Rio S30S Sport 64 MB MP3 Player

1 Works Great, added 1 gig Sandisk SD :)
This is a great cheap player, nice interface.

You can add the one gigabyte SD cards. (I bought a 1 gig Sandisk for cheap), you may need to update the firmware (you should anyway, it is very easy to do).

Only took off a star because the SQ while excellent was not up the the Rio Karma I own (I guess that is expected as that may be the best sounding DAP on the market). SQ overall is great but I want everything for nothing and dont hand out 5 stars :)

2 A fantastic little thing
I love this mp3 player! I've had it for about 1 1/2 years. It has been through a lot, and it's still working fine. If you bought one, you probably wouldn't abuse it as much as I did. Mine has been through drops, some water, and just some general wear and tear, but all it has to show for it is a few scratches!
One of the reasons I chose Rio was because of the large screen, with which I could see much of the info about the song, like the artist and album. Many others have only one line of info, and you must wait for it to scroll or something like that. Also, the rubber outside is a plus. It feels very nice, and has a nice grip. It could definetely have more memory, but since it has a memory card slot, it isnt really a problem for me. Some of the new Rio players, and many other mp3 players, have a stick control, where one stick controls all of the play/pause etc. This Rio has a larger control pad, which I find to be much easier to use. The FM tuner...is a piece of junk. I could only get 5 or so stations that were remotely clear. Also, the stopwatch is very hard to use. You have to go through the menu and select your stopwatch mode in order to start/stop your stopwatch. Then, if you want to go back to your player mode, you must go through the menu again. But overall, this mp3 player is definetly worth the money.

3 Great Except for MMC Compatibilities
I had this mp3 player for almost about a year now and so far it has been really worth my money. Talking about the cost it is cheap and the performance is great save for i have to constantly buy new batteries, i guess the power consumption of this player is not that efficient.

I also bought myself a new 256Mb MMC and its quite frustrating to know that the player can only detect 128Mb while searching for additional info, the official support site said that it can support upto 1Gb. I upgraded to the latest firmware and yet it can only detect upto 128.

Aside from my MMC frustration, this device works perfectly well i dropped it several times and yet its still functioning properly except for the FM tuner. Im located here in the Philippines and the only radio stations who have good reception can be heard properly.

I considered buying a new mp3 player but i just settled for a new MMC since after a year this player still works fine for me. I can appreciate help for my MMC problems and i hope the support releases better versions of the firmware to support MMCs.

4 piece of junk
i bot this player about a year ago
and guess what its already making buzzing sounds
i e-mailed their customer service , and they tell me
to get new headphones. I GOT NEW HEADPHONES
IT STILL BUZZING.
the radio feature never worked right.

5 My Rio S30S Review
Had this Mp3 player two weeks and the volume up botton stopped working, I took the player apart and resoldered the micro switch
and that solved the problem.

As I'm electronic technician this wasen't much of a problem for me but to all others considering
this product beware the construction of this thing is hardly
rugged. On the plus side it has great sound and the battery life is pretty good, it also supports low bitrate files which is why I bought it.

Hope my little review helps with your buying decision.

6 Product problems - don't buy
I have bought two of these devices, and both have failed. They just stop working. Customer service is a disaster. It took me three days and conversations with three people for them to agree to replace one of my non-working players. Then, I got a call from a fourth person saying they had to charge me. Two other people didn't return my calls over two days, and in the end, it took me five days, conversations with six people, and a total of two hours to get the problem resolved, and even then, I still have to pay to get them to fix their non-working product. Avoid this company as poor product reliability combined with unhelpful time-consuming customer service is a disaster.

7 BackLight Buzz on the FM?
The FM radio is OK, but it buzzes any time the backlight comes on. Customer service neither knows their product or offers a solution. Their solution is for me to try to fix it by going to their website and updating the firmware. This is brand new and they want me troubleshoot it and fix it. How about making a product that works out of the box. This is another example of a product with alot of Hype, and poor execution. This product would get good rating if it was free of that backlight buzz.

8 An Awesome Player
I bought this after trying several others, and for me it's great. The interface software is excellent and easy to use. You can defintely get by only referring to the quick start guide, although an entire manual is on the CD.

The sound is very good and the ear buds are very good too - I like the way they fit my ears. I primarily used this while lifting in the gym or doing some cario work, and they work out perfectly. For under $80.00, this is quite a bargain considering what else is out there.

Very highly recommended!

9 good player, poor sport clip and customer service
I bought this player primarily for running and use at the gym. The player works well except that a few songs I downloaded from the internet are not recognized by the player. I can upload them to the player but during play the songs are skipped over. Overall I'm happy with the player itself. The sport clip with armband are a whole other issue. The clip is very cheap plastic and broke after 2 months of use. Without the clip, the armband cannot be used. Rio does not cover the clip under warranty and also does not offer a replacement clip for sale! In fact, the rio website offers replacement clips for only 2 of their many models. Don't buy this player if you really need the clip and armband. Works great if you don't mind carrying it in your pocket!

10 Great for the price
With no experience with mp3 players I was surpisingly delighted with the Rio. I really just bought the Rio becasue it was the least expensive of all of the players( $60.00)but found that execept for more memory I couldn't ask for much more in an mp3 player. I love the shape which is great for use while exercising and I also find the sound quality to be superb. Although the radio is almost non-existent I didn't find that dissappointing becasue I bought the device for the purpose of listening to mp3's.
-Overall: Very Satisfied

11 Beats the Nitrus hands down, but you'll need a memory card
See my review of the Nitrus for my feelings on that. First of all, I am nowhere near being an active, athletic person, so I can't attest to the unit's durability under those circumstances. I have a desk job and listen to this player mostly at work, and in my car with a cassette adapter. But I have dropped it more than a few times and it's held up pretty well.

I currently have a 256 MB SD card in it. I download 64Kb WMA files, and depending upon the size of the song, the unit can hold between 140 and 150 songs. I will probably get a 512 card one of these days. Use this equation when thinking of capacity.

64 MB will hold about 15 MP3's or 30 WMA's (roughly, YMMV).

Lucky for me, my camera also uses SD cards, so I can always switch it out if I need more storage in one or the other.

So why not 5 stars? 1) The FM player might as well not exist, I've never had any luck getting decent reception. 2) The belt clip is a joke. When it's on, it's really tough to control the buttons on top. 3) Buy Rio and don't expect a whole lot from tech support. The last support person I talked to reminded me (in accent and attitude) of the female retail worker in the Seinfeld episode where George buys the suit from the store that has the mannequin that looked like Elaine. Sounded like she could have cared less whether the unit (Nitrus) worked or not, which was probably the case.

Also be sure to download the latest drivers. If I upgrade to another Rio, it will probably be the Cali or Chiba 256 MB, both of which can be expanded with SD cards (up to 512 MB).

12 the best mp3 player..........well almost.
this mp3 player is extremely well put together. the only thing that is messed up is the radio, the radio is a complete joke, it is practically impossible to get the signal and it is always static. this mp3 player is perfact to any one that wants a cheap mp3 player that can hold alot of songs and has a stop watch an alot of other cool stuff. everything else is perfect but the radio is the thing that brought the points down. befor you buy this one, make sure you look at the red and silver one also.

13 Pretty Nice
I recently recieved the Rio MP3 player and so far so good. The only MINOR downfalls were that the radio hardly works, but hey i didn't buy it to listen to the radio! and the earphones aren't the greatest because they start to hurt after awhile, and the case makes it kind of hard to handle the buttons and it's hard to get the MP3 player out of the case, but other than that, it's a great MP3 player for people who are buying their 1st MP3 player.

Also, very very fast shipping, faster than they said it would be.

14 Good MP3 player
I bought an MP3 player so I could listen to music while running. The Rio s30s serves this purpose well.

The good: inexpensive, good ergonomics, rubberized outer shell (keeps sweat out), easy to use, expandable memory, light weight, decent battery life, built in FM radio, large, large easy to read display.

The bad: the plastic carrying case, interference in the radio when backlight is lit, and the ear buds lack a full sound.

