(thing) by burnboy Sat Sep 08 2001 at 8:00:57

Rio Volt MP3/CD Player

I just bought one of these bad boys at a cool $149.99 at my local Best Buy. A $20.00 rebate was included, but I've yet to turn it in. Here's the skinny on this phat toy. (I've taken sections of the information straight from the 'Getting Started' pamphlet included in the box.)

Package Contents

  • RioVolt - (yes, the unit is included in the package, imagine that...)
  • 8 Function remote - This remote is VERY useful. It's a little hard to hold and get used to, but it's a great idea. It has a small (cheap) plastic clip to clip onto anything, like clothes and such. I use it on my backpack and I leave the player in the bag.
  • RioVolt Carrying Case - It's a leather case with a soft material on the inside to protect from scratches. There is also a side port to plug your headphones or adapter into the player while still in the pouch.
  • Headphones - A nice pair of 'in-the-ear' headphones. I prefer the behind-the-head pair from Koss I already own. Only $9.99 at your local K-Mart, while supplies last :)
  • AC Adapter - Your basic wall power adapter.
  • 2 AA Alkaline Batteries - I forget the brand, but i was amazed that such a sweet piece of technological genius could run on 2 AA batteries.
  • Getting Started Poster - Ok, so it's not called a pamphlet, but who cares.
  • RioVolt Installation CD, Software Included: Real Jukebox, SoundJam, and Adobe Acrobat - I didn't bother with this CD, I've already got this type of software installed.
  • Adaptec Easy CD Creator from Roxio - Only version 4, IIRC. Still, pretty nice that it's included. Even though I prefer NeroIf you haven't caught on, it's there to burn CDs with MP3s...the entire point of the player in the first place...

Moving along. There are system requirements listed, but they are for the software, obviously. Now on to the features.

Summary of features (in paragraph form...):
There are four option buttons on the left side of the display area. These buttons (from top to bottom) are for Program (haven't played with this one much), +10 (to skip 10 songs ahead instead of 1 song at a time...nice feature), Mode (these are your various play modes such as Intro, Shuffle, or Repeat...), and EQ (there are four included presets...you can't manually input your own settings, unfortunately...). There are buttons for Volume and Navigation under the display box. The Navigation button allows you to search through any directories you may have on your CD. You pick exactly what song you want to listen to instead of searching back and forth. Next, there is a 4 directional joy pad with the Play/Stop/Next/Prev buttons on it. It is used in the Navigational menu to move around. If you hold down the stop button, the player is shut off. If you hold the play button, the player turns itself on. The Display Area is pretty complete. It shows what number the song is on the CD, including elapsed time and Song Title. Yes, you heard me right...The player can actually read the title of the mp3 on the CD instead of just assigning it a number. No more guessing if you have the right song or not.

That's about all i can think of right now. If you have any questions about the player, feel free to /msg me. If there are any errors in this writeup, let me know. This is my first writeup in a VERY long time. I'd appreciate the feedback. If you plan on buying one of these players later, I HIGHLY recommend it if you've got the cash money. Very good deal.
Pays for itself, if you ask me.

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I like it!