This player sucks stray far away!!
Written: Aug 23 '04
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Pros: External lock control.
Cons: Software, alphabetizing of songs, playlist sucks, armband, customer service.
The Bottom Line: Don't buy any of the new Rio players until the alphabetizing problem is fixed and they revert back to one of the old versions of RMM.
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| saleenadam's Full Review: Rio Cali Sport (256 MB) MP3 Player |
Having owned four Rio Mp3 players in the past and being very satisfied with them all (models S10, S30, S35, & S50) I had good expectations for this newer model but was vastly disappointed with the outcome. Below I have reviewed every aspect of the player both good and bad for you're perusal, first starting with the overall pros and cons in case you don't feel like reading the whole thing:
OVERALL PROS AND CONS
Pros
External lock switch keeps you from digging through menus like other players.
Comes with belt clip that most other brands don't provide.
Allows external memory.
Cons
Controls are too small to use without messing up.
Armband sucks and there are no instructions for it's use.
Instructions are horrible.
Sound quality is worse than previous mp3 players I've owned.
This version Rio Music Manager Software absolutely is horrible.
Software freezes while adding songs.
This player automatically alphabetizes the songs on the player..WHY!!?
Creating a playlist is a chore and doesn't work as good as just adding songs.
Playlists are incompatible with external memory cards.
Customer service sucks.
CONTROLS, DESIGN, & ACCESSORIES INCLUDED
Controls & Design
Upon looking at the player I noticed the first problem that would bug me and that was the controls to play, stop, and change tracks. They are all combined into one little joystick that you move in the direction you want and makes it too easy to hit the wrong one. This joystick is much smaller than even the average pinky fingertip and I don't think is located in a good place to change the tracks without looking (I had to look down at the player closely whenever I wanted to do anything). This was a disappointment because all the models I owned previously had large controls that were very easy to use without even glancing at the player.
One good thing about the controls was the location of the volume button was easy to reach and change since it is not obscured by the plastic carrying case as many models are. Also, Rio has finally put a lock switch on the top of the player so you don't accidentally hit anything to ruin you're mood, rather than burying the lock in the menus like other models.
Accessories Included
This Rio like most models comes with an armband and belt clip, which I find to be both bepretty poorly made. The belt clip is made of metal that is very tight and I couldn't even get it over the waistline of my shorts to use it. The armband as usual comes with no instructions on how you are supposed to use it (it's not like the Nike models that just go into the case on the band). This is just a velcro strap basically and you are on your own to figure it out..no matter how you go about it though you will have a larger mark on you're arm from the belt clip which will dig into you're skin the whole time.
Another minus is the headphones the player comes with. As with every other discman, mp3 player, etc. I've ever owned they are very poor sounding and you are going to have to get new ones ( I use the Sony earbud style and they work very well).
Sound
I found the sound quality of this model to be subpar compared to the other models I have had. Using the Sony headphones the bass was weak and distorted as was the treble on this thing no matter what I did with the EQ. Every other Rio I've owned sounded wonderful but this one took a turn for the worse.
The Instructions
The instructions absolutely suck they are about 6 steps front and back of one page that tell you nothing about the product or what you can expect to encounter. The full manual is on the installation cd, but that is also very lacking in content, nothing was explained about the installation or problems I encountered in using the player.
THE SOFTWARE & USING EXTERNAL MEMORY CARDS
This player comes with a different version of Rio Music Manager (RMM) then any other player that I have owned and I found this to be the absolute worst piece of software that I have ever used. After installing the software you connect the player and expect it to start working like all other models with no trouble. But, instead it chooses to install itself as a disk drive, and if you are using a memory card it will do the same thing for it thus two extra drives on you're computer..can anybody say IRQ conflict? There was no mention of this in the instructions and I didn't know what to do so I let it roll (it was installed as my G & H drive).
The actual interface of this version of RMM is more confusing and less user friendly than past versions for a number of reasons. First, instead of the split screen other versions have (with the songs transferring on the bottom and those you're looking for on top) this version only allows you to either see the songs on the player or those on the computer but not both at once. This is a problem because you can't see the transfer status of the songs whereas on the old version it had a bar for each song that went from 0 to 100% as it transferred. In order to see the status you have to click on the player icon on the left and then let it load the information, and then you don't even get a status bar, you just get told what song is transferring.
