MP3 Reviews

Sp65 is difficult to program. Detailed instructions are not included with purchased item, and send you to a web page that is unavailable (www.sonicblue.com/support). I think this is a piece of junk!

The description of the unit's features up top says that it is an MP3/CD player only. The secondary 'in-depth' description says that the unit plays WMA's??? I am confused.

Does THIS specific unit play WMA's too or is it just MP3/CD?
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RioVolt SP65 Portable CD/MP3 Player

15 Hour Battery Life
Playback - MP3, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, Joilet, ISO9660, Multi-Session CD
DC Input
ESP - MP3 is 120 seconds / CD is 45 seconds
2-line display with 2-line icon

"The RioVolt SP65 portable CD player plays CDs, MP3 CDs, and features a built-in FM radio tuner for media-free listening. The SP65 includes a lighted LCD and provides electronic shock protection (ESP) to guard against skipping during playback--up to 40 seconds of ESP for audio CDs and 120 seconds for MP3 CDs.

Assembling collections on your CD burner >>>gives you the option of storing up to an incredible 24 hours of WMA music<<< on a single CD-R or CD-RW. You also get text display for ID3 title information, showing track and artist information while music plays on its large display."

If this particular unit does NOT play WMA's then it would be nice if you would tell us so we aren't being mislead.

I just got this player and found it very easy to use (without even referring to the handbook). It's great being able to play one CD full of about 14 albums in MP3 format. I've not tried other formats yet. The design is very nice and has all the main basic functions. It does seem to last a long time on 2 AA batteries (longer than an ipod ;-)

The sound is OK for the price but I found that it does skip a bit after some time if on the move (unless you hold it carefully). For my use though (listening whilst travelling on the bus and train) I find it just right and the added FM radio is excellent for listening to BBC World service.

I've just sent off for another one for my daughter who is 9 years old and loves the look of it.

This is an expensive leather case (although it feels like cheap vinyl) that simply does a very poor job of protecting an expensive ipod, due to the open corners.

See those open corners? Sooner or later you are going to scratch up your iPod on those. If you want a quality leather case, check out the Marware CEO Classic. They make 2 sizes, one for each of the 3G dimensions, so you don't have a nightmare getting your 30Gig iPod out of the case you jammed it into, and your 10, 15, or 20 gig doesn't slop around. Also uses the Multidapt system, which allows you to switch to different types of clips, even a bike clip is available.

The corners of the CEO are open a tiny bit, but they should protect your iPod from all but the most bizarre of circumstances.

I saw some of my friends with this case on their iPods and it seemed like a pretty good case, so I went and got it.

Slight problem: Notice how they say "Fits all iPod sizes"?
WRONG.
Apparently, the case is great for the 10, 15, and 20 GB iPods, however there's a slight drawback with the 40GB: IT DOESN'T FIT. On my first try, I had to jam my 40GB iPod in the case. Taking it out was a torture, however I was in the end successful.
So I'm seriously pissed off, and I ask myself why would someone sell a case saying it fits all sizes when it gets your 40GB iPod STUCK IN THE CASE!? I need not answer that question.

So I go ahead and use rubbing alcohol (alochol loosens leather, my friends) on the case for a day at regular intervals and finally my iPod fits TIGHTLY into the case. Taking it out is still a "dangerous" procedure.

Otherwise, if you're buying this case for an iPod of smaller size than a 40GB, there's only one drawback: you must remove your iPod out of it's case to put it in the dock. Besides this minor drawback, I really like the case: it's stylish, convenient and the seams are very tight and strong. Good case, except for the dock problem and the 40GB problem

I would never buy a Samsung product. The RIO software is a horrible joke except nobody is laughing.

I listen to a lot of books on tape and with the rise of books on CD I thought I'd enter the modern era by getting an MP3 player. I picked the YP-35H. Big mistake. It turns out that when you drag and drop files on to the device, there is no guarantee that the track/files will go on in the order you expect. For music, it probably isn't that big a deal. For books, it's unacceptable.

First of all, allow me to use the soapbox - It gets to me that some people expect a product to function like all other products on the market put together! One buy a product for the functionality ones needs it for. Reading the marketing material is fine but then every company's product is the best in the world; download the user manual from the product web site, read the product's specifications and instructions, then purchase it if it matches your requirements!

Second - To the reviewer Electronics Fan from Boston MA. This is a Samsung not a Rio digital audio player. I could just see you going to back to a car dealer complaining that you cannot start your Ford with your spouse's GM key. So some advice, use the software that comes with the unit.

