Rio Carbon vs Ipod Mini

I have never used either product but you could get the Rio Carbon on woot.com for $124.99 + $5.00 S&H a couple weeks ago, which is a little cheaper than your $140.00 price. Like I have always said though, when you pay less for something there is usually a good reason you are doing so.

 

That RioCarbon was refurbished

 

I own 3 Rio Carbons and a Rio Nitrus. The Carbon is one of the sweetest gadgets I own.

Positives of the Carbon:

Longer battery life
Dont have to worry about file extensions like with IPOD
Half the size of the IPOD


Negatives:

I really haven't seen a carrying case for the Carbon. Like if you want to go the gym or run.

 

aeroman, where is the carbon listed at $140. I need one to buy as a gift for someone else.

Thanks.

 

I've had a number of rio products in the past, they were all awesome (mp3 players). I haven't had this 5gb one before, but I trust the quality.

 

I had a Rio Nitrus that lasted about three months. Apparently, I'm not the only person that has had trouble with Rio players. I suppose, however, that you could find similar stories about iPods.

http://www.aliceandbill.com/2005/01/another-rio-bites-dust.html

I'm not sure I'll ever buy another Rio product, but hopefully your experience will be better if you decide to go with the Carbon.

 

If you are OK with refurbished, Apple.com has IPOD Minis for $150. My father is getting me one for my birthday. I don't mind the lack of WMA as all my music is MP3.

 

I use the Zen Micro primarily. We also have use of the 4 GB IPOD that we got for free somehow or another. We actually use the IPOD for books on MP3 - if you are interested, audible.com has a ton - and the Zen for music.

Personally, I prefer the Zen, but I really think they are all the same more or less.

 

WHAT lack of WMA?
iTunes converts unprotected WMAs and protected WMAs from your machine into AAC format.

 

All I can add to this is that my iPod Mini just came today. Got the 6gb for 229 with student discount. So far, it's pretty sweet. Also got the free engraving.

 

Well I just got my first ipod (20 gb) a few weeks ago and I've never used one without a 'click wheel'. The click wheel is awesome...but I guess someone who's actually used both should comment.

 

I own a Rio, and I absolutely love it. Smaller/lighter than the Ipod, no software required, supports more formats, and has longer battery life.

I've never owned an iPod or iPod Mini, but I've used iPod Minis before. The only advantage to me is that the carrying case is much, much nicer.

I recommend you go with the Rio.

 

I've got both the Ipod Mini and the Creative Zen Micro. I've owned the Rio Karma. Rio makes really neat products -- I *LOVED* my Karma. Purely as an audio player, it's second to none -- best sound quality, best interface, dock included, connects to network . . . but it's just not durable enough. I went through two of them in six months. It crashed pretty routinely, and bit the dust several times, but I was able to revive it for a time. Then one day no more. I still keep up with the Riovolution forums, but I won't buy another Rio product for some time. The thing is, the company doesn't stand behind its products at all. For months we heard about a new firmware that never came for the Karma. The same thing is happening with the Carbon now -- word is that there will be a release soon-ish, but it was promised to be out before December last year, and word is that it's in testing now, but who knows what that really means. Meanwhile, Rio is becoming less and less competitive relative to the rest of the market. They bring out products and then ignore them and ignore the users. The big wait right now is for a firmware that supports the PlayForSure setup so you can use a subscription service. I think they make great products, but they just don't seem to care past the initial sale.

I don't ever really use my iPod. It was given to me as a gift, and I already had a DAP. I spent two weeks with nothing but an iPod though, and I like it. The 2nd gen mini has a remarkable battery life, and the sound is pretty good. I think Creative's Zen Micro (my current DAP) sounds better, but the iPod is good too. The thing that stops me from using the iPod is really just that there's no subscription service for it -- word is that this will happen eventually, but in the meantime, I'll be enjoying my current DAP.

Right now I have the Creative Zen Micro, and it's probably my favorite of the four I've owned. The sound is great, it's easy to use, battery life is decent, and it was a great value. For $229, I got the player, a case, a belt-clip, a stand, and the AC Adapter, in addition to the regular stuff like USB cable and earphones. I also love how it uses a regular USB cable, so I don't have to buy anything special if I want to take it around with me -- I pretty much always have a regular USB A->mini A cable around somewhere, so that makes it really easy for me to use it on the road. The big selling point though is the Napster 2 Go service. For $15/month, I can put almost anything I want on there, and take it around. I *love* it. It's just fantastic -- I've had the opportunity to listen to all sorts of stuff I would never have heard before because I wouldn't have bought it from iTunes or anything.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend the Zen Micro however. I love it, and I love using the Napster 2 Go service, but it was sort of a pain to set up. It did not go easily, although since I got it working, I haven't had a single problem. The only other problem is that it takes a bit of work to get used to using the interface. Otherwise, it's a great product, and I really, really like it. I haven't used the Rio Carbon, but it doesn't have the subscription service, so I'd go with the iPod mini over the Rio . .

 

AFAIK it can't convert protected WMAs, and when you convert from one lossy format like WMA into another lossy format like AAC, you lose quality. Just wanted to mention that.

 

Got my 6GB Ipod Mini from Fry's for $149... Love it.