Design:
The rubberized body makes the Rio s30s easy to hold on to, easy to clean and helps protect it from my sweat. It weighs about 2.5 ounces WITH the battery which makes it small and light enough to be practical to use while running , working out, or even just gardening. The display is large and easy to read making it easy to navigate songs and the menu options.

The ear buds are the round, padded type that fit into your ear and have a clip that fits over you ear to hold them in place. They're comfortable enough but I found they didn't stay in my ear well while running. They also seemed to be a little weak in the middle frequencies. I replaced them with a pair of Sony MDR-J10.

The case is another area I thought could use some improvement. It's a pliable plastic case with a belt clip connected to the back. It wraps around the sides and back of the player and secures the player pretty well. The problem I have with it is that the holes cut into the top of the case do not line up that well with the buttons they're intended for, so you'll find yourself playing around with the alignment in order to use the USB cord. This is easily solved with a Dremel tool. :) The case can also clip to the included armband. I found that using the armband while running caused the ear bud wires to get tangled with my arms.

Features:
The Rio s30s plays MP3 or WMA and has a built in FM radio, which works perfectly well for me. It also has a built in stopwatch (nice for running), book marks (nice for audio book fans)and the standard repeat and shuffle mode. The s30s comes with 64mb internal memory. This is enough to hold around 30 songs encoded in WMA, 64kbps. It also has an expansion slot so you can increase storage using MMC or SD cards. The expansion slot will support cards up to 512mb. That's over half a gig including the 64mb built in.

Performance:
The s30s uses on AAA battery. Battery life was around 8 hours using a standard alkaline and around 10 hours using 750mHa NiMh rechargeable.
Using the included ear buds the sound quality is acceptable. Changing these out for a pair of Sony MDR-J10 helped increase the middle frequencies and bass.
The FM radio works fine here in Orlando. The weaker stations are fuzzy sounding but it pulls in the major stations here fine.

15 Be careful with the clip!!!
I bought this mp3 player because I thought it was a small and convenient way for me to listen to music during my workouts. The software and interface all worked fine, nothing too fancy, but after about 3 weeks, the cheap plastic clip that it came with broke, so now I have to carry it if I want to use it, which makes it pretty much worthless during workouts. Also, they don't manufacture spare clips in case the original one breaks. Also, it uses up the required single AAA battery pretty quickly, so the batteries have to be replaced fairly often for such a small device.

16 Rio S30S Broken Belt Clip
The player works well but the belt clip broke on the carrying case after two months. It continues to be an ordeal to obtain any assistance in replacing it. The customer service e-mails give a "blow off" answer saying accessories are available on their website which they are not. Calling customer support results in an endless Hold process with no humans ever answering the phone. Do not purchase this product if you require after-sales support.

17 Inexpensive, yet simple to use
Been looking to get a cheap MP3 player for some time, but was always turned off by how limited they were for expansion. Then I found the S30S. What truly stands out is the ability to use and swap out MMC and SD cards, not to mention this thing is more cross platform friendly than other MP3 players that cost twice as much. It automatically appears in iTunes as two directories. One for the built in 64 megs, and one for the MMC/SD card slot. I know a lot of people don't care about Mac support, but if you do, this little device works great. Also noticed that it automatically synced it's internal clock with my desktop...little things like that show that a lot of thought went into design.

Pros...expandable, easy to use, light weight, good display, built in FM tuner (which works fine for me), cross platform friendly.

Cons...slow file transfer (compared to firewire or USB 2 that is), short battery life (buy some NiMH batteries)

18 Awesome Product!
This is a GREAT product!!! I just got mine yesterday and LOVE it. It was a little hard to figure out at first, but now I have it down perfectly! It is really cool. I recommend it to everyone!! It has great features that let you control almost everything! I wish I would've got mine earlier.

19 Indestructible!
I'm very pleased with my purchase. I got the Rio Sport 8 months ago and have put it through the wringer - literally. I've run 8 miles in the rain, dropped it on the sidewalk more times than I can count, brought it with me in the sauna, and finally last month I forgot to check my workout clothes and ran it through the wash. Boy was i mad at myself - I literally poured water out of the casing - but I let it dry overnight, put in a new battery, and it was as good as new. Earphones have seen better days, though, so we bought a new pair and a memory upgrade. 64 Mb is good for roughly 45 minutes of music, which was fine originally, but I find myself running longer and needing more music to run to. The upgrade is working great. Only gripe about the software is that I can't organize the songs once they're in the player. Great sound and in a neat package. Well worth the price - paid 100$ at Best Buy.

20 Great player for the $; bad case; poor customer service
I mostly use this player to work out. It's nice and compact, has very comfortable earphones that won't fall off and they breathe well. I agree with others that mp3 sound is great, radio is worthless. The case with the clip makes it a little hard to get to the buttons. Regardless, the clip broke off and I emailed Rio a few times to see if I could get a replacement (since no one sells a replacement case). Didn't get a useful response. Two weeks later, I called their 800 number a number of times, but couldn't get a human. Finally resorted to calling their long-distance number. After spending 10 minutes on the phone with someone, I was told they'd have to order the part but it wasn't in stock, call back in a week. A week later, I called back, and had to waste time re-supplying them with all my info. They STILL didn't have the part, but claimed they'd put it on backorder. We'll see what happens. So bottom line: good mp3 and wma player--take good care of it, because customer service is practically non-existent.

21 ok for entry level use
Got the Rio S30S @ costco for approx $79; came with an additionl 32 meg SDcard which gave a total of 96 meg of storage. loading the software didn't have the best of directions & honestly was confusing. although i loaded the rio music manager software & for whatever reason loaded up the annoying realplayer software, neither one is needed since windows media player is all you need to manage your music. putting tunes on the S30S is a snap with windows media player. sound quality is quite good; the included headphones are not comfortable; i can see getting a replacement pair of headphones very soon. the fm tuner, as other reviewers have noted, is extremely weak. i got the player for workouts @ the gym; for this purpose, it works quite well. overall this is a good value; given the ease of putting tunes on here, at this point, i see no reason to spend more $$$ by upgrading memory further.

22 GREAT!
I Love this thing. I you want an inexpensive, easy to use MP3 player, this is a great choice. The initial amount of songs it can hold is small, but that can be fixed by upgrading using expanding memory cards. Choose it!

23 Music to my ears or is it????
I've had my rio s30s for 8 months now. It holds 15 songs,each song roughly is 3-4 minutes long. So that's about 1.5 hrs, which usually covers my work-out time. The clip for the armband broke. I've tried to crazy glue it back, but that didn't work. The volume setting has also broken. It only plays at the lowest volume now. I don't think I was that hard on the player. I wear it only when lifting weights at the gym, on my arm. Now since the clip is broken, I keep it in my pocket, not comfortable.I like the design of it. I just tried to use the radio last week. It sucked! The reception was horrible. I guess you get what you pay for & I didn't want to pay alot.

24 Great MP3s, But Terrible Radio
I use this player while I work out at the gym. Much of this use involves tuning in a radio station that the gym uses to broadcast the television audio. Much to my chagrin, the Rio's radio tuner is one of the worst I have seen. It fails to lock into strong area stations, as well as failing at tuning the gym's audio stations (which I have checked for broadcast strength with another digital radio - the Sony locked in very well). DO NOT BUY THIS UNIT IF YOU NEED THE FM RADIO.

That said, the MP3 interface works like a charm. With a large, intuitive screen, the Rio makes browsing the loaded MP3's a snap. The software that interfaces with the player is also fairly polished and should not disappoint. By far the best feature is the ability to use Flash Memory cards to boost the onboard memory. The unit accepts MMC Flash cards, which, if you plan, can double as flash memory cards for a digital camera. BUY THIS UNIT IF YOU WANT A FULL-FEATURED MP3 PLAYER FOR A GREAT PRICE.

Good luck, and Godspeed!

