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"Get a Karma on eBay. They're cheap (now.)" on by glerf
Pros: Battery life is good.
Cons: Everything else.
Summary: This one fails to meet the acceptable cost/value standards. I recently played a 2GB audio book in my ride from the Karma on a long trip and 10 hours later it could had still played 20 tunes before I had to recharge. This thing would hold the book and not much else. My Karma would have no issues with 10 similar audio books and every rip you could listen to in several days without breaking a sweat.
Updated
Oh, yeah I still have an Archos 20 with rockbox and although I had to replace the hard drive once, It still kicks the ce2100. Even if you get a Karma with a HD that dies, replacing the drive would be cheaper than this device.Updated
And, if you can afford a TotalBitHead and some Entymonic ER-4s' the Karma's real value will become immediately evident. Just don't use that in your ride, unless you want to roll it. -
"best competitor to apple ipod mini." on by bobsrgreat
Pros: small, lightweight, great design, long battery life and red lights
Cons: smaller memory than ipod mini, carrying case covers buttons
Summary: this player is a great MP3 player. it holds a good amount of songs. the battery life stays for 20 hours which almost doubles the ipod mini. it has a cool design with the red lights in the buttons. the only downsides are that the 2.5 GB hard drive is smaller than the ipod mini's 4 GB hard drive and that the included carrying case covers all the buttons and it doesnt have a belt clip.
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"Good if you get it cheap" on by njtechie
Pros: Price $30 after rebate
Cons: problems with USB 1.1 on XP
Summary: I saw this on a massive close out sale at Fry music in NJ. I paid $100, but recieved a $70 rebate, so the final price was around $30. I was really excited to get a decent looking MP3 player for only 30 bucks with a long battery life. I went to the Rio Audio web site:
www.digitalnetworksna.com
To upgrade the software and firmware. It come Rio Music Manager standard (like a watered down Itunes or Windows Media Player), I actually liked the program. I upgraded it to the latest version via a download and install (the updater did not work) version 2.96 build 3. The software was very intuitive and I was up and running with a custom playlist in no time. The sound quality is decent, but not nearly as good as the SanDisk Sansa (these are great players, but have an issue with playlists).
The website has the wrong version of firmware under the Rio CE2100 - I installed the older firmware listed which cased some issues, I quickly found the newer Version 1.95 which I think is for the Carbon series. It upgraded very easily and worked perfect. I beleive it ships standard now. The player is simple to understand and somewhat intuitive.
I like the neck holder on the Sansa, but this is small enogh and comes with a very basic case. I have to metion that I had major problems (which is why I tried the two firmwares) with my older HP laptop with USB 1.1; it refused to be recognized as a device. I was forced to configure the unit and synch it with my never Toshiba laptop running USB 2.0 standard. I ever tried changing the mode from mtp & msc, nothing worked. If I has paid a lot of money I would have returned the unit, but for $30 I'm going to keep it and just synch with my newer laptop.
It's also build strong, the volume on the dial is easy to control. The menu's are half developed, with some having a return icon and others without. Overall, if you can get a killer deal go for it... -
"Great buy for just over $100" on by babblebck
Pros: Storage, Ease of use
Cons: No FM or voice recorder.
Summary: -This is not an I-pod but for just over $100 this player is just fine.Cnet review was when this player was much higher priced.
-Sound quality is good.
-Easy downloads from media player or drag and drop.
-2.5GB storage for this price is incredible.
-Decent carry case with swivel belt clip.
-Easy to navigate controls.
-Good battery life. Maybe not 20 hours but sufficient.
-It does have a lock option. Press menu and center control and the device is locked.
-Handy stopwatch function with lap and average lap readouts. Handy, but a FM tuner would have been better.
-If you dont need a Cadilac but want a big tank. This is a great buy ! -
"Excellent Player" on by coachgeorge
Pros: Sound, Looks, Battery, Durability, Price
Cons: No Color Display
Summary: I bought the Rio in 2005. I travel a lot, dislike Ipods, need an mp3 player for the plane and the soccer field (I coach youth soccer and use music during our warm ups). The bottom line, this player has great sound, a metal case, great looks and is easy to use. I can also use various music programs and services, I am not tied to the manufacturers program. The prices now are well under $100.00. Why buy an Ipod or Chinese replica? The only reason this is not a 10 is because of the B&W screen.
Rio ce2100 user reviews (2.5GB)
Where to Buy
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