My brother boasted to me that his new Mini Disc player was the Bee's Knees. "Look how small it is" he said. How jealous he was when I bought this little beauty.
The Rio player is very compact and light and easily fits in a pocket. In contrast the buttons and screen are nice and big so it becomes very easy to use. The screen and menu selection in particular are excellent, and the back-lit display reall is clear and very impressive.
I was slightly concerned that it used an AA battery and was not rechargeable like MD players and the like, but this is not a problem. The battery life is very good: up to 10 hours with one small AA battery. The Rio has a good amount of storage space; 64 MB with room for 32 more. This is sufficient to store up to 2 hours of music; enough for most casual listeners.
As you would hope the sound quality is excellent, only slightlyl et down by the mediocre headphones supplied which vibrate at a certain volume. Perhaps most impressive of all is the speed of transfer from PC to player. The software provided is excellent, and along with the USB connection 2 hours of music can be downloaded in a matter of seconds.
The Rio player is undoubtedly a great piece of equipment, and at around £100 these days it is a true bargain. I wholeheartedly recommend this to you.