Entered CNET Catalog: 08/12/2003
SKU: 0018258012973
Manufacturer: Digital Networks North America
Manufacturer description
The revolutionary Rio Nitrus packs 1.5GB into a stealthy, razor-thin design. With the ability to carry over 750 songs, never before has this much capacity been offered on a player this small. Fast USB 2.0 connection loads the player quickly. Simple menus, thoughtful controls, and a clear display make navigation instinctive. A 5-Band Adjustable Equalizer provides a custom listening experience. Quality components throughout yield a player without compromise.Product summary
The good: Compact, slim design; clean sound; easy operation; long battery life; 1.5GB 1-inch drive.
The bad: No recording function; no FM radio; no remote; no carrying case.
The bottom line: The lightweight Nitrus may not offer nearly as much storage as the iPod for the money, but a good software package helps you forget that.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 08/22/2003
Editor's note: We have changed the rating in this review to reflect recent changes in our rating scale. Click here to find out more.
At 2 ounces and 3 by 2.4 by 0.6 inches, the Rio Nitrus has design specs that sound more like those of a flash-based player than a hard drive-based one. (Unlike the official specs, these measurements were taken at the largest points on the device's curved chassis.) The player's outer rim is rubberized, making it easier to grip and less vulnerable to damage if dropped.
In terms of style, the Nitrus presents a clean, slick, mini radar-detector-like appearance, with a shiny black front and a bare minimum of well-placed buttons that make it simple to operate with one hand. A jog dial on the upper-right corner handles navigation on the backlit LCD, which has a high enough resolution (96x64) to display the advanced menu system found on previous Rio products. A red laptop-style multidirectional control in the center of the front panel handles playback and some navigation functions, while a sturdy Hold switch on the back of the player prevents accidental button activation.
No in-line remote or carrying case is included (in fact, all you get is the player, an AC adapter, and Sennheiser earbuds), and neither is offered as an accessory at this time. Since the device is meant to be toted in a pocket, this isn't major faux pas, but a thin, protective case could prevent scratches from keys and other in-pocket objects.
The Nitrus's small, light design makes it suitable for jogging, but jostling the player while it's in the process of reading from the hard drive to the flash-memory buffer can cause your music to skip and may ultimately damage the device (it has 90-day warranty). Rio claims that it is indeed suitable for jogging--and it might be--but you're probably better off with a high-end flash player if you're looking for an athletics-oriented unit.
While it lacks extra features such as voice recording, an FM radio tuner, and line-in encoding, the Rio Nitrus has everything you need for MP3/WMA playback and more. Among its onboard features are a five-band graphic equalizer with moving high-resolution sliders, as well as six EQ presets; nine midtrack bookmarks (great for audiobooks); resume and shuffle/repeat functions; a date/time indicator; and a stopwatch.
Rio Music Manager is a polished, powerful tool for transferring tunes to the Nitrus.
For loading the player with tunes, Nitrus comes with impressive syncing software that makes its 1.5GB capacity actually feel more like 10GB, so long as you don't mind connecting the device to your PC (sorry, no Macs) every few days. Rio Music Manager 2.0 offers a plethora of powerful automatic and manual syncing options. Not only can you transfer individual songs, you can sync specified playlists, albums, artists, or genres and even set an exact percentage of new music to send to the device upon each syncing session. Multiple profiles let you set up different syncs, which can be manually executed later with the click of a button. For instance, you could delete your French-pop playlist and specify that Rio Music Manager transfer '70s jazz onto the player in its place. The well-designed program has too many other outstanding syncing tweaks and stylistic touches to list here, but suffice to say that the company has broken new ground with this software package.
A note about connectivity: While the Nitrus does not show up as a removable drive, it comes with a simple app called Rio Taxi, which allows you to transfer data files of any type to the device's hard drive and subsequently onto another Windows computer running the software.
With its new line of portable players, Rio made a concerted effort to offer superior battery life, especially compared to the iPod. According to company specs, the Nitrus's internal lithium-ion cell lasts up to 16 hours--an impressive claim that our testing verified.
In terms of sound quality, the Nitrus's squeaky-clean 93dB signal-to-noise ratio competes with that of the best-sounding MP3 players. It puts out 8mW of power per channel, which drives the included Sennheisers to deafening levels and provides ample power for higher-end headphones, such as our reference Shure E3c, to reach high volumes as well.
Connecting to a USB 2.0 port, we transferred a playlist with 100MB of music onto the player in 72 seconds, for a transfer rate of 1.39MB per second. Understandably, transfer time was slower over USB 1.1, at 0.45MB per second.
User opinions
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Worst Experience EVER!
Pros: It's shiny
Cons: Breaks!!! Worst customer service, no carrying case, no clip.
Bought one for my cousin and one for myself. After about six months, they BOTH broke!!! We had to send it in for repair, pay the shipping costs and all. His took about 3 months and mine took 6 months! And that's after fighting with the people that do repairs and even the owner who told me to go screw myself.
After receiving the player, 4 months later, broke again! With the same "upgrage" bug.
Payed again for shipping, and they told me that it's too costly to repair, that they will send me a credit for $75! I spent $175! or why don't they just give me a new one? or a refurbished one?
I'm afraid to call because they might send me to hell again.
out of 204 user reviews
An okay player
Pros: good size, price is decent, accessories are cheap
Cons: no belt clip, menus are poorly organized, battery starts losing power after a year or so
This was my first MP3 player, I got it for using primarily at the gym, but also for on the bus (I have a long commute). I was dismayed to find there is no clip on this-- I bought a case with a clip on ebay for $6 but it doesn't hold it very tightly and it's kind of awkward. The joystick thing sticks out too far and if you don't have it on lock it's easy to bump it and pause or jump songs. The menu is layed out in a way that does not make sense-- the "playlist" section is very last instead of towards the top. Oh and somehow recently I got a weird (permanent)squiggly mark on the LCD screen. I have no idea how that happened.
When making a playlist you can't add songs-- if you add a song to an existing playlist the software automatically deletes all the other songs on the list which is incredibly frustrating.
I don't have a huge music selection but I have found 1.5 GB to be insufficient-- I spend a lot of time deleting music to make room for new stuff. The Rio is also not compatible with all online music services.
The good things about it are it is one of the smallest ones I've seen, the price was decent ($100 on ebay) and it has held up pretty well for the past two years-- I'm definitely upgrading to something with at least 4GB soon-- probably either the iRiver clix or the Ipod nano.
out of 204 user reviews
Disappointed with my Rio
Pros: Sounds quality great, longevity between recharg great
Cons: Can't upload more songs, have to PAY for tech help
out of 204 user reviews
Why to never buy a Rio
Pros: small size
Cons: It dies and customer support is $20
out of 204 user reviews
Works but has its downfalls
Pros: Looks great
Cons: Has a few bugs and control issues. What accessories?
out of 204 user reviews
The Rio Nitrus Is A Very Well Priced Mp3 Player
Pros: Well Priced, Worth It's Money
Cons: Simple, No Bells And Whistles
The design of the Rio Nitrus is a fairly decent one, given was one of the older models. However, don’t let this fool you. It has intelligently placed designated volume controls on the left side. The downside of the new mp3 players is, that if you are navigating through a menu and don’t want to lose your spot, you can just turn down the volume without ever changing the screen. On the right side of the Rio Nitrus is the menu button as well as the scroll wheel. To get to the main menu screen, you have to press the menu button (if it isn’t already obvious). The mp3 player can be operated in every way possible without actually using the scroll wheel. The only thing it is used for is to navigate through the menus faster than using the 5-way navigating mini-joysick – or whatever it is called. The scroll wheel can be pushed in to select. The 5-way joysick can be pressed up, down, left, and (bet you knew this was coming) – right. The fifth way is to actually press the joysick in. This is actually a really good idea, because it serves as a way to add more ways to get through the menus. To get through the menus, you can press up or down to scroll. Additionally you can hold it down to keep scrolling. To select, press right or the center. On the play screen press up to start/pause the song, down to stop, left for previous, right for next, and hold left/right for fast forward or rewind which gradually increases speed. The downside to the 5-joysick is that it can collect dust or other uncleanable junk right under it, though this is an almost invisible flaw. This is probably just my falut, because I stick it in my lint-covered pockets. There is a hold funtion (locks all the buttons so you can safely put it away, confiedent it won’t change) on the back which surprisingly is a good place for it. Also, a tip of the hat to ability to choose to lock all the buttons, or all with the exception of the volume and/or just the pause button. I go with the exception of the volume which has enough resistance to not accidently get pressed.
The smart people at Rio put a rubbery coating around the edges of the whole Nitrus that can’t really get scratched or damaged. It is also a genius safety precaution to solve the problem that the average clumsy person drops everything sometime, someplace, and you never know if it will be on concrete.
The Rio Nitrus comes with a set of awesome earbud headphones (in my opinion, I don’t know what kind you like), a power adapter for a wall outlet, and a mini USB 2.0 cable, which transfers about one song in almost two seconds. The only downside is there is no beltclip, armband, or case. They don’t exist so you can’t get them as accessories.
