Audio Reviews

Audio quality very good: noise-free and detailed. I recommend using higher-quality earphones. FM reception very good, remaining stable in challenging locations, however tuning and preset processes require some getting used to. The memory is limited to the onboard 256Mb, and is not "expandable" as claimed in Target's product description. Display is very clear, but the orange-blue thing isn't used to advantage. Navigation is snappy and easy (again, a learning period is required) and can be done while the unit is playing. Loading files is very easy and the unit behaves well as an external drive. I'm stuck with USB 1.1 so transfer rates are a bit pokey. A firewire and/or ethernet connection would be a welcome addition. Mic recording is good for voice in proximity to unit , but the quality is poor for area or ambient sound recording, including live music and natural sound. The max bit rate for recording of 192kB/s really shines on line input recordings. Although the manual suggests a max bitrate of 320kB/s, the actual unit can be set no higher than 192, nor is there any adjustment for gain in either recording mode. iOps uses a subminiature input jack for the line in connection, so don't lose that adapter cable!! I would prefer a regular miniature jack for that connection which could be internally switched between line or mic level as a welcome step toward perfection. Still, the concept is sound, functional, and so is the player. Build quality is very good, and the player is a pleasure to carry and use. It looks great, too, but the silvering along the edges of the mirrored panel was somewhat deteriorated in the unit I purchased. Would love to have gotten the 1GB version, but that's only available in Japan right now. This unit is a diamond in the rough, that, with a little polishing, could become a true gem in the flashplayer game.

This is a great player. Vorbis playback is flawless. It is small and light. Great FM recpetion and recording quality. I am glad to have the player that I have been waiting two years for.

well the slim x 350 did many things with me..it went to school, on many trips across america, and just played music for the ears of my frinds and mine. but after about 9 months of having it, the cd reader began to fault! it would read no disc and i wanted to drop it i hated it for turning on me..but it did.

I had done alot of researching and searching around for a good all in one media player(You should too). I saw the 350 in a best buy catalog and decided to check it out. I was planning to get the slim sony model, i dunno what it was called... but when i saw all the features of the 350 slim x, i was blown away. I went to the store to see it first hand. I saw the slim 400 too but i thought it looked kinda boring, not as good as the 350 with that sharpish curve on the top and they both had almost the same features so i decided to get a 350. OMG it is awesome. People say it takes a while to load songs, it really doesnt. I have my super mp3 disc with 165 songs on it, over 16 hours of music, and it takes exactly 6 secs to load, which is great considering all the stuff it has to read. The firmware update works great. You get updates at iriver.com, the new update even puts the game snakebyte on to play on the remote which is great to kill some time in a train or bus. Theres even a program that lets u put lyrics on your songs which will display on the remote as the song progresses. I found the program a little hard to figure out... but i got it after reading the intructions at iriver.com. The radio sounds great. I would recommend getting better headphones, not that they sound bad, but they kinda look cheap. I have to agree with some other reviewers that say the remote is a bit hard to use at first. IT is for about the first 2 days but this is because the remote controls so much different things, i swear there are like over 80 different things u can tweck to suit your listening needs, u can have ur nam displayed on the remote, u can change the visuilzations(yes it has 3 differnt ones)Considering all the remote can do id say that it is really simple to use and the font size is just right. I have 20/20 vision but my mom has really bad vision and wears these thick lens glasses and she could read the remote fine too. My bro owns a new panasonic cd player and its so funny to put the slim x next to his. The slim x is literally half the thickness of the panasonic. and it is smaller and yet the slim x has so much more features on it. I got mine for 120. I bet if u shop around, u can get it cheaper, the 550 is coming out also, or it did, but it still has relatively the same features and i still think the 350 looks better than the 400 and 550. Well i hope this review helps u alot. I highly recommend this all in one player.Im sure there is nothing out there that can beat these slimx player, i think its all about thich of the 3 models u think look the best. O and some people worry about the brand name, iriver, its a great brand, they specialize in making mp3 players, maybe u have heard of the rios, iriver makes them. Well i again hope this review is helpful.