25 Rio S30S great player MP3 or WMA files
I am very happy that I own Rio Sport S30S.It is great player to play MP3 or WMA files.Great design,listening to music etc.In addition Rio Sport S30S contains FM radio tuner,stopwatch,64MB memory card,sports clip......well-arranged and legible menu on display LCD.
Regarding the earphones they are suitable for sports activities (earphones are very good).
Regarding the software I did not have problem with installation. Software is also well-arranged.
I would like to thank workers from sonicblue for this good product at a good price.

26 Music to my ears or is it????
I've had my rio s30s for 8 months now. It holds 15 songs,each song roughly is 3-4 minutes long. So that's about 1.5 hrs, which usually covers my work-out time. The clip for the armband broke. I've tried to crazy glue it back, but that didn't work. The volume setting has also broken. It only plays at the lowest volume now. I don't think I was that hard on the player. I wear it only when lifting weights at the gym, on my arm. Now since the clip is broken, I keep it in my pocket, not comfortable.I like the design of it. I just tried to use the radio last week. It sucked! The reception was horrible. I guess you get what you pay for & I didn't want to pay alot.

27 Very Good Buy
The Rio S30S Sport 64 MB MP3 Player is probably one of the best deals out there if you are shopping for MP3 players. Some of the highlights are:
64 Mbytes internal memory
Plays MP3 and MWA files
FM radio
Clock, and stopwatch
Port for MMC and SD cards (extra external memory)
Arm strap, belt clip, and head phones.

For me this was a pretty simple decision, as the Rio S30 gives you the most for the price. After using for a few month, I'm very happy I made this purchase. The Rio clearly exceeded my expectations. I particularly like the all the information that is displayed in the screen. In addition the Rio S30 interfaces with Windows Media Player 9, and MusicMatch. Both of these programs are free downloads and probably the most populars out there. Both the Media Player and MusicMatch allow you to create your CDs into either MP3 or MWA files, which you can then download into the player. The software that is included with the Rio, Rio Music Manager, is good, but is not as easy to use as the Media Player or MusicMatch. Regretfully, you need to intall Rio Music Manager for Media Player or Music Match to be able to interface with the Rio.
Using WMA variable bitrate compession, 50 to 95 kbps, I'm able to fit 30 songs into the internal 64 Mb with a very good sound quality.
I was not amazed by the FM radio, but it works, and it came as an extra when comparing against the competition.
In summary, a very good product, at a good price.

28 Fast, Easy, Cool - Recommended!
Based on some of the other reviews, I'm not sure whether others got lemons, or I just received an exceptional unit. I purchased this to listen to while walking. Carrying around a portable CD player was not working for me. I wanted something I could throw in a pocket, or clip on a waistband. This player is EASY to use. 15 minutes from box to my first transferred MP3's. Software installed easily, and was easy to use. No problems with installation or transfer using only the provided software and Windows XP Home OS. Sound is exceptional - even through the included headphones, radio reception was phenomenal - and I live in a rural area where I cannot get radio stations on my home stereo! The display was easy to read and the menu easy to use. The only additional items I can see that will be necessary, are 'better' headphones (only because I prefer the type I currently use) and somewhere down the line - additional memory. For me, 5 songs, took half the 64mb storage capacity, and I can see the possibility of needing more time. For the money, this cannot be beat. I'm sure there are 'better' units out there - with more features, more memory, better sound - whatever, but I wanted something basic and simple to use but yet equalled that of my CD player - and lightweight and portable - and this unit is definately the solution for me.

29 Great player worth the price
This is a great, compact player. It's lightweight and non-obstrusive. I like it because I can use the included velcro strap to strap it to my arm while working out. It also includes in/over the ear earbud earphones, again perfect for working out.

The menuing system for it is decent. Once you've set all your settings, that's pretty much it - good to go. Battery life is very good. My only beef, really, is the very small number of FM presets you can have on it.

The desktop software to move your music (on the PC, anway) is pretty basic. No bells & whistles. For the Mac, it uses iTunes - which if iTunes on the Mac is like it is on the PC (I'm going to guess it's better!), then definitely the Mac wins! I use MusicMatch to move my music down to the player - they have a plug-in for the S30S.

I bought mine at, ahem, Costco, (sorry, Amazon!) and it included 32MB extra - but really even 96MB is not enough for even a handful of MP3's. I did recently purchase another 128MB MMC card from Amazon, and I'll be in great shape then!

30 Doesn't like being sweated on
Pros:
- Low price
- Works if you avoid sweating on it
- FM tuner
- HOLD feature to lock out buttons so you don't inadvertantly press them

Cons:
- Not sealed against moisture acceptably for "sport" use
- Belt clip and arm band not well designed
- Battery life seems short, but I don't have anything to compare it to.
- Functions not ergonomically designed; can't unlock buttons, switch from tuner to mp3 player and lock buttons with one hand while unit is strapped to your shorts.

Overall Opinion: OK if budget is tight, but check out newer players before buying.

Bought for use while running, used it for a couple months, quit working.

Symptoms: Cutting off randomly, then after a week or so of that behavior, it finally quit working completely.

Had a pretty good experience with Rio customer service - talked to a representative who went through basic troubleshooting (is there a battery installed? Is the unit on?). When that didn't work, I was given a case number and told to return the unit. Rio sent me a new one. Interestingly, the unit's warranty information expressly says the warranty doesn't cover damage due to moisture, but they did anyway - I'm sure they've had lots of problems with sweat damage.

Now I wrap it in plastic wrap before putting it in the belt clip. Sounds and looks stupid, but it works. hasn't gotten wet. Still works. Except that I've broken the belt clip. Haven't figured out how to get a new one of those yet.

Rio S30s does not feel robust. I would define robust as feeling like my old standby Sony Sport Walkman (one of those yellow ones with a gasket and positive latch for the tape door). I still use that thing when I run in the rain. THAT is how a "sport" portable music player should be designed.

Rio S30s Sound quality is good enough to get you through a run - you usually listen with low quality headphones anyway.

Software seems difficult to use at first, but then I'm just a dumb mechanical engineer - not a computer guy. I figured it out well enough to make it work though.

64 MB doesn't hold a lot of music - I bought a 256 MB SD card (easy to use and has worked fine so far) which brings capacity up plenty for me.

Belt clip and arm band not well designed - as I said I've broken the belt clip. Arm band is just an elastic band. It has to be used with the belt clip. This arrangement allows the unit to move around too much.

31 I want to ask something.
I wanna know is downloading the songs free or do u have to pay for each track? P.S. I only put 5 stars cause everyone likes it i am thinking of buying it also.

32 Surprised it dosn't go for $150!
I just purcahsed the rio sport mp3 player about a week ago after comparing it with many other mp3 players on the market. I do not and will never regret buying it. The interface is very easy to use and the screen is easy to read. The tuner can only get a few stations, but what do you expect. If the 64 megabytes it comes with arn't enough for you, you can purchase an extra memory card, as i did, very cheap. I got a 256 mb card for $40 giving me a total of 320 megabytes and about 85 mp3s. The batteries lasts for about 8 hours and if needed you can check how much power they have left on the screen. The featured headphones are ok and the music is not distorted even at the highest volume with the included headphones. The included plastic holder is perfect for clipping this light mp3 player to your waistband, or you can use the armband although i prefer not to. The key lock mode, hold menu and press enter also comes in handy. Lastly, file transfers are very easy on my mac, just plug it into the usb, open itunes where the rio shows up as a playlist and drag the songs in. It took my about 13 minutes to copy all 85 songs I have on it. Overall this is a great player, especially for the price.

33 Best MP3 for your $$$
A friend of mine suggested i get this device. I gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised by the ease of operation and quick transfer capability. The music software is easy to use and it communicates well and easily with Windows Media without having to transfer all your music files like some other software. The FM feature is full of static but if you wanted a FM player you wouldn't spend $99.99. I use this MP3 in the gym 99% of the time and the arm strap is really handy to keep the device clear of being knocked around. The only think not great about the product is the headphones. I suggest replacing them with headphones of better quality. You will have a clearer sound and can listen to your music at higher levels without the distortion.