The screen is okay for a low priced mp3 player. It has a nice blue backlight. The resolution isn’t bad, but not praiseworthy. It is what I expected. The top line on the play screen shows the song title, the line below shows the artist (in slightly smaller font), and the line below that shows the album (in the same font as the artist). This, in my opinion is a great setup, however, say the album is something like ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean Soundtrack’, it won’t fit all in the line. It will pause with ‘The Pirates of the Carib…’, then scroll everything by, like some of the old computer screensavers. The small font, coupled with black and white, not fantastic resolution makes it very difficult to read. The same goes for the artist, however the track title is in a larger, bolder font, and is readable. The design was above average for a model that didn’t copy anyone else’s. Way to go originality! (I think that all the Rio mp3 players use the same user interface).
The features on the Rio aren’t numerous, but satisfactory. It has 1.5 gigbites, which holds a nice collection of songs, not necessarily a rack of CDs, but the best songs off each CD. I found to rip songs off of a CD, using Rio Music Manager (the outstanding, bundled software), change the bitrate (under options) to a lower one, like 96kb/s (I think the default is 192kb/s). This slightly decreases the sound quality (I’m not sure the human ear can actually tell the difference, I sure can’t), but dramatically makes the file size much smaller, thus enabling you to fit a heck of a lot more songs on the Rio Nitrus, which I got to about 400 songs with a tiny bit of room left for a few more songs. This strategy for making small file sizes works for all mp3 players and CDs.
The Rio Nirus has a built-in stopwatch that is as accurate to the hundreth of a second. It can also store multiple times and find the difference of the last two, and the average of all of them. Another handy feature I’ve never seen anywhere else is the bookmarks. You can save any point in history and jump right back to it, if it is a favorite song or a ceratin album with shuffle on. It saves the song, how far into the song you were, and what the playback settings were (repeat 1, all, shuffle, or none). You can store multiple, but not an infinite number of them.
The Rio Nitrus comes with a CD that has the computer software, Rio Music Manager Software. I happen to like it because of multiple reasons. First, it starts up very quickly. It periodically scans your music so you can make sure you always have your library up to date. It shows your music already oragnized under the tabs: albums, artists, genres, songs, playlists, and the search tab. Rio Music Manager allows you to edit files right on the Rio Nitrus, if it is plugged in with the mini USB cable. The Rio Nitrus comes with 12 songs already, only a few which I found worth listening to, but that counts for something. Rio Music Manager has playback controls, but are saddly primitive, as well as CD burning capabilites. Interestingly, the ripping technology is nice, but the burning is only possible if you are copying a CD, so you cannot make a custom CD, or at least I’ve not been able to.
I bought mine at ubid.com, for a ridiculously low price of about $60, thought you might like to know that.
out of 204 user reviews
Groovey!!!
Pros: Multitudes of Songs!
Cons: Rio needs to create a carrier for it!!!
I have had the RIO for about 1 1/2 yrs with no problems. I have dropped it several times, with no damage!
out of 204 user reviews
Perfect for those who don't actually want or need 40GB for mp3s
Pros: Ample space, sleak design, lightweight, durable, cost-effective, informative screen, battery life
Cons: unmountable
I lost my nitrus before Christmas last year, so I had to buy a new mp3 player. I didn't even consider buying anything else...I bought another Nitrus. DEATH TO IPODS.
out of 204 user reviews
Do not buy this, lasted 5 months
Pros: no pros to this rip off
Cons: "upgrader" bug, stops working shortly after your warranty is up
out of 204 user reviews
Brilliant machine
Pros: absolutely amazing
Cons: theres nothing wrong wat so ever
out of 204 user reviews
Worked for a few months
Pros: easy to use
Cons: lousy warranty
out of 204 user reviews
Decent player...with few problems
Pros: Easy interface, software
Cons: Diminishing battery life.
out of 204 user reviews
This Things Rocks
Pros: Easy to use, transfer, & navigate. Size is just right for the average music collection and can hold about 450 -500 wma files. Has long Battery life. It is just a awsome piece of equitment!
Cons: No case, but can easly find a digi cam case that will fit it no problam.
out of 204 user reviews
An expensive paperweight
Pros: Fun and easy to use while it lasts.
Cons: It only lasts long enough for the 90 day warranty
out of 204 user reviews
Worked really good
Pros: Great sound,never messed up when I ran with it
Cons: Randomly shuts off,No features,Pauses somtimes to find song info
out of 204 user reviews
Good only if I could make it work with no problems
Pros: good sound quality, compact
Cons: keeps crashing everytime i try to add music
now it has another problem! now it just turns off by itself! this is rididulous! Do not buy this product please! i't will drive you insane! back to customer support! I was only able to use this thing twice before it acted up.
out of 204 user reviews
Great Player!
Pros: Cheap, Rechargable Battery, Good Amount Of Space
Cons: Needs a radio, it could stand to be a bit louder
out of 204 user reviews
great product but broke wayyy to easily
Pros: small, sleek and easy to use
Cons: my screen smashed after a MONTH of use...rediculous
out of 204 user reviews
Great Player! Very satisfied.
Pros: Good design, use it for bike ridding.
Cons: The only con is lack of color screen but it still is great!
out of 204 user reviews
The Absolute WORST Customer Service
Pros: Small, Lightweight
Cons: Just goes into "re-format" mode
out of 204 user reviews
Yall r on some crack
Pros: everything about this player SOUND QUALITY A+
Cons: the earbuds I got some sony headphones
I hav to admit i held back buying the nitrus for a couple of days because of all the bad reviews on this site and how people said it last for HOURS i meen i just got mine and its perfect but if it breaks or stops etc, i will post another review but i meen i love this player right now and yes get a extended warranty for this product
BUY FROM EBAY
out of 204 user reviews
worked good for 4 months....
Pros: small, held 300 songs, mp3 mostly
Cons: poor customer support...short warrenty 90 days.
out of 204 user reviews
very handy player
Pros: sound quality + size
Cons: File storage is not a direct process; organising files not that easy
Organising the music files is not that straight forward. Music manager that comes along with this player does not provide import option for playlists which is a definite minus.
doesnt support direct file transfer. to store and retrieve files, you should install rio taxi s/w that comes in teh CD provided. not a flexible option
out of 204 user reviews
Worked good... Then...
Pros: Great size, good navigation, looks decent
Cons: Advertised battery is 16 hours. I got 9.
out of 204 user reviews
short term fix
Pros: simple design, easy use, nice software, low price
Cons: stops working, annoying bugs, scratches easily, sound could be better
out of 204 user reviews
Very Unimpressed
Pros: It's small. It is 1.5 GB. Playlist capable. Sounds good.
Cons: Low battery life. Software is confusing. "Skipping" during play unacceptable! No case!
out of 204 user reviews
C-Net Editor DIssappointing
Pros: Small, Light, Good Software
Cons: No FM Radio, No HD, Problem with RealAudio Legal MP3 Downloads
Now, less than a year after I bought this MP3 player, it is not working. The MP3 player is making a lot of clicking sounds and uploading is a major problem. This is one MP3 player I do not recommend. Too many headaches, not enough features. For your money you can get a bigger hard drive and more options and be a lot happier.
out of 204 user reviews
Good if you just want an MP3
Pros: It can hold a lot of music and is very small.
Cons: Easily get's scratched, doesn't come with case, and you can't find a case online.
out of 204 user reviews
Fruit flies live longer
Pros: Didn't last long enough to find out
Cons: Product life of 5 hours should pretty much sum it up
As discussed by other reviewers, Rio requires the owner to pay shipping charges and wait approximately 1-4 weeks before getting the player back in working order (with no guarantee or extended warranty to protect from the same thing happening again). Why hasn't there been a lawsuit against Rio yet?
out of 204 user reviews
A couple of bugs but works fine
Pros: lightweight, sleek, compact, good sound quality, large enough HD for people who don't need 5000 songs in an mp3 player
Cons: HD is too sensitive, medium battery life, no belt clip
As far as I'm concern, I'm pretty happy with my nitrus. I've read bad reviews, but people fail to take in mind that a HD based mp3 player is not something you should carelessly toy with, by shaking it around, dropping it, sitting on it, stepping on it, whatever. You paid good money for a product, then take better care of it.
This product is basic and to the point. It has a nice digital screen that has the name of the song, artist, volume, battery life, etc. The software is easy to use, and you can make playlists. I love music, but I don't like having to browse through 1000 different artists or 5000 tracks to play one song. I'm a "one song on repeat forever" type of listener, and nitrus is just big enough for my music needs without making me feel guilty for not using the remaining 19.5GB if I were to have an iPod.
The cons, there are a few. First of all, after about 6 months, many said their nitrus simply died. Well I'm proud to say that mine has survived that deadline and works. Only about the same time, I've noticed that it made a unsettling shrieking noise in my earplugs if I started running with it, it prompted the HD to shake, so it messed up the song I was listening to. Luckily the shrieking can be stopped by pressing stop. So I try not to shake the HD. That's what I dislike about these new mp3 players, HD drives are highly sensitive to movement, so you have to be really careful how you handle it, while a flash-based memory card was way more durable, you could shake as much as you want and it's still play fine. On occasions for some unknown reason, it may bug during a song, but nothing serious.
Battery life was longer when I first charged it for the first time, but now I'd say the battery life is about 5-6hrs of music and takes about 3-5hrs to charge.