I swear u won't be able too find a mutch better cd/mp3 player anywhere else!!! Plus, this is the best price around, all the other prices r the same or higher. Everything about this thing is awesome! I'll list them!(...)

Good things:Everything.From FM tuner to mp3 cds great stereo & extremly slim!

Bad things: Nothing except the remote. It's not bad but its sorta hard to use. But(...) fur me after u read the remote part of the manual ur all set!

The iPod mini is built from the ground up as a portable device for people with fast-paced lives. It's small and lightweight physical dimensions are perfectly suited to be being placed in a pants or shirt pocket without being a burden.

But don't let its light weight fool you into thinking the iPod mini is a pushover. The 4GB hard drive (3.7 GB actual) can hold about 1,000 songs - enough to last almost three full days. The installed software includes four games; calendar; notepad; contact database; clock; backlight with timer; alarm clock; and the abilities to customize the main menu; create playlists; and rate songs. All this is in addition to being able to be used as an external hard drive.

However, the most revolutionary aspect of the iPod mini (aside from it's size and weight) is its control interface. Incorporating the 'Menu', 'Pause/Play', 'Forward' and 'Back' buttons directly to the touch sensitive scroll wheel not only creates simplicity from a design standpoint, but form a user one as well. Accessing these controls is a breeze. Thankfully the touch wheel is designed well enough that accidental pressing of a control is unlikely to occur since you have to press down a bit to activate the button. I'd actually like to see the entire iPod line adopt this interface.

Some people complain that the iPod mini is only slightly cheaper than the 20 GB iPod and offers a lot less storage space. But what you loose in storage space you gain in portability. It is also important to consider that compared to other players of its size and weight, the iPod mini offers much more storage space, many more features, and a better music jukebox in iTunes 4.0.

I want to carry the most music I can in the smallest possible device that offers the best interface and features. For me, that device is unquestionably the iPod mini. If you have similar demands of a portable music device, the iPod mini is sure to become a permanent accessory to your lifestyle.

The iPod mini is built from the ground up as a portable device for people with fast-paced lives. It's small and lightweight physical dimensions are perfectly suited to be being placed in a pants or shirt pocket without being a burden.

But don't let its light weight fool you into thinking the iPod mini is a pushover. The 4GB hard drive (3.7 GB actual) can hold about 1,000 songs - enough to last almost three full days. The installed software includes four games; a calendar; a notepad; a contact database; a clock; backlight with timer; an alarm clock; and the abilities to customize the main menu; create on-the-go playlists; and rate songs. All this is in addition to being able to be used as an external hard drive!

However, the most revolutionary aspect of the iPod mini (aside from it's size and weight) is its control interface. Incorporating the 'Menu', 'Pause/Play', 'Forward' and 'Back' buttons directly to the touch sensitive scroll wheel not only creates simplicity from a design standpoint, but form a user one as well. Accessing these controls is a breeze. Thankfully the touch wheel is designed well enough that accidental pressing of a control is unlikely to occur since you have to press down a bit to activate the button. I'd actually like to see the entire iPod line adopt this interface.

Some people complain that the iPod mini is only slightly cheaper than the 20 GB iPod and offers a lot less storage space. But what you loose in storage space you gain in portability. It is also important to consider that compared to other players of its size and weight, the iPod mini offers much more storage space, many more features, and a better music jukebox in iTunes 4.0.

I want to carry the most music I can in the smallest possible device that offers the best interface and features. For me, that device is unquestionably the iPod mini. If you have similar demands of a portable music device, the iPod mini is sure to become a permanent accessory to your lifestyle.

It's So awsome!!!!! I listen to it all the time and love the sound quality. It is so light and durable compared to the regular ipod. I have loaded 400 songs on it and my biggest problem is which song to pick. Loading cd's and downloading songs are also very easy and dont take very long. Overall it is awsome!

The iPod mini is built from the ground up as a portable device for people with fast-paced lives. It's small and lightweight physical dimensions are perfectly suited to be being placed in a pants or shirt pocket without being a burden.

