventually it died. Best Buy has agreed to accept the return (minus reciept) for store credit.
HELL YES - I'm taking that deal and getting an Iriver (see Consumerreports.org review)
22 Do not purchase this if you use iTunes
I recently purchased this player, and assumed that I could download songs from iTunes onto the player. When the instructions that I followed from the manual on downloading from iTunes did not work, I attempted to call customer service, but always received a busy signal.
I then sent an e-mail to customer support, for which they state that all customer inquiries are answered within 24 hours. About ten days after, I received this verbatim response from customer service:
"escalate don't know that much about itunes! laura gestes
Regards-"
I have no idea what this means, but it certainly did not answer my question. I have since returned the player, and purchased an iPod. I suggest that you do so as well if you are in the market for a digital music player.
23 Terrific inexpensive MP3 player
There were so many complaining reviews that I felt compelled to write and report that I've had nothing but good experiences with my new Rio Forge so far. I received it for Christmas, have taken in out running a number of times -- and I am really satisfied with it. I had the same experience as the guy who said he thought it was broken because of tinny vocal tracks. To him, I say "thanks", since reading his review solved my problem!
In short, I love mine and have recommended it to many friends.
24 Do Not Buy This Product
I got the Rio Forge for christmas and had problems right away. It keeps shuting off. I had a horrible time getting through to customer support and when I did the tech said, " I hope the person who bought it for you kept the reciept". Then we got disconnected and I couldn't get through again. This machine is not worth it. It's a big headache.
25 Okay, Here's the lowdown
I've done way too much comparing and searching for the best mp3 player, I feel it is my duty to now write something down for posterity's sake.
You are like me if you don't want to waste over $200 on a music player. I can't understand putting that much money into portable music. Okay, I could spend more, but why? My computer holds my music library just fine, and I'm okay with swapping my music around. Not a problem, especially since I'm saving $100-$300.
Okay, here's the lowdown with this player.
Best Features:
1. Compatible with iTunes. Download all the new firmware updates and the new iTunes driver from the Rio website and your set. Oh, as long as all your music is in mp3 format. The iTunes default is AAC, but you can change that easy enough. Right-click the songs you want to convert and "convert to mp3." I'm doing my entire library right now (it'll be working all night). If you have your music in iTunes and want to keep it in AAC format, but don't want to pay more than $200 for a player, let's keep our fingers crossed that Apple will keep the price down for this new flash player that they're coming out with in a couple of weeks. Otherwise, AAC isn't used by any other players that I could find.
2. Radio. The radio works just fine. Yes, yes, I know that a million people have complained about how it has a horrible radio, but Rio must have fixed it or something because I don't understand what all the whining is about. I'm out in the Alaskan wilderness right now (no kidding), and I'm picking up all my stations just fine.
3. Expandable memory. Don't need to waste time on this too much, but I like it never the less. As memory prices come down, I'll add to my player.
4. Stopwatch. It shows total time, average lap time, and the two previous laps. Also, when you finish a lap it tells you how close you were to your previous lap (+2.02, -1.27). I'd recommend though, that if you are really into lap times then you rely on a wristwatch. The numbers are small and I can't figure out how to view more than two laps at a time. It's great for total time though, which is what I use it for. I wouldn't be able to see all the laps anyway, since I keep it on my arm.
5. Armband. Sturdy and works great.
Bad news
1. There's no random. {Never mind, I found it. Menu>Settings>Playback>Shuffle On}
2. The playlist feature on the player will not work unless you use the Rio software. iTunes playlists will not work.
3. Does not work with AAC format, which is the iTunes default. (read above to learn how to convert to mp3)
4. I wish that it was made out of higher quality plastic. I'm going to be rough on it, and I'm worried about the buttons breaking.
5. Difficult to navigate music using only one hand. If you use your left hand you can operate the play buttons and the volume with your thumb, but if you aren't careful you block the screen. I'm not sure how Rio expected the player to be manipulated.
Conclusion:
A solid middle of the road player. Looks cool, works as expected, very happy with it.
(((Update:)))
Returned it for an iPod Shuffle. Shuffle offers four times as much memory storage for the same price, can't beat that! And the iPod will work better with iTunes.
