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Rio Karma 20 GB MP3 Player
By: Rio Average Rating: 3.0 Total Reviews: 249
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 On: 2006-08-25
Well, the Rio Karma was everything I needed. Had moved all my music over to it and it would last hours and hours. Even took it over to England, lovely on the flight. Then just last week, it "hiccuped" while trying to load a couple more albums (no it did not run out of disk space. After that, it hung and wouldnt send nor receive anything from the Karma to the PC. Now, it is in a constant state of "Communicating", with absolutely nothing in that the PC software doesnt even recognize that the Karma is attached. The PC doesnt recognize the Karma as a device on the USB port.
I only give it two stars, since it worked for 2 years. For the amount of money spent on this, it shouldnt have quit this soon. Ill be going to iPod and to hell with these other companies who just dont understand what quality means. Also, Apple isnt going to dry up and disappear.
On: 2006-04-23
I purchased the Rio Karma when the iPod bug bit me- and the iPods were all sold out. I figured- Well, it cant be that different, can it? The first Karma I had would not accept a charge, and had to be returned. The second seemed to work great- I put every CD I owned onto it, and still had lots of extra room for more. So, for the normal music lover, the 20 Gigs of memory is sufficient.
My problems began when I brought the Karma out to the Field with me for my Army training before deployment to Iraq. The idea being that Id enjoy all my music and recharge once a week or so. Worked well, but the vibrations from the moving vehicles (i think) caused my Karma to get stuck in some kind of start-up loop. When i turned it on, the machine would start loading and then just click and get hot as it was on longer and longer without fully starting. At the point of despair- I gave it to one of my soldiers as asked if he could fix it. He also had a Rio Karma, and experienced similar problems. His solution: smack the little B-----d until it turned on. Well, Id say that about once every other month or so the Karma needs the same spanking to get it up and running.
Sound quality is good, no disappointment there. Its shape is awkward, especially when working out.
Well- Im in Iraq now- and i have the Rio Karma still- it is managing to cling to life, but only barely. I think its greatest flaw is its sensitivity to vibrations. Probably too many moving parts? It is not that I didnt take care of it, never dropped it or did any thing crazy like that.
Thats my Rio story- in the end, I wish I had waited for an iPod to show up, particularly the model without moving parts (shuffle I think).
 On: 2006-03-15
I originally purchased an iPod in order to listen to my audiobooks. It was such a complicated thing that I got discouraged and returned it. I have had my Karma 2+ yrs now and I love it. I can bookmark my place and listen to something else, even have more than one book going at a time and still listen to music without losing my place. I love it! I have had some difficulties but they have always worked out. I hope if/when it needs replacing that I can find another one or something that performs as well and is as easy to use.
On: 2006-01-31
I fell in love with this device for the first several months that I owned it. Like several of the people below, I am totally against the whole ipod thing, so I am a huge fan of anything thats not ipod. However, my Rio broke down THREE DAYS out of its miserable 90 day warranty. I called them up anyway, but they wouldnt help me and tech support wasnt very friendly or quick. I managed to fix it, and it worked fine for the rest of the year, bringing its total life up to one year, but it just broke again, and I cant fix it this time.
The point of the story: this is a really nice device with good controls and a decent program included. The dock is magnificent and I wish other mp3 players would have similar. Dont buy it without the warranty!
On: 2005-12-28
At first I was really happy that I had avoided iPod mania... I bought the Rio Karma about 1.5 years ago as a result of a quest to go for capacity and style at a reasonable price and not cave to the cute little iPod... I have a huge cd collection and wanted the ability to listen to anything in my collection at any time... at first, the Rio Karma provided this and I was very happy... about 2-3 months after I purchased the item, it broke down... In this whole process, I ended up sending back the replacement to recieve a 3rd player, which has never worked properly... it had problems transferring all of my tracks, froze several times in doing so, and wont play half of my tracks, as they show up as corrupted. I just got the new iPod video... I had no problems tranferring my music files... all of the songs that I was not able to play on the Karma, play fine on the iPod... should have caved to the iPod craze in the first place...