The final and very minor gripe, no belt clip!! I think a belt clip feature would've been great because the nitrus looks great. But I can understand that due to the shaking involved when walking could disrupt the HD.
I've used the Rio300, the RioOne and now the Rio Nitrus, all 3 products were great. I love Rio, and though Nitrus is more sensitive than my flash-based Rios, I think it's still a great product if you take care of it. This product is not for very active people or people who put it through durability tests! Because remember, this thing isn't made of steel, it's made of plastic.
out of 204 user reviews
A good player... with somes bugs
Pros: Simple, compact, look good, quality sound, good battery life
Cons: Bad battery quality, sometimes, it will simply not start
You can easly buy this player without problems, but be sure to take an extended warranty.
out of 204 user reviews
Died 3 times
Pros: good quality till it dies
Cons: dies often and had to get it replaced 3 times
out of 204 user reviews
Great product if 1.5gb is enough space
Pros: I have had the rio nitrus for about 4 months, and it is a good product. It holds up great, and is very small; barely making a bulge in your pocket. At 2 ounces, the Rio is also very light and unnoticable to hold. The equalizer is also pretty good.
Cons: The Ipod's click wheel is much simpler to use than the navigation system of the Nitrus. Also, it only holds 250 mp3s if they are very low quality. If you think you can use more than 1.5 gb, your really better off buying an Ipod or similar product with m
out of 204 user reviews
Rio Nitrus is Disposable!
Pros: I loved my RIO Nitrus until the battery would no longer charge. The rechargeable battery is NOT replaceable. The unit is disposable.
Cons: Rechargeable battery can NOT be replaced. Unit must be discarded after the battery stops charging. Mine lasted about one year!
out of 204 user reviews
Not even one star!
Pros: Good Sound quality, Holds a lot for the price
Cons: Lasted 1 month. It started clicking around a week after I got it then it stopped altogether. I tried several times to reset it and it never worked. A real piece of crap
out of 204 user reviews
good working and holds plenty of songs for most.
Pros: small,good sized memory,easy song adding, pretty cheap.
Cons: doesn't work with napster to go.
out of 204 user reviews
Don't waste your money on this one.
Pros: Lots of music storage.
Cons: My battery quit charging after 6 months. When skipping tracks there is an anoying pause while the player finds the info for the next song.
out of 204 user reviews
thought it was great until it broke
Pros: my first player, loved it. very easy to use, thought the software was easy. had no problems finding and downloading songs.
Cons: it locked up after 6 months, tried everything. reset it , downloaded firmware, nothing worked. i was really disatisfied with rio customer support. went to their website, absolutely no help. kept telling me i would have a chance to email a support person
out of 204 user reviews
Loved it at first, now it's dead
Pros: Compact size; easy to use
Cons: Reliablity is a serious issue. Mine worked beautifully for the first 6 months, and I did not experience any of the battery problems or "upgrader" messages like many others. However, one day I turned it on, selected my music, pushed play, and it shut off
out of 204 user reviews
No new batteries
Pros: Sounds great, love it, light, small, holds good amount of songs
Cons: you cannot buy a replacement battery, pretty much a one time use mp3 player at 150$
out of 204 user reviews
Nitrus ROCKS!!!
Pros: Someone said that the case is not included... well, you DON'T need one! You can take it with U in a Shirt pocket..!!
Cons: None!!
out of 204 user reviews
WARNING: HANDLE WITH CAUTION
Pros: Barebones music player Not bad sound quality OK headphones
Cons: VERY limited warranty, and mine broke in 3 months (Not Covered).
out of 204 user reviews
It does it all really well - sounds great!
Pros: Rugged, sounds great, battery life is good - I take a train 2 hours/day and have used it for about a year now for about 600 hours now - still as good as new.
Cons: In freezing tempratures, the battery life can be significantly less - so in the winter, don't leave it in your car... kind of expensive too
out of 204 user reviews
Over all a great player to put in you're shirt pocket
Pros: Great unit for road trips when you dont want to bring you're whole CD collection with you. I use mine with a Sound Feeder to play right thru my car stereo with no wires,works great.
Cons: I'm not a big fan of the software. No audio level control and kind of confusing to use. I have much better results using Windows Media Player 10 now that it supports portable devices. Also as others have stated,it would be nice if it had a clip or carry c
out of 204 user reviews
I love my rio_nitrus
Pros: Lightweight, fits in my blazer. I think it's much better then an i pod. Plays for a long time.
Cons: It goes off after it's told me for ages it's got low battery. Spose that's my fault though!!!
out of 204 user reviews
Unfixable after 8 months - out of luck
Pros: Easy to hold with rubber sides; fine sound; good software - easy to download songs.
Cons: Broke and unfixable after 8 months even with perfect care. Rio said the hard-drive breaks sometimes and is unfixable, and with a 90 day warranty I need to pay $75 for a refurbished unit (no thanks!)Beyond that the scroll wheel on the side of the unit too
out of 204 user reviews
Positive and Negative Comments
Pros: The player is small and holds all my music. It was easy to install and download music. I love it.
Cons: I only had rio 1 month before the deadly screen appeared "upgrader". I called tech support and they told me to upgrade firmware several times. If nothing, call back and they will replace.
out of 204 user reviews
Better than Apple "Jukbox in my pocket"
Pros: It is one of the cooliest things because its cheap has many controles it is light and i can listen to my KISS songs as much as i want!
Cons: Nothing i love the Rio Nitrus!!!!!
out of 204 user reviews
Amazing Product I like it alot
Pros: Light, great options of display, many, many, many other things
Cons: Not that many in my oppinion, the only one I can really pull out of my head right now is it is very delicate (like if you drop it)
out of 204 user reviews
A Real Joy...
Pros: Got it in 3 days from Overstock.com. Took me 20 minutes from the time I opened the box until downloading the first CD... I like everything about it...
Cons: If you're into $4 Lates and Whitish headphones then this unit is not for you...
out of 204 user reviews
PLEASE READ THIS!!
Pros: This is a great little player for people who don't listen to a lot of songs and want a small and lightweight way to carry them around. It's got great sound for its size and it looks pretty sleek too. The computer program it comes with is very easy to use
Cons: The scroll wheel on the side gets a bit annoying at times and the fact that it doesnt have a carrying case can be a hassle. On mine, the plastic back is coming off a bit, but that's probably because I dropped it a few times.
out of 204 user reviews
I would suggest another
Pros: Relatively small size, easy song search, joystick operation w/ lock Great equalizer Cheap--
Cons: Both me and my brother purchased one. Mine lasted about 6 months before it started randomly turning itself off. Firmeware did not fix it.About 2 months later it stopped working altogether. My Brothers was dropped ONCE on CARPET (no lying) , and it damaged
out of 204 user reviews
Dont buy it for workouts
Pros: plays music?
Cons: Stopped working when it got wet. I didnt submerge it, just tried using it while jogging in the rain and it stopped working. Save your money
out of 204 user reviews
Can't handle adventure
Pros: The Nitrus or any other of the Rio products are a great deals for those who use it causually, but...
Cons: ...they don't seem to perform well in the field. I tried both a Rio Sport and Rio Nitrus and both game me trouble outdoors. First, even with the lock feature on, both units would unexpectly shut down on me, even with full batteries. Then at high altitude
out of 204 user reviews
many unhappy Rio Nitrus owners
Pros: Plays music beautifully and when working, satisfies my needs to listen to music on the go. The software is good. Battery life is excellent.
Cons: After 6 months, my computer does not recognize my device any more. Visit the forums of rioaudio.com, riovolution.com, and rioworld.org and you will find countless number of people who have the same problem as I and who have taken the time to contact custo
out of 204 user reviews
Customer Service lacking
Pros: Lots of storage, rechargeable battery.
Cons: Customer service is a joke. I have been on the phone everyday this week to get an RMA number to repair my unit. I still havent and I've been on the phone sometimes for over 30 minutes. The volume button broke on my unit and the headsets disinigrated.
out of 204 user reviews
Customer service is unresponsive
Pros: Compact size
Cons: Battery can not be replaced - planned obsolescence - hard drive failed after 6 months but warranty is only 90 days
out of 204 user reviews
A FANTASTIC MP3 Player!
Pros: Ive been using this for over 1 year, and i have to say, im impressed, never gave me any error message. Run smoothly good thing bout this: 1. It has the best sound quality. Ipod, Creative, Philips, you name it... they cant beat the sound quality of this R
Cons: 1. No case, but u can buy some other cases 2. Although i dont mind with the capacity, this might be the downside for many people. 1,5 GB isnt big enough compared to the others.
out of 204 user reviews
DEFECTIVE PRODUCT!!! DO NOT BUY!!!
Pros: Features- ON PAPER!
Cons: Rio has put a DEFECTIVE product on the market! Read reviews in forums- ALL Nitrus' are defective! within 6 months, you end up with a piece of black junk!
out of 204 user reviews
MONKEYS REAL MONEYS
Pros: small...... black...?
Cons: Man if i could only put the service and support to -100000000 i would so bad.. i think a bunch of monkys work there or somthing idk. any way some how i got it locked in the "upgrader" mode... which is no good its like the blue screen of death for your pc
out of 204 user reviews
For the love of god and all that is holy this product is a huge piece of crap.
Pros: Work great for exactly three months and one day.