But don't let its light weight fool you into thinking the iPod mini is a pushover. The 4GB hard drive (3.7 GB actual) can hold about 1,000 songs - enough to last almost three full days. The installed software includes four games; calendar; notepad; contact database; clock; backlight with timer; alarm clock; and the abilities to customize the main menu; create playlists; and rate songs. All this is in addition to being able to be used as an external hard drive.

However, the most revolutionary aspect of the iPod mini (aside from it's size and weight) is its control interface. Incorporating the 'Menu', 'Pause/Play', 'Forward' and 'Back' buttons directly to the touch sensitive scroll wheel not only creates simplicity from a design standpoint, but form a user one as well. Accessing these controls is a breeze. Thankfully the touch wheel is designed well enough that accidental pressing of a control is unlikely to occur since you have to press down a bit to activate the button. I'd actually like to see the entire iPod line adopt this interface.

Some people complain that the iPod mini is only slightly cheaper than the 20 GB iPod and offers a lot less storage space. But what you loose in storage space you gain in portability. It is also important to consider that compared to other players of its size and weight, the iPod mini offers much more storage space, many more features, and a better music jukebox in iTunes 4.0.

I want to carry the most music I can in the smallest possible device that offers the best interface and features. For me, that device is unquestionably the iPod mini. If you have similar demands of a portable music device, the iPod mini is sure to become a permanent accessory to your lifestyle.

The iPod mini is built from the ground up as a portable device for people with fast-paced lives. It's small and lightweight physical dimensions are perfectly suited to be being placed in a pants or shirt pocket without being a burden.

But don't let its light weight fool you into thinking the iPod mini is a pushover. The 4GB hard drive (3.7 GB actual) can hold about 1,000 songs - enough to last almost three full days. The installed software includes four games; a calendar; a notepad; a contact database; a clock; backlight with timer; an alarm clock; and the abilities to customize the main menu; create on-the-go playlists; and rate songs. All this is in addition to being able to be used as an external hard drive!

However, the most revolutionary aspect of the iPod mini (aside from it's size and weight) is its control interface. Incorporating the 'Menu', 'Pause/Play', 'Forward' and 'Back' buttons directly to the touch sensitive scroll wheel not only creates simplicity from a design standpoint, but form a user one as well. Accessing these controls is a breeze. Thankfully the touch wheel is designed well enough that accidental pressing of a control is unlikely to occur since you have to press down a bit to activate the button. I'd actually like to see the entire iPod line adopt this interface.

Some people complain that the iPod mini is only slightly cheaper than the 20 GB iPod and offers a lot less storage space. But what you loose in storage space you gain in portability. It is also important to consider that compared to other players of its size and weight, the iPod mini offers much more storage space, many more features, and a better music jukebox in iTunes 4.0.

I want to carry the most music I can in the smallest possible device that offers the best interface and features. For me, that device is unquestionably the iPod mini. If you have similar demands of a portable music device, the iPod mini is sure to become a permanent accessory to your lifestyle.

It's So awsome!!!!! I listen to it all the time and love the sound quality. It is so light and durable compared to the regular ipod. I have loaded 400 songs on it and my biggest problem is which song to pick. Loading cd's and downloading songs are also very easy and dont take very long. Overall it is awsome!

The iPod mini is built from the ground up as a portable device for people with fast-paced lives. It's small and lightweight physical dimensions are perfectly suited to be being placed in a pants or shirt pocket without being a burden.

But don't let its light weight fool you into thinking the iPod mini is a pushover. The 4GB hard drive (3.7 GB actual) can hold about 1,000 songs - enough to last almost three full days. The installed software includes four games; calendar; notepad; contact database; clock; backlight with timer; alarm clock; and the abilities to customize the main menu; create playlists; and rate songs. All this is in addition to being able to be used as an external hard drive.

However, the most revolutionary aspect of the iPod mini (aside from it's size and weight) is its control interface. Incorporating the 'Menu', 'Pause/Play', 'Forward' and 'Back' buttons directly to the touch sensitive scroll wheel not only creates simplicity from a design standpoint, but form a user one as well. Accessing these controls is a breeze. Thankfully the touch wheel is designed well enough that accidental pressing of a control is unlikely to occur since you have to press down a bit to activate the button. I'd actually like to see the entire iPod line adopt this interface.