The second problem I had with this software was that on previous versions you could click anywhere in the drop down box on top to choose another folder, artist, etc. but on this version you have to click on the arrow on the right side of the screen for anything to happen. This causes you to move the mouse to the right every time you want to change folders and a real pain in the rear.
The third problem with the software is that about 50% of the time while I was adding songs it would just freeze with no error message or anything, leading me to unplug the player and get a whole lot of errors from the computer. I tried turning the power management to not shut off for 30 minutes of sitting there but this didn't solve the problem… I don't know what was wrong here. And yes before anybody says it I did reformat the player and try adding the newest firmware and software from Rios website.
Using An External Memory Card
I have a number of 128 MB SD memory cards and attempted to use one in this player, which led to another problem. In the RMM window when there is a memory card installed it will show the total size of the memory on the bottom (for me it was 363 MB), which led me to believe that it would put the songs on either internal or external memory on it's own for me and save the trouble of loading each. So I loaded up the player, next thing I know it freezes and I click down there and realize that it has attempted to put 290 MB of songs on the internal memory and about 40 on the external memory card, why I don't know. I have no idea why this horrible software couldn't just split it up on it's own to make it fit between the two since there was more than enough room. But if you are using an external memory card you have to load each separately or else it's going to freeze, what a piece..
The Worst Problem …ALPHABETIZING
I don't know who's stupid idea this was, but bar none this is the dumbest thing I've ever seen on an mp3 player yet, and absolutely the determining factor for me to get rid of this player. When you add the songs in any other Mp3 player I've owned the songs remain in the order you add them when you play it back, not so with this player. The Rio Cali alphabetizes the songs instead of leaving them in the order you chose them, and not only that it doesn't alphabetize them the same way each time. Sometimes it was by song name, sometimes by artist, and sometimes by album, how it chooses what it wants to do I do not know. I looked through Rio forums and reviews and saw a number of others having the same problem and don't know why a fix has not been released yet. Please Rio get rid of this alphabetizing bull and let the songs be played in the order I want them, for now the only way to do this is by creating a playlist….which leads to the next problem.
Creating A Playlist
So in order to try and keep the songs in the order I wanted I tried creating a playlist as everyone says to do. The first problem in doing this is the RMM software has to scan all of you're music files on the computer which for me took about 15 minutes (around 2000 mp3 songs), as you can't add songs to the playlist through anything except that method. For me I have my songs arranged in folders by artists, etc. for easy finding and didn't need the software to find them for me but I had no choice in the matter.
When you go to add songs to the playlist more problems start rolling in, first is that while you are adding them you are told no information on the size of the playlist to know if it will fit on the player. In order to do this you will have to go to the playlist, then right click look at the information and read the size after each song to make sure you are not over spacewise, what a pain.
Next problem, once the songs are in the playlist you can't move them around to change the order…why make me to have a playlist if I have to keep the order and can't move them around?
Another problem is that when you are playing a playlist back there is about a 3 second gap between each song while the player finds it…remember it automatically alphabetizes them even if you are using a playlist you have to go into the menu to play it and then the gap comes in..what fun.
And the last problem with the "solution" to the alphabetizing problem of creating a playlist is that it does not work when you are using an external memory card. Read the instructions it's right in there that playlists don't work when an external memory card is in the player, what bull!
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Realize before you buy one of these that customer service/technical support hours for Rio are 8AM-6PM Monday thru Friday so if you have a job as I’m sure most people do you will not be able to contact them. When you do contact Rio support you should also be ready for somebody with a heavy Indian accent and little to know technical expertise about the product, they were of absolutely no help to me.
RECOMMENDATION
My recommendation is to not buy this player and don't buy any of the new Rio players until the alphabetizing problem is fixed and they revert back to one of the old versions of RMM or a new version. I bought this player because I had a Product Replacement Plan from Best Buy and when my S35 broke I had to get something in the store with the voucher money. I ended up selling this player on an auction site after about 7 hours of trying to make it work for me on the computer and ordering myself another S35 online. My recommendation is to get one of the older Rio S models and save yourself from a lot of hassle. Rio if you are reading this please, please fix this piece of you know what.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 130
Recommended for: Athletes - Lightweight and Portable, Perfect for the Gym
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Epinions.com ID:
saleenadam
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Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 0 members
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