At first I was surprised that when it came to MP3 players, there was a list of all manufacturers but Rio. Maybe it isn’t available in a lot of countries. But I am glad it was available to me. I-Pod Mini’s release caused competitors to release a host of Mp3 players into the market, some worth while and some not even worth a look.
Rio- Carbon is Rio Audio’s answer to I-Pod and hence tries to get the upper hand with more features. For starters, it has 1GB more space which was very impressive for me since I wanted more than 4 but less than 10. The design is just awesome...much smaller than mini I-Pod. Its almost unnoticable at 2.5X3.3 inches and weighs just 3.2 ounces.
The design of the player is impressive too and fits into any pocket easily. I found the software very easy and workable. The quality of output is very very good. I heard when this product was first released, there was some static in the phone jack, but it must have been fixed now as I have no static.
The microphone feature is something I don’t use, but I really wish they did have an F/M radio on it. The battery life is an amazing 20 hrs as opposed to 8 hrs by I-Pod. and is priced more cheaper than the mini, which costs $249 while Rio lesser