Rio Karma - iPOD Competitor.

Does anyone on this board own a Rio Karma, as opposed to an iPOD?

I saw a write-up in a magazine which sounded promising:

"The 5.5. ounce Karma is the iPOD's toughest competitor, thanks to its longer battery life (15 hours compared with the iPOD's 10 to 12), its excellent sound quality, and the fact that it plays WMA files. It also comes with a cradle that hooks up to your stereo, so you can record tapes, vinyl records, and playlists from your favorite radio station." http://www.rioaudio.com 20GB, $299.

Looking for any and all thoughts! Thanks! :)

Cheers

DJ Medusa.

I owned a Karma for one week. The hard-drive basically died on me after 7 days or so, so I returned it to Best Buy and got me an iPod.

I've heard many good things though, and I liked the interface while it worked. They're marketed as an alternative to ipod towards audiophiles who use formats like FLAC.

Originally posted by Medusa:
Does anyone on this board own a Rio Karma, as opposed to an iPOD?

I saw a write-up in a magazine which sounded promising:

"The 5.5. ounce Karma is the iPOD's toughest competitor, thanks to its longer battery life (15 hours compared with the iPOD's 10 to 12), its excellent sound quality, and the fact that it plays WMA files. It also comes with a cradle that hooks up to your stereo, so you can record tapes, vinyl records, and playlists from your favorite radio station." http://www.rioaudio.com 20GB, $299.

Looking for any and all thoughts! Thanks! :)

Cheers

DJ Medusa.

Does the Ipod not play WMA files?

Originally posted by bunnyman:
Does the Ipod not play WMA files?

What does the W of WMA stand for?

Take that as a no then.

OK…I should be more computer literate, I'm one of these people that until a year ago didn't even start burning CD's. How does one convert WMA files into MP3's?

It seems like most Rio products don't last. That's the impression I get everytime I read consumer reviews of their product.

I'm very happy with my Creative Nomad Zen Xtra. 30 gb Hard drive, same price as a 4gb IPOD… I do recommend that you always buy the extended warranty plan, just in case!

Rios have a strong reputation for hard drives that die on you (and a 90 day warranty!). So even though their products look good on paper (and their new Carbon has one of my favorite features, on-board profiling) it's hard to recommend them. Creative's rep isn't much better.

They get no press, but I love RCA's players. They're MSC (Mass Storage Compliant), show up as a hard drive, with on-board profiling so no need for software. Just plug into any computer, drag and drop, profile on the machine and the new files show up in the database. And you can also have the option of folder navigation on the player. They're also very reliable, and come with excellent included accessories, like a sturdy padded carrying case that has cut outs for the screen and buttons, car kit, etc.

The iRivers have nice functions like line-in recording, built-in mic, LCD remote, and are also MSC. But they have some fatal flaws like no real shuffle mode and a flawed database creation tool that can't deal with long file names or WMA tracks.

I would say if you need a remote and line-in/recording capabilities, iRiver is a good bet. etc., otherwise I'd recommend an RCA Lyra.

Originally posted by Medusa:
It also comes with a cradle that hooks up to your stereo, so you can record tapes, vinyl records, and playlists from your favorite radio station."

Is this an uncommon feature? This is a huge plus for me.

don't know about the rest… but the iRiver HD players have line in jacks for recording external audio devices. i.e. stereos, compact disc players. so you don't need a computer to rip a cd.

Originally posted by bunnyman:
OK…I should be more computer literate, I'm one of these people that until a year ago didn't even start burning CD's. How does one convert WMA files into MP3's?

I may be wrong, but I think the newest version of itunes can do this. If not, just do some googling and I'm certain you'll find tons of programs that can do it for you.

I have the Rio Cali 256 mb. It's the second Rio I've bought. Not as much memory as an ipod, but I only use it for running. It's much cheaper than an ipod. A huge plus is that this Rio does NOT have a rechargeable battery. So, no problems with the battery dying and expensive repairs.

I've never had problems with the hard drive. But my first Rio died because the rechargeable battery was shot.

Also, Rio tech support is great and free.

The Cali's got flash memory, so there's no hard drive to fail. Of course with flash, you're getting a much lower MB/$ ratio.

Has anyone seen the new Samsung flash players that are about the size of a pack of gum? I'm afraid I'd lose it, but the 1GB ones are tempting.

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
don't know about the rest… but the iRiver HD players have line in jacks for recording external audio devices. i.e. stereos, compact disc players. so you don't need a computer to rip a cd.

The Napster player has a "line in" and record feature as well, as well as the ability to record off an FM radio signal that is built in (no external radio required). And using the Napster digital download service is not required to use the player - it works with MusicMatch, the Real Library program, WM Player, eMusic - just about everything but iTunes, because iTunes doesn't recognize the player. Fortunatly, you can copy your collection in without using any library-type software. It does not support AAC files however. Yet.

The only problem I've had with my Napster player is a database error with songs/bands with an * in the title. Stellastarr* caused a problem for a while, until I figured out it was the * at the end of the name. Otherwise, it's been a great player.

Originally posted by bunnyman:
OK…I should be more computer literate, I'm one of these people that until a year ago didn't even start burning CD's. How does one convert WMA files into MP3's?

There are a lot of programs out there that will convert your personal WMA files to MP3. I would start here http://www.wma-mp3.com/ for a variety of programs with trial versions. There are some free programs out there too, but I've had better succes with the $20 programs.

For WMA files that your purchased (with DRM, essentially) the option are much more limited and the results are less successful.