Some people complain that the iPod mini is only slightly cheaper than the 20 GB iPod and offers a lot less storage space. But what you loose in storage space you gain in portability. It is also important to consider that compared to other players of its size and weight, the iPod mini offers much more storage space, many more features, and a better music jukebox in iTunes 4.0.

I want to carry the most music I can in the smallest possible device that offers the best interface and features. For me, that device is unquestionably the iPod mini. If you have similar demands of a portable music device, the iPod mini is sure to become a permanent accessory to your lifestyle.

The iPod mini is built from the ground up as a portable device for people with fast-paced lives. It's small and lightweight physical dimensions are perfectly suited to be being placed in a pants or shirt pocket without being a burden.

But don't let its light weight fool you into thinking the iPod mini is a pushover. The 4GB hard drive (3.7 GB actual) can hold about 1,000 songs - enough to last almost three full days. The installed software includes four games; a calendar; a notepad; a contact database; a clock; backlight with timer; an alarm clock; and the abilities to customize the main menu; create on-the-go playlists; and rate songs. All this is in addition to being able to be used as an external hard drive!

However, the most revolutionary aspect of the iPod mini (aside from it's size and weight) is its control interface. Incorporating the 'Menu', 'Pause/Play', 'Forward' and 'Back' buttons directly to the touch sensitive scroll wheel not only creates simplicity from a design standpoint, but form a user one as well. Accessing these controls is a breeze. Thankfully the touch wheel is designed well enough that accidental pressing of a control is unlikely to occur since you have to press down a bit to activate the button. I'd actually like to see the entire iPod line adopt this interface.

Some people complain that the iPod mini is only slightly cheaper than the 20 GB iPod and offers a lot less storage space. But what you loose in storage space you gain in portability. It is also important to consider that compared to other players of its size and weight, the iPod mini offers much more storage space, many more features, and a better music jukebox in iTunes 4.0.

I want to carry the most music I can in the smallest possible device that offers the best interface and features. For me, that device is unquestionably the iPod mini. If you have similar demands of a portable music device, the iPod mini is sure to become a permanent accessory to your lifestyle.

It's So awsome!!!!! I listen to it all the time and love the sound quality. It is so light and durable compared to the regular ipod. I have loaded 400 songs on it and my biggest problem is which song to pick. Loading cd's and downloading songs are also very easy and dont take very long. Overall it is awsome!

The RioVolt SP100 has probably the same features as the SP90 but has upgraded software and more features . The SP100 is great and gives you great features. One of my favorite features is the equalizer, so you can manage to have the best sound possible for your type of genre. (Sound options include normal, rock, jazz, classical, and ultra bass). Another feature is the mode button and it gives you plenty of repeat options, shuffle, speed scan, etc. Other features include prog., +10 (skips ten songs at a time) and a remote.
The only problem with this is that it plays MP3 songs in alphabetical order and to skip through songs, you use the navigator button. Overall, this is a great mp3 player with good features.

Pros: Excellent Sound Quality
Good skip protection (40 sec for cds, 120 for mp3s)
Good features
Plays MP3s, and blah blah blah

Cons: Navigator is a pain
Stupid cd case
15 hours of battery life (just not enough)

After just a short time with this, I'm really happy. The warnings about this skipping have proved untrue. I made sure I had the latest software update. I will say that I haven't done a lot of jumping around to test this, but I've carried it in a fanny pack while working around the house and shop. I did find that it is a little slow to rev up with MP3s, and so gave it only 4 of 5 stars. My TDK Mojo gave up the ghost after a couple years, and I chose this RioVolt as a replacement. If I get a couple years out of it, I'll be happy.

I have no frame of reference, as I never used another MP3-CD player, but why should I? I bought this player after a LOT of research online, comparing it to the Philips Expanium, Pine (D'Music) players and others, and I came to the conclusion that this one is the best, without a doubt.
This player's ability to read ID3 tags is marvelous, as well as its ability to navigate through folders on the CD, including nested folders (not every player will do this). The Rio Volt has an internal Memory of 2MB, meaning 120 seconds of memory for 128kbps songs, which serves as 2 minutes (!) of anti-shock, a very useful feature, especially if your country has roads as bad as Israel. I took it on a bumpy train ride of 1 hour, and it skipped only once. I can't say that for my old cassette player!
With 15 hours of battery life, built-in equalizers, a remote control and easy navigation it is worth every penny.
It does come with earphones, but these aren't much. Get good ones yourself.

