Don't be too keen on this little player yet:
static woes with carbon discov...ified by rio engineers
static woes with carbon discov...ified by rio engineers
It is probably wise holding off purchase, wait and see how Rio takes care of this problem. However, according to USA Today, iPod mini had similar problem. Wonder how beta testers did not catch it?
Somewhat similar issue, but the main reason why it's occuring in the Carbon is because of the headphone. I believe the issue with the Mini was because of the headphone out itself.
It was sarcasm. But why would it be racist? I'm a big white American. Well I'm 6' 2", so I'm biggish... oh but I'm grossly overwieght, thus making me "big".
And I'm definately white. So there.The static issue made me go check out the ipods for a minute. I did some more research and it is caused by them not separating the metal case and jack. A small piece of tape or a washer or a set of headphones with a plastic base will fix this.
Now the question is, is this better than the mini.
The good:
Cost $25 less
25% more storage
2 - 3 times the battery life
EQ
It can play wma files.
The bad:
Hard to find and no one knows when amazon is getting them.
Reliability unknown
Not as "cute" as the pod
It's definitely a better deal than the mini. It's not bad looking, just different. If they had released this around the time the Audi TT came out, this would have been the player to own imo.
For me it's between the Carbon and the 20gig ipod. I can justify the higer price with more storage.
5 gigs should be plenty for trips and stuff. If I knew the drive was reliable and I could order it this week from amazon, i'd probably grab the rio. Im not a fan of itunes. On the other hand I'd grab a 4g 20 gig pod if the price were right. $270 ish shipped... You have to buy the dock separate for the 4th gen I think.
I got 2 weeks to make a decision and if i get stuck its off the bb or cc and whatever deal I can get.
-show
Now the question is, is this better than the mini.
The good:
Cost $25 less
25% more storage
2 - 3 times the battery life
EQ
It can play wma files.
The bad:
Hard to find and no one knows when amazon is getting them.
Reliability unknown
Not as "cute" as the pod
It's definitely a better deal than the mini. It's not bad looking, just different. If they had released this around the time the Audi TT came out, this would have been the player to own imo.
For me it's between the Carbon and the 20gig ipod. I can justify the higer price with more storage.
5 gigs should be plenty for trips and stuff. If I knew the drive was reliable and I could order it this week from amazon, i'd probably grab the rio. Im not a fan of itunes. On the other hand I'd grab a 4g 20 gig pod if the price were right. $270 ish shipped... You have to buy the dock separate for the 4th gen I think.
I got 2 weeks to make a decision and if i get stuck its off the bb or cc and whatever deal I can get.
-show
Fallen Kell
Diamond Member
- Oct 9, 1999
- 6,180
- 519
- 126
One thing to note, is that it has a 5GB CF form-factor micro-drive. Someone has already taken it apart, removed the drive and placed it in a Nikon D70 which formated it and recognized the disk without problems. Considering it costs around $400 for the drive, at 225 that is a heck of a bargain....
Rio Carbon microdrive was removed at greghughes, it can be used in Nikon D70 digital camera, to see is to believe.
WHOA!!! So its a microdrive?!?!
No moving parts??!!
Waaahoooooo. I thought apple had me cornered into buy the mini or a muvo 2. I need a portable player to jog with.
Thx!
It's a hard drive based player. Looks like pretty much a newer version of the Nitrus with a bigger hard drive.
the sony is pretty boring looking. i suppose it looks like a metallic ipod in a way. pretty boring and square, but well its SONY!
or APPLE
they will throw tons of marketing behind it. the rio karma feature wise, i'd say is way better than an ipod. geek factor wise the build in java server and ethernet port are cool.
but really to the guy who said "are you picking up girls with your mp3 player" . i think tons of people do. its just another "cool" thing that adds to people noticing them.
like an ibook , ipod , bmw etc. those companies dont spend money on marketing for anything, the ads say buying these things will make you cool. and sadly to most people they at least give you the first impression or your foot in the door, that is slightly better than someone using a rio karma, with a dell and a toyota.
Yeah gspyer probably is too ignorant to realize that the designer of the iPod is from England...and it's the same guy who designed the iMacs...