Finally, the Samsung YP-35H - I purchased this unit for my wife, who jogs and travels on a regular basis, because of its size, weight and ease of use. The unit holds 2 to 4 CDs depending on the bit-rate used. I copied my wife's CDs onto the PC in 64 and 96 Kbps format to allow her to download the maximum possible onto the YP-35H if quantity is more important than quality. The sound in either format is as good as any portable CD player I have owned. The controls are easy to use and intuitive; nothing fancy but it has the functionality required. As for the file downloading software goes, you use Windows Explorer to copy the music files from the PC to the YP-35H, again simple yet effective. Unless you copy your music file in a way, as explained below, the only way you can find a specific piece of music is to use the Playmode Intro feature or skip from one song to the next. So the unit's main purpose is download music and enjoy listening to it. To copy file in proper sequence (such as chapters of a book) don't copy the files from the PC to the YP-35H but copy the directory the files are in; the only drawback is that if you are copying music and want to listen in shuffle mode you will only hear one directory/album at a time. A way around this is to copy the music into a directory that can be called "Favourites". As is with virtually all portable units, the headphones/earphones are usually the weakest part of the unit. The earphones that came with this unit are relatively comfortable but if you're running they tend to fall out. So be prepared to buy a pair that fit you well and are appropriate for your use. Battery lifespan is very good. One wish would be to have a way to activate the backlight without activating anything else at the same time. So 4 stars for what it will be used for.

I guess the 90-day warranty says it all. My unit performed well for about that period and then gradually got worse.

Now it refuses to play almost any CD I put in it. When it works, it occasionally has highly distorted output, will get confused in the middle of a disc or will just switch off.

It's pretty much unuseable now.

So I go the Coby web page figuring it's still within a year of purchase, only to learn that after three months you're on your own.

I've had mine for almost 2 years and have had no problems at all. Kind of hard to believe since it gets tossed around my backpack a lot. I can burn over 100 mp3's to a cd-rw. Great for long road and plane trips. The included headphones are uncomfortable and the search feature is a bit difficult to use, but it sounds good and for the price, nothing beats it. I like it a lot.

Cute design, but the Play button worked intermittently, voice recording quality was poor, and the software was buggy. I had the 256 MB version bought directly from Pogo Products and as soon as I had loaded 160-170 MB, the software crashed and would not function until I erased all of the files on the RipFlash. Customer service was VERY hesitant to issue me a Return Merchandise Authorization. Maybe yours will work better, but definitely don't buy direct from manufacturer. Buy from Amazon or other vendor with reasonable return policy and customer service.

My RipFlash Pro worked well for a while. It is very small, lightweight, and sounds great, but now the unit freezes up my system when I connect it. I reinstalled the software many times and no luck. Also, the recording quality is very bad as it has no compressor (minimizes and compresses loud sounds so that it won't distort). I'll stick with MiniDisk for recording and will look for another MP3 player.

I just got the RipFlash PRO a few hours ago... very small and light! Software setup worked fine on my WinXP SP1 box, no problems. I was listening to songs through it in 15 minutes. It worked fine on all the MP3s I tested, the majority of which are VBR ripped with LAME.
Downloading songs to it is easy and intuitive. You do have to use their builtin file browser to find songs you want to transfer, however. It would have been nice to be able to view the player as a USB drive and then be able to drag & drop from anywhere, not just the included software.
Sound on the unit sounds good, and basic song playing is easy to figure out (didn't read manual :-) All of the buttons are labeled on the back side of the player, making it easy to learn. The unit takes about 6 seconds to power on though... not sure how this compares to others. It does remember where you were in your playlist when you turn it on again.
The headphone plug is *very* secure.. I almost thought it was broken because I had to wiggle the headphone jack to get sound, but it turns out that I just didn't have it plugged in all the way (you have to push pretty hard).
I haven't yet tried any of the recording functions (voice or line-in).

The one thing that was not mention by Amazon is that this case is designed and intended for 1st generation ipods only! I purchased mine and was quite disappointed by the fact that Amazon failed to mention this important fact. Although the case is made of quality material and seem to fit my 20 GB ipod nicely, the two outer buttons above the click wheel will not be accessible once the ipod is in the case. But if all you want is something to hold your ipod, this may do the job as long as you are will to pay the listed price. I believe you can find something more functional for a cheaper price.

This case does not work well with the ipod. When in the case, you cannot work the button controls-- rewind, fastforward. The case scratches the ipod upon inserting and removing due to the hard leather stiching on the inside of the case. Good idea, bad execution.

I disagree with the other review. And I know for a fact that it does not scratch up the sides. IT IS A GOOD IDEA, AND A GOOD EXECUTION.

[You will find similar negative reviews of this product on other websites, don't just take my word for it]:

For the 2-3 weeks that it worked, I was in heaven. When it stopped working (less than 1 month after purchase), CenDyne wanted nothing to do with me. My "Warranty/Registration Form" was returned in the mail unopened, and their website politely informed me that "CenDyne is no longer providing warranty services." Click on support and you will get the dreaded "The page cannot be found."
To top it all off, their website posts a cute little FAQs section, with one question being, "Why is CenDyne's phone number not listed here?"
You guessed it; the answer is that "CenDyne no longer provides phone support." Avoid this company like the plague.

I thought this product was great:
- Small and light
- Holds about 4 or 5 cds (128 mb)
- convenieint USB plugs directly in to PC w/out cable (may not fit all PC's)
- Plays through FM radio in my car

One BIG problem though; it quit working the first day!
So I exchanged it for another hoping it was a one-off fluke.
The second one quit after a couple of hours!
I called Cen Dyne, who were no help, and told me to return it for another one. I'm not taking the chance, especially since I read a review on another website that another buyer had the same problem as me.