34 This is a GREAT little unit - buy it!!!
One of the previous reviewers stated that "you need to use 2 programs to get the unit to work in XP". This is really NOT true. Once you load the SonicBlue software into XP, you never have to use it again!! The unit will be recognized directly by Media Player 9 in XP as an external device, and it's a simple drag and drop process to get your tunes over to the S30!!! It is very user friendly and the sound is quite good (I have only played wma files with it). Also I must admit that I don't use the FM tuner - I bought it to play my own tunes! You can add an SD memory card (up to 1GB currently), so the unit is truly "future-friendly". If your needs are similar to mine, you'll love this thing!!!

35 Great, but not so great
OVERALL: 92%
Great design, but weak power. You get good battery life. Fast file transfer. Kind of ugly. price goes way up for expadable memory. Not bAD though. Works like a charm.

36 Static?
I received this product as a contest prize from work and immediately tore the package open and started playing with it. I had previously been using a RIO One, with no problems, and was looking forward to see how Sonic Blue's products had improved.
As with the Rio One the menu's are very easy to navigate through and give such easy explanation that I didn't have to read the manual. I did the Firmware update just because. The software has been easy to use and overall I've not had any problems. Since I ride a mountain bike, the plastic case and armband keep this product from getting a 5 star rating. I'm always apprehensive about it falling out of the armband, but the mishaps I've had don't ever affect it. Also, if you turn the backlight off the static on the tuner goes away.

37 Awsome MP3 Player, FM tuner sucks
+ Great MP3 sound quality
+ Great battery life
+ Fairly easy to use

- FM tuner sucks
- Control buttons easy to hit by accident

38 solid, functional device
I bought this device for the sole purpose of listening to music at the gym, or running outdoors, but I have also used it recently for listening to foreign language tutorials. It fits these purposes more than adequately, and the price was right (I returned an iPod and purchased this instead, as the iPod seemed overkill for my intended purpose). With a 64MB media card, this device holds about an hour's worth of music.

The software interface is easy to use. I haven't used the included headphones, but they look bad (true of almost any 'phones packaged with portable players). Even with excellent headphones (Etymotic ear-buds), the sound is merely adequate, but if you were seeking an audiophile experience, you probably wouldn't be looking to an .mp3 platform! The FM reception is frankly non-existent - if you are buying this model for the FM functionality, you would be well-advised to purchase a different device.

This is a good buy if you are looking for light, sturdy, limited-use .mp3 player.

39 Rio Sport has the life expectancy of a Verizon Cell Phone
I bought my Rio Sport last Christmas for my girlfriend. Somehow it became mine. I think it has the same life expectancy as a cell phone. I have found that it can't be worn on the arm with my school back pack, because of the inability to take off of the back pack without impacting the mp3 player. It can't be placed in a front pocket, because of sensitive buttons. So, therefore my only place left is to either tie it around my neck or latch it's back to my belt loop. This is fine but the latch is like a caribeaner without a lock. It doesn't work. You are walking along and the next thing you know is your mp3 three player has fallen to the ground. Now the down volume button no longer works, and the play button is losing it's cushioned feel. I am not a runner, or an active person, just a student who likes to walk. However, walking can be very dangerous to the mp3 player. I would suggest a locking caribeaner, a USB 2.0 notification about this product in non-warranty type of writing, and larger memory cards.

40 Good, but don't build up your hopes
I guess ever since the Ipod was released I've been thinking of getting myself one, but as I've said a number of times: you get what you paid for. This portable MP3 player will provide you with 64 MB worth of MP3s storage out of the box (though it can be expanded up to half a Gig), which may or may not go a long way for you depending on the quality and size of the songs you've got stored to dump on it. Can you complain? Not really!

Positives:
1) It's cheap. For what you get, it's almost as cheap as it gets.
2) The playback quality is pretty decent. Not that you can plug it into anything else but its own earbuds, but...
3) The design is very ergonomic (nice hand fit), plus it offers extra goodies such as a timer, for you to check on your exercise time.

Negatives:
1) The software for uploading music into it is propietary (to my knowledge, not compatible with, say MusicMatch Jukebox) and the real bad part about it is that it's clunky. I personally dislike the interface very much.
2) As some other reviewer said, the radio receiver is very poor. I am sure you can do better on a separate portable arm radio receiver.

If you balance the pros and cons, I'd recommend it but beware: don't build up your hopes too high... you could crash if you do! In the end, remember you're not paying too much for this baby.

41 Pretty good, although a few flaws
What I like: Compact size. MP3 sound quality is good. Add a cheap 256Mb flash card, and get many hours of music on it. Fairly rugged -- I've dropped it a number of times, and it's still working fine (cross fingers). FM radio is passable for very strong signals. Bundled ear plugs are perhaps the first that actually fit my ears, and sound half-decent (but see below).

What could be improved. FM reception not great -- don't buy this for the radio. Unlike the rest of the unit, the ear plugs are not water-resistant. If you use this while working out, they will soon soak up the sweat and sound like garbage. The menu controls on the front are prone to being accidentally pressed. I wish they made them recessed and a little more fool-proof. Would prefer to directly drop files on this via Win XP, rather than forced to use their software. Some MP3's freeze the controls. The only way to recover is to power down and up.

42 worthless
I bought this mp3 player hoping to replace a Rio 500 that I had received from a friend a few years back. I was hoping to get one that held a few more songs, was a bit cuter, and had the arm strap so I could listen while I worked out.
At first, I was happy with my new Rio Sport. It seemed to work well, the sound was good, and I liked having the arm strap.
Then, about 3 weeks after I bought it, it started shutting off then on again whenever I tried to play a song. I hadn't uploaded any new songs on it recently, so if there is some trouble with corrupt mp3s (I don't know, just guessing) that wasn't the problem. I hadn't dropped it or gotten it wet. I used it every day and cared for it well, as I really did enjoy having it.
Eventually, the Rio Sport stopped even turning on. Now it sits on my shelf, completely dead, and I'm back to my Rio 500. I'm angry that I spent the 90 bucks for a cute piece of junk.
Maybe you'll have better luck, as most people seem to like the Rio Sport. I just know I'll never buy a new Rio again.

43 Perfect For My Needs
You need to understand that I'm not a techie. I was looking for something light & small that I could strap to my arm for working out. I researched a few brands and this one had the best reviews. I also wanted the option of having a radio and this one is ok. With that said, it works when I'm outside but not inside the gym. Without the addition of the extra sound card, I usually get about 15-18 songs. You might want to purchase the extra card. Some people have complained that they had a hard time finding it but it was available at the time of my purchase.

I have had no technical problems. I listen about 1 hour for 4 days a week and I only replace the batteries about once a month (which I thought was pretty good). The software for downloading is simple and loading/reloading songs is easy. I consider myself the average consumer and I am very pleased with my Rio.

44 SDMI Almost
On my second player in 3 months, left the first in a hotel room with a 256 meg sd card :( Compgeeks to the rescue.

I also have a rio SP150 and love the directory support that offers but the S30s doesn't. Sound is good and after upgrade to 1.84 F/W, features are solid. Except latest copyprotected supposed wma files from liquid audio. Early music purchases there were real wma files with unlimited transfers to sdmi devices. Latest download (matchbox 20) came advertised as wma but was actually a .asf file. And it now contains an unadvertised limit of 3 transfers to sdmi device. Of course these are used up without hearing a note as the device refuses to play .asf's. Are you listening Rio and Liquid?
buymusic.com has better selection and still has wma files. And while some of these have a limit on the number of transfers, at least they tell you before you pay.

Only problem besides no asf support concerns static electricity.
If you want to have some fun, try folding laundry with the headphone cord dangling across your chest. Especially silk.
The audible static is loud and the unit locks up a lot. Usually a switch off/on cycle cures it but sometimes you have to take the battery out just to get the unit unfrozen. At least it seems to have no long term ill effects.

Maybe the future holds a F/W upgrade to fix .asf. If you only play mp3's buy this player and you will be happy.

