First Impressions:Rio Nitrus 1.5gb MP3 Player ***UPDATE***

isekii

Lifer
Mar 16, 2001
28,578
3
81
I had the opportunity to order this music player last week and it got here this morning at 7 AM.
I opened up the bomb proof packaging and pulled out the Mp3 player and all the accessories.
I gave it a full charge (5 hrs).

Tech Specs/Accessories: This Mp3 player is 1.5gb in size and it's about 1/2 the size of the 3rd gen Ipod IMO. It's really tiny. It came with USB cable, AC adapter and Sennsenheir or whatever earbuds.

Review: The player came with 24 songs preloaded. 2/24 were actually really good. The rest were no name artists.
I played them through at different volumes and they sounded absolutely perfect. It sounded better than the IPOD in terms of sound quality. ( Yes I had the opportunity to play with the 3rd gen 20gb IPOD ).
The software that comes bundled with it is great. You can either use the windows interface to load the songs onto it or use the Rio Music Manager. I used the Music Manager and had no problems with it. It was very well laid out and everything was easy to use.

Transferring of the songs is quick using the USB2.0 interface. I loaded about 20 songs onto it but will load more when I return to my main rig at school.

Overall it's built very solid although it's completely plastic. The LCD display maybe be a bit small for the old folks but I had no trouble with it. The backlight is the indiglo type on Timex watches and you can have it always on or different time interval. You have the option of bookmarking for those online books, and even continue on the Mp3 that you left off.
There are album options and playlist options just like the IPOD.
It doesn't have any Games like the IPOD however. I don't think people really play games on their ipod anyways.



Pros: Very Tiny, good button layout. Menu is quick, and haven't noticed any lag. Battery life is claimed to be 16 hours but others have reported upto 18hrs on a single charge. Polished black casing and it comes with a great set of earbuds.
Great price @ only $120ish at buy.com from the special after rebate.

Cons: It should have came with some type of belt holster. Storage size is only 1.5gb. Lacking the touchpad.

ConclusionOverall it's a great mp3 player. I don't need the large amount of storage so 1.5gb works out great for me.
It's built very solid. Overall it's definitely worth $125 dollars that I spent on it after rebate.




***UPDATE

Been Running this thing since about 6pm till now straight and i still have 25% battery left :)
 

Koing

Elite Member <br> Super Moderator<br> Health and F
Oct 11, 2000
16,843
2
0
Nice review.

I'll do some research in to how it looks. But in the mean time can you get some pics of your one?

Koing
 

Gravity

Diamond Member
Mar 21, 2003
5,685
0
0
Cool review. I saw this at BB yesterday and wondered about it's qual. Is the the rechargeable battery replaceable?

Thanks again!
 

isekii

Lifer
Mar 16, 2001
28,578
3
81
Originally posted by: Gravity
Cool review. I saw this at BB yesterday and wondered about it's qual. Is the the rechargeable battery replaceable?

Thanks again!

it's built into the unit itself. I think you gotta mail it back to them if it needs a replacement.

Honestly I dont see myself keeping this for over a year. Maybe 1 year to 1.5 years max which the battery should be good by then. And most likely i'll off it on ebay.

Buy a new one that's even more compact.

Quality as so far has been excellent.

I've been listening to it straight from like 6pm ish. Batter is still 80% full.
 

isekii

Lifer
Mar 16, 2001
28,578
3
81
Originally posted by: Amorphus
I'd go for a 5gb player, though.

I thought i'd need a larger storage but I'm only using less than 100mb right now.

I just listen to whatever is in.
Who the hell needs 20gb of music on a portable player. You wont even listen to all of it.

I guess if you use it as a car player, and go on long trips, that'll be good but I think it's just too redunant.

1.5gb is perfect IMO for most users. I doubt i'll even fill up the whole thing.
 

GoingUp

Lifer
Jul 31, 2002
16,720
1
71
too bad its hard disk based :( I want a larger flash mp3 drive :( I only have the muvo 128 right now
 

isekii

Lifer
Mar 16, 2001
28,578
3
81
Originally posted by: Gobadgrs
too bad its hard disk based :( I want a larger flash mp3 drive :( I only have the muvo 128 right now

This is actually lengthwise smaller than the Muvo last time I saw the MUVO at walmart.
That is pretty small tho :)

I'm happy with the purchase. No remorse on this unit :D
 

tk149

Diamond Member
Apr 3, 2002
7,253
1
0
Cool review, thanks. Too bad buying Christmas presents for everyone else is wiping out my bank account. :( BAH HUMBUG!
 

flxnimprtmscl

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2003
7,962
2
0
Originally posted by: isekii
Who the hell needs 20gb of music on a portable player.

I do. If nothing else it's nice not having to swap crap around on my iPod. I can just load it up and leave everything there.

However, it's certainly a very attractive player :beer: The screen could be a bit bigger though... Things look far to jammed together.
 

dc

Diamond Member
Nov 26, 1999
9,998
2
0
i need a 60+gb player, but the 60gb zen is too big and $$$ for me. heh, hope prices come down soon. :)
 

isekii

Lifer
Mar 16, 2001
28,578
3
81
Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl
Originally posted by: isekii
Who the hell needs 20gb of music on a portable player.

I do. If nothing else it's nice not having to swap crap around on my iPod. I can just load it up and leave everything there.

However, it's certainly a very attractive player :beer: The screen could be a bit bigger though... Things look far to jammed together.

I thought the screen was crammed too but it's actually not so bad.

The song title scrolls :) and so does the album name.
 

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
84
91
I just listen to whatever is in.
Who the hell needs 20gb of music on a portable player. You wont even listen to all of it.

i do too. keeping your entire collection together allows you the freedom to listen to anything you want. no time wasted swapping files back and forth endlessly because the unit doesn't have enough space.
 

PhaZe

Platinum Member
Dec 13, 1999
2,879
0
71
while we are on the subject, has anyone tried dell's new digital juke box? It looks sleek and I heard it was good.

 

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
84
91
Originally posted by: Gobadgrs
too bad its hard disk based :( I want a larger flash mp3 drive :( I only have the muvo 128 right now

theres a 512mb flash player o ut there.