Customer Reviews

Rio S50 128 MB MP3 Player

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I needed an MP3 player light enough for jogging, with long battery life, user friendly interface and at least as much memory as my previous favorite (Intel Pocket Concert 128Mb) - and this player delivered. Since portable music is important enough for me that I set an open budget, I did consider the IPOD and other hard-drive based players - but those are all too heavy. (the lightest 5mb Ipod is about 6.5 ounces ). This one is so light, depending on what kind of battery, it is probably bit over 3 ounces. The light, padded carrying pouch with belt clip is also very useful - you won't even need to put the buttons in lock mode, since they're accessible yet well protected when on the run. The supplied in-ear headphones deliver surprising good quality sound even when compared to brand-name equivalents (Aiwa, Panasonic, and Sony ones I bought for up to $20)

Then comes the fun part - tricking it out. First, I upgraded the firmware to version 1.2. With this, it will take SD (Secure Digital) cards of up to 256 Mb (as stated in the firmware documentation - who knows it might even take 512 Mb cards, but I decided to play it safe ), not just the MultiMedia cards as the manual and website state ( as far as I can tell MM cards are only available up to 128Mb )

Not only did it accept my 256Mb Sandisk SD card - almost tripling total memory to whopping 370 Mb - the S50 loads music files into this card more than twice as fast as it does into the internal 128Mb ! To make it perfect for running or working out, replace the single included rechargeable battery temporarily with an Energizer PhotoLithium battery which while expensive and non-rechargeable, is feather-light and lasts pretty much forever.

The music uploading software is simple and does its job admirably. Since the SD card is so fast, it uploads songs about as fast as I can pick them out from my library.

Any cons ? The design is uninspring. But so what - the best looking mp3 player in my opinion is still the Philips Rush which under WinXP is completely unusable because of utter lack of software support.

And I do miss the little scroll wheel that made navigating a large list of songs so easy on my Intel Pocket Concert. But that is offset by the fact that the skip back-or-forward-to-next-song buttons react quickly, much better than the ones on the Pocket Concert.

Also, the player has reset itself on two mp3's so far that played fine in winamp, most likely due to non-standard encoding issues. But such is the risk of running downloaded mp3's from unknown origins, and I have a lot of faith that with the ability to upgrade the firmware, the compatibility of this player with the various file formats is and will remain up to par with the best ones out there.

The bottom line: buy this player, expand its memory if you can afford to, and forget the many 'cool' looking competitors out there. This one is the most useful, unless you need your entire collection stuffed in a not-quite-portable, expensive hard-drive based device.

After looking at various MP3 players, I decided on the Rio S50. I liked how it was expandable, upgradeable (firmware), and had a FM radio built in. After much anticipation, I received it yesterday. So far, I'm a bit disappointed.

After opening the package, the first thing I noticed was that there was a large speck of something behind the clear plastic but on top of the LCD. There's no way I can get to it without taking the player apart. It's quite visible and it's going to stare at me for the life of the product. So immediately, I wondered about the quality of the player.

After recharging the included NiMH AA battery, I immediately upgraded the firmware to the latest (1.6). I had read in previous reviews about the bad FM reception and how the firmware upgrade made it better. The FM reception is still terrible! So much for listening to the radio when/if I get tired of listening to the MP3s I loaded on it.

I loaded as many MP3 files onto it as I could last night. The software to transfer files to the player worked fine (Rio Music Manager). The player didn't have any problems playing the files I loaded on to it. It seemed a little lacking in the bass, but I don't know if that's an attribute of the player or the earphones that came with it. The 5-band equalizer (with presets) helped a bit. I also noticed that the buttons sometimes don't work and you have to push them more than once to work. The volume buttons, on the other hand, make the volume go up or down quite drastically instead of 1 increment at a time.

Overall, I think it's an ok MP3/WMA player with some nice features. However, it's an awful FM receiver and the firmware hasn't made it much better. I expected more from this player, especially considering the price, and I'm a bit disappointed.