45 Awesome player
I bought this player as my second/extra MP3 player. I wanted this becuase it is small and protable unlike my big 15 gig Archos Recorder. I choose it due to the price and good reviews. As i opened the box the directions were very clear and concise. the player works fine and uploading is very easy. The one thing to make sure to do is push the USB cord into the player all the way. i didn't want to force it in but in the end you have to, to make sure the connection is good. The features are awesome, radio, EQ, and stopwatch.

Pros
price
size(small)
expandibility
ok battery life
features
easy setup

Cons
bad earphones
the case doesn't fit perfectly

46 LITTLE MP3 DYNAMO!!!
I bought this after researching to death all the sport mp3 players available. I upgraded the firmware immediately and have had no problems with the unit. The sound quality is excellent, and will really shine if you buy better earphones (I like the SONY in ear foldable phones that whisk sweat away from your ear). I added a 128 mb card and converted my mp3s to wma at 96 kbps and have over 75 songs that sound phenomenal! I don't know why anyone would complain about sound quality on this unit. The quality is based on the quality of the mp3s or wmas on it and even at 96 bitrate this is near cd quality. I use Windows Media Player 9 to transfer songs and have found it very easy and relatively quick. The unit plays the internal memory songs and card songs seamlessly as if they are from one large memory.
The backlight is great and the screen displays all the info you need and can switch from timing the length of a song to the amount of time left per song. I like that feature. The firmware definitely helped the radio reception, although I use this mainly for mp3s.
The unit is durable...I dropped mine, and yes it came apart but did not break and went back together fine with no problems.
There are a few minuses thus warranting a 4 and not 5 star rating...no files for songs (a firmware upgrade would solve this)so you have to tediously search through each song, no mp3pro support for now, and no voice recording capability.
Battery power varies and will be much less after you download the songs...I get about 6 hours from a rechargeable Nimh and the same from an alkaline, but after a big download, expect 4.
Overall, a great unit for the gym or sports...VERY high capacity with sd cards, small, lightweight, and good-looking. My husband used mine so much that I got him his own...ok I took the new one and gave him mine. Hey, I did all the research. Get it, I think it's the best sports mp3 out there...and it's UPGRADEABLE!!!

47 Nice concept poor directions/help/durability
It took a few weeks of trying to understand some guy from India on the phone to figure out that their software stinks. I then used Real One to download the music. That worked good for six months. Then the on/off switch decided to go off all the time. I would recommend another company. I got my brother a newer model and he hasn't figured out why he can't download onto it yet. It keeps telling him the there is no storage. He even went to an Ivy league school!

48 GREAT Small, Lightweight Digital Music Player
I've had my player for a couple of weeks now and love it. The blue backlight is cool in the subway - it is just so nice to carry this small thing and hear the music of *my* choice - rather than carry a cassette player. I've put about 14 songs (couple over 6 mins.) on the internal memory - and I can buy a card to hold more if need be. For the digital music, either copy your favorite tunes off CD's (after you copy them to your hard drive) or use an online service. I haven't had too much luck with buymusic.com (unfortunately) - but pressplay.com has a SUPER selection.... The only negative I can think of is that it is easy to have "slippy fingers" and advance to the next song or pause play by mistake. All in all - a VERY good deal for the $$$ - enjoy this new technology now (you'll get stares of envy)! ;-)

49 Really light weight and good sound
I read many reviews on this sight and others before I purchased the Rio S30s. I was skeptical but did it anyway. I had two Rio products in the past. I had a Rio500. I sold it and bought another Rio500. The Rio500 was/is a great product. I was going to buy a used one but decided to try the new RioS30S. I love it. The humming noise is a bit anoying but only last until the backlite goes off. The player is very light and I think if it were dropped it would break apart. I don't want to test this. The top of the player needs a cover to prevent dust from getting into the unit. I also would love to see folders put back into the firmware. That was such a great feature in the Rio500. I went to the gym and had a ball with my new Rio. The armband doesn't fit around my arm (just call me bigum). I would be very cautious about putting the player in the little white belt clip. It could come out with heavy activity.

50 Worth the Price
I found the Rio S30 well worth the price. I compared other MP3 players (sport models) and selected the Rio - had it for 2 months now and never regretted buying it. The Rio has a rubber-type body with a plastic front. It is extremely light as I clip it to my waistband - it bounces a little, but hardly noticeable. I could strap it to my arm with the arm band, but the earphone cord gets wrapped around my arm while jogging. The sound quality is excellent and has more than enough power - I turn it up to about 1/2 to 3/4 volume. The viewing screen is 1 1/2 inch square - easy to read with a scrolling song title across the top. The screen also shows the time, battery life, minutes and seconds for the song playing, and number of songs in memory (main memory and card). Currently, I am using a 64 meg memory card, which which combined with the main memory, gives me about 31 songs. I just ordered a 256 meg memory card.
Battery life is about 6 hours using alkaline batteries. The slightly kidney-shaped player fits snugly into a 1/2 rubber case with a clip. The case has small holes that allows access to the buttons for volume control, on/off switch and the headphones connector. My only suggestion is the case have a thin membrane over the openings to protect the buttons and a dust boot over headphones connection - so sweat cannot penetrate. The FM radio works OK - even with the upgrade. I can pick up a few stations, but choose to listen to MP3 anyway. The software is easy to install and is very intuitive. Transferring songs are a breeze. Overall, a good value.

51 Definitely not what I expected
The item is very nice, but it has given me a lot of trouble. The FM radio reception is terrible and the music keeps on pausing, jumping, very frequently. I contacted customer service, they said I should download a different program than the one included with the MP3 which is a hassle, it just sholdn't happen. After I downloaded the new program, the radio reception was exactly the same and even though the frequency of pauses and interruptions in the music was la lot lower, it didn't dissappear completely. It seem its not very good quality equipment, no for paying [this price].

52 sporty and rigid
Overall impression is very good. AAA battery req. and only need one! Onboard EQ is good feature to have. Need some design improvement on the arm band, or come up with an alternative. The armband squeezes my arm (blood pressure reading anyone?)that it left a mark. You wouldn't want it loose too much so that it won't keep sliding down your arm while running. Very versatile. Brought it to work and attched my computer's speaker cable into it for an on-demand jukebox! Your friends will get crazy with envy.

53 Highly overpriced for the quality!!!!
Bought it today, taking it back tomorrow. The FM reception is not bad, but all the static noise created when you turn the volume up or down makes this device worthless.
The sound, even with higher quality headphones, is very very marginal at best.

DO NOT BUY THIS UNIT. You will be disappointed.

54 If you need a replacement don't bother contacting RIO
The player works great but my external memory connection quickly failed. I've contacted RIO several times to get the issue resolved and am still awaiting a response. If you're looking for customer service don't even bother. This is by far the worst service department I've dealt with. I'd suggest buying this from a store that will replace it themselves should it break.

55 Not really for sports
I purchased this MP3 player for use on my long runs. Although I liked the size and sound quality, the limitations of this device quickly became apparent.

1. It is not really designed for sports. It is not moisture proof. I am not looking to immerse the device in water, it should have been at least sweatproof.

2. The device's software is not 100% stable. The software crashed on me. No hardware reset, the solution? software reset (reload firmware) - only available on the PC, not Macintosh. On the Macintosh, you can upgrade the firmware, but not reset the firmware.

3. Not durable. After two weeks of use and without dropping it, one of the buttons became stuck in the pressed position. I tried to fix it, but ended up breaking the unit. So, the only time that I did drop it was in the trash.

I am going to purchase a good sports FM radio and wait a year or so until a REAL sports flash MP3 hits the market.

56 Inexpensive Gadget for Running
I needed something little that didn't skip to accompany me on my runs. I wasn't so concerned about the FM part although I don't have any trouble getting local stations - even indoors. Maybe because I live in a major city? It fit all my needs: small, lightweight, storage for enough music to get me through a 30 to 60 minute run. It would be nice to have more memory, but what it comes with is enough for me. I thought the software was easy to use (I didn't read the directions so maybe that helped). One complaint I have is that it doesn't come with CD ripping software, but for about $20.00 you can get that on the Internet.