26 Don't buy this junk
I bought the old Rio and was very pleased. Lost it and made the mistake of buying the new Forge before any reviews were out. I've exchanged it twice already because it keeps shutting off. I'm so angry that Rio would put such a piece of garbage out on the market. They should refund everyone's money no questions asked. DO NOT buy this player. You'll regret it. Now I have to go see if Best Buy's protection plan will allow me to get a different player...
27 Shut Off Problem
Don't buy this product. I received this MP3 player as a gift for running and other active sports. Unfortunately, it shuts off at the slightest tap. I've been told that the problem is the spring that holds the battery, but no amount of fiddling seems to solve the problem. It still works if I place it very carefully on a level surface when I use a machine at the gym, but the slightest tap will shut it off. It is maddening!!!
28 Don't buy it
I've read the same on some other message boards - the thing simply stops working. I probably only used it 3-4 times, then it started cutting off even when I would hit a button other than the power button. It would restart, but would act up in some similar fashion right away. It would cut off with just the tiniest tap. Then when I restarted it (the last time it would respond at all), it gave me some lack of memory message. It only had 10 songs on it... I also was not a fan of the armband. Seems like they put the velcro tab on the wrong side. Perhaps I just couldn't figure it out, but at the very least it's counterintuitive. Stay away...
I sent an email 3 days ago to the internet help line, which promised 24 hour response, but no response so far.
29 Beware
The Rio Forge was off to a good start. Then the unit began shutting off. Now it will sometimes power on, then shut down following the start up sequence. Batteries are fresh. This is all within 60 days. Sure sounds like an inherent quality problem with the Rio. Try something else.
30 Good Enough
Like anything, this just takes a little getting used to. It's my first MP3 player and I've overall been really happy with it.
An anecdote - one thing I noticed on my player was that you really have to push to get the headphones in all the way. I thought the player was broken as the sound quality was tinny and metallic - I was scouring the internet for hours to see if anyone else had experienced the same problem - I was about to send the thing back. Turns out I simply hadn't pushed the headphone jack in all the way. My friends still haven't let me live that one down...
Pros:
- Extendable memory
- Looks great
- Stopwatch
- FM Radio
- Easy to use menu
- Good display
- Good battery life
- Software easy to install and use
- Armband is good
Cons:
- Headphones are cheap (good enough for running with though as they hook nicely over your ears)
- Stopwatch only shows last two laps and takes a bit of getting used to
- Carry clip needs to be bent into shape otherwise the player will fall out
- USB cover will get lost after two minutes of owning it
- Designed for righties
- Only plays certain file types (it won't accept a lot of the RealPlayer formats - you'll have to use Windows Media format or MP3)
31 Disappointed
I was incredibly disappointed with this player primarily for three reasons. 1 - The buttons are tiny and it is a pain to deal with while running. 2 - I bought this for running and liked the stopwatch option and then discovered that it's too much of a pain to use. Like another reviewer said, you can only recall the last two laps. 3 - This is the biggest reason why I am taking this player back - the battery life is HORRIBLE. I can't get more than one use out of it without having to replace the battery. To top that off, even if I wasn't already displeased with the player and was willing to become Energizer's number one customer, the battery case is terribly hard to remove. Every time I did it - which was every time that I wanted to use it - I was scared that I was going to break it because it takes so much force to open it. SAVE YOURSELF THE HEADACHE!!! BUY SOMETHING ELSE!!! By the third time that I used this player I was so frustrated that I wanted to smash it into a million pieces. Instead, I am returning it and have just ordered a Creative Labs player.
32 Neat player, Bad Quality!
This is a sleek player. However, I've had a few problems:
-headphone jack bent, only plays left ear.
-often won't read SD card, occasionally won't even power on with DS card in the slot
-power button brokek, but I was able to fix it.
So overall, the reliability is so bad you had better stay away.
33 256 Has Same Problems as 128
FM TUNER
The FM tuner sucks. Sorry there is no other way of putting it. I went into the top floor of my house and compared it to my clock radio. I am about 25 miles outside Albany NY and the clock radio pulled in 12 FM stations very clearly. The Forge pulled in 3 stations clearly, the other 9 were so weak they were unlistenable. When the backlight is on, these 3 stations are unlistenable until it goes off. To top that off, once going downstairs and outside for a run, the Forge pulled in ZERO stations clearly. That's right, when I go for a run I can not listen to ANY FM stations, without loads of static.
