Customer Reviews

Remanufactured Rio Forge 512MB Sport MP3 Player with FM Tuner

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchased this device for listening to audio books, and it was one of the few players that I found in the lower price range that has a bookmarking feature (which is a must for audio book use). That bookmarking feature is both this player's greatest strength and its greatest weakness.

Because this unit is inexpensive and actually HAS the rare feature, I am pleased with it, and I gave it a lot of stars.

The menus are very user-friendly, so setting bookmarks is pretty easy; just pause the player, open the menu, and set the bookmark. The problem starts when I try to restart (exactly) where I left off; this player loses one star because when you restart at a bookmark, you find yourself anywhere from 3 to 30 minutes BEFORE the place you marked. Granted, this is better than restarting AFTER the place you mark, and CERTAINLY better than having no bookmark at all, thus having to scan ALL THE WAY THROUGH to the place you left off, but it's still a bit annoying that I have to scroll even a little. This bookmarking time gap is the only real problem I have with the unit.

If you DO have to do long scans for some reason, though, this player has another strength - automatic fast scan. When you hold down the FFWD or REW button, the longer you hold it, the faster it scans.

It gets great battery life, and the included cheap-o earbuds are more comfortable than most, but not luxurious by any stretch.

The clip is a little retarded, but only a nuisance, not completely unusable.

Sync speed is pretty slow.

All of this is justified by the low, low price though.

The only thing I use MP3 players for is audio books so this review will only cover that use.

I had the RCA Lyra before this, which I also liked because it was tiny, but it was a very basic player so it would not allow you to start playing where you left off, just start on the TRACK where you left off. This is very annoying with audio books because the tracks are huge and you have to manually FF to your place in the track every time. So I looked up reviews of players with the capability to start exactly where you left off. I also wanted one that wasn't too expensive and that was small like my old one because I use it while running. From that research I came up with the Rio.

The Rio Forge has filled my requirements on all counts. It is almost as small as the Lyra was but it has SO many more features. It has 512MB of space where my old one was 256. You can fit a whole audio book on it. The other features I appreciate are:

- backlit function screen with easy to understand navigation
- FM radio so if you finish your book and nothing else is loaded you still can be entertained
- long battery life, at least twice as long as my old player
- earphone cords don't tangle

There are a few minor annoyances that I will agree with others on.

- There is a tiny little plug for the USB port. I have already misplaced it once. It will be gone within another month I'm sure.
- The earphones plug in at an awkward spot that you have to work around if you are holding it. I keep mine in my running pants pocket so it's not such a big deal for me
- The earphones do stay in while running, unlike the other ones that are supposedly designed for sports, but it takes awhile to adjust them in your ear so that they are secure. I don't understand why this is such a design challenge.

I like MP3 players that have some type of expandable memory. So if all I can afford is smaller storage MP3 players then at least I have the option to expand its memory later when I have more money to spend. Additionally I don't like MP3 players with rechargeable batteries. I have to carry a re-charger and if the rechargeable battery dies when I am on the road, I have to wait until I find an electrical outlet to charge it again in order to use it. With a non-rechargeable battery I can always buy batteries off-the-shelf and if the MP3 player has a long-playtime on one battery then I don't have to carry a lot of spare batteries with me. The Rio Forge had all these qualities + a good sound quality although I replaced the headphones with a better pair.

Bought this as a gift and was disappointed when it showed up. Not suitable for taking to the gym, which is what it was intended for. Battery cover immediately fell off.

I like the player. However, I am a reader of audio books and I download books from the local library using NetLibrary. I am having difficulty using book marks and the resume feature to keep my place when the player is shut off. Rio tells me it has something to do with the NetLibrary platform. Called NetLibrary and they tried to help, but I'm stiill having trouble with certain books. Otherwise I like the player for quality of sound and listening to downloaded music.

The MP3 player was fine until one day it just read "upgrade" in the display and won't work anymore. I will never buy another product from this company again. They offered no troubleshooting advice except to take the batteries out for 20 minutes and then reinsert them. That didn't work. Thank God this didn't cost alot because I would be furious!

The remanufactured Rio Forge MP3 player is a great device! I've really enjoyed it!