Rating: 
Summary: Overall A Good Product
Review: I purchase my Rio Nitrus a week ago, at first I had various doubts about this product. I had read some reviews that made seem as a horrible product, while other reviews called it marvelous. But first things first, I decided to purchase this product because of its size (it literally fits in my fist), and also because it can play Windows Media Audio (something that the ipod doesn't do). .... Installing the program on windows XP was very easy, and the same goes for installing songs in the player. I wasn't able to put 1.5 gigabytes of music in it, it only allowed me 1.4 bytes, overall I had a little bit over 500 songs (all of my songs are WMA's recorded at 128). Now onto the bad part. . .like some other reviews mentioned, Rio really screwed up with the volume buttons, they are too close together. Another small mistake are the headphones, personally I don't like the headphones that come with the unit, they are too small, and at times annoying (this is my personal opinion). However, don't get me wrong the sound of unit is amazing, when I first played a song I was amazed at how clear and loud the song was. Some of the thing I most enjoy about this player are the playlist, for example out of the 500 songs I have two playlists, one is compose of slow songs that I listen to while going to sleep, or in the bus, the other is call "top 20" which are usually the best 20 song I want to hear on my player. The rio nitrus has amazing search abilities, for example, you can search a song by its name, album, artist, etc., Or you can just shuffle and play all the songs (repeat is also available, but i don't use it). Overall this is good player, besides minor little problems (for me) such as the volume and headphones, I give the Nitrus 4.5 stars out of 5. If your interested in buying this product, I recommend you download its manual, and/or search for a professional review such PC world etc., One more thing so far my Nitrus has been working fine, I was a bit scare since I read all those "my player broke the same day I got it etc.," reviews, but for at least it seems to work just fine. Update, its been a month since I've purchase my nitrus, and it works just like it did when I bought it, the only exception is that now it has a few scrachtes, but nothing elses I'm still very please with this player. Update, My player Finally broke. . .everything was working fine but then I turn it off, and the next time I turn it on, it wouldn't go on past the RIO screen. So I call customer service, and they told me to do a hard reset, then upgrade to the lates firmware, and voila it work ... So right now is working fine.
Rating:
Summary: Just what I was looking for...
Review: Would I recommend this mp3 player to others? Definitely. 1) Style and Sound... Even in a world of mp3 players with bigger names, memories, and prices, I must say that this player rocks. The sound is sick even with the included dinky headphones - the volume goes up to a measure of 30 which I have yet to reach because 23 is loud enough for most of my mp3's. The design is also welcoming: it's a small and thin black device, extremely light, with a nice navigation button, volume control, a locking device, and a nice display which lights up during use. I use the rio for everything from going to the gym to traveling on the subway and I'm very happy with it eventhough I could have spent another $100 on an IPOD. 2) Technicalities... Something people usually don't mention in these reviews is the process of transferring songs on to the player. This is extremely important for the new buyer. The rio nitrus is very user friendly in this department. It uses a USB cable which you connect from the tower to the device. Once you install the software, you can easily access your downloaded music and transfer it to the player. This is a little different from the IPOD software where you drag and drop but it is just as easy and comparably quick. The device has a memory of 1.5GB which is about 375 songs. I personally will probably not transcend this mark because I don't have anywyhere near as many songs as that - but if this is an issue for you, you should probably look into the IPOD or others. The actual usage and navigation of the device is also user friendly. After you label your songs how you wish, they are listed alphabetically and you can play them all in shuffle mode or go directly to them. There are also other options some which I haven't looked into yet and others such as playlists etc. which I really don't care about but if you want to read the instructions on them I'm sure it's not an arduous task to complete. 3) Price, Alternatives, Conclusion... I got my player for $215, which is probably a little high. But it was definitely worth it because it gives me all I need. I mean I know the swing wheel on the IPOD is enticing as well as its other features, but the IPOD is more like a computer and I'm not looking for such a device. If you need memory past the 375 song capacity but want to spend less, look into 5GB IPODS or something similar. There are also issues with the lithium battery which the IPOD also shares. Because the nitrus is no where near as popular as the IPOD it has not even been addressed for this rio but apparently these batteries die after a year or so. I really don't know about this, but it is something to be aware of. I've also read that some customers had defective products, I'm not sure how common that is but I've had no problems so far. I feel that the rio nitrus has everything you need for less money. It's my first mp3 player and will probably be my last.
Rating: 
Summary: Impressive performance in a small package
Review: I have had my Nitrus for two weeks and am very impressed with it. The software is great in finding CD album information. The unit is so small it does not need a belt clip... it just fits in the watch pocket on my blue jeans. Rio has done a fantastic job.
