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General discussion

? Sandisk or Rio ?

Jul 7, 2005 2:49AM PDT

Yesterday I decided to buy the Rio Forge Sport. Anyways it was a tough decision between the Rio and the Sandisk SDMX. Did I make the right choice in getting the Rio or should I return it for the Sandisk?

Thank you

Discussion is locked

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Go with the reader reviews
Jul 8, 2005 1:11AM PDT

Generally, I find customer reviews to be far more reliable than those of critics, and the critics might not even review the lower-end flash players unless they have the Apple or Creative insignia on them. Amazon.com is usually a good resource for short, precise reviews, and there are usually dozens of reviews on both products you mentioned.

I would however replace your choice of the Sandisk SDMX with the newer Sandisk flash player, the Sansa, which comes in 512 meg and 1 gig varieties. The major step up from the SDMX, aside from the new look, is the addition of an SD card slot, supporting up to 2 gigs of extra SD memory, giving you potentially 2.5gigs or 3 gigs of memory, depending on which model you buy. I own the 1 Gig version one, and reviewed it in detail here:

http://www.epinions.com/content_186478988932

I think you'll like it. happy hunting.

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Rio's flash players = good UI
Jul 8, 2005 5:50AM PDT

Some users have had issues with the Forge Sports in the long run, which could point to a bad batch somewhere in production. But in my experience, Rio's flash players are some of the only flash devices that have simple user interfaces, which can make the overall experience less frustrating. Also, I've personally had a chance to listen to music on the Sansa, and it sounds...not great. Not abysmal, but not great.

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Rio's flash players = bad software
Jul 8, 2005 4:27PM PDT

I used to really like Rio's flash players(the s-30/s-50 line were great AT THE TIME). To the best of my knowledge, Rio still requires you to use their clumsy music management software. If you're going to put up with that you may as well get one of the new Sony's which are even better for sports and have better battery life.

My advice however is to rebel against any device that requires you to use some proprietary software to put songs on it. Especially a flash player because your space is so limited you'll be loading new music onto the device often. Go "drag-and-drop" and never look back.

Buy the Sandisk Sansa. You can find some great deals on the web and are upgradable to 2gb SD cards.

My $0.02

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Well I returned my Rio Forge and got the....
Jul 10, 2005 11:07AM PDT

Sandisk SDMX. I've had it less than a day and I can honestly say that it's horrible(at least for me). I feels so cheap, the software provided is bad, the sound is terrible, it's not really drag and drop and just in general it's not a great player so therefore I choose out of countless hours of research and trying out so many I'm sticking with the Rio Forge Sport!

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Why the SDMX? Why NOT the Sensa?
Jul 12, 2005 12:00PM PDT

It will most likely "feel cheap" because it's very, VERY light(which is one of the reasons I bought it) but sound is above average and it's definitely drag-and-drop.