My wife liked my Nokia 3650 so much that she switched chips with me and is carrying it.

My favorite features:

1. Speaker Phone. Nice when driving or multitasking. Good audible range. I slip it in my shirt pocket and speak into the air. Works great!
2. Display is very good for its size. The camera takes 640 x 480 color images. I bought a 32 meg card to increase storage. I recently used the phone as my principle camera on vacation to the Smokies. Worked great.

3. Contacts is a nice feature that can pull your chip's phone numbers and store them. Just add email addresses and you can send the camera pics to any email via the multimedia option.

Disadvantages: The blue lighted round keyboard. In low light it is hard to see. This can be a problem when text-messaging or adding contact details.

I'm buying a 2nd phone which will be another Nokia 3650. (...) :)

well, I owned this phone for 10 months now and its too big.. all the features are great. really a great phone...but kinda too bulky and heavy.

also that circular dial pad isnt comofrtable. thats why they changed it for the new 3660. overall its a nice phone.

I bought it from Amazon.com with T mobile Service plan. I stay in minneapolis and T mobile service is awesome here.
Things that i like about this phone :
- Excellent color display which is reasonally big compared to cell phone standards.
- novel keypad, although it took some time to get adjusted.
The Central scroll key is really cool (esp while playing games :)
- Camera is awesome. Colors of pictures are rich, sharp. Good 640 x 480 resolution (i set image quality to highest and the pics were awesome)
- Excellent security ( Can set an optional code, so that u need to enter it when ever u switch the phone on. Also, u can set a code when ever SIM card changes. So, even if somebody steals ur piece, i guess they cant use it )
- can work even outside US ( Europe and Asia ).
- I never used SMS before, but this cell has it with predefined/customizable templates which really reduce the burden of typing and we can send text messages any where in the world. (for sending multimedia emails u need to subscribe to t zones ..which is well... hmm...pretty cheap)
- T mobile has given a default email id(yourphonenumber@tmomail.net) to every piece with which u can send text based email from your piece using SMS.
- Can link to local bluetooth, infrared enabled devices. My laptop has an infrared port and i downloaded all the pics from the camera.
- Can act as a wireless modem to connect ur laptop to internet.( I didnt test that )
- can download any J2ME based Java applications. ( i didnt test that )
- has Calendar, calculator, sound recorder(which can record conversations), ring tone composer ( u can create ur own ring tones and set them) & loud speaker.
- Handsfree is given for free.
- can add pics to every contact in the list of contacts.
- classify contacts into groups and send group SMS messages, group emails.
- can play recorded/downloaded video clips using real one player.
- Although its a PDA, camera, video camera cum cell phone, the battery lasts pretty long.

Things i didnt like :
- a bit bulky, but the good features shadow it.
- built in ring tones(except for a couple or so) are not that audible in crowded places. The ones that i created were good.
- Good cases are readily not available. I had to buy a Bodyglove's neopreme cell case from circuitcity :( )

Well, bottom line is... i feel i bought(Got) an AWESOME piece for FREE !!

I wrote a previous review about this product before even using it, complaining about the extra expenses that came with it. I regret not using the product first, to determine whether or not the hidden expenses (sales tax ($20.00), USB 2.0 card ($30.00), and USB plug ($19.00 plus $5.00 shipping and tax), total $374). The Apple iPod, despite its setbacks in price, is an amazing little product.

