Product Description
Taking the Rio to the Next Level! For the true MP3 fanatic, Diamond is proud to offer the Rio PMP300, the player that puts the Internet music into the palm of your hand. With a cool case and a whopping amount of onboard flash memory, it has all of the functionality you could wish for. Forget about the troubles or inconveniences; just enjoy MP3 music with the Rio PMP 300.
Amazon.com Review
Welcome to the future of personal audio. The tiny Diamond Rio player plays MP3-encoded digital music, the open Internet standard that's shaking up the industry. It stores your music files in 32 MB of RAM instead of on CD or tape, so it has no moving parts and it can't skip.
About the size of a deck of cards, the Diamond Rio player weighs under three ounces and can store up to an hour's worth of music files encoded at 64 Kbps or half an hour's worth of files at 128 Kbps. The supplied Windows software and PC connector cable let you upload new selections, delete old ones, change the playback order, and even create new MP3 files from your own CDs.
What about sound quality? MP3 is a compression technique that discards a lot of the information captured by normal CD encoding. True audiophiles will hear the difference. But the overall effect is surprisingly clean, and the Diamond Rio's extreme portability more than makes up for the subtle degradation.
The Diamond Rio connects to your PC by a parallel-port adapter. In our tests, hardware setup consisted of nothing more than plugging the supplied parallel adapter into our PC's parallel port, attaching the connector cable, and dropping a single AA battery (supplied) into the Diamond Rio unit. The parallel adapter has a pass-through connector so that you can use the port for your printer or other parallel device.
Software installation under Windows 98 also went without a hitch. The default installation puts two applications on your system: the Rio Manager and the MusicMatch Jukebox. You use the Rio Manager to download new selections to the Rio player, delete selections from your lineup, or clear all memory so you can start with a fresh slate. It also lets you view the size of each selection, control the play order, and see how much RAM you have left for storing music. We downloaded a bunch of MP3 music files off the Web to the Windows desktop, dragged them into the Rio Manager, and clicked on Download. Approximately three minutes later, we had stored 30 minutes of digital music.
The supplied software lets you make MP3 files from your own CDs using your computer's CD-ROM drive. You can select 128 Kbps, 80 Kbps, or 64 Kbps encoding. The highest-quality 128 Kbps encoding is definitely worth using for music you really care about, but it creates files that are twice as big as those encoded at 64 Kbps. This means you'll be able to store only about 32 minutes of music at a time.
The Diamond Rio is a computer peripheral, and, as such, it's not quite as easy to install or use as a conventional portable audio gadget. But it delivers great sound, extreme portability, and access to the wealth of MP3 music on the Web. It's a trailblazing technology that's a pleasure to experience.
Pros:
- Compact, lightweight
- Won't skip
- Uses open MP3 Internet music format
- Allows you to create MP3 files from your own CDs
- Near-CD quality audio
Cons:
- Only 30 minutes of play at near-CD quality
- Requires a Windows 95/98 PC to use. Not compatible with Windows NT or Mac.
Amazon.com Product Description
Internet Music in the Palm of Your Hand! Diamond's Rio PMP300 is the first portable MP3 music player for under $200 that stores up to 60 minutes of digital-quality sound. It's smaller than an audio cassette and has no moving parts, so it never skips. Powered by a single AA battery, Rio provides up to 12 hours of continuous music playback.
Customer Reviews:
waste of money!.......2005-01-27
i got one of these a LONG time ago for christmas. it was the first mp3 player i have owned and it did serve me well for quite some time.
firstly, i have to credit this piece of crap as being the first mp3 player marketed and almost didn't make it for legal problems. sound quality is ok.
now the problems: firstly, there is a MAJOR design flaw regarding the battery cradle (holder, whatever). the door fits over the end of the battery and contains the negative terminal. door is held in place by a small plastic hook and WILL break! i had them replace it once! also, as it gets older and takes even light abuse i found that the solder joint on the negative terminal breaks which forced me to open the damn thing and resolder it to the board. my solution? get a single AA battery holder from radio shack, remove the old battery cradle inside the rio, cut a nice big rectangular pocket out of the side of the case with my dremel (to accompany the new battery clip) and solder the wires of that to the board of the rio. and then i attached it to the case with hot glue. yes its ghetto but it worked way better than diamond's solution!
secondly, we all know about the lack of OS support. just sick there...there's beta thrid party software that'll do it on xp, but it sucks. 32mb of memory isn't enough. i got the 32mb flash card and 64mb isn't enough!
ahh the flash card....would be nice if the rio properly detected it even half the time. something is desperately wrong with the memory controller and most of the time it can't even detect the card let alone play anything off it. to fix that, i kept hitting it. stop laughing, it worked. but then after a while it started turning the volume up and down on its own....
so in conclusion i can't recomend this piece of crap to anyone. my final solution was to get the creative MuVo TX FM (256mb) and then i gave the rio 300 to my girlfriend. haha i know....but it still works. too poor to buy her a real mp3 player yet.