On: 2005-09-28
Rio does not advertize this product as a sport mp3 player. Anybody that jogs or bikes with a hard disk based player is just asking for trouble. What this unit is though is a fantastic substitute for your home audio cd player. Even more than a substitute, 20 gigs will hold just about anyones music collection. Sound reproduction is fantastic, especially with FLAC codec(which takes up more room than mp3/wma.). It is portable though to the car, the backyard or camping, just dont throw it off a cliff and expect it to recover. The screen is big and the menu system is by far the easiest I have used. The ripping/encoding software is easy to use and makes its own data base that sorts and stores your music, but you may have to read the E-Manual included on the CD Rom.
 On: 2005-09-27
I bought the rio 4 month ago,
i handled it with care as if it was my only dear baby.
but the first smallest hit , inside the bag, and the scrolling wheel doesnt function anymore.
I called rio, they immediately knew this problem, they also confessed that this model was not a big success and is not being manufactured anymore.
this player is very very fragile.
Another major problem is the "non storage" driver, the rio can be used as external HD only after installing RIO TAXi.
On: 2005-07-23
I have several MP3 players. I have a Cendyne 128MB MP3, a PanasonicSD-SV85, a rio Nitrus, a Rio Karma, and now a Apple IPOD 40GB. My music library has grown a lot iver the last 3 to 4 years. I spend a lot of time in the gym, riding bimes, running,boxing, and many other activities. So I need an MP3 player that is rugged. The Rio Nitrus was at one time my largest MP3 Player and has proven to be really rugged. It has never frozen up. After a while I needed some more space, so I purchased the Rio Karma.
Rio Karma review:
Included items: The Karma come with a docking station that is looks really nice. The base glows blueish purple (can be changed to flash, follow BPM, etc. The station includes an AC output, USB 2.0 output, RCA audio outputs, and a rare ethernet connection. I really like all these features. The RCA output is a really nice touch and it is rare, so you do not have to get a stereo y connector. It also comes with the power cable, ethernet cable (6ft/2 meters long), rca audio cables, USB 2.0 cable, Music Mangaer software, and ear buds. All you have to do is sit the Karma into the cradle and off that you go.
Software: Music Manager- The software is pretty good. but has some drawbacks. It is hard to move tracks up and down. However, there is software out there that is supposed to be really nice.
Design:
Pretty small and light for a 20 GB hardrive. The design is really nice, the buttons are really easy to flip if you are on the go. However, the power button is easily hit sometimes, but there is a lock feature. There is a wheel on the side which adds a rare feature that is not seen on many other MP3s. There is no remote anywhere on the market.
Performance:
Transfering music seems a little slow. I wish they had firewire connection. Battery life is excellent. Makes sure not to leave it out in the sun, or hot car, or in a really cold environment. Sound quality is really good. Whether you listen to it through headphones or through a digital receiver. I do not like ear buds so this is not based on there performance. I like the crossfade that you can change and alter deopending on seconds. You can connect to the internet. This MP3 has a lot of options in the menu. The only big drawback to the performance is the skipping and hard drive lock up. Like I mentioned before, I am pretty active. I purchased my first Karma and had it for about 1 month before the wheel broke on it. I started to notice that it would get stuck, or skip, and lock up when I jogged. This happens a lot. This is normal with hard disk players. You have to use a paper clip to reset the player. So carry one with you some how. At the end of the month I was running on the treadmill and it lock up again. I tried to power it down and the hour glass icon just kept spinning. I had a paper clip at the end of my headphones, so I reset it. When I tried to power it back on it got stuck on the loading screen. I tried numerous time to get it restarted, but with no luck. I was pretty pissed, beacuase I need my music when I a working out. Lucky I had my Nitrus on me. I brought it home and tried all the troubleshooting that is on the Rio website, but nothing worked. The upgrade feature did not work either. Finally I took it back to the store that I brought and exchanged it for a new one. The very first time that I used it was at the gyme the next day. It got stuck, so I reset it. I turned it back on and it was stuck on the loading page and none of the buttons were responding, except the reset button. I was really mad, becuase this one did the same thing as the other, but on its first use. I tried all of the troubleshooting again, nothing worked. So I went out the next day to be another MP3 player, a IPOD. I got it home and loaded all of my music on it. As I was loading the music I started to cruise the internet when I stumbled across http://www.riovolution.com/FAQkarma.php#bug2 . This site is a must if you own a Rio MP3. I read the following on shis website.
