Home > Consumer Reviews > Rio Volt MP3 CD Player

I bought this one a couple of years ago. It worked great in terms of playing and no skipping. I dropped it once, not even very hard and it never played again. I bought a Panasonic instead and it still works great even after having dropped it a few times.

The sound quality is fine but once you've got over the novelty of being able to cram so many tunes on one CD, the cracks start to appear.
The remote control jammed after a few months.
Rio's customer service is appalling. They kept promising me a new remote control, but after six months of hassling them by phone - I got nothing.
The build quality is dreadful and the buttons start to feel as secure as a wobbly tooth within a few months.
Upgrade the supplied headphones as soon as possible. I know this problem isn't just Rio's but it's worth repeating.
I had to upgrade the software straightaway. If you've spent so much on a player, the software shouldn't need to be upgraded so quickly.
It's too bulky to be work on your belt or popped into a handbag.
Spend your money on a net mini-disc player instead.

i dont actually have this plyer, i have the iRiver iMP 100, that is exactly the same in every way, so basically i do have it. all i can say that it rocks, batteries last weeks, and mp3 cds can hold 200 hoours of music, or if you want to, you can increase the quality of the songs to 200kbs and still take up minimum space on the cd. i love mine to bits, i will probably never need a new personal music player again.

Ive had my RioVolt player for over a year and have never had a problem with it! and never leave the house without it!. Normal AA batteries last for about two weeks using it about 2 hrs a day! but i bought rechargable batteries to go with it and they last well over a month before needing to be recharged!

Once you have bought this you will never look at CD's in the same light, having over 85 MP3 songs on one disk u never have to carry more than 2 on you!

I hope you all have as much fun with yours as i have with mine!

I bought this player about a year ago, and I am extremely pleased with it. If you're thinking about buying a personal stereo, compare your selection with 10 of the Rio Volt's key specs:

1) Plays CD's. - no 'synching' or software installation needed. Any computer that can burn Mp3's will do.
2) Plays CD's. - 650MB per disk, disks are cheap, burners are fast, literally unlimited capacity. CD format isn't going to change anytime soon - unlike the array of storage cards.
3) Plays CD's. - You take 20GB Apple iPod on holiday. You buy a cheap chart CD from a shop. Good luck.
4) Plays WMA files - higher compression, better quality than Mp3 - 300 songs on a disk for Window's users.
5) Supports directory structure. - copy that folder with album containing subfolders onto a disk. Browse by category/album/song on the player.
6) Uses 2 AA batteries. - You're on holiday playing Mp3's with your rechargeable iPaq. Good Luck.
7) Plays Mp3/WMA files - Song loads, plays, disk stops spinning for duration. caches next song so no spin-up and seek. Less power used.
8) Remote control. - Bury the player in your coat/bag.
9) Resumes play from point of stopping - Also after batteries are changed and with a several disk memory.
10) Supports file names. - So you know what you're listening to.

Some downsides (trust me, they're livable - no surprises):

1) LCD 'dancing maniacs' animation is guff.
2) A bit cheap feeling (because it is).
3) Has to 'boot-up'. Takes less than 30 seconds from totally off.
4) Ditch the headphones (all players come with poor headphones).
5) Case is crud. (Don't use it.)
6) Comes with software. (Please God don't install it.)

That's it. For me, the WMA support is great, as Windows doesn't seem to come with an Mp3 ripper program amazingly enough (I may be wrong, but doubt it). For the price, it's an absolute steal. Go buy it now.