July 29, 2002

6:26 PM

Rio is famous for pioneering MP3 portable players. While they weren't the first, they were the first to really come to market with something viable. Their new player, Rio 900, features 192MB of space, Nickel Metal Hydride battery, and features fast USB connectivity. [More Inside]
posted by benjh (3 comments total)

And this is worthy of commentary here because...?
posted by jjg at 6:31 PM on July 29, 2002

SonicBlue's attempt at a hard drive based MP3 player, the RioRiot, is flopping miserably, with most stores selling it well below list price. With competition from Apple, Archos, and Creative, as well as others, are Rio players, once the "pioneers" of the technology, now completely irrelevant, and probably doomed never to catch up, or can their company compete with better products?

At $249, the new player has a fraction of what a $299 iPod has, has slower connectivity, and a battery form that has memory issues, and unlike Lithium Polymer batteries, can not fully recharge without having to be discharged, and lose power on subsequent charges.
posted by benjh at 6:31 PM on July 29, 2002

As opposed to the upgrade of the iPod, or some other Apple product every 3 weeks, right jjg?
posted by BlueTrain at 6:32 PM on July 29, 2002