Rio Volt for $106.95 plus Tax at Staples Online ($112.90 after 6/6/01)

[limsandy]

The "we-do-not-PM-to-buy.com"s are bullshit. I did a PM without problem and got the Rio Volt today. It was delivered by UPS, instead of the usual Staples guy. I flashed the latest firmware from rio's website and still not happy with the improvements. But it's much better now. I'll need to burn more mp3 to do more testing.

 

[Dragoon42]

YEA! just got this deal, you guys should just stay up , I don't think csr will care that much at 2am in the morning also how many supervisors could there be at this time? GREAT DEAL!

 

[BlockSender]

MagikMan

Since your UK, I suggest you make a friend in the SFO,LA,LV area real quicklike. The only people who usually get these promotions are staples members...IE they bought something from staples and were e-mailed the promotion. You might try begging for one. Ask store clerks and managers. You may just find a nice one.

Hotels usually dont steal your shiznit. Esp if they have to sign for it, cause then their name and time of signing and location is on there so you can bizitch at UPS or the hotel. Your out $113 but you can raise a big stink w/ that hotel. In any case, I really wouldnt worry about it.

So, pump your-bad-self up, be humble to the store clerks and managers (and flattering never hurts) then see if they give it to you. I have worked at my internet job for many many year and when someone is super nice and really needy, our company always gives them SOME kinda break. Free month, waived setup fees, extra equipment, discounted rates. Im sure you know how to beg and grovel hehe.

 

[rapture492]

I jumped on this deal real early yesterday, thanks aperry. But for those of you who can't seem to get through to the CSR, I'm wondering if this will work: (I'ver never actually tried this, but I think it should work because I talked to the sales rep at Best Buy). go to best buy BM and have them price match what you would get at Staples. claim you are price matching the coupon that you would get a Staples. The guy at Best Buy said that he would price match a coupon as long as you have one. There's even an added bonus since Best Buy takes 10% off their competitor's price. I was too lazy to try it since Best Buy is kinda far away, but if any of you try it and it works, please respond.

 

[aperry]

Sounds like a potentially good deal, but the Best Buy's here are both sticklers and will not match anything that is not a regular or sales price. The fact that you could get Staples to PM it down to $131.95 and then take a $25.00 coupon would not work (I don't think) due to the fact that the only way Staples is offering that price is by PM'ing Buy.com (and Best Buy will not PM with online retailers).

 

[LuZeR]

i have a important question that i cant find the answer to...

what bitrate/frequency range does this mp3 player (and others) support??? (i am looking at 16 kbps / 11 khz mono audio MP3s).

does anyone know if this player (or any other) supports this?

thanks

 

[DerProfi]

aperry, thanks for the deal. Like I usually do, I ordered first (with coupon) and PMd later via the Staples website without incident. Even better, the thing arrived TODAY only 24 hours after I placed the phone order. It took 10 minutes to upgrade the firmware from 1.13fp to 2.00, another 10 to burn a CD full of MP3s, and it's working like a charm. A full CD (141 songs) took under 10 seconds to start up. I'm sold on this thing...

 

[LuZeR]

<< FILE SUPPORT
File Type: MPEG 1/2/2.5, Layer 3, WMA
Bit Rate: Supports 32Kbps - 320Kbps
Tag: ID3 V1 Tag, ID3 V2 2.0, ID3 V2 3.0 - up to 48 characters
*Note* the RioVolt will not play secure WMA files. If these are present on the CD, they will not be counted or played.
>>



this is from the website. can anyone verify this?
what is the minimum response (khz)? tia

 

[DocGumby]

Its a great player but my batteries only last about 10 hours on it... anyone have any luck on finding a car plug for it? The sony and rca ones dont fit.

 

[aperry]

I bought a universal car adapter from Radio Shack for $21.99. They call it a high-power adapter. The item number is 273-1816. It has 6 adapters (one of which fits the Rio Volt), a 6 foot retractable cord, and supports voltages from 3V to 12V, and current up to 1200mA.

You can find the specs (but no picture) HERE.

Make sure though that you get the adapter plug put in correctly for the Rio. I cannot remember if it has a positive or negative tip, but it is on the fold-out sheet that comes with the player (and on the player and AC adapter). Also, you want to use the 4.5V setting.

 

[swNYC]

magikman> Be aware that the supplied AC adapter is 2-Pin 110V AC, its different than the UK 220V 3-Square Pin type plug. Plugging in a 110V AC appliance into 220V Mains supply means instant &quot;fireworks display&quot;.

 

[aperry]

But in reality, magikman, you should be able to find an AC adapter for use in your country that would convert to the needed voltage and amperage.

Just go to your nearest Radio Shack equivalent (or do they have Radio Shack in the UK)?

Or, 110V is used in the UK, it is just at 50Hz, not 60Hz (used in the US). You might be able to use the supplied adapter (assuming it is rated for both 50/60 Hz).

 

[android]

Gotta say I'm impressed. Less than 24 hours later it was on my doorstep, yea Staples!!!

I upgraded it in about ten seconds, and it's a great unit. I'm very happy about this deal, a great price and a great product, and it's upgradability is terrific too.

