If you want MP3CD, this is it.
Written: Aug 26 '01
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Pros: Cheap media for lots of music, upgradable firmware
Cons: Not enough space for enough music, not enough bass, stupid dancing persons
The Bottom Line: Descent MP3 player, but just does not compare to harddrive-based MP3 players.
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| mookiekong's Full Review: Rio Volt SP100 Personal CD Player |
I love MP3s, but I don't like the high cost of storage on solid state MP3 players. Since I never take my MP3 player jogging, only on trips, I had two choices: MP3CD player or Harddrive-based MP3 player.
After much research, I found that the Rio Volt is one of the best MP3CD players around. The benefit of having a MP3CD player is that the cost of storage on this thing is only a few cents and the amount of storage you get is incredible (650MB-700MB) compared to the lowly solid state machines.
The Rio Volt sounds good, but I find that it lacks in the low-end. But, if you can live with that, then this is a good machine for you. The actual machine itself is made of a plastic that feels a little delicate, but otherwise it's an OK material. The display on the machine is clear and readable. Though I would have liked SONICblue to get rid of those stupid looking dancing people on it. They just look silly. Controls are also good. The firmware can be upgraded rather easily and this is one of the biggest perks of the machine because SONICblue is constantly adding features to the machine. To upgrade, one just has to download a small firmware file from SONICblue's website, burn it onto a CD-RW disc, stick the disk in the machine and let it run for a minute. After that, you'll have new firmware!
I have small complaints about my Rio Volt. One is that it tends to skip pretty easily -- sometimes even on its own, like when it's sitting on a desktop. Another annoyance is that although 700MB is a lot, I like to carry around all of my music and have some to pick from -- especially on long business flights. That's why I have gradually moved away from the Rio Volt over to my newly acquired Archos Recorder (which has 6GB of space).
If you have a CDRW drive and want to pick up this machine, I say, by all means get it. It's a good compliment to your CDRW drive. But if you have yet to get a CDRW drive (another $200 on top of the Rio Volt price), then maybe you can look at some of the harddrive-based MP3 machines like the Archos Recorder (which costs around $349, which is the same prices as a Rio Volt + CDRW drive).
Do I like the Rio Volt? Definitely. Do I use it much now that I have a harddrive-based MP3 player? No.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 169
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Epinions.com ID:
mookiekong
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Location: San Jose, CA, USA
Reviews written: 68
Trusted by: 26 members
About Me:
Current Mookie Obsession: Apple iPhone 8GB and Fedora 8.
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