Oh yeah, whoever wrote the manual, has very poor English, which makes following the instruction book very difficult.

This is a great sounding, lightweight MP3 player that I enjoy using on a daily basis. Neck strap makes it perfect for the gym. One word of warning though: REPLACE THE HEADPHONES! The included headphones are probably the worst I've ever heard. However, once I switched to a pair of Panasonic earbuds, I realized that the headphones were the problem, not the unit itself. Sounds great, LOUD, good price for 128mb and the included RF Transmitter works great with my car stereo. Very easy to setup and use on a PC. Within 5 minutes of opening the box I had transfered songs and was ready to go. Compared to some other 128mb players out there, this is well worth the price!

If I could have given it ZERO for a star I would have. Purchased as an xmas gift and it skipped, and skipped.....and did I mention it SKIPPED? We returned it hoping it was a fluke, and the next one worked for a day then the volume went on it. Great price, good concept with the mp3, cdr/rw......but TERRIBLE cd player. Returning it for a Sony Walkman.

Before buying this cd player two years ago, I wasn't expecting much out of it. All I needed was an inexpensive device that would provide me with music daily, and that's exactly what this is. The price is nice and affordable, and the mp3 playability is a handy idea, although I do not use it. It does take quite a while for the actually cd to start playing, but other than that the tone it carries out is clear. My classic has taken a handful beatings, being dropped once or twice and being hauled onto the floor while in my backpack. From those experiences, the lid of the player has become somewhat loose. I would not recommend this item if you plan to go jogging or biking with it, because I must admit that it DOES SKIP when the player is moving up and down. Other than that, the Classic cd player is pretty decent. I plan on buying a Sony in the future, just for a fresh look and more effects.

Its not a bad piece for the price - i use it all day for all the music i need - and it works fine. There was no problem till now just that batteries go out very fast but thats the case with any CD player i suppose. It takes considerable time for figuring out the type of disk before it starts playing - this can be little annoying some times. My piece fell down a couple of times - but still is working fine. I dont jog with this piece but then it does skip tunes some times for no reason but not very frequently.

All in all - its not a bad bet for the price.

I had the same problem as David from San Jose. But I was lucky to fix my internal memory. Basically I had to install an older version from DUO MANGER in a Win2000 computer and tried lots and lots of times to low format the internal memory. The newest version of DUO MANAGER wouldn't recognize the player at all. I started the low format process several times right after switching the unit on, and before the DUO-64 went to a fault LED condition. After several attempts, I managed to format the player and now it's working again. Now it can work with the newest DUO MANAGER version. Just as a reminder, now I'm just using Win2000 to downloading to it and I do not recommend it.

This product worked OK for me on Win 2000, but I got a new Win XP computer. I downloaded the software for Win XP, and it CORRUPTED THE DEVICE'S MEMORY. Tech support said, "Sorry." The device is now inoperable. I expect some problems, but the device shouldn't become inoperable. Save your money and get a more robust or cheaper MP3 player. A cassette
adapter for any MP3 player is [inexpensive].

loved this product sounds good and can play in my car w/o having to change to stock deck then take it out and go to work man i love it!!!!!!!!!!!!

I purchased one of these on ebay. When it arrived, you could clearly hear the sound of the motor through the speakers (if you turn down the volume to zero, only the motor sound is left and it's QUITE loud. I complained and sent it back. They sent another. This time it not only has the SAME motor sound but ALSO static in the left speaker. This product is complete garbage, I've had two of them and they were both broken in the same way!
I don't know what causes the static. It sounds a little like the clipping you hear when an amplifier can't deal with the dynamic range of a song (the static is in the loud, exciting parts of music.) I would encourage EVERYONE to stay as far away from this product as possible. I'm sending this one back for a refund!

Picked one of these up as a bit of retail therapy (impressed by the price), and quickly regretted it. Read the part in the description about "supports MP3 bit rates of 32, 64, 96, 128, 192, and 256 Kbps" carefully... it skips and pops if you present it with 320kbps, and also possibly with 224kbps, which you will frequently find in a ...-encoded ("--preset standard") mp3.

Everything else worked flawlessly on this unit, which I can't actually say about some other MP3 boomboxes I tried out... If only it could play ALL the mp3 bitrates... I'd happily pay 1.5-2x the cost for a unit that could play the MP3 CDRWs without the skipping or other problems!

Unfortunately, this one will be going back, and the hunt will go on...

I bought this unit for my 10 year old daughter. Pulled it out of the box, plugged in a CD burned at 52X, played perfectly, impressive sound when extra bass button pushed. I was pleasantly surprised with the sound quality, much better than I expected considering the price. I tried several different CD's with MP3's, again it played them all flawlessly. I am very happy with this unit for the price. I've heard boomboxes for over $100.00 not sound as good as this. If you expect this to be your main portable player, get real, it's only $40.00. But for what it is and what it claims to be, it offers excellent value and performance. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to buy an inexpensive boombox for a child or for the RV or cottage. If this was lost or stolen, you won't feel too badly, just buy another.