57 Excellent for athletes
I started looking for a MP3 player that I could run with after I got tired of my DiskMan skipping all the time. After a ton of research, I finally decided on the S30S. It was reasonably priced, feature rich, and made with athletes in mind.

I have had mine for a couple weeks now and am more than satisfied with it. Anyone who complains about problems with the TV tuner needs to upgrade to the latest firmware from SONICblue's site. Stations come in crystal clear for me. I love the fact that I can add up to 512MB of additional memory with a Secure Digital card.

Like some other reviewers have said, the belt clip and armband are not the best quality. But they work fine, so I really don't have any complaints there.

This is the perfect MP3 player for anyone who likes to listen to music or audio books while they exercise.

58 NOT FOR MOTORCYCLES
I bought this unit to use while riding long trips on my bike. Mistake. The unit speakers do not fit into the ear canal well enough to stay in place with a helmet on. The unit itself is not very well made. The plastic case isn't very strong and a short fall from by belt to the parking lot did it in. Battery cover won't fit properly and case separated. You would expect for [this much money]something a little more durable.

59 I love it and you will to
I was shopping for mp3 players when the rio s30s caught my eye. Im one of the few mac users so this was perfect because it was mac compatible.When i plugged it into my computer and installed itunes i was already adding songs into it. For those of you who are a little behind on technology this is pretty straightforward.it has decent space to begin with but it is expandalbe.All you need is an MMC card or a SD card to increase the memory.To top this all off this thing is built like a tank! ive dropped a cuopple of times on stone tiles and it was fine. It could have easily ben made water proof but tkats fine.I highly suggest buying this mp3 player!

60 Nice player, but it has shortcomings
Pros:
- Sound is great
- Ease of use is great

Cons:
- Armband and belt clip are cheap
- Plastic belt clip (which you need if you want to use the arm band) is nearly impossible to remove without scratching the device
- Radio reception is really poor (this might be because I tossed the earbuds that came with the player and used my Sony behind-the-neck headphones instead - I've never found earbuds that produce good sound)

This player certainly seemed to have potential when I read about it here at Amazon. I've been on the hunt for a good player for what seems like years now. After buying this player and using it for a few days, I am now painfully ($$$) aware that the hunt continues.

Can't anyone make a good player for the gym that has lots of memory, gets good radio reception, and most importantly, sounds good? This is just frustrating.

By the way, the new Nike/Phillips players are great, but they don't combine the mp3 part with the radio part. I have a Nike/Phillips PSA radio. It's a really good device, but I wish it had the ability to play mp3s as well.

61 A nice MP3 player
I purchased the S30S after looking at the other MP3 players, to replace my aging Nomad MP3 player. Overall, I'm happy with the purchase. Compared to my older MP3 player, the S30S is better in every respect.

Granted, the S30S doesn't have as much internal memory as other MP3 players, but it accepts MMC (MulitMediaCard) memory cards up to 128MB. With the firmware upgrade (available at the website), this unit will now support SD memory cards up to 512MB.

The included music manager software is a barebones (and mediocre) file manager designed to get mp3s and WMA files to and from the device. It is much easier to use Windows Media Player to copy the files - it will even tell you what files won't fit when you max out the memory.

Originally, FM radio reception was fair to poor, but it wasn't even a consideration when I purchased it. It was greatly improved by the firmware upgrade. I still don't use the FM receiver.

I would recommend a pair of comfortable headphones. The headphones that were included were uncomfortable to me. Depending on the shape of your ear you may or may not suffer discomfort. In either case, I would recommend a higher quality set of headphones.

Several other reviews mentioned that the device power cycled. Beware copy protected music files. Attempting to play a copy protected Microsoft media file will cause the device to power cycle. I discovered this the hard way and was about to return the player until I figured out that the files I had purchased from a music vendor were copy protected. There are no error messages, no errors, the S30S just quits and reboots. Since I discovered this, the unit has performed flawlessly.

Also, check the firmware version and upgrade if possible.

62 Too much work
My brief affair with this player lasted about a week, then we broke up. I wasn't interested in a high maintenance relationship.

It all started on the download. I couldn't get the software to install properly, and the single sheet of instructions provided was NOT helpful. ...

The software seemed easy enough and I enjoyed the player for a while but was constantly readjusting the ear peices to get better sound. After a trip to the gym, I knew I'd take it back as the ear peices were awful.

Perhaps this player would better suit a Mac user for an easier download, and perhaps the ear plugs could be replaced, but I wasn't ready to invest anymore in this bumpy ride...

63 I've got it and LOVE IT - Marathon Training with it!
I've got the Rio Sport (S30S) and I LOVE IT. Mine says on the package, "Upgradeable up to 576 MB using SD or MMC memory Cards - and I don't know why it says 192mb on this site... Check that out if you are thinking about buying!
Store Prices as of Mid May around all around...bucks and some refurbs are available around $... Visit [the website] for more info about all that jazz. Good luck in your purchase. I hope you will enjoy it and that it may inspire you (as it has me) to continue good health!!
P.S. The included software really isn't that great, but you can use WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER to "copy to cd or device" and just have the Rio sport as your device... that works wonderfully easy!

64 Get the Firmware
I got the RioS30s about two months ago and this is what I noticed.

The sound quality is great, the small size is good, and I loved it overall. But I noticed it would restart itself sometimes or when I went into FM mode when the batteries are low. I also noticed that the FM reception was poor overall.

With the firmware upgrade for the SonicBlue website, I think the FM reception has gotten a lot better, and the lockups and resets are all but nonexistent now.

I highly recommend this product, but remember to get the firmware.

The five star rating is for after the firmware upgrade.
(Plus it's really cute looking, I like to hug it, ha ha)

65 Nice, just right for workouts!
I have read several reviews on this model and I agree with everyone that says the headphones are bad. I bought new ones for around $15.00 and the music sounds GREAT. It is small and great for running. The large button is easy to find when you are running for changing songs, whether it is located on your hip or arm. It was easy to understand the menu. Nice backlight for night use. Nice display. Software was user friendly and tranfers quick. Bought a 128mg memory card for $44.00 and now have more than enough memory with the 64mg that is in the unit. Saved $50.00 by not buying the s35s and put that money towards the 128 memory. Only fault I have found so far was the headphones

66 Nice, just right for workouts!
I have read several reviews on this model and I agree with everyone that says the headphones are bad. I bought new ones for around $15.00 and the music sounds GREAT. It is small and great for running. The large button is easy to find when you are running for changing songs, whether it is located on your hip or arm. It was easy to understand the menu. Nice backlight for night use. Nice display. Software was user friendly and tranfers quick. Bought a 128mg memory card for $44.00 and now have more than enough memory with the 64mg that is in the unit. Saved $50.00 by not buying the s35s and put that money towards the 128 memory. Only fault I have found so far was the headphones

67 Don't buy this because it says "Sport"
Le me start by saying this is not a bad MP3 player. In fact, it's quite nice when I'm traveling or sitting around in a quiet place. BUT!!! If that's what you are looking for then buy the SONICblue Rio S10 64 MB MP3 Player and save a few bucks. I have ran, rode a mountain bike, rollerbladed and hiked with the S10 and S30 and the S30 is nothing more than the S10 with a velcro-strap.

Why not the S30 for sports? First, it's not water/weather resistant. Sonic could have easily made it so there was a plastic protector over the USB/Head-phone port....which by the way, is on the top of the player so don't sweat with it next to your body or with it on the armband and don't expose to a light mist or rain....it will malfunction!!! Second, the arm band is just a velcro-strap. Got to the dollar store and buy one for the S10. Third, the plastic cover is cumbersome and practically useless. It doesn't protect the player like the thick one that comes with the S10 and it restricts your ability to access volume/menu buttons. Fourth, I changed the equalizer settings and every time I turn it on, the music is muffled until I go back to the equalizer settings menu. That may be a problem with my player.

Things that are okay: The earphones are fine, the volume is good, the software is super-user friendly, the music doesn't skip.

Summary: Great player if you are into liesure or indoor sports, but if that's the case, go with the lower priced S10. I exchanged the S10 for the S30 ONLY to get a more durable, sport-friendly model and it's definitely not the case.