"IF YOUR PLAYER GETS FROZEN AND WILL NOT GET PAST THE LOADING WINDOW TRY THIS. Several people (especially those who use their Karma while walking or running) have reported a particular Karma problem in which an hourglass appears and the Karma refuses to shut down. After resetting the device with a paper clip, it begins to start up, but only to a certain point - the Rio logo will spin fully, but the progress bar at the bottom does not move, and the text locks up at "Starting...". When holding the Karma to the ear, they report hearing a very quiet repeated clicking sound, followed by a beep every eight seconds or so. When trying to start the Karma in recovery mode, no text is displayed after "hdd:".
These users have reported that hitting the Karma works very well in solving this particular problem. They suggest holding it in your left hand, with the screen facing you, Karma on the startup screen. Proceed to clap it into your right palm, so that the rubber grip hits your palm, hard enough to make your palm slightly red and to hurt a little. They report that this should set the Karma working again. If not, try slightly harder each time".
It works, it really works. I was getting ready to write a review yesterday to complain how fragile the Karma as not to buy one if you use it on the go a lot, but actually you have to be impressed with a harddrive MP3 that you can smack around like this.
I just have not used the IPOD, so I migh take it back. Oh, when I use the Karma on my bike or when I am lifting weights or boxing I never had these problems.
On: 2005-07-22
2 months ago, I bought the Karma as a replacement for an ipod that was stolen. The positives of the machine was that it has two buttons for scrolling and navigating, plus seperate buttons for volume...and its cheap! I went ahead and bought it, brought it home, opened the box, and THAT is where the trouble started.
I have an external hard drive for my mp3s, and when I installed the Rio software, my system wouldnt recognize the hard drive. I had to uninstall Rio Taxi, which is the proprietary hard drive program for Rio. This would give me a "grace period" of about 20 minutes where my hard drive would be available, until it would disappear and I would have to disconnect the Rio and restart the system.
Next up, the Rio program does not allow you to make ordered playlists. You can throw the songs into a playlist, and it will take them totally out of order and theres nothing you can do about it. Sometimes, while you are adding songs to a playlist, the list disappears, and all the work youve done is gone. Theres no way to drag and drop songs from your hard drive, because the Rio will create duplicates. Alright, these things are infuriating, but can be worked around.
Then, the Rio crashes. It crashes constantly. When I say crashes, I dont mean just stops...I mean gets stuck with a spinning hourglass FOREVER. Until the battery runs out. The only way to get it unstuck is to find a tiny tiny needle and hit the reset button. Alright, that was dealable. Now the final problem is that there is a bad track on the player. The track makes the player crash and restart. The player restarts on that bad track!
Right now, it is in an unending loop of crashing and restarting. It does not connect to the computer, hitting reset does not help. I called Rio, and if I want it fixed I have to pay to ship it to Rio. Theres absolutely no help on any websites. So instead I took out my rage on the thing and now its in a lot of tiny little pieces. Now Im sending some greenback Karma over to Apple and getting an Ipod. Dont waste your money. Peace out!
 On: 2005-07-20
For those looking for more audio related features and an alternative to the iPod, then the RIO KARMA is for you.
Pros:
Check out the specs: Supports FLAC, OGG, WAV, MP3, WAV. This means, you have a variety of choices on how you want your music encoded in. The KARMA features a 3-second crossfade; which means if some songs dont have an end/songs from a mixed compilation, the crossfade will slowly fade the current song into the next. Also, there is GAPLESS playback; meaning if you have a mixed compilation or a regular album, there will be NO SILENCE in between each song. The Karma smoothly plays out each album like its meant to be played unlike the iPod.
Cons:
Like all HD MP3 players, you have to take into account that there is a microdrive inside. Its prone to skip if you shake it around for a lengthy time and basically, you just have to be careful with it. My Karma had to be reset only a few times because I dropped it and once went running with it causing it to freeze. Also, my scroll button broke, but only after dropping it very hard as well as the 2 years of use took its toll on it.
Nonetheless, I see alot of people complain about HD failures, well I had mine since OCTOBER 2003 and it STILL works fine for me. If youre still deciding on whether to buy one, then choose now because the Rio Karma has been discontinued and there is probably only a limited number of them left.
