Diamond. Not anyone's best friend! (Rio PMP 300)

Member Name: andycharger

Product:	Rio PMP 300
Date:	19/08/02 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Compact

Disadvantages: Pricey

MP3 technology is still in its infancy. still, not one to shy away from the advances of science, i went out and jumped head first into the revolution that is portable digital music.
Diamond were one of the first market names to show their hand with the Rio last year and it seemed peerless at the time. Supposedly able to handle hours of music and offering skip free performance, I was quick to slap my £200 on the table. However I have been far from happy with it.

Andy, what is MP3?
Well its a digital format of music that allows the compression of audio without losing quality. This allows many hours of music to be kept in a relatively small space. It also makes it electronically "portable" between technology such as Computers, MP3 players, etc. The Personal MP3 was destined to become the next generation Walkman.
However, Walkmans start at £10, not £80!

Whats it like?
Well its a great concept. Offering hours of storage space and a skip free playing system all contained within a sleek case, the Rio looked the part. However, the performance failed to live up to its boasts. Perhaps the haste of its entry to the marketplace lead to some overlooked audio errors.
Although it claims to be skip free, I have had more than a couple of occasions where its advanced "future sound" storage has come a cropper. A sudden jolt or tug leaves it forgetting where it is during a track. It then stops and starts like a jumping CD.
Not good.
Since buying my model, they have improved this skip protection so consider that when buying one.

Next the storage capacity comes under scrutiny. There is no way that you can store 2 hours of music at a decent kilobyte rate on a 64Mb memory stick. The Memory stick replaces the Tape in a walkman or CD in a discman and holds the audio data. When you consider a kilobyte rate of at least 128 to be substantial to not loose any quality, you are looking at only over just 1 hour of music o
r roughly 16 songs. So One Memory stick is the equivalent to 1 album at decent quality.
you can cram loads of songs onto the memory stick if you want at a lower Kilobyte rate but this will then sound like its being played under water.

While on storage, you must remember this:
Memory Sticks are NOT like CD's. They are not easily interchangeable media like CD's. You can only change the music you are listening to by downloading new tracks directly from your PC or some other form of media.
So you could soon get bored with the same songs on a long journey.

It is also a very expensive device. I dont think the price has come down by much (still retailing at £150) and you can buy one with similar features for about half of this price. Something else to consider when buying!

I think I have slated it enough now. Lets talk about its good points.

Firstly is its compact design. Its small enough to fit in any pocket and light enough for you to not even
There are also a few good things about it. It is notice it. That can be a problem if you are forgetful and lose it somewhere.
However, I consider lightness and small size to be a plus point with an MP3 player.

The design of the headphones allow them to fit snuggly inside your ears without them being too obtrusive. A design feature that compliments the sleek compact design of the product.

It is also very light on power consumption. CD Discmans will chew through a set of batteries after spinning an album once. The MP3 player will pump out your tunes for up to 12 listens on one Pencil Battery. The lack of moving components meants it is not so power hungry.

Overall it is not the first choice in MP3 player due to its performance and price but it is still a match for most on the market.

Summary: