Rio Digital Networks Rio Carbon 5GB MP3 Player

Sporting an ultra-thin and tapered design, and with 25 percent more memory than iPod mini, this tiny MP3 player, about the size of a business card, will slide into any pocket virtually unnoticeable. The Rio Carbon is capable of holding up to 80 hours of MP3 music, and with up to 20 hours of battery life on a single charge, music lovers need not worry about running out of juice. Supporting USB 2.0 and a host of file formats; users can download music efficiently and easily from most of their favorite online music sites. The Rio Carbon also includes voice recording and provides seamless integration and support of both the PC and Mac platforms.

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• Reviewed by: rolemdl1

  06-04-06

  Duration of ownership: 3 Years

  Strengths: Great overall product probably best MP3 player for sound quality as I have tried them all. Best part is that this is a drag and drop technology that you can use as a portable 5 gig thumb drive.

  Weaknesses:If any part breaks on this MP3 player RIO does NOT repair them you will need to purchase another one without a DISCOUNT of any kind. I have gone thru 3 of them due to the volume wheel breaking off.

  Overall Evaluation: Nice product that lacks manufacturers backing. Either this is a great business scheme by RIO or they just have a lack of business project management when it comes to caring if the consumer will in the future want to buy any other products due to the lack of customer care thru this products problems. Funny that you can continue to purchase this product new all over the place but no one can repair a part on it. ALL BE AWARE of this issue.

• Reviewed by: pjchatman

  12-25-05

  Duration of ownership: 4 Months

  Strengths: Battery life, storage, stopwatch (cool), size, adjustable 5-band graphic equalizer, flash firmware upgradable

  Weaknesses:Battery meter is not accurate. It will seem to drain away, it's just the firmware not accurately reporting battery life. Rio DJ requires that Windows Media Player 9 be installed

  Overall Evaluation: I have read many reviews of the Rio Carbon (5GB Silver model) player and I can say that I really am glad I _did not_ buy the iPod Nano. Though I was just a minute away from clicking BUY on CompUSA.com when I remembered this player.It has more storage space (at 5GB -> iPod's 2GB), longer battery life (20h -> iPod's 8h). Though it may not be color and have all those features it is still a better buy. However, Rio went under so if you can find this player get it. I got mine for under 200$.The software installed fine, but requires that Windows Media Player 9 be installed as well, which is silly. It's because WMA files that are protected with DRM use MP9. I have two PC (XP & Win98 SE). I have had no issues with the USB plug-n-play under XP, however the player will not install fully under Win98 SE unless you have a USB 2.0 port, which mine does not. It will go through the motions, but when you try & access the drive it won't show up in the drives list even though the Device manger says it there.Battery meter is not accurate. The firmware seems not to accurately report actual battery life. I have used this in a cross country trip (LA to Arkansas) and was able to listen to 12 hours of music, and the battery didn't die. This week I charged it full on Monday and it died (shutoff) yesterday (Saturday after midnight). I have 23hrs of music in 388 files (96kbs to 320kbs). It shut off on song 311. So the battery IS just over 20h.All in all a very great buy over the iPod fad. If you can find it, get it. Plus, you can put regular files on it and playlists. NOTE: Someone said you can't generate playlist. You generate a playlist with your MP3 program then put the playlist on the Rio; then you have a playlist to listen to.ADDENDUMS:It will seem to drain away while off. I started the stopwatch, turned Rio off, then 8 hours later turned it on - the stopwatch was still running. I wanted to know just how long the battery lasted. The specifications says 20 hours. But, I used the stopwatch function and (pausing it when it turned it off and continued when i turned it back on) found out that tha battery ran out after 10 hours 10 minutes. I'll try again to see if I can get it to last for 20 hours like it supposed to. I upgraded the firmware from 1.42 to 1.95 and the Rio Music Manager software from 2.90 to 2.96. Upgrading the firmware reformats the Rio, so backup your music first.I have seen a implementaion difference in how the drive is formated (Data and Media folders are separate) and it now supports the PlayForSure music service from Microsoft -- not that I'll ever use it, I'm partial to Real Rhapsody. Also you can now play music from seprate folders.As for whether the battery will now display accurately, we'll see how it handles.Once at work it wouldn't come on, so I thought I'de broken it some how (the power button looked like it was going to slide out); I was even thinking about buying a new player (the 6 GB model even); but then 'my voice inside' said to just take it home and recharge it. Turns out it _was_ just out of battery juice. HAH! I'm so paranoid!I love my Rio Carby!

• Reviewed by: Buch

  12-09-05

  Duration of ownership: 5 Days

  Strengths: great design, good operating system, ease of use, long battery life, fits well in a pocket, light

  Weaknesses:The case included can not be clipped on the belt or hanged on the neck. Takes a bit long to start up.

  Overall Evaluation: Sexy, slim, elegant. She is so cool. Some people have reported that there is no hold button. That is not exactly true - you just have to press the menu and center buttons in the same time.

• Reviewed by: pjchatman

  11-12-05

  Duration of ownership: 2 Months

  Strengths: Battery life, storage, stopwatch (cool), size, adjustable 5-band graphic equalizer

  Weaknesses:Battery meter is not accurate. It will seem to drain away, but it's just the firmware not accurately reporting actual battery life. Rio Software requires that Windows Media Player 9 be installed

  Overall Evaluation: I have read many reviews of the Rio Carbon (%gb) player and I can say that I really am glad I did not buy the iPod Nano. Though I was just a minute away from clicking BUY on CompUSA.com when I remembered this player.It has more storage space (at 5GB -> iPod's 2GB), longer battery life (20h -> iPod's 8h). Though it may not be color and have all those features it is still a better buy. However, Rio went under so if you can find this player get it. I got mine for under 200$.The software installed fine, but requires that Windows Media Player 9 be installed as well, which is silly. It's because WMA files that are protected with DRM use MP9. I have two PC (XP & Win98 SE). I have had no issues with the USB plug-n-play under XP, however the player will not install fully under Win98 SE unless you have a USB 2.0 port, which mine does not. It will go through the motions, but when you try & access the drive it woin't show up in the drives list even though the Device manger says it there.Battery meter is not accurate. It will seem to drain away, but it's just the firmware not accurately reporting actual battery life. I have used this in a cross country trip (LA to Arkansas) and was able to listen to 12 hours of music, and the battery didn't die. This week I charged it full on Monday and it died (shutoff) yesterday (Saturday after midnight). I have 23hrs of music in 388 files (96kbs to 320kbs). It shut off on song 311. So the battery IS just over 20h.All in all a very great buy over the iPod fad. If you can find it, get it. Plus, you can put regular files on it and playlists. NOTE: Someone said you can't generate a playlist. You generate a playlist with your MP3 program (listsening to songs off the Rio, of course) then save the playlist to the Rio; then you have a playlist to listen to.

• Reviewed by: TAP777

  10-22-05

  Duration of ownership: 4 Months

  Strengths: Small and sleek. Super easy to use. Holds lots of songs and doubles for a storage device for files

  Weaknesses:I have the RIO Carbon 5gb for my daughter, and the 6gb pearl for myself. We think they are great. I did read that RIO is having financial problems, and this causes concern. I would still buy again.

  Overall Evaluation: We own two of these players, and so far they have been great. No installation problems, and my daughter never even asked for help setting hers up (16). I use it every day for my 1.5 - 2hr each way commute I usually charge it every 3 or 4 days. The battery has never fully discharged. Some have complained that it drains quickly over time. We have not had this experience. I listen to books. If I hit pause on Friday, the unit shuts down after 5 minutes. On Monday I power up and am right back where I left off. Beautiful!My brother bought an ipod mini, and is still trying to get it to work. Maybe it is him, but I still like the carbon better. It is lighter, thiner, and works great.

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