[Tides]

I need some *GO* or *NO GO * confirmation on this player.

A friend's Birthday is coming up in less than 6 days ( next Sat) and I want to get him one of these mp3 cd player. I need EVERY Rio VOlt Owners here to SPEAK UP. He is currently using a Nomad II player with two 64 megs SM cards. I figure this is a nice gift and is also a nice upgrade(storage wise) for him.

I have spent 2 hours reading various reviews, also looked at the older threads here about it ( really not much info) and the freaking Headwize just had to be down when I need to read the archive ( I guess even if it is up, it's prob still useless to me due to the limited 30 days search function

) So I want to hear from some of you guys . You guys are the Command center before I take off and order this.

Give me a run down on the good and bad of this player. Dont even try bring up the MDP comparison and whatnot

( yes MacDEF~ talking to you ~!

) I have a freaking Sony MZR900 and 1 other Sharp MDP for past 2 years so I know about it

The thing is my friend is totally NOT into MD and he hates the waiting time to record the MD.


Right now I have a 15 bucks off coupon for buy.com. THe Rio volt player is listed at 138.95 dollars. with the 15 bucks off, the player is 123.95 dollars ( excluding shipping which is prob 12 bucks if I go second day to ensure the pre-Sat delivery)

So we are looking at about 135 bucks for this player shipped.(2 day air)

SHould I go and order this ? or is there a BETTER CD based Mp3 player that I should look into ? This thing does 320kbps as well as all other ranges right ?(double checking) I KEPT seeing reports of BAD skipping problem, is this overblown issue by people ?

I would like to get this order in by TONIGHT ( sunday night) if possible. LATEST MONDAY NIGHT.

I am sure my local circuit city and wiz and other places sell this unit, but I am pretty sure they will add up more than 145 bucks.( and prob even more with tax)

 

[Tides]

BTW, if the the general take of this Birthday gift idea is a *no go* then I will buy a 64 gig or 80s gig Hd for him which I know he also be very happy to receive.


Tides

PS. FYI he has bitched about the hassle of his SM cards. Since he did not want to spend any more $$ for mp3 player, He has lived with it for a year or 2 now. So I figure a mp3 cd based player as Bday gift is prob a nice surprise for him.

 

[FunkeHomosapien]

Right now the Rio Volt is one of the best mp3 players. It is a little quiet, but that is only a problem when I want to use it on a plane. It hardly skips, even when playing audio CDs. I use lame-encoded vbr files that go up to 320k and it plays them fine.

esit: ask if you need more info

 

[bubblegummy]

I don't own one but my housemate has it. I think the Rio Volt sounds pretty good. It's the best MP3/CD player outhere now. Sound quality isn't bad at all although it has a weak output. One more thing is it has a weak battery life. But then, I think it wouldn't be a problem if he has a 1800 maH NiMH battery!

If your friend is really into MP3 and hates to wait long time for the songs to be recorded (such as MD), RioVolt is the way to go.

 

[Tides]

Found a VERY COOL flash Riovolt demonstration here

http://www.tech2k1.com/riovolt.swf


Thanks, and KEEp the coments coming ! I prob order it tonight..

and yes, he hates MD, he laughes at me when I told him how much I paid for my MZr900..... and he has over 60 gigs in Mp3 of all types of music.

He is into Digital Camera like I am so we have a ton of 1600mAh ~1800 mAh batteries.

I think he will enjoy this item better than a 64 gig HD.


Tides

 

[Tides]

when u are there, click on the LCD option and then u can click on all the actual buttosn on rio volt too !

Pretty cool........ I am getting the itche to order myself one here..................

Tides

 

[MuuMuu]

Since I'm not enough of a headphone freak, I can't comment on the sound quality. However, I'll say that this thing is definitely a better choice over getting a HD.

Output is pretty weak, for sure... but I can live with that. The best thing about this player is that it is flash upgradeable. Indeed, the driver updates have made this player infinitely better than when I first bought it; anti-shock has improved, and a system where the player pre-loads the next song cuts down the load time between songs to virtually nil (other players like the Mojo, I hear, take 10 seconds or so to change between songs, which I don't think is acceptable), even when using the random feature.