Cons: PIECE OF MONKEY ****!!!
out of 204 user reviews
Sucks on the longrun
Pros: When I first got it, everything about it was near perfect. The screen was totoally clear of any scratches and dust. The controls are easy and almost simple. Fits in your pocket like nothing was there. Volume buttons so easy to use, you could change the v
Cons: No FM radio and the battery dies all the time in your pocket because of heat. Has 1.39 GB of free space, instead of 1.5 GB, which is one of my peat peaves for this thing. This is one of my constant problems with the Nitrus, the battery. After having for s
out of 204 user reviews
Locks up (Don't Buy)
Pros: Small device that can hold lots of songs. Very light
Cons: I had the rio nitrus for about 1 month and it started to lock up and and turn off every time i wanted to play a song. The next day i counldn't even get into the menu, it said rio on the sceen and thats it. This happened to my friend around the same tim
out of 204 user reviews
good start, but horrible customer service
Pros: i loved this thing, it held about 600 of my songs in wma format, excellent random feature and abilities to play a certain artists songs or genre's. no complaints about its functions......when it worked
Cons: 2 months (feb 2003) after i got it, it displayed a message saying "upgrader" signifying it needed a firmware update. after about a half dozen "successful" installs i still was still unable to play music on it. luckily, it was still under warranty (malfunc
out of 204 user reviews
Nice player, decent price.
Pros: Good Storage. Easy interface. Good sound.
Cons: Not sealed well. Getting dust under display window & can't get it out. Volume controls placed close together. Sometimes buttons must be pressed or held hard to raise/lower volume.
out of 204 user reviews
Decent player for price
Pros: Good storage. Decent sound.
Cons: Casing was not sealed well. I now have dust caught under the display window & can't get it out. The volume controls are place too close together & somtimes need to be pressed down hard to function.
out of 204 user reviews
Won't Work Long
Pros: Great size. Loved it while it worked.
Cons: Had the Nitrus for exactly 4 months and is quit working. E-mailed tech support and they told me to load new firmware. Hard to do when it will not Past the RIO Banner screen. What a p.o.s. I spent 150 0n this thing and had it for 4 months. DO NOT BUY THIS
out of 204 user reviews
Customer service problems
Pros:
Cons: My Rio Nitrus failed to download after about a month of use. There is no 800 customer service number and the hold period for customer service at times is interminable. Customer service is located in India and proficiency in English is lacking. Customer
out of 204 user reviews
customer support worthless
Pros: easy to use
Cons: broke within a year for no good reason, forget about trying to contact customer support
out of 204 user reviews
Buggy Poor Support Cheesy Earphones
Pros: Small, sleek, fantastic battery life.
Cons: I had it working for exactly eight days. Then it began throwing up random bugs. Then I made the mistake of going to the technical support people who at first disconnected me, then told me to do exactly what I had already done, and the thing still din't
out of 204 user reviews
Buggy!!!
Pros: Light, good storage space, good software.
Cons: UNRELIABLE, no belt case, cheap looking body, weak amplifier, limited features
out of 204 user reviews
FANTASMIC_WITH_AN_M
Pros: GREAT SIZE, MEMORY IS HARD TO FILL WHEN USING THE .WAV FILES (THE IPOD CANT EVEN PLAY THEM), GREAT SOUND, COMES WITH: USB CORD, HEADPHONES, CHARGER, AND RIO MUSIC MANAGER, RIO TAXI, AND RIO INTERNET UPDATE.
Cons: battery life is not 15 hours as advertised
out of 204 user reviews
A handy, reliable, good-sounding mp3 player
Pros: Small size, intuitive user interface, sound quality
Cons: limited capacity, hard-to-read display, supplied earphones crappy and uncomfortable
out of 204 user reviews
Awesome ability to carry much music in a small package!
Pros: -Carry 750+ music files (WMA) -Menu selectable to selectively hear music by: artist, album, genre, track, year, new music as well as playlists -16-hour built in batter w/charger -Easy to use software -USB2 (USB 1.1 comp) moves tons of music quickly from y
Cons: -NO CARRYING CASE (Wow...DUH!!) -Need to purchase software add-on to rip MP3s (it should come with)
out of 204 user reviews
Good....
Pros: Ive never had one. But Im Getting one For Christmas.. I dont Know how it is. It looked good from the previews.
Cons:
out of 204 user reviews
Great player and worth the money!
Pros: The player has great battery life and works very well with Windows.I also like the stopwatch feature.
Cons: No FM tuner and no other colors.
out of 204 user reviews
bad warranty... will break after 90 days!
Pros: when it was working it was a great product, however that was not for very long
Cons: After 4months, I noticed a clicking noise emitting from the HDD... this was much louder than usual noise that comes from a HDD... turns out that this is a KNOWN issue for the Nitrus and RIO(or DigitalNetworks) has done nothing to make consumers aware of i
out of 204 user reviews
Pocket Player
Pros: The best thing about this player is that it fits in your pocket and you can't feel it there. It is an excellent player for an active person. No skips and no inadvertent actions on the controls. I can't understand why anyone would want more than 1.5 GB sto
Cons: Don't drop it. This player is not very tough. Also, don't continually hold the controller to advance songs, the player will crash and you will have to wait for the power to drain before you can operate the player again, via recharging. The Music Manager s
out of 204 user reviews
Biggest HD for the price but thats it
Pros: 1.5 gig Hd graphic eq
Cons: Freezes somtimes Hard to hit the reset button when it freezes Battery lasts 6 hours at the most
out of 204 user reviews
You Buy at your own Risk
Pros: Its nice and small.
Cons: Menu system is really weak. There is a bug in them that many people including myself have where the drive gets errors and will only turn on to a "Upgrader" error. And there is no definative solution. Rio as a company has horrid support. With no 800 numbe
out of 204 user reviews
Not too bad, not too good
Pros: Great software, decent features, nice sound
Cons: The worst "customer support" I've ever encountered. I wrote them about a problem I am still having with my player and it took them a week to respond. When they finally did they failed to adequately understand my problem and gave me wrong advice. I respond
out of 204 user reviews
Broken in 6 months!
Pros: The Nitrus is small, cute, and affordable, but not worth the money.
Cons: I have had the player for 6 months. It has sat on my desk the entire time - I've barely used it, and the screen suddenly developed a terrible black smudge on it(broken pixels). Rio support is AWFUL. Also, when scrolling between songs, there is a 5 second
out of 204 user reviews
Nitrus dead at 6 months
Pros: Great when it works.
Cons: Tech support helped fix problem just before 90 day warranty expired. At six months the unit is dead and can't be restarted using tips from user forums. Seems like many users have had similar problems.
out of 204 user reviews
Good player - when it worked
Pros: Good storage for the money, easy software for managing your music, good battery life.
Cons: Eventually, your player will stop working, and if its after 2 months, good luck getting a new one. Personally, my player has stopped working three times now. The first time I had to send it back and recieve a new one, which was no problem since it was l
out of 204 user reviews
hd broke the day i bought it, and support sucks
Pros: it does have some great quality sound from such a little device and 1.5 gigs is plenty for a long trip and it doesn't skip when you run with it.
Cons: OK, during day one of transferring files over to it, the hd on it started clicking and then randomly just timed out every file from then on, i thought you're kidding me, nope... i spent 40 MINUTES ON HOLD TO SPEAK TO A REP! which told me to replace the ba
out of 204 user reviews
Definitely not disappointed... but wish it had a little more.
Pros: The software bundle that comes with the Nitrus is fullfeatured and very easy to use. The learning curve is non-existent and very straight forward, especially when it comes to customization of the options. The actualy palyer itself is very good. I encod
Cons: You have to use the proprietary software to put files onto the player, hence the reason it comes with drivers. Also, I found that only 5 customizable bands on the equalizer was too little for me, but that's just nit-picking and the equalizer presets in
out of 204 user reviews
A great product for the casual MP3 listener
Pros: Software to copy files to player easy to use. A user can select songs quite quickly. Menus are easy to follow. Unlike other users, I find that the volume is fine. In fact I wonder why people complain about the volumes
Cons: It doesn't come with a carrying case. I think for the price they could provide you with a better set of earphones.
out of 204 user reviews
Do not waste you money
Pros: This product is small and lightweight
Cons: I have been through 4 Rio Nitrus players and all of them have broken in result of coding error. This product should be recalled off of the market. Thier customer service may be the the worst I have ever dealt with. If you want to save yourself from a hea
out of 204 user reviews
Outstanding MP3 Player
Pros: Great sound quality - small and lightweight - can carry in your pocket or in carry bag
Cons: No FM radio
out of 204 user reviews
Great Mp3 player for the money
Pros: I bought this from Ebay, new for around $100, you can normally only get a 128/256 player in this price range. Menu system is very good, battery life is very good and sound quality is excellent. I use the Nitrus with a set of Etymotic ER-6 headphones whi
Cons: Does not appear to charge from USB and does not come with a carry case, although I am using the Etymotic ER-6 ear phones and I store the ER-6's in a Sony wind up case and use the ER-6 zippered case to store the Nitrus (fits perfect). Have not found any o
out of 204 user reviews
Buy the Warranty or its a waste
Pros: Lots of room for your songs and playlists.