PROs:
small, compact, very lightweight
expandable, upgradeable
built in 5-band EQ with presets
easy to use software (Rio Music Manager)

CONs:
horrendous FM reception
questionable quality or QA
slow or overactive buttons
pricey

Good: sturdy design, you can use standard AA or included rechargable batteries(life is EXCELLENT!), nice form factor (2"W,3"H,3/4"D, well designed case, tranfer time for 128mb on a standard USB is about four minutes.

Bad: the radio reception is very weak, management software is average, MMC memory is more expensive than compact flash to upgrade

Conclusion: Buy this player if you want a well made player with capacity for 256mb. Do not base your purchase on the fact that it has a radio because you will never use it. I paid a premium compared to other 128 players, but would probably make the same choice today.

I was looking and looking for a new Mp3 player, something not overly expensive like the Ipod but something with at least 128mb on board memory and upgradeable. Now with it being on sale here on Amazon.com its prolly the only Mp3 player id recommend to buy. The sound quality was supreme i really wasnt expecting much but i was surprised by how nice it sounded. Prolly the easiest software ive used. all you do is pop in your cd, install, plug the player into the usb and the transfer is clean quick and best of all easy. I didnt even know this thing had an FM tuner with it when i bought it. I came acrossed it browsing the easy to use menu. It also had an equilizer and i thought that was pretty cool as well.

Pros.
It very light weight.
128 Mb on board and upgradable another 128MB with smart media cards.
Had an FM tuner
Great sound

Cons.
the only thing i could think of mention would be the packaging. But we all know how the manufactures love to seal things up so its almost impossible to open. But nothing a utility knife couldnt handle.

Performance of transfer will vary depending on your PC for me it only took like a minute to load 128mb worth of MP3, i also have 1 gig of ram and a fairly decent processor so dont be quick to judge because of other peoples computer problems.

also. the FM tuner isnt that bad, but i live in teh city. I really was expecting the FM to be nothin but static from reading these reviews, but to my pleasant suprise all 5 of my favorite stations came in clear and good nough to listen to.

definately a 5 star product and worth the buy.

This mp3 player gives you everything that you need. The controls and menu system were well thought out and easy to use. The music manager software is easy to use and I did not have any problems connecting to the device. (Win 2k, 512MB) Battery life is excellent at @ 20+ hrs on a single AA battery! It comes with a rechargable battery but I have not used it yet. I'd rather just use the standard batteries and not get caught needing to recharge the battery. The headphones are good, but definitely upgrade if you are wanting to get a higher quality sound. The FM tuner works great and I get a clear reception. This is my first mp3 player and I am not disappointed. After spending hours upon hours of reading reviews and looking at prices, I am glad that I made this purchase and I would highly recommend this mp3 player to anyone. You may want to consider buying the additional memory card if you want lots of songs.

I have no complaints: the battery life is superior; and, despite complaints I read regarding the tuner, I get exactly the same reception as my Sony Sports Walkman (and actually better reception indoors); I am also able to store about 35 songs which is great for easily switching my playlist. I found the software easy to use as well. As a runner, the Rio S50 is a dream come true - it is tiny (fits in the palm of my hand) and the case has a belt clip that works very well (the player is so light!). It takes seconds to switch songs - perhaps some complaints regarding speed have to do with the computer.

Just bought it and I like it. Holds about 35 songs with the standard 128MB memory. The UI in the hardware and on the PC are both easy to use. No complaints about the battery life. I have only used the rechargable battery but not the disposable AAs. The headset seem fine. It is the kind that fits directly into your ears. I didn't buy it for the FM tuner so I haven't used it a variety of situations BUT I just flipped it on and the sound is crystal clear. No complaints about the tuner despite what the other reviews have said.

I am very satisfied. A great buy. My only complaint is that it does not come with some kind of clip so you can hook it to you while you work out or walk around town.