I brought the Forge to work with me (downtown Albany), and the FM tuner pulls in 6 stations very clearly. I took it around the block and the 6 stations all stayed clear. It seems that if you are close to a big city, live in a big city, or are near an FM tower, you should be fine with the Forge FM tuner, otherwise pretend like the FM tuner doesn't exist.
Memory
Clearly the 128 MB version is not big enough and I will soon be getting a 1GB SD card. This option is what is keeping me from returning the Forge. The IRiver doesn't have the expandable memory and unless you want to keep running to your computer every day to reload playlists, you need a lot of memory.
Playback
Very good. Quality is excellent, even at the lowest sampling rates.
Headphones
Definite thumbs down. They fell out twice while doing my 5 mile run. Let me clarify, the headphone for my right ear fell out twice, the left stayed nicely in. The slightest tug is enough to slowly move the earphones out of position. Another 12" of cord might alleviate this problem. Regardless of their quality (which is so-so), they must be replaced.
StopWatch
This is why I bought the Forge. Well it's OK, but the lap counter only shows the last two laps you completed, and I haven't figured out how, if there is a way, to view previous lap times. Then I noticed if you take out the headphones from the player ( I did this when the cord got tangled) the stopwatch stops. In fact the whole Forge stopped - its as though the headphones are wired to the power and the player shuts down when the headphones are removed (this royally screwed up my time, but I won't do it again).
It also sucks because while the StopWatch is running and you go to player mode, if you touch the lap counter, it doesn't work - you HAVE to be in StopWatch mode. This is a royal pain because in StopWatch mode you can't skip to the next song, so you have to keep switching back and forth.
Software
Clearly excellent. Installed without any problems, easily recognized my Forge and rips CD's with speed. I set up my playlists in no time at all, and selecting artists/albums/playlists is very easy. The RIO engineers got this right.
ArmBand
It's OK. I wanted to put the armband on my wrist so it was easier to view, but the armband isn't designed for such a small circumference and it must go on my upper arm. Body builders will have no problem putting this on their wrist.
Unless I'm doing something wrong, the beltclip must go into the ArmBand to hold the player. Neither the booklet that came with the RIO or the 64 page PDF manual has a SINGLE word about how to use the beltclip or the armband. Big, stupid ommission from the RIO technical writers.
Durability
Player appears to be well built. I'm not concerned about it's long term durability but I will post back if the player has problems over the coming months.
Conclusion
It's an OK player. When (if?) IRiver comes out with a stopwatch and expandable memory, I will EBay my RIO.
(UPDATE) -- Rio fixed their FM problems by adding a capacitor to the unit. The FM tuner is now acceptable, pulling in almost as many stations as the IRiver ifp-790 I compared it to. I would say the Rio, with the fix, is about 90% as good as the IRiver FM tuner.
(UPDATE #2)
I sent my Rio back for a refund. The unit consistently shuts itself down whenever I press a button. This started happening after a couple of weeks and Rio said the contacts weren't making good contact. Rio support fixed the problem when they fixed the FM problems, so I thought it was specific to just my unit. After hearing so many others complain about this problem, plus it has begun occuring again in my unit, I think people ought to know about it. The same issues have been stated concerning the 128MB version.
34 Returned it, too.....
This player completely froze loading music. After that it wouldn't even power on. Rio technical service advised a hard reboot. Same thing happened again. Rio technical service advised returning the Forge. So I did. Shopping around now.
35 Saw all problems others have reported
Was really pleased with the player at first, especially with a 1 gb SD card. After three days, the battery died, switched the battery, and a few songs later the player completely died (hearing that this has happened to others and now myself, I recommend buy it some place where its easy to return). Before this, I saw the problem others have reported with the player unexpectantly shutting off for no reason, I fiddled with the battery spring with no effect. The FM player worked really well in L.A., but hardly worked in the bay area. I wish I could of tried the firmware, but the player died before I got the chance. Also, something to note, after only once running with the player on my arm the screen started to get the rainbow effect from too much direct sunlight. The bubble housing surrounding the screen I think focuses the light and ruins the screen faster than it would otherwise.
