Customer Reviews

Remanufactured Rio Karma 20 GB MP3 Player

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Looks like I may have been lucky, but my remanufactured Rio Karma was in very good shape, not new, but very close. The plastic covering the LCD had a few minor marks, it had to be cleaned, but after cleaning there are no marks that interfere with the LCD!

After removing the player from the box, I downloaded and applied the latest firmware from Rio site, started loading files onto the device, never been happier with an MP3 player. With the custom 5-band equalizer, you can get the sound quality you want, don't have to accept packaged "Presets".

The user interface is very good, never had to read the manual or even the quickstart guide. I love the dedicated buttons, before this I bought a Creative Zen Micro, the touchpad drove me crazy! When holding the Zen in my hand, a thumb or other portion of my hand would touch the surface, my song would stop playing or it would jump to another menu, not a problem with the buttons on the Karma.

Another plus is the dock with built in RCA out jacks, now I can plug my Karma directly into my stereo, have a never ending string of songs.

I say buy it, if you are lucky like me and get a clean one, you will love it, if not, Amazon is easy about returning items.

I notice the other poster who got the badly scratched and marked up Karma made no mention of the sound quality or features, this is where the player really shines.

They no longer make the Rio Karma, I may buy another one for a backup, that is how much I love this player!

UPDATE: I bought another Karma from this site for a friend, it was in "Like-New" condition, no scratches, no marks, seems to play perfectly.

The "remanufactured" Rio Karma represents an incredible bargain for a product that in many ways remains unique among digital audio music players. Potential buyers should realize, however, that Rio is no longer making DAP's, having succumbed to the stiff competition represented by Apple's iPod devices. Consequently, if you purchase a Karma today you should be prepared for a virtual lack of product support from Rio.
First, the good news. The Karma has considerable storage capacity, excellent sound quality (including a customizable EQ function, something that iPods lack), and a clear, intuitive navigation system that is easy to learn. It also is (almost) unique among digital audio players in that it will play 'gaplessly', meaning that if your music is formatted in separate tracks but is meant to play continuously between these tracks (such as in the medley sequence in the Beatles' "Abbey Road" or in Pink FLoyd's "Dark Side of the Moon"), the music will be reproduced as the musicians intended. By contrast, with the iPods or practically any other digital player, there will invariably be a small (or large!) gap between tracks, something that to some of us is quite annoying. For me, this function is extremely important, as some of my favorite music is delivered in the form of nonstop dj mixes. Gaps between tracks are simply a "no-no" for me. As long as the music is ripped and encoded using a high-quality program (I use Exact Audio Copy coupled with the LAME Mp3 encoder), these mixes play gaplessly. Fabulous!

No digital player provides for every single encoding system, or "codec," but the Karma is more versatile than most. It plays the standard Mp3 files, and also files prepared in the public domain, high quality Ogg Vorbis format. Furthermore, it will play Microsoft's WMA files, and if highest quality is desired, it provides for an excellent uncompressed format, FLAC. The Karma does NOT play the AAC files that are favored within the iPod system, however, so if users plan to rip music for use on both a Karma and an iPod, it's best to stick to Mp3.

The Karma comes with a very useful docking device that not only enables the unit to be recharged, it connects to one's computer for "synchronizing," i.e., transferring and managing music files. The dock also includes white and red outlets for standard stereo RCA jacks, making it simple to connect the Karma to a larger home stereo system.

Overall, the Karma, while perhaps a bit squarish and squat-looking, is highly functional and easy to use. At the prices offered on these refurb units, it's a veritable steal.

So what's the bad news? First of all, the Karma has always been plagued by problems of build quality. The units are fairly delicate, so it's a good idea to keep the Karma in a case of some kind for protection. Second, because the Karma is now a defunct product that never reached popularity even close to that of the iPods, there are far fewer accessories and add-ons than are available for the Apple units, and those that were made are becoming scarcer by the day. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this offer is clearly a case of *caveat emptor*, as even with a scant 30-day warranty it's virtually impossible at this point to receive any support from Rio. I had a problem with my own refurb Karma not long ago when the unit was consistently not recognized by the computer, i.e., the included Rio Music Manager software. I thought my Karma might be defective, so I contacted Rio. I got no response whatsover. Only by sleuthing through the remaining material still posted on the Rio web site, including some useful "FAQ's" was I able to learn that the Karma usually needs to be connected directly to a computer USB port, rather than even a powered USB hub. I made this adjustment and I've had no problems since then. But the point here is that for product support buyers are largely on their own. There remain a few online user forums where intrepid Karma loyalists share information, but as time goes on the rate of participation in these discussions will continue to wane.

Finally: some potential buyers might be wary of purchasing any kind of "refurbished" machine, whether it be a music player, a digital camera, or an inkjet printer. The fact is, however, that usually (not always!) these are reliable units not particularly prone to breakdowns. With most companies, refurbs represent units that have been returned to sellers *for any reason*. Usually it's just that the purchaser changed his or her mind about wanting the product. In those cases where there was something wrong, the manufacturer is pledged to fix the problem. All refurbs are checked over and tested before they are resold. Consequently, some people actually claim that there is LESS chance of getting a lemon with a refurbished unit than with a new one. I don't know about this, but my own experience with refurbished machines has been good. There might be a small cosmetic blemish on the Karma, but you can be pretty certain (notice I didn't say "totally") that it will function properly out-of-the-box.

I like my Karma. I like the gapless playback, I like the sound quality (which is, to my ears, superior to that of my iPod), and I like the layout of the controls. The Rio software is not quite as elegant as Apple's iTunes, but it's certainly adequate. I consider my refurbished Karma to have been a bargain, and I might buy another one for the inevitable day when my trusty Karma gives up the proverbial ghost. If I go to a second Karma, I still will have paid no more than I would have paid for a single iPod. Not a bad deal at all.

This is a fantastic player for the price. $160 for a 20GB player beats any iPod you are likely to find.
Being a remanufactured player, there were a few surface scratches, but nothing anywhere near the level that would affect performance or make you want to send it back. All the accessories included were new. The included docking cradle is superb. Not only does it let you charge and connect to your PC, the RCA out jacks provide great sound to a stereo system.
The player interface is both stream-lined and feature-packed. Using the id3 tags in your mp3 files, the player lets you choose and play a single track, an album, all tracks by an artist, etc. You can browse by track title, artist, album, genre, or year and the scroll wheel makes navigation a breeze! Also included is the Rio DJ feature. Rio DJ adds some unique and interesting ways to queue your music such as:

Entertain Me!: this makes a playlist of your most played music lasting the length you choose.

New Music: plays the tracks downloaded to the player during the time period you choose.

Memory Lane: plays tracks that have not been played in the past specified time period.

Sounds of: plays songs from a decade you choose.

Forgotten Gems: similar to memory lane, but gives songs that were played the most higher priority.

Deja Vu: plays all the tracks you listened to during the past specified time period.

Random Mix: shuffle, lasting the amount of time you specify.

The player also allows you to create playlists and to save and list (generated by Rio DJ) as a playlist.
Battery life is terrific. It only takes about four hours to charge and I can use it all week and still not be out of power.
Finally, the Rio Taxi feature allows you to use the free space on your player as storage space to tote around your large files.

I only encountered three minor problems with this player:

1. When I installed the latest software, the Rio Taxi client was not installed even though it said it had been. I eventually installed the previous version and simply upgraded the music manager.

2. When editing a playlist on your PC rather than on the device, it can erase the playlist from the player. A way around this is to use a third party PC client rather than the included one. Software is available from riovolution.com, along with other helpful information.

3. One time during the three months I have been using this player, it froze up. I pushed the reset button next to the docking port with a pin and have had no further problems. Resetting the device does not cause any data loss.

All of these problems were minor and easily correctable. Overall, I am VERY pleased with this player and recommend it.

I just returned the remanufactured version of Rio's Karma. When I purcahsed it, I understood that the term "remanufactured" means that the product won't be in the best of shape. However, when I opened the "well packaged box," I found something that I wouldn't have even payed ten dollars on EBay for.

The player was in such poor shape that the LCD was barely visible because of all the scratches. Furthermore, I found the last owner's name still written on the battery cover!

The term "remanufactured" is such an understatement!!! The product was simply purchased from someone who had abused it and placed in a box and sold to someone else. I would think something that was remanufactured would at least have new plastic coverings to make it look presentable.

In short, please don't waste your time with this product, you'll simply end up returning it as soon as you open the box!

It worked great for about 4 weeks, then continually freezing, and at the present time will not work at all. i would recomend spending a extra 50- 75$ on something reliable, also the support from rio is VERY VERY slow and a hassle. The Rio Karma frustrates me.