I just got it and it already had the latest firmware (1.60)loaded. Software is easy to use and sounds great. After reading some of the reviews I was concerned about the radio reception but I bought it anyway because of it's size and because you can use 256MB SD cards. It picked up 5 of the 6 radio stations I listen to most often. Good enough for me since the tuner is just a plus, this is an MP3 player after all. I considered the Nomad IIc and the iRiver but I like the size and expandability of the RIO. Cost a little more but worth it.

Got it about a month ago. Added a 256MB memory card. A cheaper choice for Mac. I use it everyday, including while working out...fairly satisfied.

Pros
1.Battery life
2.Light weight.
3.Easy to use.
4.Works with Mac (better price than iPod) and PC
5.Expandable
6. Very good audio quality.

Cons
1.iTunes always crash when I try to add a big group of songs. It also takes a while when you want to erase a song.

2.Every time I add a song the entire list is updated. And the process is slow.

3. I though that I would be able to search my playlist (rock, hip hop, classic, etc) on my mp3 but only gives me 2 choices. Play from a certain song or the entire list. Kind of a nightmare when you have more than 80 songs in it.

4. Cannot organize songs order after I added to the device. Even from the list that appears on the software.

5. Buttons have a slow response.

6. Radio reception kept really bad even after upgrade.

Pros:
Integration with iTunes (Mac), Design and Build Quality, Belt Holster, Battery Performance

Cons:
poor radio reception, no audible.com support, no Apple Music Store (AAC) support

Details:
I have the Rio s50 (same product as the s35s, just different plastics and rechargable AA instead of the AAA)

I borrowed an iPod for month and fell in love with it but couldn't justify the expense, didn't like the scratch-sensitive case, would have to upgrade my Mac to get Firewire, and was a little leery of long-term reliability (hard drive and sealed battery).

Here's why the S10 is a great mp3 player...
- MP3 audio quality is excellent to my untrained ear
- Really small and solid, fits great in the hand
- Front panel controls feel solid and give good tactile feedback
- Excellent s50 padded belt holster includes a nice spring clip, protection for all 6 sides, and allows full control of unit (even recharging)...I haven't seen the s35s holster
- iTunes is wonderful...lots of features for organizing music and the smart playlist feature chooses a random 128mb set of songs from my collection so I never need to decide what I'm going to transfer. Implemented using an iTunes "plugin" so I should be able to maintain compatibility with future releases of iTunes.
- AA batteries are cheap and easy to find...in case I need to swap out the included NiHi AA cell on the road.
- Software upgradable via iTunes

Some drawbacks:
- iTunes integration is great but not perfect...you have to launch iTunes after connecing the Rio and if you try to drag too many songs on the Rio I got a series of errors and had to relaunch both Rio and iTunes.
- Backlighting is a little dimmer than I expected but quite usable
- Radio reception isn't great (most stations have a noticable hiss, even here in Silicon Valley)...just good enough to be useful but if this is going to irritate you get the cheaper S10 instead and live without it.
- You probably want to get better headphones, the included set feels nice but my $25 Koss' sound a whole lot better.
- 128mb capactity is still not much space if you have a lot of medium bitrate MP3s and SD memory is a little more expensive than SmartMedia and CF (but seems to be the emerging standard). If you need to store >2hrs of songs, add an SD card (note: depending on market conditions, the S10 may offer a better price/capacity ratio...if it weren't for the Best Buy sale I would've bought an S10 with a 256mb SD card and given up the rechargable battery and radio/clock/stopwatch features)
- Although earlier Rio players supported Audible.com content this model doesn't appear to handle this file format (dragging audible files from iTunes to the Rio is ignored)
- Don't plan on using a standard USB cord, this unit uses a proprietary cord (since this unit doesn't mount as a USB drive this isn't a big deal for me since I'm only connecting to my iTunes machine anyway)