As soon as the USB connector cord arrived in the mail (quickly, even, I ordered late Saturday night and recieved my order the following Wednesday) I proceeded to download the software (took about 10 minutes, very easy set up), and record about 12 CDs using the MusicMatch Jukebox software that came with the iPod. This proved to be slightly frusterating...MusicMatch is not very user-friendly, and very flawed; I had to restart my computer between every 5 or so C.D.'s, and a few C.D.'s didn't record at all. Each C.D. took about 3 minutes to record. After recording the discs, I synced my iPod to MusicMatch (my computer failed to recognize the iPod, but for some reason MusicMatch did, so I had no problem) and downloaded the files; an amazingly fast process with USB 2.0. After that, I had a slight problem in that the iPod didn't remove the "Do Not Disconnect" message from the screen after the songs were downloaded. I decided to be brave, and unplug the little machine, and had no problems.

As far as the iPod itself goes, I was amazed. The controls are a bit confusing at first, but it too me no time at all to become accostomed to them. The overall layout of the files is easy...from the main screen you can go to the playlists option (a list of your playlists, or mixes, of songs...you could do "Happy Songs", "Favorite Songs", "Classical Music", "Songs that Start with the Letter B", etc.), the browse menu (look at songs by Artists, Albums, Songs, Genres, and Composers) the Extras menu (the clock, contacts list, calender, notes and games- Solitare, Brick, and Parachute. note: although you can enter info onto the contacts list, calender, and notes from your computer, information can no be entered on the go and the iPod is absolutely no replacement for a PDA), the settings menu, the backlight button, or the "Now Playing" option if you have music going. The sound quality of the player is excellent, however, I'm not a fan of the earbuds...they're a bit too big and uncomfortable. If you really, really, really want to get the most out of your iPod, you can use it as a portable hard drive- to transfer large files from one computer to another- or to download text onto like recipies, driving directions, and maybe a short story. The touch controls make the iPod more durable-no buttons to break-but are easily pressed, so you never know when you may accidentally brush against something and stop you song, or worse, cause the volume to rise to earsplitting levels. I reccomend using the hold switch so nothing will accidentally be pressed. The only problems I have are with the batterry status indicator...its very approximate.

So, in short....

Pros:
Put all your CDs on one player...throw out the clunky CD case
Small and portable
Easy to use
Doubles as a calender, address book, text displayer, and portable hard drive
iTunes Music Store (Mac) lets you purchase individual songs for $.99 each
Looks totally spiffy
Will make friends jealous

Cons:
Battery life indicator is approximate
MusicMatch is slightly difficult to use

Scratches very easily
Kinda screwy with the "Do Not Disconnect" messages
EXPENSIVE

My Sony mini-disc player died after a short life (moment of silence). So when I got a new job, the toy of choice was an iPod. What a difference!

The bad as compared to the mini-disc player is that the iPod doesn't have an LCD display remote control. So with so many songs, it's hard to blindly navigate if your iPod is stashed away. Hopefully Apple will create such a remote. Otherwise, it wins over the mini-disc player hands down!

The new mini-discs hold 5 hours of music. 2 years ago that was a big deal. My 20 Gig iPod has 17 hours of music already and I am using merely 390 MB. That's less than a fraction of its capacity. The iPod's looking at me like, "When are you gonna REALLY add some music?"

The 3 lines of music data display the song title, artist, and even album! And the sound...oh boy. I feel like I'm at a concert! Excellent sound! You can also tweak the sound with the equalizer.

Once they make that LCD remote to make navigating easier, it'll be perfect.

I recently purchased a PowerMac 12" computer and got a great deal on a 10GB iPod. I absolutely love it! I'm currently in the process of backing up my entire CD collection and putting my favorites on the iPod to use in the car; much easier to use the iPod on the road than shuffling through CDs. There are a few things that don't thrill me about its design: it is rather difficult to change settings on the fly (i.e. EQ). It'd be nice to have the EQ sync with the genre on the mp3 tags (if this is actually available I haven't figured it out). It takes a while to become comfortable with its navigation, however once you do there's really no problem getting around.

PROS:
firewire powers/charges/syncs device (no needless, excessive input ports)
sleek, slim design
backlight VERY handy
stores other data files than just mp3/AAC/wav/etc.
screamin' fast firewire connection (compare to USB)
durable; no problem jogging w/ it on a belt clip
solid state buttons/wheel
many features (calendar, games, clock, etc.)