68 Great while it lasts
I decieded to get a new Mp3 player almost right after this thing came out and since I've trusted Rio in the past, I decided to try this baby out. So for four months I was the envy of all my friends with this sleek little gadget and I had no qualms. It performed just as the packaging and reviews suggested it would.

Then it all started going to hell.

I had noticed earlier that some times when it got bumped hard or I tossed it on my bed, couch or something it would stop playing and the internal time setting would get screwed up. This I dealt with. Then the cheap belt clip broke one day while I was putting it on my coat. This I could live with. I had some unrelated computer problems that gave rise for me to re-install my OS and when i went to put my "trusty" Rio's drivers back on I couldn't find the CD. No problem I thought, I'll just get them off the main site. Wrong! Not to be found anywhere on the main site, and it gave need for me to order a replacement CD. This I was mad about but I could live with it. But then one day I got up and was getting ready for class, when I reaced in my drawer for my "loyal sidekick" when I found that in the night it's LCD mysteriously cracked. I live alone and it was just fine when I put it in the night before. While the player still worked it was difficult to manange with and was really trying my patience. Then came the straw that broke the camels back. I don't know if it's heat expansion or what but occassionally the players casing pops appart and must be snapped back together. Excuse me but isn't this a "Sports Player?" Should it be build a little bit more durable? Or at least be build to last more than a few months? It was great while it worked but spend your $ on something a little more long lasting and worth it.

69 Itemized ratings. Including info not on website.
Overall rating: 4.5/5; 90%; A-.
Happiness with product: Very happy (not ecstatic)

My overall rating is on the features I care about, which is everything except the included software, which needs work, and the FM radio, which I do not plan on using, but did test for the purpose of this review.

Itemized ratings:

5/5 MP3 Sound Quality (did not test wma)
5/5 Screen quality and information displayed
4/5 Case Quality (Only red is rubberized)
4/5 Battery Life (Tested with Alkaline, not NiMH yet)
4/5 Navigation (Menu organization is great, but slow processor)
2/5 FM Radio (It works like a $10 radio)
4/5 Size. (H=~2.875" W=~2.5" D=1.0") Circular, not rectangular!
4/5 Weight. 2.25oz w/ battery and expansion card. No headphones.

Pro's and con's:

pro's: Excellent reproduction of .mp3 songs, tough case, solid buttons, small size, 10 hours + on an alkaline battery, supports NiMH (Nickel-Medal Hydride) batteries, excellent screen, upgradeable firmware, very easy to navigate options and songs.

con's: Not fully rubberized. FM reception is poor and extremely succeptable to interference. Included software is mediocre.

The software and computer interface:
It's a CD. Sonic Media (the included software) should rip music; they use real one player, which is also included, for this feature.

You have to use 2 different software programs to really get the device to work well. This is a poor design. I'd recommend Musicmatch, but at the time of this writing they don't have a plugin for the s30s, s35s, or s50; thus you'd have to use 2 programs still.

You can not just plug the unit in and use it as a removable device, at least in XP, which forces you to either use their software, or some other software that supports audio devices to communicate between the computer and the device. XP does fully support the rio s30s as a device. Thus you can not transfer files through "My Computer" for either the internal memory, or the expansion slot, which would be a lot easier. Of course, you could always remove the memory from the expansion slot and put it into a SD reader, then access it from "My Computer". Maybe there is some way to add the browsing of audio devices to "My Computer", but I have not found a way to.

The body:
Unfortunately only the red part is rubberized, which includes the side and the back. I was expecting it to be totally rubberized, except the screen, of course. When designing the device, they could have easily made it water resistant, but they didn't.

The raised plastic protects the screen, and the buttons feel solid. The unit feels like it could take many bad falls.

You can not just plug the unit in and use it as a removable device, at least in XP, which forces you to either use their software, or some other software that supports audio devices to communicate between the computer and the device. XP does fully support the rio s30s as a device. Thus you can not transfer files through "My Computer" for either the internal memory, or the expansion slot, which would be a lot easier. Of course, you could always remove the memory from the expansion slot and put it into a SD reader, then access it from "My Computer". Maybe there is some way to add the browsing of digital audio devices to "My Computer", but I have not found a way to.

The sound:
The sound from mp3's I've downloaded sound excellent, but ones I ripped sound flat. Is that the software I'm using, or the CD-ROM, or the sound card? The CD sounds great in a CD player.
I have to admit, I never tried using the included headphones, and they do look junky. I have a pair of Sony headphones (MDR-Q33LP/S); I researched a lot and found these to be the best for what I do; which is gym/bike/run. My 4th pair, 2 were stolen, 1 given away.

Internal hardware and software:
The upgradeable firmware is a nice feature; make sure your firewall is off when you try to download from their site. I updated from 1.61 to 1.8, it added a button lock function, hold menu and press enter, and several other features.

The processor in the device must be really slow, as when you press the button it takes about 1/4 of a second for it to respond, including the volume. Hold down the volume, and let it go before you get to the desired volume because it will continue to go up or down for that extra 1/4 of a second.

Misc:
Device uses a non-standard USB connector to the device, but standard to the computer. I do not know whether the connector to the device is standard for digital audio devices; I have never scene it, I think it's proprietary.

Comes with a belt clip and a length of Velcro to attach the device to your arm.

70 Exactly what I wanted.
I use this unit to play talk radio I record and encode at 24kbs mp3's. The file size ends up being approximately 15MB for 2 hours. I bought the unit blindly not knowing if it would play such a low bit rate... but it worked out great and plays them flawlessly.

Another thing I was concerned about was that the unit had only 64mb of memory and I read somewhere that it could only take another 128mb. I decided to get a 256mb card anyway to see if it would take it. It worked flawlessly too! I now have excellent little 300mb player that's small enough to fit in the palm of my hand.

My one beef is that there isn't a button lock on this unit so you could hit the stop button accidentally.

UPDATE!!! The player does have a button lock option, i just didn't read the directions. All you do is hold down menu then enter to lock the buttons.

Overall a great player.

71 Close... But no cigar
I got this product because of the size, expandability (now it can supposedly take SD Cards up to 512MB), radio (not a high priority), and wearability (is that a word?).

Right off the bat, the radio is worthless, as everybody has said. Don't buy this product for the integrated radio.

Secondly, the way it handles the expansion memory seems wierd to me.
1) When it comes time to transfer music over to the player, you have to choose to transfer to the internal memory or external memory, separately. This makes it difficult to build a playlist and just move the whole thing over.
2) It has a custom format for the memory. I would like to use my external card reader/writer to move music over and then put the card into the player. Unfortunately, after formatting the card in the Rio, my PC cannot read the card anymore.

The arm band was also not well thought through. All it is a velcro strip that you have to wrap AROUND the player. So when the player is attached to you, you cannot see the display or hit the buttons easily. Nike's PSAs have really well thought through arm bands (not everything else, though).

To be honest, I'm not sure I'm going to keep this product. The size and expandability do not disappoint. The sound quality is great. If the above issues were resolved, this would be the perfect MP3 player.

72 Close... But no cigar
I got this product because of the size, expandability (now it can supposedly take SD Cards up to 512MB), radio (not a high priority), and wearability (is that a word?).

Right off the bat, the radio is worthless, as everybody has said. Don't buy this product for the integrated radio. It works okay if the transmitter is right in front of you (like at the gym), but that's about it.

The arm band was also not well thought through. All it is a velcro strip that you have to wrap into the player holder's belt clip. So when the player is attached to you, it doesn't feel very stable. Nike's PSAs have really well thought through arm bands (not everything else, though).

73 Great!!
I received this mp3 player for Valentine's day! I love it!! It's great for the gym, etc. I can download music easily from my other software programs and load it into my rio in less than 5 minutes. I love the size and the armband keeps it conveniently out of the way when I lift weights!! The only drawback, as in any other mp3 player is the life of the battery. I need to buy a rechargable battery and it'll be perfect!

Great job!!

