Customer Reviews

Rio S30S Sport 64 MB MP3 Player

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Overall rating: 4.5/5; 90%; A-.
Happiness with product: Very happy (not ecstatic)

My overall rating is on the features I care about, which is everything except the included software, which needs work, and the FM radio, which I do not plan on using, but did test for the purpose of this review.

Itemized ratings:

5/5 MP3 Sound Quality (did not test wma)
5/5 Screen quality and information displayed
4/5 Case Quality (Only red is rubberized)
4/5 Battery Life (Tested with Alkaline, not NiMH yet)
4/5 Navigation (Menu organization is great, but slow processor)
2/5 FM Radio (It works like a $10 radio)
4/5 Size. (H=~2.875" W=~2.5" D=1.0") Circular, not rectangular!
4/5 Weight. 2.25oz w/ battery and expansion card. No headphones.

Pro's and con's:

pro's: Excellent reproduction of .mp3 songs, tough case, solid buttons, small size, 10 hours + on an alkaline battery, supports NiMH (Nickel-Medal Hydride) batteries, excellent screen, upgradeable firmware, very easy to navigate options and songs.

con's: Not fully rubberized. FM reception is poor and extremely succeptable to interference. Included software is mediocre.

The software and computer interface:
It's a CD. Sonic Media (the included software) should rip music; they use real one player, which is also included, for this feature.

You have to use 2 different software programs to really get the device to work well. This is a poor design. I'd recommend Musicmatch, but at the time of this writing they don't have a plugin for the s30s, s35s, or s50; thus you'd have to use 2 programs still.

The body:
Unfortunately only the red part is rubberized, which includes the side and the back. I was expecting it to be totally rubberized, except the screen, of course. When designing the device, they could have easily made it water resistant, but they didn't.

The raised plastic protects the screen, and the buttons feel solid. The unit feels like it could take many bad falls.

You can not just plug the unit in and use it as a removable device, at least in XP, which forces you to either use their software, or some other software that supports audio devices to communicate between the computer and the device. XP does fully support the rio s30s as a device. Thus you can not transfer files through "My Computer" for either the internal memory, or the expansion slot, which would be a lot easier. Of course, you could always remove the memory from the expansion slot and put it into a SD reader, then access it from "My Computer". Maybe there is some way to add the browsing of digital audio devices to "My Computer", but I have not found a way to.

The sound:
The sound from mp3's I've downloaded sound excellent, but ones I ripped sound flat. Is that the software I'm using, or the CD-ROM, or the sound card? The CD sounds great in a CD player.
I have to admit, I never tried using the included headphones, and they do look junky. I have a pair of Sony headphones (MDR-Q33LP/S); I researched a lot and found these to be the best for what I do; which is gym/bike/run. My 4th pair, 2 were stolen, 1 given away.

Internal hardware and software:
The upgradeable firmware is a nice feature; make sure your firewall is off when you try to download from their site. I updated from 1.61 to 1.8, it added a button lock function, hold menu and press enter, and several other features.

The processor in the device must be really slow, as when you press the button it takes about 1/4 of a second for it to respond, including the volume. Hold down the volume, and let it go before you get to the desired volume because it will continue to go up or down for that extra 1/4 of a second.

Misc:
Device uses a non-standard USB connector to the device, but standard to the computer. I do not know whether the connector to the device is standard for digital audio devices; I have never scene it, I think it's proprietary.

Comes with a belt clip and a length of Velcro to attach the device to your arm.

I found the Rio S30 well worth the price. I compared other MP3 players (sport models) and selected the Rio - had it for 2 months now and never regretted buying it. The Rio has a rubber-type body with a plastic front. It is extremely light as I clip it to my waistband - it bounces a little, but hardly noticeable. I could strap it to my arm with the arm band, but the earphone cord gets wrapped around my arm while jogging. The sound quality is excellent and has more than enough power - I turn it up to about 1/2 to 3/4 volume. The viewing screen is 1 1/2 inch square - easy to read with a scrolling song title across the top. The screen also shows the time, battery life, minutes and seconds for the song playing, and number of songs in memory (main memory and card). Currently, I am using a 64 meg memory card, which which combined with the main memory, gives me about 31 songs. I just ordered a 256 meg memory card.
Battery life is about 6 hours using alkaline batteries. The slightly kidney-shaped player fits snugly into a 1/2 rubber case with a clip. The case has small holes that allows access to the buttons for volume control, on/off switch and the headphones connector. My only suggestion is the case have a thin membrane over the openings to protect the buttons and a dust boot over headphones connection - so sweat cannot penetrate. The FM radio works OK - even with the upgrade. I can pick up a few stations, but choose to listen to MP3 anyway. The software is easy to install and is very intuitive. Transferring songs are a breeze. Overall, a good value.