CONS:
proprietary Firewire cable (which, in apple's defense, is included)
fairly expensive compared to other mp3 systems (high $/GB ratio)

I have already written a review giving my first impressions of the Diamond Rio 500. After several months I still feel that "If you are looking for a MP3 player that can be upgraded to 128mb of memory, is easy to operate, sounds great, ultra compact and light weight buy the Diamond Rio 500 you won't regret it". I would like now to address the ability of the player to play audio books. I have 64MB of built in memory and 64MB of external smart media. Unfortunately the Audible's program only allow the transferring of books to the internal memory. It would be nice to be able to transfer to books to external memory. You could then buy a 16MB or 32MB card just for books. I talked to Audible about this and they said they may incorporate using external memory in future releases of the program. Music files are stored in folders, which you name in both memory areas. Audible files create their own directory in the space you allow. I found that by deleting two songs I am able to store five hours of audible books in auidi format one. Narration sounds great with the exception of the occasional music accompaniment, which does not play well at the reduced bit rate. What works out great is the ability for audio books and MP3 music files to share the same memory? The music files play normally and you can switch to audio books whenever you desire. While listening to audio books the player will retain the place if you pause the player and than press the stop button on the front. After this is done you can use the slider switch on top to turn the player off completely to save batteries. When you restart the player it will begin the book where it left off. If you want to switch back and forth between the book and music there is a bookmark button on the side, which allows you to mark your spot. You can then return to a book marked spot at any time. The player also allows you to created multiple bookmarks. I think it is a good idea to use the bookmark feature whenever you turn the player off.

Another thing I noticed is that you have to use care with the forward and back controls. To move back or forth you must hold the button down firmly until you find the spot where you want to continue. If you press either the back or forward button quickly you will end up either at the beginning of the track you are listening to or the next track. Some tracks can be 300 minutes or longer. That's why I like to bookmark my place occasionally or at least when I turn it off.

The Audible program allows you to move books into a storage area before transferring them to your player. By moving a slider and can predetermine how much space you want to allow for books on your player. If you want three hours it will transfer the first three hours to your player. When you are finished reading this material just connect the player with the USB, with fresh batteries, and the program will automatically transfer the next three hours to your player. The transfer process only takes a few minutes.

I have a Casio Pocket PC E115 and the Rio 500. In my opinion the Rio is lighter, more compact and has better sound. I am very please with the over all operation the Rio 500. I recommend it highly for Audio Books and Music. I hope this has been helpful.

This is a durable little MP3 player. I have had mine for about 4 years and it's still going strong. I also had the issue of the software not working with XP. Rio audio products are now owned by Digital Networks, but there is little to no help at all on their website for the Rio 500. Anyway, that is my only complaint. There is a great website called Rioworld.org that has several different freeware programs available that will let your Rio 500 work with XP. There is also a couple of recovery files in case you get a gray checkerboard screen (problem that can occur if there is a power failure during upload of a song).

The Rio500 is a great MP3 player - in this reviewer's opinion, the best on the market currently. Its size (smaller than a pack of cigarettes) and weight (about an oz.) recommend it to shirt-pocket musicophiles and, especially, athletes! (You can jog all day with nary a skip, and with the included netting belt-clip, it will definitely NOT pull your jogging shorts down, weighing about the same as a pager.)

Interface with any USB Macintosh is seamless, and the included software, Casady & Greene's SoundJam MP, is the finest Mac application in decades. All you need to know is how to work the plug, and how to drag and drop, and you'll be organizing your Rio playlists with no trouble. If it isn't already, SoundJam will become your MP3 player of choice, too.

The Rio takes SmartMedia cards and can reportedly handle any size, including the upcoming 100+ MB cards; mine works perfectly with a 32 MB Sandisk SmartMedia card. (96 MB is just about perfect for listening to a full 72-minute CD recording, say of Beethoven's Fifth, at 160 kbps sound quality.)

I also get great sound out of a phones-to-cassette adapter, which I use to playback MP3's in my car. My only complaint is that the included ear-beads are terrible, both acoustically and for the fact that they just won't stay in! Alternative headphones can be used, but drain the power source (1 AA battery) rather quickly. A solution might be NiMH high capacity rechargables.

