Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great MP3 player, great price, very good condition, September 2, 2005
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.
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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One of those "good news, bad news" things, December 15, 2005
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.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More for your money than iPod, December 12, 2005
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.
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