Rio MP3 Players
Rio, the little MP3 player with a history
SonicBlue is the company that emerged from Diamond, creator of the Diamond Rio, and made the MP3 the household word it is today. The Diamond Rio was the first mass-produced MP3 player, single handedly creating the MP3 market and establishing the MP3 player as a must have tech toy back in 1998. This sparked the precedent-setting litigation for the entertainment industry, but that's another story.
The little company caused waves in the entertainment industry, but unfortunately their great success in this sue crazy society, created their own undoing. Costly litigation followed by stiff competition from every player in the consumer electronics industry, especially Apple who took the lions share, drove SonicBlue into the ground. The creator of the MP3 and ReplayTV quietly declared bankruptcy and was quickly acquired by D&M Holdings.
D&M Holdings is a company with their hands in a lot of sound audio/video technologies including Denon, McIntosh, Marantz and ReplayTV. Despite previous setbacks, Rio's line of MP3 players are running stronger than ever with bold new models. The Rio line is generally geared toward fitness enthusiasts with spherical designs, easy grips, rugged exteriors and Velcro armbands as featured in their Forge line.
The Forge series are Rio's spherical MP3 players with tough stainless steel face plates and flash ROM storage available in 128, 256 or 512 MB. At $119 for the 512 MB model, you won't find a tougher player with a solid build- rare in this era of disposable plastic. The Rio Forge line comes in blue, aquamarine, red and silver, according to storage capacity, and each one features a built in stopwatch and lap timer in keeping with their "sports" MP3 player tradition. Each Rio Forge MP3 player comes with a carrying case and an armband fastener so you can strap it to your arm for a jog.
The Carbon and Carbon Pearl are Rio's hard drive MP3 players at 5-GB and 6-GB capacities. These are Rio's foray into iPod mini territory, competing at the Mini's price point of just under $200 while offering a bit of extra space. In the Rio Carbon series you get a slim oval player that looks rather bland; the carbon is grey and the pearl is an iPod white.
The flagship player in Rio's line is the highly regarded Rio Karma. The Karma uses hard drive storage at 20 gigs putting it in competition with iPod and iRiver's H10 20 GB, but at a lower price- you can find the Karma in the $200 range. In keeping with the athletic theme of the Rio, Karma has an ergonomic grip and rounded body that lends itself to being easily held in your palm.
In a market full of would be Apple killers Rio fits right in with its own line of MP3 players. While not specifically trying to outdo the iPod in features and design, Rio beats Apple in one key area, price.