Cons: Sometimes it just shuts off by itself. Mine broke within 3 months and could not be fixed. The firmware corrupts easily and your player is screwed. Warranty needed. Can't jog with it or anything. Also never went really loud. Battery doesnt last too long an
out of 204 user reviews
Good player, not a great buy
Pros: Small,easy to use, holds lots of music
Cons: Can't delete music directly from the player; battery life is not what Rio says it is; scratches extremely easily. I left it on my desk for a couple hours, and the entire screen was scratched.
out of 204 user reviews
Now that prices have come down...
Pros: Very easy to use, sound quality is very good. I have no problems with the control stick or buttons. They seem to be very well laid out. No problems with lock ups or downloading songs either. With a USB 2.0 connection, downloads have been really fast.
Cons: The 1.5 gig hard drive is a little too small compared to all the new players coming out.
out of 204 user reviews
This thing is dope
Pros: long battery life good formats small-take that u ipod heads light headphones way almost more good back light-one handed control
Cons: no case-the tech srvise people r from india-myn had a hardwere failure but worth returning to get fixed unlike the archos ondio lol
out of 204 user reviews
I wouldn't get another one
Pros: Small, holds enough songs.
Cons: I somehow wound up with upgrader on my screen and tried everything the website said with no luck. Service was not available on a Saturday. It has turned off and turned back on several times. Several times listening it halted and played a loud snowing s
out of 204 user reviews
only one problem "upgrader"
Pros: it's a quality product that works for those ones who don't have the money or dont wanna have an ipod but still want a good product
Cons: but as i said on the online summary, the internal sofware is weak or something 'cause it becomes to the upgrader funcion for no reason at all and doesnt allow you to use it. i've change the product once because i couldn't fixe it with the "help" stuff on
out of 204 user reviews
Wish it was bigger but great sound
Pros: Easy to use, great sound (also great headphones), very robust
Cons: Needs to be 4-5Gb and needs a case
out of 204 user reviews
best mp3 player ever
Pros: its small, it has a lot of memory, and the software is awsome
Cons: no fm tuner, but u can buy an adapter
out of 204 user reviews
Poor Quliaty -- Zero Customer Support
Pros: Nice product til it quits
Cons: Went through two devices in 5 months. The second was "out of warrenty." Customer support won't answer.
out of 204 user reviews
Great until the warranty expires
Pros: The Nitrus has a good capacity for people who want to take most of their music collection around in their pocket. It's much easier than lugging cds.
Cons: A week after the 90-day limited warranty expired, my Nitrus stopped synchronizing with my computer. After hours of tech-support help, Rio said the only offer they had was a replacement for $100. I feel robbed, and don't want to put more money into a pro
out of 204 user reviews
Great little player, but no clip???
Pros: Small, lightweight, easy to operate.
Cons: No clip!!! Am I supposed to hold it in my hand while working out???
out of 204 user reviews
This thing sucks Butt!!!!!
Pros: N/A
Cons: The player itself it ghosted on me 6 times in the past 3 months and it randomly turns on and then off and the buttons suck the quality is pretty bad too.
out of 204 user reviews
I'm on my 5th replacement, my first one broke within the 1st week!
Pros: Beautiful player, sleek, lightweight, great sound (if not too noisey), excellent battery life
Cons: One bump and you'll need a new player, gets stuck in "upgrader" mode, the refurbished replacements players are garbage and it took a 3 week wait between each replacement which broke within days.
out of 204 user reviews
Stay away from the Rio Nitrus
Pros:
Cons: I purchased my Rio about 7 months ago and thought I had gotten a better deal than the overpriced iPod (this was before the mini and the new generation iPods, one of which I intend to buy shortly). The Nitrus worked well, and I really liked the design, bu
out of 204 user reviews
Dies young, stays pretty
Pros: Nice software package, great ergonomic design, no brainer to use - I was thrilled for about four months. Then it all fell apart.
Cons: Reliability is not an issue here. Practically guaranteed to stop working. I'm on a replacement, and the software on this one, too, has gone all wonky. Shuts down if I scroll through songs too fast (like, what is that about?). Rio support couldn't be m
out of 204 user reviews
Perfect for runners
Pros: I am not a music lover. I do not own several gigs of mp3s. Most of my music collection consists of songs my friends put on my computer for party play, or of CDs that my mom gave me. But I am a long distance runner, and I like having something to listen
Cons: My only real gripe with this product is the lack of armband; I'm currently carrying my Nitrus in my hand on my runs. While this isn't as big a deal as it seems (I often have to carry my keys in the other hand), an armband of some kind would be much appre
out of 204 user reviews
Should have bought an IPod...
Pros: size good, USB 2.0, decent software...BUT!
Cons: Support sucks...hard drive started to fail after 3 months of limited use...of course, out of the 90 day warranty period...RIO wants $100 to fix their problem...no way around it...from Paul at Customer Service, "we sell millions and millions and have only
out of 204 user reviews
overall GOod...but it's realli true...get extended warrenty!!
Pros: sounds realli good. throw away the headphones dat come wit it n get a pair of sony ones. i had mine for 2 months now....noo problems wit it.
Cons: why did it hav to be black. IF it said in the manual "keep away frm extreme heat" well makin a mp3 player all black doesn't help on dat!!. u should of made it silver or sumthin da refelcts heat not obsorbs heat. no voice recording....with all da memory
out of 204 user reviews
nice to listen 2 while cuttin the grass
Pros: good product for the money; computer software easy to use; user friendly
Cons: toggle switch a little touchy; volume is audible in quiet to slightly noisey settings, but loud background noise sometimes exceeds the volume output coming from the Rio(basically it won't turn up loud enough to drown out really loud noise)
out of 204 user reviews
Terrible product and service
Pros: This seemed like the perfect player, but 4 months down the road...
Cons: the player became defective (of course, AFTER the 90 day warranty expired). It took 3 calls to the Rio customer service to figure out the problem. After one 30min+ call, the guy suggested I try it out on another computer. So, this required another hour
out of 204 user reviews
Great player.
Pros: Size, weight, capacity (more than enough for all the stuff I currently listen to), quality.
Cons: Lack of case or belt-clip.
out of 204 user reviews
I love being able to carry my music anywhere
Pros: great product. i really love my rio nitrus i can take it just about anywhere as it easily fits in my pocket. good sound, design and decent earbuds. 1.5 GB is enough for anyone. comes with good software and is realone compatable. fasty transfers. 5-band gr
Cons: NO RADIO! occasionally freezes up--sometimes it wouldnt work unless i charged it. front screen is plastic and scratches easily (does not come with a cover or armband). lithium-ion battery is irreplaceable and may go dead after a few years.
out of 204 user reviews
crappy firmware updates
Pros:
Cons: the first time they had one i needed extra support and hoop-jumping to get it to work, the second time it completely broke my Nitrus (after about 10 hrs of use) to which support said "we will sell you a refurb for $160".. right.
out of 204 user reviews
SINGLE-HANDED SCREW UP
Pros: Great weight and size, sounds quality
Cons: I can't get over the fact there is no case or clip - nothing. Are you kidding me? So much for mobility. To charge that much and forget such a basic feature - STUPID!
out of 204 user reviews
Bad ass player
Pros: This small and powerfull player has everything i would ever need. This baby can hold about 300 songs at 128 VBR. I love it. I bought it for my wife but i loved it so much i got one for me. This thing is the best of both worlds. It is small and holds a lot
Cons: No car adapter Cannot replace battery The software that came with it was gay.
out of 204 user reviews
At $150.00 it's all you need and more.
Pros: The price was the key factor. The Rio name was the second reason I bought it. The price was recently dropped to $170.00 (I found it for $150.00 locally). I unwrapped it, plugged it in, downloaded the firmware updates (always a good suggestion) and went to
Cons: The only negatives I can come up with are: 1) The earpieces that were included were just OK. I replaced them with a pair of cheap, comfortable Sony's and it's been great. Just for fun I tried six other earbuds and headphones and found the volume to vary d
out of 204 user reviews
Right device, horrible quality
Pros: Size,cost, ease of use
Cons: warrenty service quality Unit failed 3 times in first year and support offed little to no help with cost of repair higher than the unit.
out of 204 user reviews
great mp3 player w/easy use
Pros: fits the hand, with controls that aren't easily bumped when working out.
Cons: doesn't have memory expansion capabilities
out of 204 user reviews
Good unit for the Price
Pros: I bought the unit after thorough research off the unit and other reviews. I purchased this one for the price. In my opinion, if you need 15GB or more of music then you should opt to buy a laptop instead. I also chose it because of its size. It is smal
Cons: It doesn't come with any accessories such as a case, but if you're crafty you could use a cell phone holder and that should do the trick.
out of 204 user reviews
it's only $149 at wal-mart
Pros: with 1.5gb it can hold close to 300 songs so it's perfect for the gym or many other workouts
Cons: it doesn't come with a holder or clip for a strap. i glued keychain to one end a hooked it to a lanyard so i can wear it around my neck.
out of 204 user reviews
THE player I've been looking for.