And just FYI, you might want to try pricematching at Staples. They offer free shipping for $50+ products, and there are many $30 off $150 and $25 off $100 coupons floating around. Check TechBargains ( www.techbargains.com ) for the coupon codes. Using some deals I got my Volt for about a hundred bucks actually

Muu

 

[Tides]

I will check it out, thanks.

I have used techbarings before and did the price match at staples ( anad hot deal forum is just as dangerous as this one)

I am not sure if 5 days is enough for UPS ground tho, since I need this thing before Sat. But I will check it out, I think staples lets order be pick up in retail stores..

Tides

 

[Tides]

no rio volt in staples,

looks like BUy.com is the only place for me, and I receive it within 2 days. Still waiting to hear some more inputs..

Tides

 

[MacDEF]

LOL, Tides. You think I'm the only MD fan here?

Just to add to the feedback, I've heard from many of my MP3 fan friends that the Volt is the way to go right now for CD-based MP3.

 

[Tides]

MacDEF~
No, I know u are not the only one, but you are the LOUDEST ONE lol ~!

( I am a MD fan here too, I would not have purchased MZR900 if I am not into MD)


I am going to wait few more hours then place this order...

I tho there are more Riovolt owners here...

damn headwize sealed archive threads.. grr

 

[albau]

I had RioVolt for 3-4 months already and like it. As was mentioned - best feature is firmware upgrades that come steady from amazing folks at iRiver (Korean OEM for RioVolt and Soul players). Be advised that iRiver's fw works fine on RioVolt but not on Soul.

It's just getting a new machine at least once per month. For example, the latest v1.35 added suppot for pre burned m3u playlists and dynamic on the fly playlists! And that after adding custom EQ, true resume and host of other features like awesome packet-written CDRW recognition. iRiver really listens to requests of people on http://msg.mp3.com portbales forum. They even now considering adding Ogg Vorbis decoder.

Major weaknesses:

1. Rather weak 7+7mW amp that poduces rather bright and hollow sound. Custom EQ helps somewhat. iRiver2 promisses a new 12+12mW amp.

2. Shabby anti-shock especially for jogging (car and walk are ok). In mp3 the thing reads in 2MB buffer and then stops spinning. But player is very movement prone while loading the buffer. iRiver2 promisses 8MB buffer and better pickup as well as an FM tuner.

3. Silly "Line Out" that's not a line out in common sense but simply a 70/30 headjack splitter that's subject to volume control and even EQ settings.

4. Flimsy remote. Mine didn't broke up yet but many people report problems with theirs. iRiver recalled it for their players sold in Korea and Europe. SonicBlue that badges RioVolt naturally didn't do this. iRiver2 comes with the new remote with LCD.

All by all if you need an mp3/wma/cd player that's the best one feature wise. It's also beats Mojo in supported media and mp3/wma flavors. Basically it plays everything you throw at it.

 

[Tides]

albau~

thanks for the thorough thoughts about Riovolt.

The Iriver2 unit, is that coming out at the same time as the Korean launch date ? I think tis Aug 21 or something.

ANyknow how much it will be ? I will order the Riovolt later today. It seems it be a solid machine from what I read( here and other places)

thanks

Tides

 

[albau]

Tides, on MP3.COM Hardware Forum there's a guy nicely called Graveworm who's a beta tester for iRiver, been to their place, speaks Korean and is very instrumental in translating all requests to iRiver and relaying back the info. So, he says that iRiver2 will be on sale in Korea by end of Aug and SonicBlue plans to launch RioVolt2 by mid fall.

The only thing there're indications that SonicBlue this time is bent on making their version incompatible with iRiver firmware like AVC did for Soul player. iRiver as a contractor is required to do whatever SonicBlue asks and SonicBlue has even a veto on features.

 

[Tides]

Thanks for the inputs, Order has been placed last night

I hope this player does NOT kick too much ASS, otherwise I will have to buy one as well~!

Tides