I love it, but..........2003-11-13
I have one of these, and I'm very fond of it. It does a good job, and is very durable (I've had mine for years and haven't been incredibly kind to it, but it's still good as new.) The design is plain but classy, and it's easy to use. It takes almost no time to familiarize yourself with the buttons so you can fool with it without looking. There aren't any buttons or switches that are easy to hit accidentally, and in general, it can take being tossed around a little in a bag so long as it's reasonable. Don't crush it and don't spill anything on it, but it's not like it's the Mona Lisa.
As many have mentioned, it holds about 30 minutes of music, unless you can find a memory card (I'm not sure if they are even made anymore, but I have seen them for sale) which will give you a whopping hour. If you're just going to use this for walking the dog around the block, or standing in line, or a quick run in the morning, this isn't such a big deal.
The USB-type cord is primitive and weird, so you'll probably be using the parallel port adapter, which isn't really a problem, but can be an inconvenience if you have a lot of things that use your parallel ports.
I'm pretty sure the company no longer supports this device or its software, since they have gone on to bigger and better things since its debut. Caveat emptor.
Also, it is not compatible with anything after Windows 98, but you can get around that easily by downloading the free program "Dreaming of Brazil" which works with XP, NT, and 2000. (Google search for "Diamond Rio mp3 player" or "Dreaming of Brazil.")
A few pointers from my humble experience with the Rio PMP300:
If the headphones it comes with break, you can replace them with any headphones that fit the headphone jack. You should also take the battery out of the Rio when you aren't using it-- it sucks energy when it's idle. If you happen to need a little bit of misc. storage space, you can use the Dreaming of Brazil program to transfer any items that will fit, which can be handy.
I imagine this is not the best mp3 player you can buy, but if you can get it cheap, it's still a pretty good one. The main problem I have is the tiny amount of storage space and compatibility issues. Shop around for an iPod or a newer Rio or something if you're very concerned with absolute top quality.
The Diamond Rio PMP300.......2003-07-12
Think about this...[quite a bit of money] for a mp3 player that holds max. 9-10 songs. That is the most rediculous thing i have ever heard. You can get a Nomad II for [less money]with 64mb built in. I recommend getting that mp3 player. I just bought a 128mb card for the PMP300 and it doesn't work. This Mp3 Player only takes certain 32 mb cards which are [quite expensive]. When i drop the mp3 player it shuts off completely as if there was no battery in the device. Alot of times when you take the battery out and then put it back in it doesn't even register as having a battery in it. It is not a high technology device at all. Something else that made me even more mad was that there is no longer customer support for this product. I think this company should get their act together. I highly recomend buying another mp3 player b/c this one isn't worth it at all.
rio mp3 player pmp300.......2003-03-20
i brought my pmp300 brand new but moved some time ago and have not been able to find the download cables it is a great mp3 player but i am getting bored with the same mucis thats on the player if you have one for gods sake DONT LOSE YOU DOWNLOAD CABLES because you can not get them for love nor money
Piece of [junk] if you ask me.........2002-10-12
I loved this Rio when I first got it, honest I did. I took great care of it, was careful not to drop it, fed it fresh batteries every time it asked, and all was well.
But then, after about a year, my Rio failed me. The battery compartment flap came loose and refused to stay closed. I tried taping it shut, but as I usually clipped the Rio to my pocket, gravity worked against me to keep the battery continually falling out of the bottom. Every time I so much as shifted in my chair, the song would restart because the battery had gotten loose and caused the Rio to power off.
What's worse is that SonicBlue blatantly refused to replace the player even though it was clearly a product defect and though I had a warranty. Their reason is that this product is a "legacy" product now..so even though they're apparently still manufacturing this thing, they won't do anything to fix it. I'm never buying from them again.
Product Description
The Rio PMP300 player stores your favorite MP3 files in its flash memory so that they can be played anywhere you want to go. Rio's solid-state design makes it impervious to the skipping and jitter experienced with portable CD players. Rio is lightweight, and about the size of a pager. It is perfect for activities like 2 jogging or walking, hiking - just about any activity you like to do.