36 overall good mp3 player
I've had this for about 3 weeks now and I think it a good mp3 player. It's not perfect, but the positives outweigh any negatives. I've previously owned an iRiver ifp 395t and used a iriver 799t. Overall, I prefer the Rio Forge. The iRiver players generally have better sound quality but the Forge seems good enough, I don't have super expensive headphones (sony) and not a crazy audiofile, but i think the Forge sounds fine. In my opinion, the key for the Forge is the expandable memory. This makes the Forge cheaper for the same memory size player and leaves the possiblity for future upgrades - i bought a 1 gb sd card. The iriver players dont have this option. Some people complain about the FM reception. I live in a big city and the FM works alright. I don't use the radio too much. Supposedly the recent firmware update improves this and fixes some other things i notices (faster startup time).
Pros:
- SD card expandability
- Small and light (fits into pocket easier than iriver)
- Uses AAA battery for ease of replacement instead of builtin rechargeable
- Pretty good user interface
- Better accessories included for active users (better armband and headphones for running vs. iriver).
Cons:
- USB connection cover is removable, this will quickly get lost (minor thing)
- Not the sturdiest build quality, but good enough
- Battery cover hard to remove
This is a good player, though not perfect, that i would recommend to anyone looking for a flash based player. i've had bad experiences with hard drive based units in the past.
37 Forge not up to par
i purchased a iRiver 790 for my girlfriend and a Rio Forge 256 for myself. boy do i wish i had ordered the iRiver for myself. not only did her player cost less, it sounds better and works flawlessly. the only thing better about my forge is the armband. i hate to say this, but i've been happier with my cheapo irock! 520 (bought used). sigh. okay, here we go: first of all, i spent the extra $$ to get the 256MB player because i wanted to be able to record clips from the radio. only problem is that the radio doesn't work. period. second, the darn thing has problems turning itself on. sometimes it takes 2 or 3 tries before it stays on. i called customer support and the only thing they could tell me was that i needed to update the firmware. by the way, that did not fix the problem. third of all, the player isn't designed terribly well. the battery cover is difficult to get off, and the plastic tabs that hold it shut aren't terribly sturdy and are already showing wear.
38 Great features, some quality problems. Overall keeper.
I've spent about 4 days with a 256mb Forge, and find the features better than any other player. I wanted an iRiver flash player, but have an investment in SD cards from my Palm T3. I like the quality and software that I've experienced with an iRiver and this is my first Rio of any kind. My final decision is why pay the same for an iRiver when this has the same memory, but I can add SD cards?
I wont go into the obvious details; the product description does that.
The contoured shape is interesting and sometimes I'm not sure how to hold it. The D-pad controls seem to be better than the iRiver, not having ever held the iRiver, but its very PDA-like. Running on a AAA battery, the unit is incredibly small and delivers a claimed 20hrs. Its a trade off for the iRivers AA battery claim of 40. I haven't needed to change the battery yet, but it is definitely on track to reaching that claim.
I listen to recorded radio shows like Howard Stern and require the resume features in any player. The same requirement would be for Audible users I would imagine. The resume features are excellent. By default, it remembers the track and location at every shutdown. You can also create 10+ bookmarks for various locations.
The build quality is only OK. It looks good in pictures; solid, made of metal. In reality, its not the most durable handheld device I own. In addition, the flashy chrome looks good, but is distracting trying to read the already curvy, reflective screen. I find myself changing the angle to see the screen trying to avoid reflections. I'm also concerned the chrome will peel off in a few months.
The backlight is great; a nice even white while lighting up the controls in red. I like blue backlights, but this is a nice change for a modern look. The UI is great also, very much like my iPod, especially for such a small screen. Apple has forced manufacturers to make usablility much better.
I have had 3 issues so far:
1. Once it calaimed that my 512mb Lexar was full when it was far from it. I attribute it to the dual purpose use with a Palm PDA, so I formatted it for a clean filesystem. No problems since.
2. Occaisionally, it would reset itself, and lose my place in my track. I think is that the battery is not tight enough in the compartment, disconnecting power with a moderate bump. I stretched the spring a bit for a tighter fit. That should fix it.
3. It would not recognize the device on a Windows XP SP2 machine, but was recognized on a SP1 machine, so that may be a SP2 issue.
Overall, I would recommend it if you like the features. That is exactly why I'm willing to work through the small issues. There is nothing else that matches it feature for feature for the money.
39 My MP3 Player
This is the first MP3 Player I've ever listened to and I got one for my birthday! It has a sleek silver look, can hold up to 120 songs, and has a very good sound quality. I had a couple of problems with it though. The FM Radio didn't come in and one of the headphones was messed up. Overall, I like this a lot.
