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"new pearl version actually has a few fixes" on by threepointone
Pros: new carrying case; headphone fix; other carbon pros
Cons: other carbon cons
Summary: it's not quite the same as the carbon, since it's a newer version and it's got a few revisions; the carrying case now has a window for you to see everything, and has holes for you to access all the controls. and unlike the regular carbon, you can be assured that every pearl has the headphone fix; some dealers are still selling the old carbon before the fix.
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"Excellent product with great features and sound quality!" on by rakrecak
Pros: Fully customizable EQ, extremely small, nice display, intuivite menus, many play options, impressive sound quality (much better than iPod Mini), no software required for file transfers, long battery
Cons: 90 day warranty, no fm tuner, hold function is a combination of two buttons
Summary: This is the best mp3 player that I have ever owned. I bought an iPod Mini and immediately sold it to buy this mp3 player because I was very unimpressed with the sound quality. I wasn't disappointed for a second! The sound quality on this mp3 player is second to none that I have tried, and it has so many options. I love the nicely lit, relatively large display. The fact that you don't have to install any proprietary software to transfer any kind of file is a big plus for me. The battery always lasts me about 18 hours at 75% volume, which is great. I think that for how much you pay for this unit, the warranty is really poor. I don't care that it doesn't have an FM tuner, but some might. There is no actual physical hold button, but you have to hold a combination of two buttons, which some may not like. I would highly recommend this mp3 player to anyone!!!
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"Mini marvel" on by wastedyuthe
Pros: Easy to use, great quality audio
Cons: no back button, no playlist creator in player menu
Summary: Wow. I am extremely impressed with this excellent player. I chose it for a number of reasons- the excellent reviews, the size and shape (comfortable to hold and navigate in your hand), the ease of connection (no driver needed, and no software needed if you want to use wmp10), ease of use (normally I just use my thumb with the wheel to select tracks/albums, menus easy to navigate), the quality of the audio is excellent, the accessories that come with it are also excellent (I like the power adapter that the usb lead plugs into so you only need one lead, the leather-look case is great, and the headphones deliver solid audio for their size although I use my larger ones at home). It was great being able to use this out of the box without any problems what-so-ever, and it came as a comfort after reading about Creative Zen Micro's locking-up and battery problems. I am glad to say, I have had no such problems with this little beauty. Two little niggles: no 'back' button. Instead a 'back' option is at the end of listings in the menus (this can be a pain if you are in the middle of a large list of songs and need to scroll either way just to go back a menu). Saying that, it's nice to select 'back' in the menu as you don't need to take your thumb off the wheel to press a 'back' button. The other little niggle is no option for creating playlists on the player, instead you have to create them on your computer. Neither of these are serious problems and only stop the player from being a 10 rather than 9.
Updated
I would just like to add to my intial review, regarding software. WMP10 had at times played up a little when syncing with the player- sometimes it would convert files before transfering to WMA even though it didn't need to, and at one time it didn't copy over a couple of tracks, even though it thought it did (they weren't on the list, but trying to copy over wouldn't do anything). By this time I thought I'd try the software that came with the player, and boy was I impressed. As soon as I set up a syncronisation with the player it spotted the missing tracks and put them on straight away. Not only that I found it extremely easy to navigate through the tracks on my player and my PC. It is also easy to edit tags either individually or in groups. An added plus is slightly faster transfer to the player (or at least so it seems). A great piece of software, and my choice now to use with my superb player- I love it!!!!Updated
I have found the '<<' button on the front acts as a 'back' button too! Why wasn't this stated in the instructions?! So now there is only the one niggle of no playlist options on the player. -
"Overall, an excellent player" on by sethkrieger
Pros: Sound, size, shape, battery life
Cons: No carry case or beltclip included
Summary: There are only two issues to mar this fine player. One, had to purchase an aftermarket case. The included case is ok for protection, but it has no clip and you can't get to the controls with the player in it! The other issue is that it is not yet compatible with yahoo music, but that is supposed to change with an upcoming firmware update.
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"Love the Carbon Pearl" on by lesa
Pros: Great sound, fast uploads, nice design
Cons: none so far
Summary: Bought this mp3 player for my daughter, and find myself "borrowing" it quite a bit. Very easy to download music from my subscription service (Rhapsody) and equally as easy to download from my PC. Software was easy to install and use. Great design, fits nicely in the hand. Love the scroll wheel. Menu is easy to use (even for a 12 yr old). Lots of memory. Great battery life. Love the design on the USB, it connects to the wall charger for charging, but disconnects from the plug for use with PC. Haven't experienced any hard drive crashes (heard this is a problem with some mp3's). Very happy with my purchase.
Rio Carbon Pearl user reviews (5GB)
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