Amazon.com Review
The next generation of digital music players has arrived. This special-edition Diamond Rio comes with an impressive 64 MB of storage, which holds about two hours of music copied from your favorite CDs or downloaded from the Internet. This lightweight unit can be easily upgraded to hold 96 MB of your favorite tunes.
The only real improvements over the original Diamond PMP 300 are in storage capacity and cosmetic appearance. Diamond has enhanced the case design of this compact unit with a stylish, transparent teal that distinguishes it from the stodgy, solid-black or metallic design of other portable players. As with the original Rio 300, this special-edition Rio plays MP3-encoded digital music, the open Internet standard that's shaking up the music industry.
This special-edition Rio stores your music files in 64 MB of RAM instead of on CD or tape, so it has no moving parts and won't skip during playback. About the size of a deck of cards, the Diamond Rio weighs under three ounces and can store up to two hour's worth of music encoded at 64 Kbps or about an hour's worth of files at 128 Kbps. The supplied Windows software and PC-connector cable let you upload new selections, delete old ones, change the playback order, and even create new MP3 files from your own CDs.
What about sound quality? MP3 is a compression technique that discards a lot of the information captured by normal CD encoding. True audiophiles will hear the difference. But the overall effect is surprisingly clean, and the Diamond Rio's extreme portability more than makes up for the subtle degradation.
Using the Diamond Rio is fairly simple. You connect the Rio to your PC via its connector cable, which passes through an included parallel-port adapter to your computer. The parallel adapter has a pass-through connector so that you can use the port for your printer or other parallel device. You can easily disconnect the Rio when you are ready to take it on the road. A single AA battery (included) supplies power for the device, which is amazingly lightweight.
We found software installation to be a snap. The default installation puts two applications on your system: the Rio Manager and the MusicMatch Jukebox. These are the same software programs included with the standard Rio PMP 300. You use the Rio Manager to download new selections to the Rio player, delete selections from your lineup, or clear all memory so you can start with a fresh slate. It also lets you view the size of each selection, control the play order, and see how much RAM remains for storing music.
The supplied software also lets you make MP3 files from your own CDs using your computer's CD-ROM drive. You can select 128 Kbps, 80 Kbps, or 64 Kbps encoding. The highest-quality encoding (128 Kbps) will give you the best listening experience, but it comes at a price. MP3 files created in 128 Kbps are twice as big as those encoded at 64 Kbps. If you have plenty of hard-drive space to spare, this may not be an issue. However, storage space for the portable flash-media cards can be somewhat expensive. A 32-MB flash-media card generally sells for about $100.
While this second-generation Rio from Diamond is not a groundbreaking improvement over the original, it is a cool alternative. If you are looking for the largest built-in storage capacity possible in the current wave of MP3 music players, this is the unit for you.
Pros:
- 64 MB of storage
- Compact, lightweight design
- Uses MP3, Internet's open standard for music
- Allows you to create MP3 files from your own CDs
- Near CD-quality audio
Cons:
- Requires a Windows PC to use
- Extra flash-media cards can be costly
Amazon.com Product Description
Taking the Rio to the Next Level! For the true MP3 fanatic, Diamond is proud to offer the Rio PMP300 Special Edition. With a cool transparent teal case and a whopping 64MB of onboard flash memory, it has all of the functionality of the original Rio PMP300 plus an additional hour of digital-quality audio.
Customer Reviews:
waste of money!.......2005-01-27
i got one of these a LONG time ago for christmas. it was the first mp3 player i have owned and it did serve me well for quite some time.
firstly, i have to credit this piece of crap as being the first mp3 player marketed and almost didn't make it for legal problems. sound quality is ok.
now the problems: firstly, there is a MAJOR design flaw regarding the battery cradle (holder, whatever). the door fits over the end of the battery and contains the negative terminal. door is held in place by a small plastic hook and WILL break! i had them replace it once! also, as it gets older and takes even light abuse i found that the solder joint on the negative terminal breaks which forced me to open the damn thing and resolder it to the board. my solution? get a single AA battery holder from radio shack, remove the old battery cradle inside the rio, cut a nice big rectangular pocket out of the side of the case with my dremel (to accompany the new battery clip) and solder the wires of that to the board of the rio. and then i attached it to the case with hot glue. yes its ghetto but it worked way better than diamond's solution!
secondly, we all know about the lack of OS support. just sick there...there's beta thrid party software that'll do it on xp, but it sucks. 32mb of memory isn't enough. i got the 32mb flash card and 64mb isn't enough!
ahh the flash card....would be nice if the rio properly detected it even half the time. something is desperately wrong with the memory controller and most of the time it can't even detect the card let alone play anything off it. to fix that, i kept hitting it. stop laughing, it worked. but then after a while it started turning the volume up and down on its own....
so in conclusion i can't recomend this piece of crap to anyone. my final solution was to get the creative MuVo TX FM (256mb) and then i gave the rio 300 to my girlfriend. haha i know....but it still works. too poor to buy her a real mp3 player yet.