Pros: It's tiny and light with 1.5 gigs of space for hundreds of tunes. The sound is crystal clear and the supplied Sennheiser earbuds are suprisingly good. I've always hated earbuds but these sound better than headphones (if they are snugly in your ears). I've
Cons: I dont get the advertised battery life, but I'm a heavy song-surfer. Drawback: no case or belt clip...BUT see my webpage for a pic of a cool clip I found that works. http://home.comcast.net/~slic kstudio/index2.html
out of 204 user reviews
Size Does Matter
Pros: I love the tiny size. NO other player is that small with that much storage. Plus, it was only $150
Cons: I wish it had a carrying case.
out of 204 user reviews
Great Player. Great Features
Pros: This player has been very versitile, in daily life. Backlight, long battery life, rechargeable battery, good features, and it has a huge internal hard drive.
Cons: Haven't found any.
out of 204 user reviews
Best Space for the $$$$.
Pros: Very small player. Large enough Hard Drive to hold enough music to satisfy anyone. Sound Quality matches my Iriver IFP 390 or even slightly surpasses it.
Cons: I am still not happy with a rechargeable battery, but the 16 hours so far is about right. That is long enough for about anything so this isn't too big of a problem.
out of 204 user reviews
Great Product for the Price!!!
Pros: Very easy to use, software is intuitive and has good (although slightly limited) functionality. Very lightweight, excellent battery life, great earphones. I had previously purchased an RCA Lyra (same memory size) that was difficult to use and died after
Cons: No armband or similar to hold the player while running or working out.
out of 204 user reviews
Nice Compromise between Flash players and IPoD
Pros: Sound Quality is great. Battery life is outstanding. Software for transferring files is great. 1.5 GB capacity is very nice. While the size difference between it and the IPoD might not seem like moch it's actually pretty substantial.
Cons: Had to hard reset once due to a lockup.
out of 204 user reviews
Form AND Function!
Pros: Great design (love the joystick), light weight, fits anywhere, long battery life, can set own equalizer!!!! Take THAT, iPod! I can't stand it when a manufacturer tries to tell me at which settings I can listen to my music. I want to be in charge of that!!
Cons: No attachment for external batteries, search options could be better. It would be nice if it were possible to copy entire folders instead of making play lists (i can't stand playlists).
out of 204 user reviews
worst buy ever
Pros: lightweight and very durable
Cons: i got it as a christmas present. 5 months later the firmware went bad. problem is that the warranty is only 3 months. to replace it they wanted 135 dollars.
out of 204 user reviews
HD Defects abound. Listen before buying.
Pros: small, cheap.
Cons: software doesn't recognize some id tags. i bought one and it lasted exactly *six* days. the HD died. no abuse at all. i had read about the hd failures but like an idiot thought they were just anomalies, then bingo mine died. i enjoyed it while it lasted
out of 204 user reviews
Great player, great things come in small packages
Pros: This player is great. Tiny, well built, easy to navigate, good support sites for help, long battery, relatively cheap- 174 total with shipping, bright screen, easy to read, quick to learn, easy to load songs on, autosync, firmware updates, good to workout
Cons: cons were very small things that aren't that bad but are worth mentioning. I'm not gonna mention things that you already know and i think it is very dumb when poeple do that. for example, dont complain that it only holds 1.5 gig when you knew that going i
out of 204 user reviews
"nanobot" is a FREAK!!!
Pros: its an awesome player. I had a rca lyra and it froze in a week. ive had this one for 4 months - no errors.
Cons: hmm - my battery tends to last only about 10 hours, which is plenty for me.
out of 204 user reviews
bad service so so features
Pros: small jukebox with great sound
Cons: You cannot understand the service and supprt staff. There are no accssories available. Dont lose the adaptor you cant get another or replace it because of the voltage and amps and the specialize tip they use.
out of 204 user reviews
just buy the damn thing
Pros: price (only 180 at tigerdirect). the harddrive is big enough for commutes and most road trips, but not too big to be cumbersome. great interface. looooong battery life. very small and sleek. it's not an ipod!!
Cons: too small a harddrive for long road trips. no drag and drop for files. takes a few seconds to forward through songs
out of 204 user reviews
Still Running Strong
Pros: Still running strong since my last review under C Loves Music back in Jan 2004 No problems whatsoever
Cons: The toggle can be a bit of a pain to use other than that no cons from me.
out of 204 user reviews
GReat Product if it didn't break so much
Pros: Small, Compact, Great Storage for the size
Cons: The software is corrupt. Within a month the software went bad then I got it repaced and the same thing happened with two weeks.
out of 204 user reviews
A great ultra-compact HDD MP3 player.
Pros: Awesome sound; good software to download your songs; portability; menu display; scroll wheel; 14-15 hours battery life
Cons: Volume buttons placement; no custom case available (but may not be necessary since so pocketable); included headphones not very good; thinking it's lost since you forgot it's in your shirt pocket
out of 204 user reviews
could've been good
Pros: small, light, sounds great, everything i wanted in a player
Cons: not reliable. i got this for christmas, and now after about 4 months, the player is dead. i really liked it while it lasted, i suppose i'll be saving for something else.
out of 204 user reviews
No reliability whatsoever!
Pros: No Pros
Cons: 2 months, 2 rejects. Bad hard-drives. Poor quality!!!!!! Don't waste your money and only a 90 day warranty!
out of 204 user reviews
Are you guys drunk?
Pros: I dont get it....i like mine alot. For those of you who say that it is not enough space...THAT IS 800 SONGS! if that is not enough, stop listening to music and get a girlfriend.
Cons:
out of 204 user reviews
My first mp3 player!
Pros: I just picked one of these up to take with me to the gym, pool etc. I was so sick of carrying around CDs. I love it! I have no complaints, it holds enough songs etc that i could ever need.
Cons: No Carrying Case!!!!! Also I bought at Best Buy on a quick splurge and should have bought online and saved a few.
out of 204 user reviews
Simple Easy Fun
Pros: very easy to use, easier than a portable CD player / walkman. Does not require XP or Win2k, I wasnt going to upgrade a PC O/S to use the MP3 player. No hitches with software, has all the features I need, fits in my pocket, smaller & lighter than my
Cons: Haven't found a 'random play' setting, don't know that I need one, but they are fun. I cna't speak to customer support bc I havent had any issues, this is exactly what I expect from a piece of stereo equipment..plug, play, rock.
out of 204 user reviews
AWESOME PLAYER GET ONE!!!!
Pros: -transfers songs in about 3 secounds a song using lightning fast usb2.0 -Awesome sound -stopwatch -cool slim shape -tiny -easy menus -great storage -excellent software -durable Dont make me go on!
Cons: nothin really, guess the hd could be bigger for some but 800 songs is plenty for me!
out of 204 user reviews
Great Deal, Great Battery Life, and Great Software
Pros: Amazing software, so easy and useful. 16 hour battery life very long. Very small, easy to slip in a pocket, samller thatn looks in the pictures. Great Sound, perfect amount of space and very easy to change songs with the software
Cons: the stock headphones arn't that great. The joystick is easy but occasionally i hit up instead of right.
out of 204 user reviews
Think Twice
Pros: Smallest hard drive-based mp3 player I've ever seen. Easy to use.
Cons: I had 2 break in a matter of 3 weeks (dead hard drives according to customer support tech). I'm normally very carefull with the electronics I buy, especially anything that small costing that much money. I finally gave up and bought a Nomad Jukebox Zen E
out of 204 user reviews
Would everybody stop saying the ipod is better
Pros: Yes, the ipod is better, but that isn't the point. The Nitrus is designed for people that don't need to have every freakin song they own with them. And yes, i do own a nitrus
Cons: just comment on the player, not comparing it with other large capacity hd players
out of 204 user reviews
This is a very sleek and small amazing product.
Pros: small, holds enough songs, is easy to use, and has a long lasting battery. And a very cool joystick
Cons: could have a belt clip or a strap.
out of 204 user reviews
Great small p[layer
Pros: Small size, good storage, light weight, good software. Why carry your whole collection around with you - even at 192k I get about 300 songs - more than enough for my workouts and daily communtes. Sync software let's you never get bored of the selection
Cons: I've accidently turned it on while in my bag several times and completely drained the battery right before a big workout/snowboarding event. Rio doesn't sell an additional charger! This is so weak...
out of 204 user reviews
You bought the ipod?!
Pros: Software, sound quality, EQ, Bundled headphones, Reasonable amount of storage, battery life, cool backlight, small and portable, does not skip.... the list goes on! I got it as an X-mas present, and for £100 it is £70 cheaper than the creative muvo2, and
Cons: Iffy volume buttons, no case. Apart from that, it is a perfect player!
out of 204 user reviews
Nice, but not perfect
Pros: Small and sleek, color goes with anything, comes with an alternative to real player (I hate real player), Easy to navigate with one hand, clock and date, etc.
Cons: The one big gripe I have right now, is that the software seems to not want to let me sync playlists. If I make them on my computer, I can't simply export the list to the device. It copies the files, but not the list, forcing me to make the list all over a
out of 204 user reviews
Finally, what I always wanted!!!
Pros: The Nitrus is the MP3 player I have been waiting for ever since these things entered the market. The actual player is small, and very sturdy. The controls are simple and intuitive, and do not require any time to learn (at least not for me). The player let
Cons: I wish there wasn't a break between songs when I transfer a continuously mixed CD to the Nitrus. It can get annoying. I have to find a way to transfer a whole CD as one track... maybe Nitrus' software can do that... does anyone know how? The buttons
out of 204 user reviews
It is a terrific MP3 for its price
Pros: Form factor 1.5 GB Small Sports compatible
Cons: no drag and drop file support
out of 204 user reviews
We really like it, just bummed about the lack of a perfect fit case.