I'm a runner and a techno-phobe, but when my old radio finally bit the dust I decided to move up to an MP3 player. After carefully reading the Amazon reviews, I selected this player and promised myself I'd write a review with my honest thoughts about it. The verdict: It's fabulous. It was easy to set up, and after a few false starts I was able to transfer music effortlessly from my PC to my player. I use WMA files from MS Media Player and can get four hours of music into this baby. The sound quality is nothing short of wonderful--this is what I always hoped it would be like when listening to music during a run. The headphones are terrific--I don't know what the complaint is.

The disadvantages of this player are: 1) the radio is worthless, but who cares? I knew that when I bought it and believe me, I've had it with commercials during a long run anyway 2) the software does not allow you to manipulate the order of songs easily so you cannot shift them around once they are in the player--you have to unload it and reload another order 3) I haven't found it particularly easy to find FREE music that I want on the web. So far I'm downloading my own and that's ok, too.

One more thing: the durability of this player is nothing short of amazing. I dropped it in the toilet the first day I had it, but was lucky enough to grab it out quickly (double luck: clean water!). After a day's dry out, I turned it on expecting the worst but it fired up with no problem and has worked flawlessly since.

Buy an extra memory card when you purchase this--you;ll want it.

For a runner who doesn't like the learning curve for new technology, this is a terrific product.

I purchased the S30S after looking at the other MP3 players, to replace my aging Nomad MP3 player. Overall, I'm happy with the purchase. Compared to my older MP3 player, the S30S is better in every respect.

Granted, the S30S doesn't have as much internal memory as other MP3 players, but it accepts MMC (MulitMediaCard) memory cards up to 128MB. With the firmware upgrade (available at the website), this unit will now support SD memory cards up to 512MB.

The included music manager software is a barebones (and mediocre) file manager designed to get mp3s and WMA files to and from the device. It is much easier to use Windows Media Player to copy the files - it will even tell you what files won't fit when you max out the memory.

Originally, FM radio reception was fair to poor, but it wasn't even a consideration when I purchased it. It was greatly improved by the firmware upgrade. I still don't use the FM receiver.

I would recommend a pair of comfortable headphones. The headphones that were included were uncomfortable to me. Depending on the shape of your ear you may or may not suffer discomfort. In either case, I would recommend a higher quality set of headphones.

Several other reviews mentioned that the device power cycled. Beware copy protected music files. Attempting to play a copy protected Microsoft media file will cause the device to power cycle. I discovered this the hard way and was about to return the player until I figured out that the files I had purchased from a music vendor were copy protected. There are no error messages, no errors, the S30S just quits and reboots. Since I discovered this, the unit has performed flawlessly.

Also, check the firmware version and upgrade if possible.

I bought the Rio S30s at Costco.

I intended to use it at the fitness center and while riding my bike for exercise. It is small and light. It's not big and bulky like a CD or tape player. It appeared the better deal over the S35s because you could simply use a larger SD card that are really dropping in price. The memory difference of 64mb wasn't worth [$$$], which is the only noticable difference between the two.

The Rio software loaded on WinXP with no problem. It was functional and easy to use.

The sound from the sample mp3's was terrific. The earpieces fit on great and the sound from them was smooth, unlike info from other reviews I've read.

The opening for the battery and SD card wasn't as tight as it should be, however, the belt clip held it in place when fitted.

So why did I rate this only Two Stars? BECAUSE THE FM TUNER DELIVERED NOTHING BUT STATIC. You need the FM Tuner to listen to the TV in fitness centers. What were they thinking when they threw a SPORTS mp3 player on the market with a junk radio? ...

I purchased this player 3 months ago and I have recommended to family members who are athletic. I run 5 miles at a time and the sound has been excellent. The headphones work well and the unit is secure when running. The radio signal was fine for me, but I live 30-40 miles from a large city.
The player does eat power... I go through rechargable batteries every 2 hours.
I am pretty good with computers but have never used an MP3 player before. I found the software easy to use and ripped my CD's without much effort.
I would recommend this highly. Great price, easy to use, great for sweating in..

