this could be hot - sony's first CD/MP3 player

[ABErickson]

Does anyone know if you can book/resume with either the Compaq or the Sony?

 

[BlackSoul]

<< Anyone know if the rio will support 320 kbps mp3s? >>



I only have the 100 but all my cds are encoded in VBR and hit 320 quite often and it has never stuttered yet.

 

[LiekOMG]

The 8 minute buffer will carry over to the next song provided that your not going to skip any songs. You can usually fit close to 2 four minute songs in the entire buffer before the CDR has to read again. Oh yeah, the way the Rio conserves power is that it quickly puts the MP3's into the buffer and then completly stops spinning the CD and just plays it out of memory until the buffer is empty. seems logical.

I have the rio volt SP250 for a week now and i'm loving it. But get some decent headphones for it!
Oh yeah, i forgot to mention, it has a built in equalizer with 5 presets and you can set it manually if you'd like.
And YES it does support CDR's AND CDRW's. It even supports WMA's for those of you that might have any.
I highly recommend the Rio SP250 (if you can afford it). Don't get this confused with the lesser models (the SP90 and SP100), as i've heard those 2 (older models) aren't all that good.

 

[Maestro]

Also bigger buffer should give you better battery life if they designed it right.

 

[MontyBurns]

Bluz: The Rio RP250 does indeed support mp3's encoded at 320k, without any special firmware upgrades.

I happen to be a huge fan of sony products. And I tend to be a huge critic of blanket statements. But... The Rio SP250 is simply the best MP3 CD player there is. No one has been able to touch the features, and rio has done an INCREDIBLE job of supporting their products (I bought in back with the very first RioVolt.)

The only drawback --and I think it's a slight one -- is the feel of the unit. It's the same complaint I have about my $200 sony discman. They just feel cheap. My original riovolt, which was by far the cheapest-looking of the bunch, is still going strong. Still, these things are made of plastic, and I'm constantly worried I'm going to drop it and it's just going to shatter.

 

[wumpuskiller]

Regarding the 8 minute anti-skip.....my understanding is that its used to conserve battery power as well as skip elimination. The CD actually stops spinning when the buffer has been filled (don't know when it resumes spinning to refill the buffer). Less power/current draw to support the internal memory buffer than to support a small electric motor to spin the CD. Sounds pretty clever.

BTW, picked up one of the RIO SP250 for my son's 14th birthday early next month. I can't wait to see the look on his face when he opens the package!

Wumpus....

 

[hans007]

i bought a rio volt when it came out too, and that thing was just a piece of crap. Skipped all the time, at the start of songs during its buffering stage. SUCKAGE!! couldnt even walk with it

 

[LarryXtreme]

It's all about the looks, man.

IMO, the Sony is a lot slimmer and looks lighter. The Rio looks bulky.

 

[Silex]

It's all good I think. *Sigh*. The days of the Rio PMP300. Lol this was my first mp3 player and look at us now! Cd Mp3 players! Sweet deal IMO. AS a matter of fact, I bought a cheap China Imitation Mp3 CD Player like right when the prices of the CD Players were through the roof! (Like $400 a pop) and I got that puppy for $97. It's the cheapest mother around and I would watch out for it. LoL. Just for kicks here's the link to a picture of it. Hahaha I just checked and this puppy is down to $45. Damn it's still a POS. LoL. Just one look at this POS now makes me cringe! LoL. Time to up my ante now with the RioVolt 250!

 

[MDFusion]

<< It's all about the looks, man.

IMO, the Sony is a lot slimmer and looks lighter. The Rio looks bulky. >>



IMO you all need to view this cartoon from Iriver(OEM for Volts) Iriver-Cartoon

the Fat ass Sony and Panasonic CD players try to jump the slim Iriver player (IMP-350) SlimX
the 250 morphs into the 350

 

[eugovector]

I'd have to put in another vote for the Rio SP250 simply for the remote (I think the SP100 come with a remote too). If you are a campus rat like me, and have to carry your CD/MP3 player in your backpack, there is nothing like being able to change volume/tracks/albums/FM radio/and turn it on off, plus a bunch of other stuff I'm sure I haven't figured out yet without digging in your pack. I guess they offer an optional remote with an LCD screen on it to make navigation even easier.

Other than that, it's a very solid unit with way more features than the Sony for not a lot more $. I don't find much to drool over in the sony, unless you just love the Sony name.

 

[So SimpaL]

the iRiver looks hot, but how come their site blows so hard?

 

[VezZiE]

IMHO, iRiver is the best of all... Especially the LATEST Ir350
I think the RIoVOLT is derived from this company

 

[SilentRunning]

Do the math on 8 minute mp3 skip protection.

At 128kbps rate you get about ten times the recording time compared to a typical wav audio file so:

8 minutes/10 = 48 second anti skip for standard audio cd's

 

[slacker2]

iRiver are the people who actually designed the mp3-CD players sold under RioVolt and AVC Soul labels. Looks like they'll be selling their latest player by themselves and won't be licensing it to Sonic Blue.

the SlimX iRiver player

 

[tmv22]

i did dropped my rio psx100 on rock concrete. nothing happened. it stills play fine till today. just minor scratches.

the sony looks kinda nice. man, im tempted to sell my rio on ebay now. but my experience with sony is that they dont last long.

 

[chexi]

Where would an American get their hands on that SlimX. That is sweeeeet.

 

[gtd2000]

Why don't they bring out MD player/recorders that can read/decode mp3's? That would be the ideal solution and format if you ask me - cheap media, great quality players available, and lots of storage

 

[TomDooley]

They are gonna be shipping the imp-350, aka SlimX sometime in the next month (according to them), and they are gonna be selling it here in the US as well. No going through SonicBlue this time...

 

[gar598]

Why don't people get a nomad 6 gb or nomad II they are only around 175 bucks? Is it the quality? Battery consumption? fill me in plz

 

[Gunbuster]

Wow, I never thought Sony would give up on memory stick

 

[SendTrash]

<< Where would an American get their hands on that SlimX. That is sweeeeet. >>

Yes! I want that on my christmas list

 

[rickypc]

Whatever you say....nothing (not even sony) can beat TDK MOJO. Thats the best ..with smart navigation and the best capabilities.

 

[eugovector]

I've never found anything wrong with the navigation on the SP250, very intuative (a little less so with the remote, but you get used to it.) Plus, it sports the aforementioned remote and built in battery charger which the MOJO does not. While I'm all for a slim version, how much difference do you really think it will make. The Rio is not terribly heavy (as far as CD players go), and the bulk of the size is in the CD format as is. You really only can make it slimmer, not smaller.

And where is the navigation on the iriver unit? Do I have to use the remote for everything? I do find the fact that the remote's LCD is identical to the SP250s comforting, but will size be sacrificed to squeeze all that into the remote?

If you're looking for small, Try This.. Up to 256 MB of the LESS EXPENSIVE Smart Media, and all the other features. No remote but at 2inches x 2inches, it practically is the remote.

But as far as CD-based MP3 goes, I'm sticking with the SP250. While it's fairly pricey, I'm glad I spent the extra money. No battery worries, easy navigation, cheap media, free remote and case. My 2 cents.

 

[slacker2]

Well, there are buttons on the SlimX itself, just no LCD screen, so you would be able to use it without the remote.
Myself, I'm hoping they improve on the anti-shock - while iRiver improved the anti-shock greatly for their iRiver2/RioVolt2, it's still not good enough for jogging.

I hope someone buys that Sony unit and checks it out when jogging.