74 SONICblue Rio S30s Good Design, Bad execution
I bought the Rio S30s at Costco.

I intended to use it at the fitness center and while riding my bike for exercise. It is small and light. It's not big and bulky like a CD or tape player. It appeared the better deal over the S35s because you could simply use a larger SD card that are really dropping in price. The memory difference of 64mb wasn't worth [$$$], which is the only noticable difference between the two.

The Rio software loaded on WinXP with no problem. It was functional and easy to use.

The sound from the sample mp3's was terrific. The earpieces fit on great and the sound from them was smooth, unlike info from other reviews I've read.

The opening for the battery and SD card wasn't as tight as it should be, however, the belt clip held it in place when fitted.

So why did I rate this only Two Stars? BECAUSE THE FM TUNER DELIVERED NOTHING BUT STATIC. You need the FM Tuner to listen to the TV in fitness centers. What were they thinking when they threw a SPORTS mp3 player on the market with a junk radio? ...

75 Great Unit except for Earphones
I read the reviews this afternoon, went to Costco to get the one with a free 30MB card and here I am. Here's the review after using it for 1 hour:

Pros - Easy to use software - Great, Great Sound (see below though) - Great compact size - great feel - great value (129.99 with free 30mb card at costco) - excellent interface and controls on the unit

Cons - Headphones absolutely [horrible]. I am using an old pair of sonys I have that really show what this baby can do. RIO are hurting themselves by putting in these cheap headphones although ergonomically they feel great. It gives the first impression that the sounds is poor. I am lucky that I read a post on here about the cheap phones otherwise I would be taking it back due to lack of knowledgde.

Anyway, overall, go out - get one - you'll love it.....come on baby !!

76 MP3 good, FM terrible
I got this thing for working out. I love the basic design, and for MP3s it seems to work pretty well. The headphones have OK sound, not great. Personally, I like the hang-over-the-ear headphones, because I always have problems with the ones that fit into the ear. These don't easily fall off and they don't hurt, and they're not the over-the-head type that will cause problems with helmets.

The FM radio, though, which was one of the main reasons I bought this unit, is absolutely terrible. Even after a firmware upgrade that was supposed to improve reception, it went from "I can only hear it if I stand facing the wall next to the kitchen door with my arm in the air holding up the headphone cable" to "I can hear every other word if I stand really still and drape the cable around my neck."

I also think there's a hugely missing feature for athletes -- there's no lock switch. I have to be careful where I put it so I don't bump the control button during playback, and even so I periodically hit it with something and skip tracks or worse.

Battery life so far is acceptable, though I haven't tried it with rechargeables.

Overall, I'd say that this is a moderately decent device, unless you want FM. Since I specifically bought it in part for the FM, I'm disappointed.

77 For the price, its a good buy.
With all the negative reviews, it is not all that bad. After considering all other MP3 players, I decided to get the RIO for its features. Initially I was not impress with the sound, but after changing the ear phone to PANASONIC HV297S, it sounds great. I am very please with it now. One needs to understand that digital sound is the same or similar no matter which machine it uses, the difference is on the delivering device, which is the ear phone. A good ear phone will sound good on any decent MP3 player.

78 a runner loves this
I'm a runner and a techno-phobe, but when my old radio finally bit the dust I decided to move up to an MP3 player. After carefully reading the Amazon reviews, I selected this player and promised myself I'd write a review with my honest thoughts about it. The verdict: It's fabulous. It was easy to set up, and after a few false starts I was able to transfer music effortlessly from my PC to my player. I use WMA files from MS Media Player and can get four hours of music into this baby. The sound quality is nothing short of wonderful--this is what I always hoped it would be like when listening to music during a run. The headphones are terrific--I don't know what the complaint is.

The disadvantages of this player are: 1) the radio is worthless, but who cares? I knew that when I bought it and believe me, I've had it with commercials during a long run anyway 2) the software does not allow you to manipulate the order of songs easily so you cannot shift them around once they are in the player--you have to unload it and reload another order 3) I haven't found it particularly easy to find FREE music that I want on the web. So far I'm downloading my own and that's ok, too.

One more thing: the durability of this player is nothing short of amazing. I dropped it in the toilet the first day I had it, but was lucky enough to grab it out quickly (double luck: clean water!). After a day's dry out, I turned it on expecting the worst but it fired up with no problem and has worked flawlessly since.

Buy an extra memory card when you purchase this--you;ll want it.

For a runner who doesn't like the learning curve for new technology, this is a terrific product.

79 Works great !!
I'm not sure about people that said its horrible... But this works fine. I use it to work out and lift weights. Sound quality it awesome and don't have any issues!

Working with electronics my whole life, This unit is awesome and the people who said it's junk and sounds horrible are people who don't know how to use eletronics!

80 Be prepared to install Firmware updates...
Reliabliity is bad but getting better with firmware updates. Bought unit in October and had intermittent USB connection problems and playback lockups. These problems got worse until unit finally died on Dec 30th while trying to upload files. Tech support is non-responsive at best, so it may be many months to resolve a replacement issue.
Update on Feb 24: Finally got through to tech support, somewhere in India. They told me to download latest firmware and flash ROM...that worked - it unlocked the unit and I was able to use unit for several days before it locked up again. Downloaded newest version of firmware again to get unit working again. This firmware version addresses the lockup problem. At least SonicBlue is working on the problem...

81 Stay Away
I purchased this MP3 player as my first one and I wish I hadn't. First off, the sound quality is horrible, I hear the backup vocals better than the lead vocals. I made every adjustment possible to equalizer but it still sounded like [that]. To make matter worse, the songs would pause themselves every 3 or 4 seconds. And finally, the FM reception is really, really bad. I definately would not recomend this player.

82 great
It worked great felt great sounded great and smelled great you should get it!!!!!!!

83 Not recomended
I bought this primarily to use for running. The sound quality was nothing to brag about with the headphones provided. However when I used my old headphones I was very impressed with the sound. The FM reception is a joke but it's good enough to use in a gym that broadcasts the TV audio through FM. My big problem is that the unit will shut down or reboot itself in the middle of a workout. At first I thought maybe the battery was low or loose but replacing it didn't help. Customer service was useless so this unit is going back. It's a shame because the unit has all the features I want for a good price.

84 Try again Rio.
This player sounds like a great deal: expandable, radio included, perfect for the gym. BUT once you get it out of the box the honeymoon is over. The buttons aren't as solid feeling as they should be. The menu isn't that great, and like many have said before the radio is a joke unless you live very close to the towers. Sound quality is ok, but the real nightmare began when I connected it to my computer (win98). I installed the driver, and the Rio music management software. But once I connected the player, it flipped from recognizing the device, to not recognizing it every 5 seconds. The help line, which is a long distance number-on hold for 40 minutes-ended up telling me that my computer was the problem. Long story short, I returned it the next day and got the Nike psa 64. It works perfectly. Guess it's not my computer.

85 Great for runners
I purchased this player 3 months ago and I have recommended to family members who are athletic. I run 5 miles at a time and the sound has been excellent. The headphones work well and the unit is secure when running. The radio signal was fine for me, but I live 30-40 miles from a large city.
The player does eat power... I go through rechargable batteries every 2 hours.
I am pretty good with computers but have never used an MP3 player before. I found the software easy to use and ripped my CD's without much effort.
I would recommend this highly. Great price, easy to use, great for sweating in..

86 Crashes and Poor Reception
The sound quality drops off when running or even walking.
It dropped off so badly that very often it would stop all together (crashes).

The FM reception also needs improvement.

87 Nice overall with a major flaw
Don't consider this over a similar MP3 Player because of the FM tuner. The reception is miserable. Besides that drawback, this is a nice product. It's small and lightweight and great for working out. The display is large and bright, and it's very user friendly. It's very easy to transfer songs from a computer to the player. The RIO software is user firendly. THE FM RECEPTION IS VERY POOR but I like the player overall.

88 Don't buy it for FM Radio Tuner
pros- size, ergonomics (except small screen)

cons- very poor fm reception, price is high if you consider the fm radio as a feature that should be free