So yeah, us Americans are pretty much lousy designers too...
Umm...are you kidding me? The Miata is NOT the pinnacle of car design...or even sexy.
When car companies elsewhere want a decent design they usually pay Pininfarina, Italdesign or even a Japanese design studio to work on their cars...they don't usually phone up Detroit.
And forget the Miata...let's see where the other Mazdas were designed:
Mazda6 designed where? Japan-and the Mazda6's looks are VERY well liked.
MazdaSpeed Miata? Japan-guess they decided to send it back home to attempt to make it look like a sports car...and it's not ONE MazdaSpeed Miata that's designed in Japan, the Japanese studio ended up making both the US MazdaSpeed Miata facelift and the Japanese MazdaSpeed Miata facelift.
Mazda3 designed where? Japan
Hmm how much do you want to bet that the next generation Miata will be designed in Japan?
Or hey, here's a good one:
Dodge Viper designed by who? Osamu Shikado, who Daimler Chrysler paid huge sums of money to steal away from Toyota and relocate him to Michigan. Yeah I guess technically that's US designed huh? He's also designed a bunch of prototypes for them that seem to be the basis of the Pacifica (citadel prototype), etc.
Yeah...clearly it's those American design studios that think up all the innovative designs...
And as I pointed out before, your entire argument that American design is great was sort of based on the thinking that Apple is outdesigning other people...except uhh the designer for anything innovative at Apple is English...so the iPod, iMacs, iBooks, etc. that you so handily credit to American design has nothing to do with American art schools or design studios or anything. He went to Newcastle Polytechnic, now renamed to Northumbria University...and no that's not in the US.
Looky, it's their famous alumn...VP of Design at Apple)
well ilike how the gr1 by ford looks, and the me412 by chrysler looks. lets just agree that people can design well in all countries.
just depends on your taste. the japanese did build the scion xb after all.
just depends on your taste. the japanese did build the scion xb after all.
I've been searching a good mp3 player for a while now. I ordered Ipod mini on Amazon at $249 when they had $50 gift certificate promotion. The reason I chose Ipod mino over Ipod 40GB is because size does matter to me. I'm cyclist so I want a player that as small as possible.
After researching carefully, I chose carbon over mini Ipod simply because of the battery's life, more storage and voice recording. I like the voice recording because I like doing the voice journal instead of writting journal I'm doing now.
So when Ipod arrived, never opened it, and returned it after a week, order the carbon, although it's pre-order, I got the email today, 2 days after the order placed, that it has been shipped, wonderful.
I hope that I won't disappointed, if you want to get one, then go ahead and buy it at Amazon, it's available now, they just say that because they don't have that many in-stock.
After researching carefully, I chose carbon over mini Ipod simply because of the battery's life, more storage and voice recording. I like the voice recording because I like doing the voice journal instead of writting journal I'm doing now.
So when Ipod arrived, never opened it, and returned it after a week, order the carbon, although it's pre-order, I got the email today, 2 days after the order placed, that it has been shipped, wonderful.
I hope that I won't disappointed, if you want to get one, then go ahead and buy it at Amazon, it's available now, they just say that because they don't have that many in-stock.
Have any of you looked into user reviews for the rio nitrus? They're clogged with complaints about dead units & awful customer service. Shutuptheenragedlobster does NOT have an unusual story.
Rio only gives a 90-day warranty w/ the carbon.... that indicates they don't really expect carbon quality to be any better than the nitrus. (way to stand behind your products, rio)
Rio promised 2nd-day air shipping for free on the first 500 units ordered. a huge number of people didn't get that. they mis-designed the case so there's static with some speakers. And many people are complaining about the audible files not working on the player. What joker is running this project?
Carbon may be the cat's meow, but do you really want to gamble $225 that you don't have a dead unit or have to call nasty indian tech support? At least buy it from best buy, and spend the extra $50 on an extended warranty so you can sleep easy at night.
cnet rates the carbon 8.3... the ipod mini, 8.7. Gee, why can't a newer, bigger, stronger carbon beat the mini? potential buyers should investigate! (just like I am currently).
