Portable mp3 player / Rio 800 questions - please help! (1 Viewer)

[Eric_E]

I didn't think this would get much attention in the audio/video sources forum, so I'm posting it here. Admins, feel free to move it if you like.

I'm thinking of getting a portable mp3 player to listen to while I work out (weightlifting, running, biking, etc.). I would like something (relatively) small and light, so I'm not too interested in jukebox-style players. I really don't want to spend a whole lot of money on it (under or around $100 if possible).

I usually only work out for an hour, max, but I want to get something that can hold slightly more data, because my car CD player has a line-in jack I could use with it. I think I might like a 128 MB model, but a 64 MB model might be okay, too. Can someone explain how the storage capacity translates to time? Is it dependent on the bitrate of the mp3?

One model that has caught my eye is the Rio 800 - I can get one from eBay for around $90 with all the accessories, but the only ones I've seen are factory refurbished units. Is there any reason why I shouldn't buy one of these? Are they reliable?

Does anyone have any recommendations? If you own an mp3 player that might fit what I'm looking for, what kind do you have and how do you like it? Thanks for your help, everyone.

Oh, one more thing, if you listen to music while working out, what kind of headphones do you use?

 

[Khoa Tran]

don't get those mp3 players, i had the nike one (rio) , it broke...then i switched to sony md players...they play mp3s, the hold as much as a regular cd...so that's alot of music...and they don't skip...i run with it and has never skipped and the battery life is amazing....don't waste your money on those mp3 players with memory cards...oh yeah and you can buy 5 MDs for 10 dollars...so you can make as many as you want...they can rewrite so you don't have to worry about wasting them either....Sony NETMD

 

[Eric_E]

Khoa: Believe it or not, I have owned a MiniDisc player - a Sony NetMD MZ-N505, no less. And it DID skip. It took quite a bit of jostling to make it skip, but it did, when I was running. I also didn't like the ridiculous OpenMG software that came with the unit, and I didn't like having to record in real-time to get full quality, and I didn't like having to haul discs around. Sound quality was okay, but the stuff I just mentioned was too much of a hassle. I sold the unit within 3 months. So I'm not considering MD anymore.

As an update to anyone else who might be reading this thread, I have checked some reviews of the Rio 800 on epinions.com audioreview.com and cnet.com and they were all pretty abysmal. Especially on CNet. Out of something like 339 reviews, 67% were negative. Yikes. Lots of horror stories of broken units... that's pretty disheartening. "Factory renewed" seems even more questionable now. So does anybody have any other recommendations? Thanks!

 

[Michael Varacin]

I have had several MP3 players over the years, including a RIO 800. The Rio 800 was a good player, but I returned it because right after I bought it, they included an extra 32 megs of memory for the same price. I didn't buy another one until the following winter.

Now I have a Creative Nomad IIc. It is the best player I've had. Although I did have to add a piece of grip tape behind the belt clip to help it stay on my shorts.

For headphones, I use a set made by KOSS. They are about $15, and sound perfect. They are ear buds, where you squish the foam and stick them in your ear. The foam expands, and holds them in place. I love them, and can't image working out with anything else. They do drown out any outside noise, so I would use caution when running with them outside.

 

[Eric_E]

Well, if anyone's still reading this thread, I went out and bought an iRiver iFP-180T this morning. It's a 128 MB player that's gotten some excellent reviews... you can have a look at it here if you're interested. I haven't had a chance to open it yet but I'm pretty excited about it.