Pros: Perfect amount of songs for the size. Very sleek design.
Cons: No exact fit case available.
out of 204 user reviews
must buy mp3 player
Pros: 1- good controls 2- plenty of space 3- who needs 4 gigs of memory for songs this has perefect size and touch
Cons: 1- no clip or cas
out of 204 user reviews
Best MP3 player for the money
Pros: You'll have to hold the Nitrus to believe how small and thin it is and how little it weighs. The battery life is more than adequate for any trip and if you have a notebook you can change songs in a snap since it's USB 2.0. Sound quality and volume is perf
Cons: Modifying play order is a trial, I haven't had good luck in getting playlists to work properly, at least on my unit. It ignores the song title and uses the ID tag instead, you can set the play order thru that but it is cumbersome.
out of 204 user reviews
Rio Nitrus is a sure Ipod alternative, for those with less cash
Pros: The sound quality is AWSOME...it sounds like you are in a concert. It is very easy to use, and has outstanding battery life...ipod does not come close. I bought myself a rio nitrus and i used it for a couple of weeks, and i was in love with it...while i h
Cons: Very few, limited accesories
out of 204 user reviews
BEST PRODUCT I HAVE EVER BOUGHT
Pros: ok pros, umm... lets see here o yeah all pros. good product
Cons: ok lets see here umm.. well for the price i would expect more memory but i think it is still very good
out of 204 user reviews
Two strikes and you're out!
Pros: Small, compact, 1.5GB memory
Cons: Doesn't hold up to use like the rest of their product line. I purchased and was immediately down $120 on their S35S model. Took one more chance and "bought up" ($169) to this model hoping that the higher end unit would actually work. Well, within a month
out of 204 user reviews
good, but doesn't cut it for me
Pros: I've had it for a little over a month and i haven't had any real problems with it as far as performance. The small size is really nice. It fits good into pockets and is really convenient. The scroll-wheel is great in using the menus. The joystick desi
Cons: I've had it since Christmas, so just over a month and the face is very scratched up. The is no case for sale yet. The volume and power buttons are very small. Also I have found that it is really inconvenient not being able to make playlists on the devic
out of 204 user reviews
a real peice of ****. i mean c'mon man i only used mine for 4 hours and was already trying to figurw
Pros: its black and can be easily hidden
Cons: if your in a dark room its hard to find
out of 204 user reviews
Great small, light unit.
Pros: Fits into my shirt pocket with plenty of room to spare. I currently have 417 songs loaded on it and still have room for 70-80 more. This unit has awesome sound, easy controls, and great battery life which is rechargable. I do alot of walking on my job, an
Cons: No available case to protect it. My #1 complaint about this unit is the software. What good is software that cannot rip mp3s? It costs an additional $9.95 upgrade so you can use the software to copy your CDs into MP3 format.
out of 204 user reviews
AWESOME...!
Pros: Small and light weight.Extremely easy to load music (good software..."holds moe then enough music") and well designed unit which makes it very easy to use..! Sounds great. Very good battery life!! Solid, well built. Props to Rio!
Cons: The only possible thing I could think of is that they should have made the LCD screen a touch bigger to make it easier to read.. but that's being picky. The unit is killer!
out of 204 user reviews
Get an iPod mini - thinner, 4GB and a much better software pakage!
Pros: Small
Cons: Ugly, Ugly, Ugly Dosn't support AAC only 1.5GB Crappy interface
out of 204 user reviews
Great for Running
Pros: Tons of Song capacity. Heads and shoulders above 128mb players. Good volume and easy to load and use. Super Toy!
Cons: Battery life isn't near 16 hours as advertised. Only getting 6-8 hours between charges.
out of 204 user reviews
Creative's Muvo2 is better
Pros: My sister has a Nitrus. I really like the design and feel of this mp3 player. It is small and comfortable. The interface is very intuitive and it was actually a pleasure to run with...
Cons: However, I was disappointed with the necessity of installing drivers and Rio software to access the HD on the Nitrus. That disadvantage alone prompted me to buy a Muvo2 for myself. I couldn't be happier with the Muvo 2. I can use it to transport files
out of 204 user reviews
a steal...
Pros: i bought mine just after x-mas and decided to wait about 30 days before i posted a review... this thing is awesome... i paid less than 150 for 1.5g of music... what a steal... in fact one of my best friends just bought one... his locked up for some reason
Cons: i do wish it had a case... however i have dropped this unit from about 4 fett with no problems...
out of 204 user reviews
A hard drive player for less than a flash player
Pros: Low price, cheaper than most 256mb flash players, but this has 1.5gb. Fast music transfer, you can put about 30 or so cds on this player at about 30 seconds per cd. O would reccomend this to anyone who is getting their first player and is worried about pr
Cons: Shuffle option is hard to acess, not really a big deal though.
out of 204 user reviews
Pretty good MP3 player
Pros: This is a great MP3 for the price!! (Can be found for as low as $154 w/ $20 rebate through 2/04) The sound is excellent, and the battery life is very good. Smaller than the IPOD and it supports WMA!! I can't wait until the 4gb model ships!!!
Cons: The only real con I have is that it doesn't include a beltclip/case or removable battery.
out of 204 user reviews
This thing is a piece of junk.
Pros: Size, display, function key lock button.
Cons: Software, Volume limited, no clip/holder.
out of 204 user reviews
Awesome for the price! ($169)
Pros: 18+ hrs of playback on one charge, small size, a lot of capacity for the size, clock & timer function, updated firmware, great online community (www.riovolution.com), battery lasts 3+ yrs and Rio will probably have a replacement on sale by then, you w
Cons: crappy headphones, doesn't come with a case or belt clip
out of 204 user reviews
Returned it after 2 weeks.
Pros: Size and weight
Cons: This is my first MP3 player and I received it as a gift - neiter my or the person who purchased it did much pre-purchase research. I was initally very happy... 1 week after opening the box, I had all my music ripped most of my favorite songs downloaded. A
out of 204 user reviews
Broke first day
Pros: Nice size. The price is better than originally released (paid around $160) however if it dosent work anything is too much.
Cons: Locked up within ten minutes of use. Displayed upgrader message on screen went to web site and was directed to upgrade firmware. Each time I tried this it failed. Called tech support directed to update firmware. I tried again this time it did allow the up
out of 204 user reviews
Almost Perfect But missed a few touches.
Pros: Okay, now as you may have been reading, the great thing about the nitrus is that its so small and lightweight, battery life is excellant, sounds good thus far....I can fit up to 600 songs on WMA, which guys i suggest you do learn how to convert from mp3,
Cons: However and yes there is a but, I don't know if they had midgets (no offense :)) testing this product out because the buttons are really too small and I do not have big hands, you need two hands just to change volume, the design could've been improved, to
out of 204 user reviews
Rio Nitrus works for me
Pros: I upgraded from a Rio S50 to the Nitrus. I think this is a great MP3 player I love all types of music I have a little over 300 songs on it which is fine for me. It's perfect for trips one player with all your favorite songs no more carrying around cd disc
Cons: not many , am/fm radio would be a plus but not needed. A case would be nice and although it has a rechargable battery it would be cool to use regular batteries like one AAA or AA like the Rio S50 but its ok.
out of 204 user reviews
AWSOME...... Can't say more
Pros: WOW. I had that stupid napster samsung thing... and hated it. mainly the menus and computer interface... BUT WITH THE NITRUS everything was different... The menus and OS on the thing are amazing. and the software is 10000% better than napster
Cons: Volume buttons are a little wierd... and you have to do the firmware update before using (as long as you follow the step by step instructions from the software you'll be fine)
out of 204 user reviews
Small and Easy
Pros: Included software is great. Automatically looks up titles and randomly exchanges songs on Nitrus. Easy to use and sounds good. Who really need 5,000 songs when this little thing replaces 20% of the songs each time its connected to your PC.
Cons: Could be louder and come with a carrying case.
out of 204 user reviews
My perfect gym companion
Pros: Purchased the Rio Nitro, had it for a couple of weeks already and absolutley love it.I would of loved to by an IPod, but because of size, I purchase the Nitro which easily fits in my pocket at the gym.The capacity is perfect for my needs...only a gym comp
Cons: Hate the ear buds.. could not copy directly from CD to Rio...would like to have a drag and drop feature....maybe a cord wrap of some kind
out of 204 user reviews
People dont know what they are talking about with this player
Pros: This player is ultra compact, and the software is the simplest to use. This is unquestionably smaller than the ipod, other reviews are wrong. Also it weighs 1/3 what the ipod does, and has 2x the battery life.
Cons: screen a little small, but eh, the whole thing is small...which is overall a plus
out of 204 user reviews
Better Than I Expected!
Pros: All I can say is WOW! This is my first MP3 Player, so i was very hesitant, and didnt know what to expect. This thing is TINY! For how small it is, it holds a lot. Software was easy to install, and the transfer was easy. Nothing went wrong at all.
