Rio Volt SP100 Personal CD Player

Pros: Sturdy design, great memory, excellent battery life, clear audio, upgradeable firmware, inline remote.
Cons: Those stupid earbud headphones again. Awkward programming and menus.

The Exposition
Let me preface this with a quick story. A few weeks ago, I was driving along a deserted two-lane freeway minding my own business, when a drunk driver hit me. He was trying to perform a U-turn by shooting across the...

Pros: Price, Cheap Storage, Longer Battery Life, and the ability to play regular CDs
Cons: Cheap construction and poor LCD on low and medium end models.

It really hasn't been that long since the original RioVolt was released... maybe just 6 months. I posted a review on the original unit back in April... now, that same original unit is being dubbed the SP100 and two new RioVolt models are being...

Pros: functional, plays MP3 and WMA formats, supports ID3 tags,
Cons: cheap plastic, long headphone cord, average battery life, ESP does not work well.

One of the first (and most popular) CD-MP3 players to come to the market, the Rio Volt boasts a slew of impressive features not seen in many CD MP3 players.

Despite all the popular press and praise regarding the CD player, I was a bit...

Pros: Inline remote, good EPS (anti-shock) times, upgradeable firmware
Cons: Clumsy song search features, EPS no longer the best in the business

When it comes to MP3-CD players, SonicBlue's Rio Volt reigns as king of the hill. Now, with TDK entering the field with their impressive Mojo Digital Jukebox unit, does the Rio Volt still stand tall?

I am writing this review...

Pros: Price, 650+ Megs of cheap storage, battery life, upgradable firmware, and more
Cons: Plastic case feels cheap, dancing man in LCD

Having played with so many MP3 players including my latest players (a SonicBlue Rio 800 and a Creative Nomad II MG), I was able to get a Rio Volt player for a bit more than $150 ($149.95 + $5.75 - 2% shopper's rebate). Am I impressed with this unit! It...

Pros: MP3 and WMA support, skip protection, accessories and more!
Cons: Have to plug in to charge.

My fiancé has seemed to out grow his Diamond Rio 600, he complains that it does not hold enough music and is a pain to change songs on it with the included software. Since last year for Christmas, he got me a Philips MP3/CD player and I figured it was...

Pros: Feature rich, so far error free playback, upgradeable firmware.
Cons: Volume, quirky controls, carrying case sucks, ear buds, not for active lifestyles.

As I'm sitting here writing this, my two-month old RioVolt is in shuffle mode, playing a CD that I created with exactly 190 songs on it. For four hours now, I haven't heard one song repeat...WOW!

Even with it's shortcomings, this is an...

Pros: sleek ultra-portable design, music anti-skip buffer, good battery life
Cons: comes shipped with lousy earplugs, takes too much time to initialize

I've been in the market for a portable MP3 player for sometime now, but until recently there weren't any products out that really caught my attention. I really fancied the Sony Music Clip, but its proprietary OpenMG system just killed it. The Creative...

Pros: Functional, Long Battery Life, Play MP3 CD/CDA, Song name displayed, software upgradeable.
Cons: Useless dancers on display, 80dB SNR for CDA

The jury is out on the final word on this product. There are varying opinions - some think it is flimsy and cheap yet at the same time semi-worth the money, others cannot bear the thought of SonicBlue actually making money off what they consider to be a...

Pros: Affordable, 150-170 songs on 1 CDR-RW, interesting conversation piece, fun to create your own CDs
Cons: Cheap feeling components, lack of documentation, annoying dancers on LCD.

Having just purchased the Rio Volt for my girlfriend I figured it was interesting enough of a product to warrant an owner opinion. She decided it would be something she wanted when we were at new Macintosh retail store, we had seen one earlier at a...

Pros: A reasonably cheap way to listen to your MP3s
Cons: Everything else

I hope this helps in your decision:

The Body:
The player is constructed of lightweight plastic that feels flimsy and looks cheap. I fear that without extremely gentle care, the casing will break.

The Display:
The display...

Pros: long battery life, great sound, easy to update, tremendous playing time
Cons: Skips somewhat, no Mode button on remote

The RioVolt PSX100 is a fine bit of workmanship. I've had it since Christmas and I think it's one of the better gifts I've ever gotten.

The RioVolt appears at first to be just like any other portable CD player. There are buttons on the...

Pros: Great run time on batteries, uses cheap CD-R/RW media
Cons: Small buttons on remote, carry case too small

The Rio Volt is my third MP3 player, and definitely the best. I have a Rio PMP300, a Creative Nomad II, and now the Volt, and the Volt is definitely the best of the three!

With flash memory-based players, you have to carefully manage your...

Pros: ID3 Tag, Upgradable, MP3/WMA/ASF, Cheap Storage, Durable, Easy navigation, Remote control, Backlit LCD Display
Cons: Wasted LCD Space, Only 2 line 12 character display

I just got my Rio Volt the other day and it has yet to disappoint me. The Volt is an MP3 CD player that plays not only MP3s, but can also play WMA and ASF audio as well, off a CD. FYI, the Rio Volt is based on the same OEM of the IRiver MP3 player...

Pros: 650-700 Mb of MP3s on cheap removable media. Flexible and upgradable software.
Cons: Poor shock protection. Narrow LCD display.

Others have already written detailed epinions on this product. Instead I will quickly cover some major reasons why you should or should not get a Rio Volt.

For a detailed epinion see yusakugo's for example: