Customer Reviews

Rio Carbon Pearl 5 GB MP3 Player

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

 

 

I bought the Rio Carbon after buying and canceling my order several times. One of my main concerns was that the lithium ion battery cannot be replaced, as it can be on the Creative Labs Muvo^2 4Gb player. I had considered that one for some time, but after seeing that Dell, the IPOD, and nearly every other new MP3 player has a permanent battery, I decided to take the plunge and the risk. So far, the player is very nice, with an amazing amount of storage for its size. I have over 1200 songs on mine and still have space for a few more albums. Sound is excellent, and battery life appears to be very good too. Other features like a recorder and stopwatch are there, but I don't think I will be using those. An FM tuner would be nice, but again, that is not necessary for me.

This is my third MP3 player. My first was a Rio 32MB in 1998(how far we've come!), then a 128MB Intel Pocket Concert in 2001, and now the Carbon at 5GB. So I feel that if I get 3 good years out of it, I will be very happy.

One final thing.....my Intel Pocket Concert has a few things broken after traveling with it, but it still works so I will keep on using it. I will be using it for those times when the player has a risk of getting knocked around. Flash players can take a beating; HD players cannot. If you plan on jogging or doing ANYTHING which knocks the player around, consider a flash player over this.

Highly recommended. I have had nothing but good results with my Rio Carbon and have had it now for 7 months.

The player itself works very well. It is extremely light, compact and surprisingly easy to use. The instructions are well written and precise. I have only problem with it. When I plugged it in to my computer with the supplied cable, via the front USB port, the Carbon isn't recognized by my system. The directions say to plug it into another USB port. I tried that and it didn't work either. I then plugged it into the back of the computer (as per the instructions) and it worked. I have another RIO player with a shorter cable and tried it in the front USB port with the Carbon and it worked fine. I called RIO and told them the supplied cable didn't work in the front and I had a shorter one that did and tried to buy another cable from them and they hung up on me. The software that comes with the unit is very easy to use and I was up and moving in less than 30 minutes. The addtional features like the stopwatch and recorder are nice but this thing is really meant to play music. I play mine with the Shuffle on and it goes from track to track on different albums like it was on the same CD. I have been impressed with the battery life and the rechargable part especially. I have had it on for over ten hours and it still has a lot of life left in it. With the supplied charging system, it recharges in less than an hour. If you have a 12volt to USB adaptor, you can recharge it in the car too. I use it in the car with another brands cassette adaptor and it works just fine althought the volume has to be turned almost to the max. I think this unit would get a five star rating every time if it were not for the cable that comes with it and it not working in the front of the computer.

I know that ipod's are the industry standard and that people love them. i just about got one, but I just don't want to be in the trendy set, and pay the premium to be there, especially when a great product like the Rio Carbon is out there (i got the 5GB model; they also carry one with 6GB). I have enjoyed Rio's Karma MP3 player (with 20GB) for a couple of years now (great battery life for long plane trips; huge storage space; strong volume and easy to use), but wanted a smaller player that could also handle spoken word recordings from folks like [...]. (the Karma and other earlier MP3 players missed the boat on this one). If they have it in stock, [...] will get you a nice deal on a Rio Carbon (or many other newer players, including the ipods) in exchange for a year contract with them. I have really enjoyed using this player. Like my "old" Rio Karma, it's easy to use, i've never had a problem with it, and it's just a breeze to throw in my pocket and take off with. Easy interface with my computer for fast downloads, as well. The end result is that I now use the Rio Carbon all the time, for music and books, usually while commuting in my car, (using a good belkin wireless FM transmitter) and the solid old Karma, my old workhorse, is hooked up to the living room stereo in the nice cradle that came with it, giving me easy and immediate access to tons of music blasting through the speakers (and serving as a back-up hard drive for lots of my music). Doesn't seem that many of the newer MP3 players (nor the Rio Carbon) come with these cradles for recharging and providing an RC jack line out to stereos and other non-computer sources; i imagine they are sold as expensive accessories. too bad. of course, you can still play your Rio Carbon through your computer's speakers with the same USB connection used for downloading.

In sum, no complaints, the Rio Carbon is a very nice product, easy to use, looks great, and [...]likes it, too. Don't know if there's any difference, other than storage space, in the 5GB or 6GB models, but there are very good prices (like from Amazon) on the 5GB model.