I bought this after researching to death all the sport mp3 players available. I upgraded the firmware immediately and have had no problems with the unit. The sound quality is excellent, and will really shine if you buy better earphones (I like the SONY in ear foldable phones that whisk sweat away from your ear). I added a 128 mb card and converted my mp3s to wma at 96 kbps and have over 75 songs that sound phenomenal! I don't know why anyone would complain about sound quality on this unit. The quality is based on the quality of the mp3s or wmas on it and even at 96 bitrate this is near cd quality. I use Windows Media Player 9 to transfer songs and have found it very easy and relatively quick. The unit plays the internal memory songs and card songs seamlessly as if they are from one large memory.
The backlight is great and the screen displays all the info you need and can switch from timing the length of a song to the amount of time left per song. I like that feature. The firmware definitely helped the radio reception, although I use this mainly for mp3s.
The unit is durable...I dropped mine, and yes it came apart but did not break and went back together fine with no problems.
There are a few minuses thus warranting a 4 and not 5 star rating...no files for songs (a firmware upgrade would solve this)so you have to tediously search through each song, no mp3pro support for now, and no voice recording capability.
Battery power varies and will be much less after you download the songs...I get about 6 hours from a rechargeable Nimh and the same from an alkaline, but after a big download, expect 4.
Overall, a great unit for the gym or sports...VERY high capacity with sd cards, small, lightweight, and good-looking. My husband used mine so much that I got him his own...ok I took the new one and gave him mine. Hey, I did all the research. Get it, I think it's the best sports mp3 out there...and it's UPGRADEABLE!!!

I bought this device for the sole purpose of listening to music at the gym, or running outdoors, but I have also used it recently for listening to foreign language tutorials. It fits these purposes more than adequately, and the price was right (I returned an iPod and purchased this instead, as the iPod seemed overkill for my intended purpose). With a 64MB media card, this device holds about an hour's worth of music.

The software interface is easy to use. I haven't used the included headphones, but they look bad (true of almost any 'phones packaged with portable players). Even with excellent headphones (Etymotic ear-buds), the sound is merely adequate, but if you were seeking an audiophile experience, you probably wouldn't be looking to an .mp3 platform! The FM reception is frankly non-existent - if you are buying this model for the FM functionality, you would be well-advised to purchase a different device.

This is a good buy if you are looking for light, sturdy, limited-use .mp3 player.

Le me start by saying this is not a bad MP3 player. In fact, it's quite nice when I'm traveling or sitting around in a quiet place. BUT!!! If that's what you are looking for then buy the SONICblue Rio S10 64 MB MP3 Player and save a few bucks. I have ran, rode a mountain bike, rollerbladed and hiked with the S10 and S30 and the S30 is nothing more than the S10 with a velcro-strap.

Why not the S30 for sports? First, it's not water/weather resistant. Sonic could have easily made it so there was a plastic protector over the USB/Head-phone port....which by the way, is on the top of the player so don't sweat with it next to your body or with it on the armband and don't expose to a light mist or rain....it will malfunction!!! Second, the arm band is just a velcro-strap. Got to the dollar store and buy one for the S10. Third, the plastic cover is cumbersome and practically useless. It doesn't protect the player like the thick one that comes with the S10 and it restricts your ability to access volume/menu buttons. Fourth, I changed the equalizer settings and every time I turn it on, the music is muffled until I go back to the equalizer settings menu. That may be a problem with my player.

Things that are okay: The earphones are fine, the volume is good, the software is super-user friendly, the music doesn't skip.

Summary: Great player if you are into liesure or indoor sports, but if that's the case, go with the lower priced S10. I exchanged the S10 for the S30 ONLY to get a more durable, sport-friendly model and it's definitely not the case.

One of the previous reviewers stated that "you need to use 2 programs to get the unit to work in XP". This is really NOT true. Once you load the SonicBlue software into XP, you never have to use it again!! The unit will be recognized directly by Media Player 9 in XP as an external device, and it's a simple drag and drop process to get your tunes over to the S30!!! It is very user friendly and the sound is quite good (I have only played wma files with it). Also I must admit that I don't use the FM tuner - I bought it to play my own tunes! You can add an SD memory card (up to 1GB currently), so the unit is truly "future-friendly". If your needs are similar to mine, you'll love this thing!!!