Cons: The outer case, which is nice and shiny, gets smudged really easily, but wiping it off with a dry paper towel does the job. I would HIGHLY reccomend this player to anybody! My software did not bug like other people said. Its great!
out of 204 user reviews
The Best Mp3 Player You May Ever Find
Pros: True, this is not an iPod. But, this product definitely adds to the very competitive MP3 market. The Nitrus boasts 1.5 gig storage. That's 50 hours of WMAs or 25 hours of MP3s! I put on 13 albums, (10-13 songs each) and it's not even half way full! T
Cons: There's not one single thing wrong with this product. It's affordable, and overall an excellent product.
out of 204 user reviews
Above Average Player Overall
Pros: It is extremely small and light for a hard drive player. The sound is excellent. The storage is perfect b/c I have just about 1.5 gb of music. And it only cost me $120, that's right 120!!
Cons: The music browsing feature is a little uncomfortable for me. You have to go into the menu to change the musics. Also I can't select a song out of the playing order and then go back like the enqueue feature in Winamp. The botton layout is also pretty bad.
out of 204 user reviews
1.5GB in a nice small package, at a reasonable price!
Pros: Much more compact and light than I imagined - which was a very nice surprise! This is my first MP3 player, so I was originally considering getting a flash-based player, due to concerns about skipping and durability. After reading reviews and doing some
Cons: Doesn't come with a carrying case or strap for the gym :( Other than that, I'd have to TRY to come up with some 'Cons' for this device! I haven't had to use Service or Support (knock on wood) so I gave it a 7 in this area, and I haven't had it long enoug
out of 204 user reviews
Awesome Little Package
Pros: Alot of people say its too soft? I am 18 years old and I love loud music! This MP3 plays music loud enough for me to listen to! I love this MP3 player and I would recomend it to anyone. All my friends ask me why i didn't buy a Ipod. Tell you the truth 300
Cons: I would have to agree with some people. Not having a case suxs!
out of 204 user reviews
You idiots are reviewing the wrong thing
Pros: Stop comparing it to the ipod! Thats not what these reviews are for. Just because you like Macs doesn't mean you should go on every non-Ipod Mp3 player's review site and give them a bad review. It scews people's perception of a product when they see that
Cons:
out of 204 user reviews
perfect to conceal for on the job listening he he small and light
Pros: Small light nice menu great storage for its size
Cons: no dragging and dropping files on to it like a standard usb drive but soft ware is provided to allow you to save none music files to carry with you
out of 204 user reviews
Check out these apples!
Pros: Great price! $199.99 - $20 Rebate - $50 Rebate = $130.00 with no sales tax and 5$ shipping equals a $135 MP3 player that beats the @@LL out of the ipod in every aspect except maybe capacity. But do you really need to carry more than 350 songs with you at
Cons: NONE AT ALL!!!! HEY Mac, HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES???
out of 204 user reviews
cheap, small, works well.
Pros: tiny size, 18+ hour battery life, price (<$120 after rebates when i got it). customizable 5-band eq with sliders is pretty nifty. Software better than Creative's, although not as good as iTunes. Perfect size for gym, light travel.
Cons: not as much space as larger HDD models; no radio tuner or line in recording. Also, doesn't come with a case. Not mass-storage compatible; need a MS driver for "drag and drop" support. Oh and the volume buttons on the unit are rather lame.
out of 204 user reviews
GREAT MP3 player for its size and price.
Pros: Very large capacity for its size. Very few competetors in this sub-segment of market. I haven't seen or heard Creatives new MUVO^2 yet, which offers similar storage size and price. Got it for $169 from Comp-u-plus after a $20 mail in Rio Rebate
Cons: None so far!
out of 204 user reviews
trust me, don't buy it
Pros: i bought the rio nitrus thinking it would be a perfect mp3 player, and don't get me wrong, it has its good qualities. for example, the sound quality is great and the music manager is easy to use. also it is small and the buttons are easy to use too. bu
Cons: first of all, the nitrus has at least a 3-5 second delay between the songs. you can even hear it processing the data inside. unlike the creative nomad or zen, the songs play as soon as you press play! secondly, if you accidentaly go over the memory limi
out of 204 user reviews
NO Idea how you can urn this Baby Down
Pros: I read all the reviews and was a little hesitant to get it. But went with my gutt, and damn I am glad I did. I have never heard such sound quality out of something that is so small. And the battery life. This sucker just won't quit! Love the ease of use.
Cons:
out of 204 user reviews
Product didn't work, Terrible support
Pros: Price vs. storage and size. Found it for $140 after rebate. Only slightly larger than most 128MB players.
Cons: On the first day of use, the unit would turn off and turn back on by itself during playback. Emailed tech support. They replied back 1 week later asking me to install a BETA firmware that fixes a transfer problem which doesn't have anything to do with my
out of 204 user reviews
Rio Nitrus has a lot to improve on..
Pros: Long Battery Life, Back Lit LCD with 1.5 GB Storage.. User Friendly Software Interface.
Cons: Mid-Grade Ear Plugs. Cannot Rip/Encode MP3's without upgrading software for an additional $10!! No case, No AM/FM radio, No In Line Recording. Interal Harddrive Crashed and continued to not respond after exceeding 900mbs, 2 hours with 2 different technic
out of 204 user reviews
better support would make a better product
Pros: holds a lot of songs,very small
Cons: can barely read the small lcd bad support for a unit that costs this much. software sucks.... Iexpected more bang for the buck,took mine back.....
out of 204 user reviews
Best MP3 Player I Have Ever Used
Pros: - Sound Quality Is Unreal - Super Fast Transfers - Perfect Size - Included Head Phones Are Even Good ! - I got 17 Hours battery Life Out Of Mine - Holds about 600 Mp3s - Great Design - Looks Great - Equalizers and Great - Easy To Read Blue Backlite Screen
Cons: - No FM Reciever
out of 204 user reviews
And the price plummits...
Pros: I had absolutely no plans to purchase an MP3 player anytime soon but with recent online deals for around $120 for this device, how could I resist? As the last person stated, don't knock something unless you've tried it. I don't think I've ever seen such
Cons: It doesn't show up as a drive and there isn't much in the way of carrying accessories or other accessories at this time, but with the popularity and the now low price of this player I'm sure we'll be seeing products soon.
out of 204 user reviews
The iPod is not the center of the universe.
Pros: First, I don't have one of these. I've just looked at them online, read the manual, etc... But I'm really posting to bash the people who are bashing the Nitrus because it is not an iPod. One, don't bash a product if you haven't tried it. Two, do not p
Cons: Yeah, it should be cheaper, and I have no clue why Rio won't make it show up as a drive.
out of 204 user reviews
tiiigghhtt
Pros: Always bringing enough music. Its small sleek and has great software. It has the right amount of memory. I know people with ipods don't listen to all there 2000 songs. Has an easy organization.
Cons: SKIPS
out of 204 user reviews
Can't believe that this is the best they can do.
Pros: OK, I've been holding off with this review until I've used the Nitrus for a couple months just to be fair. The small size is great and the 1.5 GB is enough space for me to have at any 1 time. The USB 2 interface moves files to the Nitrus quickly and the
Cons: For those of you who have been comparing this to the IPOD, I think you're nuts. I don't have an IPOD, but I can't believe that the Nitrus sounds better. The sound is tinny, even after tweaking with the equalizer. The headphones are most likely an embar
out of 204 user reviews
Nitrus is the Best MP# Player on the Market
Pros: Very small about the size (width and length) of a credit card. The photos make this look bigger than it is, but it's very small and light and sounds great (I use the WMA format). The Rio software is AWESOME, very easy to use. Long battery life (16 hours).
Cons: No case or strap included.
out of 204 user reviews
Great Deal, Awesome!!
Pros: Great sound from an incredibly small player. The software is very easy to use and allows great customization of song categories. I got a REALLY great deal online at half the retail price after rebate! For the casual music listener this unit really rocks!
Cons: I would like to see some accessories like cases and a remote controller like on Sony's MD players. Currently I haven't seen anything out there.
out of 204 user reviews
Nitrus Rocks!
Pros: Compact size, good size for memory (who needs to listen to 3,500 songs at a time, anyways?). Price is said to be $299, but I got mine for $150! However I did hoave to fill out a rebate (but money is money!).
Cons: Clumsy control. You'd think they coulda added more buttons for the all the features and price! Software leaves a bit to be desired.
out of 204 user reviews
Not Bad, kinda pricy
Pros: battery playback size 1.5GBs!!
Cons: Toggle Stick Cant edit playlists without using PC Software
out of 204 user reviews
control need work
Pros: Lots of music space,power adapter, better than usb power supply.
Cons: Don't buy without windows 98se, doesn't work with windows 98! Bulky, controls are dorky
out of 204 user reviews
returned
Pros: small, usb 2.0, decent sound w/ 5 band EQ
Cons: I really needed a player that would allow me to upload music an paticular order and the Nitrus will not. Even having called customer support, they confirmed that even with a playlist, the songs are loaded in alphabetical order. Perhaps if and when MusicMa
out of 204 user reviews
Size *does* matter sometimes
Pros: Highly portable and holds a nice chunk of music. If you really want that iPod then get it, but those things sag in my shirt pocket. I've been using this for about a week and am quite happy with it for what it is. Put 380 tunes in it and hit shuffle - you
Cons: Menu button is not only miniscule, but requires a great deal of pressure. But the little nipple thing works perfectly.
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