 

[Idiotkiller]

I also have to say, I'm happy with this deal. Got it for $117 (damned Rhode Island Sales Tax) on the phone with a Staples CSR and grinning like a Cheshire Cat when the CSR was flustered with the stuff I was asking.

In the end, she was nice and went through the deal with no trouble. One thing you need to remember is that they first ring up the price after pricematch and calculate the total with tax, and then apply the staples coupon. And always say you got the coupon through a promotional e-mail (which is technically true) and they should give you no problem. The CSR also told me that shipping for any items from Staples that are over $100 is free. No idea if that's consistent around the country...

 

[android]

I am wondering what people's experience with this player skipping is? I got it today, and took a walk with it strapped to my belt, and it is unusable that way. It skips all of the time it seems, and never can read the data long enough. I'm a little disappointed. do other people have this problem, or did I get a bad one? (BTW, I upgraded it to 2.0 right away.)

 

[aperry]

Have you put the switch in back to the &quot;40 sec&quot; position? Also, was it a regular CD or a disc full of MP3's? And, in the 2.0 firmware, you can bump up (through the menu) the time for skip protection. Check the readme.txt file.

I have heard in the past that some folks experienced problems in CD mode similar to what you are experiencing. Not sure if the higher skip protection time available in firmware 2.0 fixed that or not.

You might also want to check the message boards at mp3.com that I referenced earlier to see what things others have done.

 

[android]

yes the switch is in the 40 sec mode and the menu is set to 60 seconds, and I am playing Mp3's not CD's. I'll check mp3.com forum to see if there are any other ideas.

 

[BlockSender]

On the bottom of the unit there is a switch from 10-50 second skip protection. Make sure that is switched on. Then, if you hold down the equalizer button for a few sec's you get the menu option. Under general there is 30 second or 60 second skip protection, 60 second uses more battery but works better. I also noted, that if the song is about 3 minutes long, it only reads the song for 30 seconds then shuts off the CD Spin (genious idea). So maybe if you've done all this, than just be careful at the beginnings of songs and at the ends when the unit is reading the next song.
Hope that helps.

 

[aperry]

Bump for a last chance at this deal before shipping kicks in at buy.com.

 

[Achilles81]

Just ordered one of these bad boys... $106.95... she said it'll be here on the 8th? I'm not sure how they plan on doing that but you'll hear no complaints from me!

 

[Fiddler2]

Just got off the phone with Staples CSR, took two tries but when the second CSR
tried adding overnite shipping of $17.85, I told him it's a special order item
from Ingram Micro so it's coming ground anyway. He checked with his Supervisor,
came back, told me I was &quot;absolutely right&quot; and okayed the PM.
Gave him my $25 off $100 code and the total was $112.30 with tax.
I'm a happy camper

 

[ViperrX]

<< Just ordered one of these bad boys... $106.95... she said it'll be here on the 8th? I'm not sure how they plan on doing that but you'll hear no complaints from me! >>



I ordered mine at like 6pm on 6/4 and it was here by 2pm on 6/6

I did 3-5 day ground shipping so i think it probably will be possible for you to get it on the 8th.

Viper

 

[bigrash]

android I bought this about a month ago and had the same problems with the skipping. It would skip constantly while I walked. I found out a couple of days ago that if you use a CD-RW disk to play MP3 than it skips a lot because of the way that those are burned. So I burned using a CDR disk instead and noticed that it almost never skips now. So if you're using a CD-RW try using a CDR instead to see if it's better.

 

[enbalmorama]

I talked to 2 (just to verify) sales reps this morning and this item is apparently now out of stock through Staples Direct. So unless you have a local store - or for those who prefer unnecessary lingo, a B&amp;M - in your area, it looks like you're going to have to wait.

I asked about an ETA for restocking - one of them didn't know, and the other said to try back in about 4 days...

(This is the first time I've dealt with Staples, so I'll leave it to the vets to expand on what to expect. If previous threads suggest any trend, it would seem safe to speculate that Staples is going to offer it again soon enough. For whatever that's worth.)

Happy hunting.

 

[enbalmorama]

Update on my post above:

Well, I decided to call back and see if they have any yet, or if it makes any difference if you call during the day... (Inpatient *and* superstitious!)

When I'd called at night, they cut to the chase - what do you want; no, we don't have it. (Sometimes, when you're dealing with a night crew - whatever company - if there's a question about something or they're tired and cranky, they'll just make up a story and let the day crew handle it. Or maybe they were sick of taking elaborate Rio Volt orders ;P... If not, then they just started to get these in again.)

Anyway, I was able to PM with buy.com (where it's now 133.95, but still the cheapest source as of this post), and used a $25 off $100 coupon - bringing the price down to 106.95 by her math. Who am I to argue? Total was 116-something due to 9-something MN state tax. Frankly, I'm not sure they're entitled to any sales tax here, but I'll be checking on that later.

The only clincher was shipping. Now the coupon I used included free shipping, but she said the item would ship out next Friday. So maybe they're taking these on back order? Couldn't care less myself; if I get it in 2 weeks, beauty - got the price I wanted.

Happy hunting.