Having read some of the other reviews on this product i felt that i had to get a point across to other potential buyers. Many people seemed a bit miffed about the memory space on this item (32mb as standard). Well they have every right to be a bit miffed although i must defend this hardware. You see, i have a rio600. Yes just the basic model, but with 128mb of memory all for 95 pounds. How i hear you say. Well the secret is, as is for all technology, is to wait untill its proven it self. I bought mine off of Amazon with the free 96mb because it had been out a while and customer reviews had filter through that there wasn't enough memory. And so special offers begin to show themselves as companies fear they will be left with a product that no one wants. Waiting also helps to make sure that you'll get a product with fewer software glitches which in this day and age is a good thing as often computer items and other things like this are usually rushed through with bugs in the software (as with games, tomb raider angel of darkness springs to mind). so my advice to anyone looking for any kind of mp3 player is to see how older models have preformed as well as looking at newer ones.

Having said all that i'll review the player!
Its bloody great. The controls are simple to use, it has repeat, random, playlists, delete tracks, check battery life, change sounds (eg rock, pop, classical, book, your own) sound quality its excellent (as long as you dont use the headphones supplied) and battery life is 10hours. I usually leave it over night for charging as dont use it then. As with more rechargable batteries their life span decreases with use but this has a nifty little thing which recailbrates the battery so it lasts 10 hours again. this also insures that the battery is fully charged as well (recailbrating takes about 5 hours but its worth it rather than getting a new battery). Because the back of the unit can be removed (the battery and memory part) means

that if fatal damage occurs you've only got to buy a new backpack (and you can ungrade your memory as well). It also hold WMA files which are a darn sight small than MP3 files so you can get about twice as much music on the Rio. Another brilliant detail on this is that it comes with its own software to download music on to the player. This Audio manager is easy to use but also allows for the expert computer boff to tinker away. The audio manager allows you to read cd's, burn a limited number of cd's (you have to register with sonic blue to get more burnings), surf the web (it has its own browser), make numberous playlists and organise your music on your computer. Lastly for the style conscience person the player comes with changeable faces, its small and light, has a lovely neon blue backlight.

Ive had my player for over a year now and considering its been through the mill backwards its in pretty good shape. Although the "skin" is peeling off (some kind of black plastic cover on the whole of the player) its never let me down. It comes with a cover case which i havent used but mine has taken some punishment without the case and survived.

So if you want a decent player which is provent to work then get this one, but make sure that you shop arround to get the best deal.