I love it, but..........2003-11-13
I have one of these, and I'm very fond of it. It does a good job, and is very durable (I've had mine for years and haven't been incredibly kind to it, but it's still good as new.) The design is plain but classy, and it's easy to use. It takes almost no time to familiarize yourself with the buttons so you can fool with it without looking. There aren't any buttons or switches that are easy to hit accidentally, and in general, it can take being tossed around a little in a bag so long as it's reasonable. Don't crush it and don't spill anything on it, but it's not like it's the Mona Lisa.
As many have mentioned, it holds about 30 minutes of music, unless you can find a memory card (I'm not sure if they are even made anymore, but I have seen them for sale) which will give you a whopping hour. If you're just going to use this for walking the dog around the block, or standing in line, or a quick run in the morning, this isn't such a big deal.
The USB-type cord is primitive and weird, so you'll probably be using the parallel port adapter, which isn't really a problem, but can be an inconvenience if you have a lot of things that use your parallel ports.
I'm pretty sure the company no longer supports this device or its software, since they have gone on to bigger and better things since its debut. Caveat emptor.
Also, it is not compatible with anything after Windows 98, but you can get around that easily by downloading the free program "Dreaming of Brazil" which works with XP, NT, and 2000. (Google search for "Diamond Rio mp3 player" or "Dreaming of Brazil.")
A few pointers from my humble experience with the Rio PMP300:
If the headphones it comes with break, you can replace them with any headphones that fit the headphone jack. You should also take the battery out of the Rio when you aren't using it-- it sucks energy when it's idle. If you happen to need a little bit of misc. storage space, you can use the Dreaming of Brazil program to transfer any items that will fit, which can be handy.
I imagine this is not the best mp3 player you can buy, but if you can get it cheap, it's still a pretty good one. The main problem I have is the tiny amount of storage space and compatibility issues. Shop around for an iPod or a newer Rio or something if you're very concerned with absolute top quality.
The Diamond Rio PMP300.......2003-07-12
Think about this...[quite a bit of money] for a mp3 player that holds max. 9-10 songs. That is the most rediculous thing i have ever heard. You can get a Nomad II for [less money]with 64mb built in. I recommend getting that mp3 player. I just bought a 128mb card for the PMP300 and it doesn't work. This Mp3 Player only takes certain 32 mb cards which are [quite expensive]. When i drop the mp3 player it shuts off completely as if there was no battery in the device. Alot of times when you take the battery out and then put it back in it doesn't even register as having a battery in it. It is not a high technology device at all. Something else that made me even more mad was that there is no longer customer support for this product. I think this company should get their act together. I highly recomend buying another mp3 player b/c this one isn't worth it at all.
rio mp3 player pmp300.......2003-03-20
i brought my pmp300 brand new but moved some time ago and have not been able to find the download cables it is a great mp3 player but i am getting bored with the same mucis thats on the player if you have one for gods sake DONT LOSE YOU DOWNLOAD CABLES because you can not get them for love nor money
Piece of [junk] if you ask me.........2002-10-12
I loved this Rio when I first got it, honest I did. I took great care of it, was careful not to drop it, fed it fresh batteries every time it asked, and all was well.
But then, after about a year, my Rio failed me. The battery compartment flap came loose and refused to stay closed. I tried taping it shut, but as I usually clipped the Rio to my pocket, gravity worked against me to keep the battery continually falling out of the bottom. Every time I so much as shifted in my chair, the song would restart because the battery had gotten loose and caused the Rio to power off.
What's worse is that SonicBlue blatantly refused to replace the player even though it was clearly a product defect and though I had a warranty. Their reason is that this product is a "legacy" product now..so even though they're apparently still manufacturing this thing, they won't do anything to fix it. I'm never buying from them again.
Product Description
The Iomega HDD External Hard Drive is a quick and easy way to add secure storage to your desktop PC or Mac. It comes equipped with QuikSync automatic back up and disaster recovery software to help you protect your files without a second thought. It is also preformatted for both USB and FireWire and features plug-and-play simplicity, so you don't have to worry about setting up your computer to communicate with your drive - it works automatically. The Iomega HDD External Drive gives you more than enough capacity to run programs straight from your drive and to save all of your large data or media files to one safe place.Iomega HDD 80GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive adds secure storage easily and quickly. It is preformatted for PC, which saves valuable set time, and PC and Mac compatibility makes switching between USB 2.0/1.1 or FireWire easy.
Amazon.com Product Description
Iomega's HDD 80 GB USB 2.0 desktop hard drive makes security, recovery, and data storage easy. The total solution features Symantec's Norton Ghost 2003 disaster recovery software and Iomega Automatic Backup software to make protecting your data easy. You can make a duplicate of your entire system and save up-to-the-minute incremental file changes quickly, easily, and directly to your Iomega HDD desktop hard drive. For maximum system protection from computer disasters, nothing is faster or easier.
This drive is compatible with Windows 98 (USB 1.1 only), 98 SE, 2000 Professional, Me, and XP Home and Professional editions, and Mac OS 8.6 or later with Mac OS USB 1.3.3 or later, including all versions of OS X.
Customer Reviews:
Love it. Easy & efficient.......2003-07-29
Easy to install. great software included. quick & easy backups. what an improvement from the tape backup system I was using!!! In a lightning summer storm, hurrican season area it is so nice to always be backed up & just unplug & go.
Great Product.......2003-06-11
I have alot of mp3's, games, and videos. I also have family members that can easily screw up the pc. I would end up reinstalling the OS at least once a month and losing content in the process. I wanted something that was big and was immune to viruses and improper uses.I originally wanted to purchase a dvd writer drive, but I was tired of storing and caring for discs. A friend of mine showed me his Iomega 48x burner drive, and I was thoroughly impressed with the results. I used to have a grudge against external products for their notoriously high prices. But this is a great deal!
This drive is absolutely perfect, installation for both Windows 98 Second Edition and XP Professional Pro was a snap. Backups are easy with the supplied Norton Ghost. USB 2.0 is amazingly fast and 1.1 transfers at a liveable rate, but you can pick up a 2.0 usb pci card [for very little money]. If you dont want usb you can buy a firewire cable from iomega directly for [not much money]. The only drawbacks are lack of a power switch and the a/c cable. Not having a power switch is a little scary knowing the discs could fail from an improper power-up. The arrow symbol at the end of the cord is upside down. Which was a little confusing top plug in at first because the pin positions were very hard to differentiate. These little nuances can be taken care of easily: dont unplug anything but the usb cable.
Two tips for owning the drive -
1. Don't Drop!! HDD do not take shock nicely
2. Keep the room cool, this thing gets a little warm when its on for days at a time. I suggest keeping a mini-fan by it.
Overall, a terrific buy for anyone who is too afraid to open a pc and wants a really big upgrade in storage. Thanks to Iomega for the perfect product.
Was unable to get support needed from Iomega ........2003-06-11
Bad experience - returned item - Iomega did not have a clue why the drive wasn't working, and close up shop at 7PM on Friday night - their online tech site didn't work either... I ended up having to restore my main drive and returned the Iomega.... would not buy this drive because of lack of manufacturer support...
Good backup solution.......2003-06-02
I bought this drive hoping for a good hard drive backup device. I was not disappointed. Installation was easy and straightforward. The included software from Iomega made scheduled backups easy. My only complaint concerns the Norton Ghost software. Although the software does exactly what it's supposed to do, it could have benefited from better documentation. I am quite pleased with the drive itself.
After days of trying, I'm sending this back........2003-05-27
If you have XP and USB 1.1, skip this drive and get something else.
What a waste of time. This sounded like a great external hard drive--80GB, decent price, and backward-compatible with my USB 1.1. However, XP Home wouldn't assign it a drive letter--despite three installations, contacting tech support and spending hours reviewing the articles and instructions on the Iomega site, I still can't get it to work.
The real eye-opener came when I checked the user forums on the Iomega site and found dozens of posts about this exact same problem, with no resolution! In every case, tech support's best options were: unplug it and plug it in again (!), check the connections (!!), reinstall, update the USB drivers, and unplug it (aargh!). While I didn't expect total plug-and-play, a device like this should be pretty close (and I've never had a problem with hardware like this before with XP). I've spent hours on this and tech support was no help at all, even though the forums indicate that this is an ongoing and consistent problem. Save your time and spend your money on something that will work easily...I'm returning it in the morning.
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