First of all i got this even before the estimated date of arrival,Amazon is great.Now the player came in ok condition:Scratches on the player and the front thing is kind of popped out but not terribly.But aside from that this player is exactly what i wanted,very easy to use and good size, kind of bulky but not to bad.I have read the other reviews and some people have had many problems with theirs but so far mine is perfect.I love it.I only gave 4 stars because of the scratches.

This is my second Karma (the first one is still chugging along without problems). I picked up a spare since the Karma has been discontinued and we are now left without an mp3 player that will play back files without adding gaps or ticks between tracks. I am a live music enthusiast, and I hate that just about every mp3 player cannot play back files gapless. The Karma is the only player that I am aware of that plays with seemless transitions. Add to that its ability to play flac files, and you can't get a better player for listening to concerts. The software Rio used could be better, but it gets the job done without much hassle. And this unit is definitely feature laden even when measured against today's players. There are plenty of reviews, websites and forums to guide any Karma newbie.

The reconditioned unit I received about a week ago is near perfect cosmetically. And after playing it for a few days, it seems to be mechanically sound as well. I would encourage anyone with concerns to buy an extended warranty on the player. It would run $20 or so from a third party vendor.

A great product at a great price!

I researched and waited and waited. I asked a neighbor how she liked her ipod and she said it wasn't pocket friendly on her power walks. So I bought this refurbished Rio Karma and my husband loves traveling with it. He will be travelling 14 hours by plane and couple of weeks and so far I have downloaded 20 plus albums for him and still have over 17 gb of space. incredible value for the price. I bought this thru Amazon. Logged onto Rio website and registered the product by its s/n. Rio's site redirected me to download page and told me what downloads I needed. The Rio music manager is straight forward and very simiar to Windows media player. As long as I copy the cd to my computer hard drive and then download it via usb to the Karma I have had no problems. Why Rio stopped manufacturing it is disappointing. I am currently thinking of the Rio Nitrus for my son who now wants an mp3 like Dad's. The only thing that would make this player better is being able to scroll music a to z and z to a. It is a little cumberson to always start at a and have to scroll to z consecutively. However for the price difference to Ipod I will adjust. I just hope this lasts forever so I don't have to replace it. Sounds great on the home stereo system via RCA cables from the docking station. I imagine next party we have we won't even load up the multi cd changer just plug this in and play whatever for hours. It also can connect via ethernet cable thru the docking station but I haven't used that yet. I don't think I will be disappointed though.

I've read about these players... and how good they are. I've also read about how bad the hard drives in them are. I recently decided to buy a remanufactured unit from Amazon, hoping for a good unit for half the price. It had a defective hard drive when I got it. It's also very worn out. I think, according to the serial code, it's just about 2 years old.

I thought about trying to return it, but I also read about how extremely bad RMA service Rio USA had when they were still in business. Now they've gone out of business, so I won't even try taking my chances with them. But all hope is not out, because you can swap out the hard drives yourself, and even put bigger ones (up to 60GB) in there instead. It's just too bad that the new 30 and 60GB drives are pretty hard to find.

So I really don't reccommend this remanufactured deal, unless you're willing to take the chance of having to disassemble the unit and putting a new drive into it.

It pains me to write this review as I was one of the biggest RIO Karma fans. I purchased my 1st RIO about 18 months ago and loved it. Featurewise it is the best player out there and I have yet to find a player that is as easy to use or hook up to your stereo via the convienent docking station. However, like any product, quality (or lack of it) will define if a product is 1 or 5 stars. I read the warnings about hard drive failures and cheap design, but I bought my RIO anyways. It functioned flawlessly and exceeded my expectations for a player until it died last week. I looked and looked, but I could not find another player that I thought could compare to the RIO, so I purchased the remanufactured one. I expected a player with some scuffs, but functional and I did receive a player that was somewhat warn (exceptable), but my screen would only display lines (like a UPC code) after less than a few hours use. Now I could play the return game and hope that the next one or one after that would be a "good" unit, but history (mine and others) is starting to show that the quality just isn't there. This may be why they discontinued making 20G hard drives and why RIO's parent company has recently sold them. I work in manufacturing and have delt with referbs and when you realize that referbs can be a good thing (during its life cycle) where products are still built with pride and returns can be made to almost new status. However, when referbs are done after the product has been killed off and all that is left are the bottom of the barrel rejects/parts it should come as no suprise that you will receive a unit that is worn and the life is suspect. At this point I'm not sure what else I would recommend (again RIO had all the features I wanted, except long life) to buy, but I would stay clear of this refurb item.