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Rio RIO S50 128MB DIG AUDIO PLAYER USB MMC/SD MP3 WMA CLOCK FM TUNER (Sonic Blue-90260383)
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More…| Ease of use | Very good |
| Features | Very good |
| Capacity | 128MB internal memory |
| Memory card slot | MultiMediaCard/Secure Digital Card |
| Formats supported | MP3, WMA |
| Voice recording | No |
| Battery | One AA |
| Software | Rio Music Manager, RealOne |
| Other features | Clock, stopwatch, FM tuner |
| Support policies | Good |
| Policies | One-year parts and labor warranty; 8-hour toll-call support weekdays, plus weekends |
Bottom Line
The sturdy S50 isn't as small as other flash players, but it has the best LCD we've seen, and it's relatively inexpensive for a player with a media slot.
Sonicblue Rio S50
RIO S50 128MB DIG AUDIO PLAYER USB MMC/SD MP3 WMA CLOCK FM TUNER (Sonic Blue-90260383) Review, by Melissa J. Perenson January 30, 2003
WHAT'S HOT: A relatively large oval-shaped display (about 1.5 inches long) makes the Rio S50 easy to read, with or without the pale blue backlight on. The display conveniently shows song titles in a bigger, darker font near the top, with smaller clock and battery life icons above. Beneath that it shows the artist and album; a line illustrating the song's progress (useful for forward scanning within songs); and the format (MP3/WMA), bit rate, and recording mode (stereo/mono). A bar along the bottom shows the volume level. An equally large, compasslike rocker panel on the front of the Rio makes skipping though tracks or pausing play quick and simple.
The Rio's bookmark feature is uncommon, and convenient if you like to jump to specific places within a favorite track (particularly useful for lengthy classical music or electronica tracks). A small, low-profile, manual switch turns the unit on and off--it's unlikely you'll pull the player out of your bag only to discover that the battery is dead because the player was accidentally switched on.
WHAT'S NOT: The headphone jack is bounded on either side by proprietary USB 1.1 inputs (cable included). If you misplace the cable, you'll need a replacement from Sonicblue in order to use the unit. Though you get a Secure Digital card slot, your storage expansion opportunities are not limitless, as the S50 supports only Secure Digital cards or MultiMediaCards up to 128MB. Furthermore, the slot is hidden within the battery well; we found in our tests that the SD card could be difficult to insert and remove without our also removing the battery. This unit has an FM tuner, but browsing through stations is extremely slow.
WHAT ELSE: The S50 includes a clock and stopwatch. Compared with the controls on other players, the playback options (including shuffle, repeat, and an equalizer) are a bit buried in layered menus, which makes changing settings relatively slow. Just switching from digital music to radio takes several button presses. The equalizer is noteworthy, however: It has, in addition to six presets, a custom-adjustable five-channel equalizer.
The earpiece headphones sounded fairly good, but you can greatly improve the sound with a better set. As for software, the unit comes with Rio Music Manager (required for transferring music), RealOne Player (suggested but not required for ripping and transferring music), and MoodLogic.
UPSHOT: The sturdy S50 isn't as small as other flash players, but it has the best LCD we've seen, and it's relatively inexpensive for a player with a media slot.
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Review Now! Already own it? Tell us What You Think
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Reviewed by: ericwilliams27
Overall: A piece of junk. Had mine for just over a year and the on/off switch and the DC input broke. Customer support for Rio is a technical answering service in India, good luck. They won't replace it. Now it's worthless after owning it for only a year.
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Reviewed by: donkeylipz
Strengths: Decent 128meg Palm sizedGreat battery lifeEasy buttons
Weaknesses: Hard to setup a playlist.. I don't know if it is even an option.Did not break down on me like others reported.
Overall: Maybe Rio products do break down. I had a Rio sport and it broke down after 1 month. I got a refund, and got this player. It is 10x times better.I used this player for work and at the gym. I probably ran used about a battery per week. I had it for 10 months before it was lost/stolen. It has a cool option of charging the Nimh or just putting a standard battery in, I leave the LCD off because it is not necessary. Head phones suck. Favorite part of this player is the padded cover that it comes with. It Hooks on to your belt. And will be in tact if you ever drop it with the thin/padded cover.The player is decent sized
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Reviewed by: ledsled1964
Strengths: Easy to use, easy to set up, good software interface, long battery life, good display, GREAT sound when you ditch the earbuds.
Weaknesses: The earbud headphones sound OK, but they are not comfortable. Song transfer a little slow.
Overall: I love this player. It was very simple to setup and use. It holds about 2 hours worth of music out of the box, which is perfect for a workout. I've yet to have the battery die on me (it's rechargeable), but then I only use it for about 2 hours at a time. You can even listen to it while it charges. Once I changed the earbud to one with "Speciality ear cushion material" I could not believe the sound! I didn't think I would enjoy this thing but it was the best money I have spent in a while.
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Reviewed by: geek_13732
Strengths: Good player when it works correctly.
Weaknesses: Hardly ever works right with the extra memory that is the exact memory that they sell on their website.
Overall: This product I had for about 3 months and the unit kept restarting any time you pushed a button. I received my second one and out of the box it was doing the exact same thing. When I got my THIRD one it was freezing with my memory card in it and anytime it was out it worked fine. I sent the memory back and got a new one and tried it and it was doing the exact same thing with the old one. So right now I am contacting Sonic Blue to get my FORTH replacement. The only pros I can say is that it is a good player when it plays correctly and they have good tech support.
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Reviewed by: danfinley
Strengths: Simple, small, good sound.
Weaknesses: It broke.
Overall: My S50 stopped working after 9 months of regular, but by no means excessive, use. When I sent it in for a replacement (it was under warranty) the company claimed that they never received it, and that was that. A good product, but not if it only lasts 9 months, and BAD support.
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