Rating: 
Summary: A good balance between size/weight and capacity.
Review: I have used my Nitrus for several weeks so far and am generally pleased with it. Positive:
1) Its most appealing feature is its small size and light weight. It is almost as light at my 128kB MuVo, but with more than 10x the capacity. I had my eyes on a 20MB unit like the iPod or Nomad, but I wanted a unit that I could just drop into my pocket when I go walk the dogs, work in the yard or around the house, etc., without using a case or clip. In that regard, it meets all my expectations--I drop it into my pants or shirt pocket and I don't even know it is there.
2) Long battery life.
3) Great sound and multi-band equalizer.
4) Rio Music Manger software works well and is easy to use.
5) Upgradable firmware. Negative:
1) Price (for capacity) is a bit high, but I expect the price to continue to drop as Christmas approaches.
2) Capacity (for price) is limted (relative to 20MB+ units), but I expect it is only a matter of time before IBM releases larger capacity 1-inch hard drives.
3) I went out and bought a USB2.0 card just to use with the Nitrus (USB1 downloads take a loooong time). I experience numerous time-outs when downloading. It is hard to tell if the fault lies in the Nitrus or the USB2.0 card. Perhaps a future firmware upgrade from Rio might address this problem.
Rating:
Summary: Rio Ntirus Rocks the House
Review: Got mine a couple of days ago and loaded 211 songs with over 1/3 HDD space still left. Plays MP3 and WMA with no gigs whatsoever. You'll hear some people complain about it not working, but just upgrade the firmware and software as soon as you get it, and you'll be experiencing the iPod Mini replacement. Must remember that with any HDD MP3 player, it is still a HDD with read heads and other moving parts. Any excessive abuse will hurt it. I'm very satisfied with my purchase. Try to get a 1 year warranty with it - it's definitely worth it with any electronic gear you buy.
Rating:
Summary: Works great!
Review: I noticed all these negative reviews and thought I should tell you my experience. I have had my Nitrus since November and it has worked perfectly. When I was shopping I was looking for a player that I could use while running that had more storage than a flash based player. This player is awesome for running. It has never skipped and I run hard 25 to 50 miles a week. The battery life is great (14 to 16 hours per charge) and the RMM software works just fine. I have had absolutely no problems with my player. If you are active get a Nitrus (or possibly an ipod mini), if you are a couch potato then maybe a Karma or Ipod will be best. It would have been nice if the player came with a case but I found that the amphipod case works great.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good Player
Review: I was looking for a new MP3 player after owning my Rio 800 for 4 years (still works great) I decided to buy another great Rio with more memory. I saw the Rio Nitrus and thought it looked good. It held tons of songs, looked great, and had a great company behind it. I ordeded then came to amazon to look at the reviews. While reading I became very disappointed i ordered it. About 5 days ago I recieved it and I could not ask for better sound quality or menu options. It has a sleek design that fits perfectly into my pocket. It holds 548 mp3s and has a great organizer to find them. I was also looking at the iPod, but it is too expensive and I dont need all that space. The Rio Music Manager is very easy to use and very quick to download to the rio. The battery is only 4 hours to charge compared to 11!!! It also last 14 hours! The ONLY thing that disappointed me was it had no case compared to the 800. So overall I would recommened this to ANYONE looking for an excellent quality mp3 player.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a piece of garbage!!!!
Review: I think I may have broken the record. This piece of junk crapped out on me after 4 days of use. The first 3 were heaven (which is why I had to give it a star), then the nightmare began. Constant rebooting after half a song. The stupid thing froze up while loading tunes and stayed froze until the battery died. I plugged it back in and it was up to its old rebooting tricks. I returned it to best buy, no questions asked, and picked up an iPod.
Rating:
Summary: The RIO Nitrus Sucks!!!!
Review: The Nitrus' internal hard disk failed after 4 months (warranty of 90 days) of limited use!! They offered to replace it for $125. I will buy a better product next time!!!!
Rating:
Summary: schweeet little player
Review: Great DAP with decent sound and battery life. The gui is also easy to use, though not the best out there.. You pay for what you get, and in my case I couldnt be happier. There are no horror stories with upgrading the units to the latest rev. (you gotta wonder about some people.. duh..) Ive gone through a few already, couldnt of been easier. Rio makes great products that serve their purpose well. The only real gripe I have with this player is on ocassion it can take around 3-4 seconds for the next track to play. Other than that, highly recomended.
|
