Rio S35S Sport Digital Audio Player

I've been running for about a year now and have found that my endurance has increased throughout the months. This meant that my time spent running became longer, which then lead to a need for keeping my mind busy with music. In the past I've used several methods of listening while running (holding a cd player, making mixed tapes, radio sets) and they all failed miserably. So I forked out the money to purchase this little guy because it was right up my alley: a. 128mb is more than enough music for me and b. my computer is my home jukebox, w/all my cds ripped to my hard drive.

Pros:
-rubberized casing that is part of the player (practical and stylish)
-came with an arm strap and belt clip, I prefer the belt clip
-pretty small for an upgradeable device
-added feature of a stopwatch
-single 'AAA' battery
-nice integration with XP

Cons:
-stopwatch is a little difficult to access.
-"lock" requires holding two buttons...not that...Read more

I love my new SonicBlue Rio! After having read every user review ...I had some reservations with the key complaints (which were relatively minor to begin with): FM radio, software use/compatibility, and headset comfort. But given Amazon.com's competitively low price by far, I went ahead with the purchase.

When I received it (approx. 2 days - using regular shipping), I had prepared myself to encounter problems with the aforementioned. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find the FM stereo feature not only works very well, but it did so both at the office (inside a 5-story building) and at the gym (converted industrial steel & concrete building). While the FM radio feature is usually not the reason one buys an MP3 player, it does come in handy when tuning into the TV monitors at the gym.

The software installed quickly and is very user-friendly. The downloads only take a matter of minutes for an entire playlist.

The earphones/headset is not only comfortable, but fits...Read more

I was getting fed up of the talkshows in the morning and the advertising tirades in the evening on my sony tuner while working-out. I depend on music quite a lot for my running, so finally had to break down and buy an mp3 player. I am so glad I chose S35S, because it fits everything I had in mind. Light, tough, efficient and trendy. I upgraded to 256MB about a day after the purchase. The 128MB MMC (card) is about 80 bucks, but a good investment as it doubles the song numbers. I have about 100 songs in .WMA(the only way to go, since mp3 is usually about double the file size as wma) saved with some space left over, and with the shuffle mode on, working out to music is a breeze. Battery life is very good, about 10-12 hours on 1 AAA. I also upgraded to a Sony streetstyle (MDR57 ??) headphones which are much better than the supplied ones. The back-lit display and menu options are very easy to learn and operate.

The set up software couldn't be easier to use, with downloading and managing...Read more