On: 2005-07-13
This is a wonderful product, out of the box. The UI and included software are very intuitive. The accessories are great. The docking station even has a cool blue light on it. But take a look around the forums - hard drive failures are everywhere. Mine stopped working about 14 months after purchase, had not been abused and had been used only indoors and in the car. Now I have a three-bill pile of junk. Buy this product only if you have limitless patience for wasting money, and easy access to surplus laptop hard drives.
On: 2005-07-11
I bought one of these in December, and two weeks later the scroll wheel broke during normal operation. I promptly sent it in to customer service, and they were very good about accepting it. But then they sat on it for five months. I didnt hear anything from them until march, and then it took two months of haranguing before they finally sent it back. Its July now, and it has broken again already. This time not only is the scrill wheel broken, but the hard drive has sopped functioning as well. I cant do anything about it because my warranty was up after thirty days. I would definately not recommend buying this, especially with the abundance of hard drive mp3 players avalable.
On: 2005-07-08
I received this as a gift from my boyfriend two months ago. The reviews of this product touted a 15 hour battery-life, but I found that the battery drained even when the player was turned off. Customer support is horrible - I had to send three emails and make four phone calls before they would agree to allow me to send it back for a replacement. I just received the replacement (the same player, just with more scratches and a new battery, I guess) and now it does something new: it simply stops playing in the middle of a song, the screen freezes and you have to wait until it decides to be responsive again (30 minutes this time). Buying this product is looking more and more like a big waste of money and time.
On: 2005-06-27
dont buy this mp3 player, its not to great, i switched to an 1pod 20gb so much better its worth the extra few dollars go with the ipod. also the software is confusing and this dosnt support firewire:( go with the ipod and you will be happy
On: 2005-05-25
Produced by Digital Networks North America (DNNA) (sister company to Marantz Audio), the Rio Karma, although aging, has still not lost its edge on the competition. While other companies are trying to cram as many new features into their MP3 players such as tuner recorders, diaries, calendars and games, the Rio Karma sticks to the basics and does them extremely well.
In the tidy package you get the player obviously, a substantial pair of Sennheiser MX300 ear buds, the drivers CD and a rather nifty dock.
The Rio Karma itself is shaped rather oddly. Its short and rather squat, featuring none of the aluminum or acrylic that is so often found in its competitors. Reminiscent of the old style minidisk players that used AA batteries, the Rio Karma is an all plastic and rubber handle affair, featuring a large clear plastic front plate that is prone to being scratched. Although not the most attractive MP3 player on the market at the moment, this is not a big detraction from the overall package; its unlikely you will be framing any MP3 player as a work of art.
Build wise, although it feels sturdy, durability is in fact a drawback with the Rio Karma. The plastic casing, possesses very little to hold it together apart from tabs (which you can see if you pry it open, although its not recommended) and tends to fall apart from time to time after the inevitable dropping of it occurs. However, it has been noted that the Rio Karma is prone to hard-drive failures, dont panic too much, this often doesnt corrupt files, all you need to do is hard reset it, this is more of an annoyance.
The Rio Karma despite its bulky appearance fits snugly into the hand with a rubber handle to grip onto. The combination of the brightly colored red joystick control, jog wheel and dedicated menu button is within easy reach of the thumb and the power, volume and hold buttons are also within easy reach of all other fingers. One concern, however, is the ease of which the joystick and jog wheel are moved so that during play, if it is not on hold it often switches tracks of skips forwards or backwards. This design was mainly built for a right handed user but, there is a left-handed mode for those who are inclined that way, however, it ends up being horribly useless with the controls in awkward positions.
The connectors on the body include a mini USB 2.0 connector, obviously to connect to the PC for music transference, a proprietary connector for the dock (included), a DC power connector that recharges the non-replaceable Li-Ion battery and a headphone jack which has the option of an inline remote. Strangely enough, DNNA never released an inline remote to compliment the Rio Karma and, seeing how long it has been on the market for, probably never will.
The dock that has been included is surprisingly handy as well as being rather "funky", allowing users to easily plug the Rio Karma in for simultaneous charging and transferal without the need for constantly connecting via wires. It features RCA line-out connectors (yes, you can connect them to an amp), a power connector, another mini-USB 2.0 connector and strangely enough, an Ethernet port. This was a stroke of genius on DNNAs part as it allowed the Rio Karma to connect to any TCP/IP based network, enabling sharing of the music to many users (much like Sonys current 20GB network MP3 Player). The funky thing with the dock is that, during charging the dock emits an eerie blue glow, which, while playing music can pulse to the beat.
