Rio 500 64 MB USB MP3 Player (Gray)

 (284 customer reviews)

This is my second plunge into the world of MP3 players and the experience has been considerably better than my first. The Rio 500 offers about as much as you could expect from an MP3 player these days (outside of the cheap headphones). The USB upload is considerably faster than the parallel ports that most MP3 players utilize. The sound is good and the software program that is included makes transferring audio from CD to the player a snap. Transferring downloaded files is just as easy. My only real complaint is the terrible directions/manual. Instillation of the drivers (Windows version) was not adequately explained. I'm somewhat of a computer geek so I figured it out in short order, but somebody unfamiliar with plug and play instillation could easily find themselves stuck with the player unable to communicate with his/her computer. Outside of that this player is, in my opinion, the best available.

I just purchased the Diamond Rio 500 and after you get it working it is super but don't look to Diamond for any kind of support. The technician I spoke to didn't even seem to know what a MP3 player was much less how it works. He referred me to a manual on the CD that doesn't exist and provided nonsense answers to my questions.I purchased the Diamond Rio 500 for both music and Audible books. The Diamond technician stated it doesn't and never would work with audible books. I was ready to return the Diamond Rio 500 to the store for a refund but I decided to call Audible first. The Audible receptionest was very helpful. I found out that the firm ware to run Audible books on the Diamond Rio and other MP3 portable devices is expected to be out the 2nd week of December. They have a prototype Diamond Rio 500 and Audible's receptionest said the quality was excellent better than thier own player which can be purchased from them for $99.00.The receptionist at Audible knew...Read more

After researching and reviewing a number of mp3 players before making this purchase, I decided on the Diamond Rio 500, mainly for its 64megs of memory on board.A week after the purchase, I could not be more impressed. Within 15 minutes of opening the box, I had the software and drivers installed and the first set of songs uploaded. I also upgraded the firmware from the Rio site, which gave me several more preferences and options (equalizer, program play, backlight options, etc.)A few points for consideration when purchasing, which took me days to gather and confirm:** I can get anywhere from 13 to 17 songs on the 64 megs on board. That is more than I expected, but I will be investing in a 64 meg Smart Card (which the Rio can accept once you upgrade the firmware) to have more songs at my disposal.** The Rioport Audio Manager software (what you use to transfer songs to the player) is not great, but not nearly as bad as I had read. It is not intuitive and does not come...Read more