I have already written a review giving my first impressions of the Diamond Rio 500. After several months I still feel that "If you are looking for a MP3 player that can be upgraded to 128mb of memory, is easy to operate, sounds great, ultra compact and light weight buy the Diamond Rio 500 you won't regret it". I would like now to address the ability of the player to play audio books. I have 64MB of built in memory and 64MB of external smart media. Unfortunately the Audible's program only allow the transferring of books to the internal memory. It would be nice to be able to transfer to books to external memory. You could then buy a 16MB or 32MB card just for books. I talked to Audible about this and they said they may incorporate using external memory in future releases of the program. Music files are stored in folders, which you name in both memory areas. Audible files create their own directory in the space you allow. I found that by deleting two songs I am able to store five hours of audible books in auidi format one. Narration sounds great with the exception of the occasional music accompaniment, which does not play well at the reduced bit rate. What works out great is the ability for audio books and MP3 music files to share the same memory? The music files play normally and you can switch to audio books whenever you desire. While listening to audio books the player will retain the place if you pause the player and than press the stop button on the front. After this is done you can use the slider switch on top to turn the player off completely to save batteries. When you restart the player it will begin the book where it left off. If you want to switch back and forth between the book and music there is a bookmark button on the side, which allows you to mark your spot. You can then return to a book marked spot at any time. The player also allows you to created multiple bookmarks. I think it is a good idea to use the bookmark feature whenever you turn the player off.

Another thing I noticed is that you have to use care with the forward and back controls. To move back or forth you must hold the button down firmly until you find the spot where you want to continue. If you press either the back or forward button quickly you will end up either at the beginning of the track you are listening to or the next track. Some tracks can be 300 minutes or longer. That's why I like to bookmark my place occasionally or at least when I turn it off.

The Audible program allows you to move books into a storage area before transferring them to your player. By moving a slider and can predetermine how much space you want to allow for books on your player. If you want three hours it will transfer the first three hours to your player. When you are finished reading this material just connect the player with the USB, with fresh batteries, and the program will automatically transfer the next three hours to your player. The transfer process only takes a few minutes.

I have a Casio Pocket PC E115 and the Rio 500. In my opinion the Rio is lighter, more compact and has better sound. I am very please with the over all operation the Rio 500. I recommend it highly for Audio Books and Music. I hope this has been helpful.

This is a durable little MP3 player. I have had mine for about 4 years and it's still going strong. I also had the issue of the software not working with XP. Rio audio products are now owned by Digital Networks, but there is little to no help at all on their website for the Rio 500. Anyway, that is my only complaint. There is a great website called Rioworld.org that has several different freeware programs available that will let your Rio 500 work with XP. There is also a couple of recovery files in case you get a gray checkerboard screen (problem that can occur if there is a power failure during upload of a song).

The Rio500 is a great MP3 player - in this reviewer's opinion, the best on the market currently. Its size (smaller than a pack of cigarettes) and weight (about an oz.) recommend it to shirt-pocket musicophiles and, especially, athletes! (You can jog all day with nary a skip, and with the included netting belt-clip, it will definitely NOT pull your jogging shorts down, weighing about the same as a pager.)

Interface with any USB Macintosh is seamless, and the included software, Casady & Greene's SoundJam MP, is the finest Mac application in decades. All you need to know is how to work the plug, and how to drag and drop, and you'll be organizing your Rio playlists with no trouble. If it isn't already, SoundJam will become your MP3 player of choice, too.

The Rio takes SmartMedia cards and can reportedly handle any size, including the upcoming 100+ MB cards; mine works perfectly with a 32 MB Sandisk SmartMedia card. (96 MB is just about perfect for listening to a full 72-minute CD recording, say of Beethoven's Fifth, at 160 kbps sound quality.)

I also get great sound out of a phones-to-cassette adapter, which I use to playback MP3's in my car. My only complaint is that the included ear-beads are terrible, both acoustically and for the fact that they just won't stay in! Alternative headphones can be used, but drain the power source (1 AA battery) rather quickly. A solution might be NiMH high capacity rechargables.