Smartest, bestest MP3 Player! (Rio PMP600 32 MB)

Member Name: Bombtrack

Product:	Rio PMP600 32 MB
Date:	16/01/01 (544 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent sound quality, very aesthetically pleasing

Disadvantages: Only fits an albums worth of tunes, then you have to re-record or buy more memory

This is a very modern looking MP3 player, with a very original design. Produced by Diamond, it is their third MP3 player. And they have made some improvements.

WHAT IS MP3 ?
MP3 files are condensed music files, which lose some of the quality in the process. However, this loss is practically unnoticeable. These files can be transferred over the Internet, or you can copy CDs to your computer, and then put them onto your MP3 unit.
The downside that the players only fit an albums worth onto it. You have to erase and transfer different tracks each time you want to change the album. Alternatively you can buy expansion memory packs for other music, which adds to the costs.

QUALITY AND MEMORY
The sound quality is advanced, the best I've heard on an MP3 player, but at this quality on a 32MB memory you can only expect to fit in just over half an hours worth of music. However you can adjust the quality settings to download meaning you can fit more than normally on the 32Mb. This however does sacrifice some quality, but it is worth it to fit extra playing time.
That is my quibble with MP3 players. You pay £100 to £200 for a nice compact music player, but it only plays maybe 1 album's worth of music. You then have to pay extra money for more memory packs. Why not buy a minidisc player, for around the same price, that plays music at much better quality? You can then copy all your music onto discs, which are very durable, light and small.
The Rio 600 also allows you to set the sound modes : Jazz, pop etc.

LOOKS
It has a nice purple and black body, with easy to use silver buttons. I do, however, prefer the high-tech looking players, like the Sony stick. It comes in a Neoprene membrane, which ads protection to the unit, but that comes off if need be. It has a rather small screen compared to the amount of available space. But you would get used to it. It's easy enough to read. The thing does have a nice
, original, curvy shape however.
It even has a backlit dislay, making it very easy to use and read.

FORMATS
Diamond have incorporated Microsoft's Windows Media (WMA) file format. This enables you to cram in almost double the amount of tracks than MP3 does which appeals to me a lot more, and songs are available to download from rioport.com. I find these sites provide mainly mainstream music.

DOWNLOADING
The Rio PMP uses a USB connection between the computer and the player, making the transfer of files quite fast. An average length track is about 3 minutes. This would take maybe 10 seconds to transfer.
Once you fill up the player you can also buy expansion memory packs to increase your MP3 library.

This Mp3 player will set you back around £150.

Summary: