Rio Karma 20 GB MP3 Player

Manufacturer:	Rio
List price:	~~$299.99~~
Our price:	that is 100% off!

Rio Karma 20 GB MP3 Player

Average rating: Stars

More rugged than I thought. Good MP3 Player!!!

I have several MP3 players. I have a Cendyne 128MB MP3, a PanasonicSD-SV85, a rio Nitrus, a Rio Karma, and now a Apple IPOD 40GB. My music library has grown a lot iver the last 3 to 4 years. I spend a lot of time in the gym, riding bimes, running,boxing, and many other activities. So I need an MP3 player that is rugged. The Rio Nitrus was at one time my largest MP3 Player and has proven to be really rugged. It has never frozen up. After a while I needed some more space, so I purchased the Rio Karma.

Rio Karma review:

Included items: The Karma come with a docking station that is looks really nice. The base glows blueish purple (can be changed to flash, follow BPM, etc. The station includes an AC output, USB 2.0 output, RCA audio outputs, and a rare ethernet connection. I really like all these features. The RCA output is a really nice touch and it is rare, so you do not have to get a stereo y connector. It also comes with the power cable, ethernet cable (6ft/2 meters long), rca audio cables, USB 2.0 cable, Music Mangaer software, and ear buds. All you have to do is sit the Karma into the cradle and off that you go.

Software: Music Manager- The software is pretty good. but has some drawbacks. It is hard to move tracks up and down. However, there is software out there that is supposed to be really nice.

Design:
Pretty small and light for a 20 GB hardrive. The design is really nice, the buttons are really easy to flip if you are on the go. However, the power button is easily hit sometimes, but there is a lock feature. There is a wheel on the side which adds a rare feature that is not seen on many other MP3's. There is no remote anywhere on the market.

Performance:

Transfering music seems a little slow. I wish they had firewire connection. Battery life is excellent. Makes sure not to leave it out in the sun, or hot car, or in a really cold environment. Sound quality is really good. Whether you listen to it through headphones or through a digital receiver. I do not like ear buds so this is not based on there performance. I like the crossfade that you can change and alter deopending on seconds. You can connect to the internet. This MP3 has a lot of options in the menu. The only big drawback to the performance is the skipping and hard drive lock up. Like I mentioned before, I am pretty active. I purchased my first Karma and had it for about 1 month before the wheel broke on it. I started to notice that it would get stuck, or skip, and lock up when I jogged. This happens a lot. This is normal with hard disk players. You have to use a paper clip to reset the player. So carry one with you some how. At the end of the month I was running on the treadmill and it lock up again. I tried to power it down and the hour glass icon just kept spinning. I had a paper clip at the end of my headphones, so I reset it. When I tried to power it back on it got stuck on the loading screen. I tried numerous time to get it restarted, but with no luck. I was pretty pissed, beacuase I need my music when I a working out. Lucky I had my Nitrus on me. I brought it home and tried all the troubleshooting that is on the Rio website, but nothing worked. The upgrade feature did not work either. Finally I took it back to the store that I brought and exchanged it for a new one. The very first time that I used it was at the gyme the next day. It got stuck, so I reset it. I turned it back on and it was stuck on the loading page and none of the buttons were responding, except the reset button. I was really mad, becuase this one did the same thing as the other, but on it's first use. I tried all of the troubleshooting again, nothing worked. So I went out the next day to be another MP3 player, a IPOD. I got it home and loaded all of my music on it. As I was loading the music I started to cruise the internet when I stumbled across http://www.riovolution.com/FAQkarma.php#bug2 . This site is a must if you own a Rio MP3. I read the following on shis website.
"IF YOUR PLAYER GETS FROZEN AND WILL NOT GET PAST THE LOADING WINDOW TRY THIS. Several people (especially those who use their Karma while walking or running) have reported a particular Karma problem in which an hourglass appears and the Karma refuses to shut down. After resetting the device with a paper clip, it begins to start up, but only to a certain point - the Rio logo will spin fully, but the progress bar at the bottom does not move, and the text locks up at "Starting...". When holding the Karma to the ear, they report hearing a very quiet repeated clicking sound, followed by a beep every eight seconds or so. When trying to start the Karma in recovery mode, no text is displayed after "hdd:".

These users have reported that hitting the Karma works very well in solving this particular problem. They suggest holding it in your left hand, with the screen facing you, Karma on the startup screen. Proceed to clap it into your right palm, so that the rubber grip hits your palm, hard enough to make your palm slightly red and to hurt a little. They report that this should set the Karma working again. If not, try slightly harder each time".
It works, it really works. I was getting ready to write a review yesterday to complain how fragile the Karma as not to buy one if you use it on the go a lot, but actually you have to be impressed with a harddrive MP3 that you can smack around like this.

I just have not used the IPOD, so I migh take it back. Oh, when I use the Karma on my bike or when I am lifting weights or boxing I never had these problems.

Rio Karma 20 GB MP3 Player - Rio

Crap From The Word Go

2 months ago, I bought the Karma as a replacement for an ipod that was stolen. The positives of the machine was that it has two buttons for scrolling and navigating, plus seperate buttons for volume...and it's cheap! I went ahead and bought it, brought it home, opened the box, and THAT is where the trouble started.

I have an external hard drive for my mp3s, and when I installed the Rio software, my system wouldn't recognize the hard drive. I had to uninstall Rio Taxi, which is the proprietary hard drive program for Rio. This would give me a "grace period" of about 20 minutes where my hard drive would be available, until it would disappear and I would have to disconnect the Rio and restart the system.

Next up, the Rio program does not allow you to make ordered playlists. You can throw the songs into a playlist, and it will take them totally out of order and theres nothing you can do about it. Sometimes, while you are adding songs to a playlist, the list disappears, and all the work you've done is gone. Theres no way to drag and drop songs from your hard drive, because the Rio will create duplicates. Alright, these things are infuriating, but can be worked around.

Then, the Rio crashes. It crashes constantly. When I say crashes, I don't mean just stops...I mean gets stuck with a spinning hourglass FOREVER. Until the battery runs out. The only way to get it unstuck is to find a tiny tiny needle and hit the reset button. Alright, that was dealable. Now the final problem is that there is a bad track on the player. The track makes the player crash and restart. The player restarts on that bad track!

Right now, it is in an unending loop of crashing and restarting. It does not connect to the computer, hitting reset does not help. I called Rio, and if I want it fixed I have to pay to ship it to Rio. Theres absolutely no help on any websites. So instead I took out my rage on the thing and now it's in a lot of tiny little pieces. Now I'm sending some greenback Karma over to Apple and getting an Ipod. Don't waste your money. Peace out!

Rio - Rio Karma 20 GB MP3 Player

Rich w/ Audio Features; iPod Killer

For those looking for more audio related features and an alternative to the iPod, then the RIO KARMA is for you.

Pros:

Check out the specs: Supports FLAC, OGG, WAV, MP3, WAV. This means, you have a variety of choices on how you want your music encoded in. The KARMA features a 3-second crossfade; which means if some songs don't have an end/songs from a mixed compilation, the crossfade will slowly fade the current song into the next. Also, there is GAPLESS playback; meaning if you have a mixed compilation or a regular album, there will be NO SILENCE in between each song. The Karma smoothly plays out each album like it's meant to be played unlike the iPod.

Cons:

Like all HD MP3 players, you have to take into account that there is a microdrive inside. It's prone to skip if you shake it around for a lengthy time and basically, you just have to be careful with it. My Karma had to be reset only a few times because I dropped it and once went running with it causing it to freeze. Also, my scroll button broke, but only after dropping it very hard as well as the 2 years of use took it's toll on it.

Nonetheless, I see alot of people complain about HD failures, well I had mine since OCTOBER 2003 and it STILL works fine for me. If you're still deciding on whether to buy one, then choose now because the Rio Karma has been discontinued and there is probably only a limited number of them left.

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