Four-months experience with the player:

My player spontaneously reboots, generally within 40 minutes of use, shutting off in the middle of a song and losing all previous settings. Rio asks you to follow an extensive list of suggestions, including reinstalling the player's software, particular reset procedures, and attempting to figure out if it is a particular song forcing the reboot.

Rio refused serve after 90 days. After 120 days and with a record of my problem, which originally occurred within the warranty period, they refused to service the product. LET ME EMPHASIZE, THEY WANTED $99 TO SWAP MY 4-MONTH OLD CARBON FOR A REPLACEMENT. Now you know why they are less expensive than iPods and Zen players, because they stick it to you in the event you need service.

Whenever you purchase complicated electronics, check that the warranty is at least one year and, if it breaks or does not perform to specifications, you can live with replacing it if it breaks outside your chosen warranty period.

Further, the player has very little power output to the headphones. I do not listen to loud music. The included headphones are poor, as one ear produced a buzzing sound for myself, and the player lacks sufficient power for larger headphones.

I know the name Apple is big in the industry of electronics, and I had never heard of Rio Carbon until [...] . The reviews I read there made me want to look into this one. I have had my "Pearl" for about a week, and just like most things you take the time to understand, I have continued to enjoy it more and more. I read on review that said it shorted out. If they had taken the time, they would have realized that the "Pearl" has a reset port to get it up and running again. I have had to reset mine twice. It doesn't loose any of the downloaded music, about the only thing you might have to do would be reset the time and date.
As for sound, it is fantastic. I do go through Music Match Jukebox to load music onto it, because Matchbox has music leveling. That way all your songs are about equal in volumn.
Lastly, I would say take the time to get to know your merchandise, and if it's as good as this item you will never be sorry. Party on!

I am not an electronic whiz by any means. I wanted a MP3 to take with me on long airplane flights. Did research, and ended up with this unit. This price was good and the Rio web site was offereing an additional (...).

Well, the gadget arrived--and I had music on it in no time. I was amazed. Sound is just fine for me. Haven't done the airplane flight yet--but it does accompany me to the gym and it is great. Do wish it came with a better case.

It earned its place in my heart when my hard drive crashed (not related to the Rio). I thought I had lost all my music--but abracadabra--I was able to transfer all of the music on the Rio back onto my computer.

I've had it 3 weeks now and love it.

So far no problems,I have had it over two months. The Rio is very good player and have good battery life. I used the player in Asia with no problems recharging it.

It is like having your own digital jukebox to hook up to speakers and play all the music you want for a small fee. The only item that I enjoy as much as my Rio is my XBOX 360. PS.. make sure you are in the proper mode before flashing the firmware for playforsure. If not it will hang during the "acquiring license" phase.

Within 1 day of owning the product the thing broke. I spent ages looking at this player, comparing it to the new sony walkman and decided that this beats it. Mainly on size, price and software. I have to take it back tommorow which sucks.

I plugged the thing in for three hours and came back to find that the charger was not working, THEN, thought oh well at least i can charge it through my computer which i did, but later after turning the thing on again and just listening to it for five minutes turned it off again, i mean surely a £130 mp3 player could handle this, but obviousley not as i can not turn it back on again!!! It wont turn on, charge or anything. The dam thing has broken and im so annoyed.

It's a great little player, but I had a bumpy initial experience. After installing Rio Music Manager softward on my #1 laptop, all went smoothly, except next day the computer no longer recognized the CD/DVD drive. Uninstall made no difference. Device Manager just thought it was gone. Trip to the shop cost me a bundle and no solution. I went to Rio site and downloaded latest firmware (whose date indicated it ought already be installed on the hardware I bought). Now this is what happens: on booting up, computer still thinks there's no optical drive. But if I remove and re-insert it (it's hot swappable, thank God), THEN it shows up and works fine. To be fair, I loaded Music Manager on my #2 laptop and had not a bit of trouble. But then, after shelling out a lot of dough on top of the buying cost, I'm not in the mood to be fair. So, it has a funny quirk that in my case was quite expensive. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, it's great (aside from the need to buy better earphones, and the rather diffident strength of the base). So take your chances.