Rio only gives a 90-day warranty w/ the carbon.... that indicates they don't really expect carbon quality to be any better than the nitrus. (way to stand behind your products, rio)
Rio promised 2nd-day air shipping for free on the first 500 units ordered. a huge number of people didn't get that. they mis-designed the case so there's static with some speakers. And many people are complaining about the audible files not working on the player. What joker is running this project?
Carbon may be the cat's meow, but do you really want to gamble $225 that you don't have a dead unit or have to call nasty indian tech support? At least buy it from best buy, and spend the extra $50 on an extended warranty so you can sleep easy at night.
cnet rates the carbon 8.3... the ipod mini, 8.7. Gee, why can't a newer, bigger, stronger carbon beat the mini? potential buyers should investigate! (just like I am currently).
First, I am owner of neither player (but am planning on buying one soon, haven't decided which one yet).
Rio's 90-day warranty does suck, but it is their standard policy on all players; so for them to stick with the 90-day shouldn't be considered a lack of confidence behind the new product.
The static issue is not isolated to the Carbon. During my research, I've read reports that the issue has also cropped up on some iPods. That said, it is a horrible thing to have overlooked and is big blemish on an otherwise hot, new player. (I think their decision to copy the metal back of the iPod was also a foolish design choice.)
Rio has moved their tech support back to the U.S. Their call center is located somewhere in Texas now. However, there have been many complaints about excessive hold times.
CNet's ratings don't make a whole lot of sense there. The Carbon clearly beats the Mini in features, yet the Mini rates higher in that category. But in general, I've always taken CNet's ratings with a grain of salt and mostly just use them as an informational source rather than the definitive review site.
I own no MP3 player either...
You're right, it should be considered a lack of confidence in all their products.
I've heard the same rumours also. I guess rio didn't research their competitors very well when designing the player.
Are you sure it's USA support 24/7? I've heard of many companies still outsourcing their after-hours support to India. if you are right, that is good news.... incompetent customer service drones are slightly less annoying when you share the same first language.
Clearly? How about lack of a physical "hold" button, or this "touch-wheel" that people rave about? Multi-coloured cases? What about available accessories such the arm-band-case, inline remote, or that wireless transmitter? Not to mention they found the user interface annoying several times.
Extra HD + battery life is GREAT, but there's still a lot more Rio could do better. Their ratings are not out of line.
You're right, it should be considered a lack of confidence in all their products.
I've heard the same rumours also. I guess rio didn't research their competitors very well when designing the player.
Are you sure it's USA support 24/7? I've heard of many companies still outsourcing their after-hours support to India. if you are right, that is good news.... incompetent customer service drones are slightly less annoying when you share the same first language.
Clearly? How about lack of a physical "hold" button, or this "touch-wheel" that people rave about? Multi-coloured cases? What about available accessories such the arm-band-case, inline remote, or that wireless transmitter? Not to mention they found the user interface annoying several times.
Extra HD + battery life is GREAT, but there's still a lot more Rio could do better. Their ratings are not out of line.
konakona
Diamond Member
- May 6, 2004
- 6,285
- 1
- 0
5 GB microdrive in Rio Carbon is made by Seagate, it is very new, I have not heard any problem yet.
The customer service is moved back to Waco, TX. Many like it better, but you do lost 24/7 customer service; I think it is 9:00 am to 6:00 pm pst, something like that.
Bottom line, you should consider extended warranty for expensive portable device, no matter which brand. I am looking into a few companies, will open a new thread for this matter. Viking warranty has $20, 2 years exteneded warrnty for mp3 player under $300. Worth consideration. As long as you don't smash it, they cover it. As always, read the fine print.
The customer service is moved back to Waco, TX. Many like it better, but you do lost 24/7 customer service; I think it is 9:00 am to 6:00 pm pst, something like that.
Bottom line, you should consider extended warranty for expensive portable device, no matter which brand. I am looking into a few companies, will open a new thread for this matter. Viking warranty has $20, 2 years exteneded warrnty for mp3 player under $300. Worth consideration. As long as you don't smash it, they cover it. As always, read the fine print.
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