Rio Carbon 5GB MP3 Player - Silver - RIO-CARBON5 - HOT!

With the Ipod craze raging, I was hesitant at first to buy an mp3 player from a brand other than Apple. But, after comparing reviews from several websites for both the Ipod mini and the Rio Carbon, it seemed like for the amount of people who disliked the Rio, there were twice the amount of people who disliked the Ipod mini. I figured it was worth a try to buy a Rio (everyone else had Ipods; I needed something else). There were several advantages that I found in buying the Rio price-wise, memory-wise, and even style-wise. The Rio Carbon is only about 3 inches tall and fits perfectly into pockets. Personally, I prefer its silver color over the neon colors that the Ipod mini offers. The Rio Carbon even comes with a black leather case. So far, the only difficulty I've found was switching the song while the Rio was in its case and charging it; it takes a while. Otherwise, it's great. Oh, and an added bonus is that the Rio Carbon records (Ipod minis do not). I've found that more and more people have been buying Rio Carbons lately; and apparently I'm not the only one who's satisfied! This reasonably priced, stylish mp3 player is a worthwhile investment.
 
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After having used multiple players in an attempt to find one that works ideally for audio books ... this is it! It can save bookmarks manually wherever you want on any type of file. Also, when you power off it saves your settings (where you were last). I'm really happy with it.
 
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PROS: I like the Rio Carbon much better than my roomates Zen Micro. I couldn't decide between the two, and I went with the Carbon because of the better price. I am glade I went with the Carbon. You can drag and drop music into the player when it shows up as an external hard drive, which is nice. You can't do that with other players. The Carbon is significantly lighter than the Zen Micro. Zen Micro software is hard to navigate because the touch pad is too sensitive, Carbon software is easy to navigate, easy to choose songs/albums. Ear buds work quite well. Everyone says how poorly designed the cover for the player is... I agree that is is poorly designed, but it does completly protect the player from scratches when it is in your pocket/backpack, which is nice. The cover is very sturdy, and not cheap, just not very functional b/c you have to take the player out if you want to switch songs. Not having a physical hold button is no problem, I have never had a problem with the buttons being hit while the player is in my pocket. The display is very clear and crisp, and looks quite nice when the display lights up while pressing buttons. CONS: The Rio Music Manager software screws up the Carbon when it synchronizes. It causes songs to show up 3-4 times, causing the player to register as being filled up even though the hard drive is no where near filled. The songs are not copied multiple times, they just register in the software as being copied 3-4 times, causing the software to indicate that the player is at full capacity. I had only 500 songs and the player registered as full. I had to delete everything, and then drag and drop all the music onto the player, it works fine when I do it that way.
 
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Small size and sturdy design make it a good buy. It plays well, easy to use and is certainly good value for money. If you think ipod is delicate for your usage style and little bigger in size for a pocket music player, Go For Rio Carbon , thats the reason i bought this and am happy with it.
 
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The Carbon works exceptionally well! Setup was a quick and easy. Music and audible transfer speeds were fast. Sound quality was a lot better than expected. While I have not pushed the 20 hour battery life claim, so far the estimates are close (about 14 hours before I chickened out and re-charged). My only complaint? The case. Not sure what they were thinking, but if the Rio is in its case you can't access the menu items nor see the screen. Overall though, well worth the money!
 
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I purchased this from a local Circuit City store in January,2005. After loading the interface software and charging the unit through the USB 2.0 connection I loaded it with about 100 tunes and 4 full mp3 Novels. I still have more than 3 Gb to spare. The Control buttons are a little confusing at first, but with some patience and use you get the hang of it. The headphones included are not the best, they cause ground short static. Buy something "good" and comfortable. The Case included with the Carbon is a poorly designed piece of junk. It covers the control buttons and does not have a belt clip. The sound is decent for most music and the built in eQ can be adjusted to suite taste. Paid $200 after rebates. U can get it for less now. Good Value compared to many other MP3 players.
 
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I just recieved my Rio Carbon two days ago. So far so good. Right out of the box the Carbon looked even smaller and stylish than I had imagined. The software was great too. After only reading a 6 step pamphlet I can now easily understand and work the software. I have about 3000 songs on my computer and easily picked out and downloaded a little less than a thousand by the first night (with room left over). The Rio has great sound and other than the fingerprint prone back is a very sturdy and light player (I suggest leaving the protective plastic on the back that comes with it). The only complaint I have so far is not being able to make playlists on the fly. It is simple to do it from the computer but every time you plug your carbon back in to the USB port it deletes the current playlist I guess thinking you will make a new one. It comes with a good case but you cant see the buttons when it is in it. For all the people looking for a comparison to the ipod mini, well i have never owned one so I couldnt tell you. All I know is that this Mp3 player is small, durable, has plenty of storage and easy software, and is definetely the player for me. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone!!!
 
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iPod-mini is cute but definitely a bit too doily for me. RIO Carbon's design is superb, battery life is exceptional, and it has 5 Gig of storage. Everything about this player is good except for the durability of it. I guess most (if not all) hard-disk base players have this problem. My first one's hard-disk died on me in less than 3 weeks. Therefore, >>>MUST<<< get extended warranty. Oh yeah, the carrying case is nothing to tell mom about either.
 
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