A very good little player
Written: Oct 04 '05
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Pros: Inexpensive, good sound quality, FM tuner, good display, Easy to use software.
Cons: Time/Date unreliable, FM reception sketchy, armband housing weak.
The Bottom Line: I'm very happy with this player. It holds more music than I want at a certain time, and it does more that I was looking for.
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| YODA_6's Full Review: Rio Cali Sport (256 MB) MP3 Player |
I recently received the Rio Cali sport as a birthday present. I'd been looking for a mp3 player and this one fit my needs well.
My main reason for wanting an mp3 player was so that I could listen to music while I worked out. I practice Tae Kwon Do and wanted some way to listen to music while I practiced. I knew I didn't want a player that cost hundreds of dollars because I would probably break it or lose it. So my searching lead me to the Rio Cali Sport 256.
Pros:
I think the best thing about this player is the cost. You can get one for around $50. For that price you get 256MB of memory, an FM tuner, earbuds, arm strap, and all necessary software. The player has worked well for me and my needs. I use it almost daily while I ride my bike to class (I'm in college) and while I work out. I find the sound quality to be good to excellent (of course this depends on the quality of mp3 you’re playing) and there is even a five band graphic equalizer so you can adjust the sound to your own liking or to one of the presets. The amount of memory suits me just fine as I'm not a person who wants thousands of songs to shuffle through all day. My experience has shown that it will hold about 60 songs. This is less than the manufacturer estimates but, again the quality of the recording will be a factor here (the higher quality the more memory). One other plus was the screen. I've seen many mp3 players that have little to no screen. The Rio Cali has a nice sized LCD screen which relays all sorts of information. The FM tuner was a bonus I wasn't looking for but am glad for. I read a review or two about inability to use the software included with this player and I can't say I understand why. The software installed easily and worked well with my computer (I run Windows XP). I also found it intuitive to use; I never even looked at the instruction manual.
Cons:
The player is not, however, perfect. The time/date display has trouble staying in this millennium. I’m not sure why this little bug exists but it’s never bothered me as I rarely even look at it. The FM tuner’s reception is less than stellar but that is to be expected without an external antenna. Like I mentioned in my pros the amount of songs able to fit only meets manufactures specs with low quality mp3 recordings. One last con is the arm band. It works well for every application but one. While practicing Tae Kwon Do the player has a tendency to come lose of its housing and fly across the room. This occurs primarily due to the punches and other arm/hand techniques practices and is easily remedied with a small strip of duct tape. So if you’re planning to do any sort of forceful hand operations with the Rio Cali I would advise some additional securing. Also one quick note, it irks me a little that I have to unplug the headphones just to put the player in the armband housing.
Overall I'm very happy with my Rio Cali Sport. It serves my purposes better than I had hoped.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 50
Recommended for: Athletes - Lightweight and Portable, Perfect for the Gym
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Epinions.com ID:
YODA_6
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Member: Tyler Johnson
Location: Manhattan, Kansas
Reviews written: 71
Trusted by: 12 members
About Me:
Hello, I'm a college student who just married the girl of his dreams.
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