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General discussion

Rio Carbon,Zen Micro,OlympusM:Robe MR-100,or Dell Pocket DJ

Jun 5, 2005 8:33AM PDT

I am about to get a microdrive player. I am looking for something that is pretty inexpensive, but still looks good and sounds good. Please answer with your opinions. Thanks

Discussion is locked

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carbon
Jun 6, 2005 12:29AM PDT

not only is this player very cheap.but it kicks ***.i have one and could not be more happy.so far 4 months and not a skip.i have red some bad user reviews about the carbon.i have not seen or forsee any probs anytime soon.buy this player

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Bias Maybe?
Jun 6, 2005 10:22AM PDT

Are you sure that your opinion is not bias? I am just wondering. Nothing against the Carbon, it is a very good player. My main concerns are price and sound. If anyone out there in cyberspace has any opinions please post them.


P.S.my top choice right now is the Carbon becauseof $
next is the M:Robe MR-100
next is the Zen Micro
then the Pocket Dj

And last AND least the IPOD MINI which sucks balls!!!!

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rio carbon
Jun 6, 2005 10:27AM PDT

i am not bias at all.i use the sony in ear earbuds and this thing cranks.i can never understand why rio gets so bashed.i also have a flash player from rio.its almost 2 yrs old and i have never had a prob.i have yet to see the upgrader horror people talk about.anything can happan with these mp3 players.so far its been great.and as far as price goes.this baby can be had for 175$.thats a steal

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Thanks
Jun 7, 2005 11:50AM PDT

Thamks for your opinions. I have already decided on the Rio Carbon. I probably am going to get it from my local Circuit City. The price there (as well as online @ circuitcity.com) is $141(with the $20 rebate). I think that is pretty cheap.And online at buyeretail.com it is 137$ after the rebate.
I agree fully with you about how Rio gets bashed. Everyone thinks that Apple is soooo good. I think that rio's players are better beacuse rio has more experience with that kind of stuff. All Apple has made before the IPod was fualty stupid Macs.
One last thing, any advice on how to keep the Rio clean?

Thanks

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rio
Jun 7, 2005 3:04PM PDT

my experiences with rio were terrible. karma was plauged with failing hard drives, a nitrus i once had was filled with software bugs, and the carbons short circuit when high-end headphones are plugged into the headphone jack. and i called customer service one time and everyone there were complete retards. no one knew what VBR is or what the LAME encoder is, even the higher-up customer service people.

zen micro gets my vote.

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clean
Jun 8, 2005 12:16AM PDT

the front part is plastic so i just use a tissue or anything else soft with some water on it..my player is in mint condition.this thing looks so cool that if i ever get a scracth on it i may run and buy another one.one more thing how could you not buy this player.with the prices you pay for them now you are stealing from them

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I Just Bought the Rio
Jun 13, 2005 6:55AM PDT

And I Love it. I bought it yesterday @ bestbuy and I put almost 400 songs on it in 2 hours. I really like Rio's Music Manager. The Carbon and Music Manager work seamlessly. Plus I didn't think that the player would be that small. It fits perfectly in the palm of my hand. I do not have the problem with headphone static. Does anyone out there whose had a carbon for at least 8 months had any problems with the battery? I charged it for 4 hours yeaterday and ran it some then charged it. I woke up this morning and used it some more. Is this to much charging and using? And does anyone with a Carbon know if the battery dies or the life diminishes?
Thanks
Smoothrider_10

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Battery Usage
Jun 29, 2005 8:07AM PDT

I contacted customer support for Rio, and they were very helpful in telling me that the battery life would eventually die. They also said that it would be better for me to use the battery half way down, rather than running it all they way down or keep charging it. They said that the battery would last be the better part of 4 or 5 years. AND about the case...
I think that it does pretty well in protecting the player. I don't see why people are so fussy because the case looks bad or covers the buttons. It's ment to protect the damn thing, not look cool. Another question to you people out there. Why are the IPODs so loved. they aren't that great. Most of my friends have the mini version. My Carbon blows their players away in size and looks. It makes the mini owners either:

Jealous, because my player is better

Even more snooty, beacuse they are frickin apple lovers and they just think that theirs is better than mine because it's an overpriced piece of crap Apple product.


Thanks to all you people who support me, and keep those Apple lovers inside their AAC cages
(music format) because dumb apples don't play WMA


How about that APPLE?

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Rio Carbon is a Bad Product
Jul 24, 2005 2:52PM PDT

I got my Carbon at the beginning of June as a graduation present. I'll admit it is a very cool looking mp3 player and very small, but about a week after I got it, I was listening to it and the music just stopped. The screen had the upgrader message on it and when I hit the restart button it just went back to upgrader mode. I have downloaded all of the updates and tried to install them, in upgrader mode like they said, and it worked once, but the next day it just went back into upgrader mode. Sometimes if I hit the restart button enough it will go back to normal, but now it doesn't charge all of the way because it always goes into upgrader mode out of nowhere while charging. I would call their customer support but they are only open from 8AM to 6PM and I work from 7AM until ^PM or later and I don't have time to call at work. It looks like I'm not the only person having this problem, so why doesn't Rio do something about it? Or, at least let you email them about technical problems you are having, because none of the information on the sight helps. It sounds like everyone on this page is just worried about how it looks and how small it is, but I don't care because it doesn't work. If you are looking at buying a Rio Carbon, don't, find another model and don't listen to these people and buy it just because it's pretty like I did. If anyone has any advice to help me, please help.

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Zen Micro
Jun 14, 2005 1:57PM PDT

I would say the Zen Micro b/c:

1. good price
2. comes in 4, 5 or 6G capacities
3. comes in several colors
4. FM radio tuner
5. removeable rechargeable batteries
6. comes in a lot of colors
7. good sound quality, it's made by Creative (a "sound" company)

Rio Carbon, nice price, but it does not have a user changeable battery, no radio, and some of it's earlier models had a problem with an improperly ground case, which caused static in some headphones.


OlympusM:Robe: I really don't need to explain this one do I, why would anyone get an mp3 player from a company that makes cameras. Interface is hard to use, and is hard to see in different lighting conditions. No radio, no user replaceable batteries. No.

Dell PocketDJ: Again, why would anyone get a mp3 player from a company that makes computers. This player is supposed to compete with Apple Ipod Mini, yeah right, it can't touch the Mini's slick interface.

If it a choice b/t those player, it's got to be the Creative Zen Micro, best features for the money.

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did u ever think of iRiver
Jun 14, 2005 5:40PM PDT

seriously iRiver kicks *** with SRS Support and heaps of EQs and all y didnt u think of iRiver!!!!!!

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Cha Ching!!!!!
Jun 16, 2005 9:32AM PDT

Have U Seen how much the IRIVER costs?????????
It costs almost $100 more than the Rio Carbon.

The good cost kicks ***