Getting to the software, unlike most MP3 players nowadays, the Rio Karma doesnt allow use as a mass storage device as its file structure isnt compatible with the normal FAT file structures. Instead, it uses a file format that allows the storage of music identification tags (ID3 tags) and speedy retrieval of them.
The software included is the Rio Music Manager and Rio Taxi, both of which are downloadable free from the DNNA website (no particularly spectacular software inclusions here).
The Rio Music Manager is a simplistic music transferal program that scans the Rio Karma for music and scans your hard-drive for music. Although Music Manager does not possess the wiz bang functions of other programs it is easy to understand and is designed for users to transfer music straight away without the hassles of setting up. Transferal is a simple click and off you go. Its not particularly zippy at 10MB per second but it does the job. Also, some users have found it difficult to transfer music onto the Rio Karma because it can repeatedly not identify itself, simply a problem with the drivers.
Turning the Rio Karma on, the menu was obviously designed with extremely fool proof use in mind. Its practically gods gift to frustrated MP3 audiophiles. Its self-explanatory, its intuitive, its quick, it does everything for you and combined with a joystick, you can use a single thumb to scan through 5000 songs which are categorized in several possible ways, and find the exact one in seconds.
During playback the Rio stick is used for pausing or skipping tracks, the scroll wheel to fast forward or rewind. Tapping the menu button will bring up the full menu system or holding it briefly will jump straight to the Play Music option, which allows you to browse by artist, genre, year, etc. Picking Artists will provide a view with letters down the left hand side, with the artists under that letter on the right. You scroll through to pick a letter, and then pick an artist from that letter - for example, L then Led Zeppelin. Youll be given an offer of different albums to play, or the default "Play all tracks" option. Selecting an album will give you the individual tracks or "Play all". If only one album is found, then the player wont waste your time with a choice of one.
Getting past the easy to use interface, the Rio caters for the audio geeks in several ways. Firstly, a full five band equalizer along with a multitude of presets for those who dont know how to use the equalizer, just get there. Secondly, the Rio Karma supports, probably the most file formats in any portable MP3 Player, including MP3, WAV, WMA and for the audiophiles, Ogg Vorbis and FLAC. For those that dont know, WMA support means it can play tracks ripped with Windows Media Player, or tracks bought on-line from every single music store that isnt iTunes. Ogg Vorbis is generally considered as having a higher quality output than MP3 at the same bit rates, and has a firm following in the Open Source community, since unlike MP3 it is unencumbered with patents. And for the high-quality obsessed, FLAC is totally lossless (no CD quality lost) while only taking up half the space that a normal WAV file would take.
Sound quality, although heavily reliant on the type of format being used, using lossless formats, the Rio Karma, while not being particularly bad, is at times unable to handle heavy music, clipping what is outside of its capabilities and creating crackling noises (it has 30 levels of volumes and believe me when I say you wouldnt want it to get any louder). Lighter music tends to be a bit too smooth with the intricacies of some songs such as jazz or orchestral works being glazed over; the difference between the bottom of the frequency range and the top in volume was remarkable. The Rio Karma has a slight bump up in the lower frequencies before leveling out mid range and then quickly falling off towards the higher frequencies. The result is a rather lopsided, bass heavy, slightly muffled sound.
One final feature is Rio DJ. Rio DJ provides some slightly more general playback settings than picking a specific year. For example, you can select all tracks from the 1970s, or for an hour of your top or worst tracks. You can ask for all the tracks transferred onto the player within the last week, or for a simple fifteen minutes of randomly chosen music. Rio DJ also tracks usage and is surprisingly accurate at picking your favorite bands and music.
Rio Music Managers Rio DJ allows you to create custom play lists, and then transfer them to the player as a play list.
Overall, it doesnt have some of the gimmicks of its competitors such as FM Radio or recording, but what you get is a masterful music device, designed specifically for its original use, playback of music. The irreplaceable battery is a cause for slight concern, but Rio HQ in Japan has begun a battery replacement scheme which, hopefully, will soon be available worldwide.
82/100
Pros: Lossless audio codecs, extremely easy to use, 5-band equalizer, intuitive music organization, small and well designed control layout, these are getting cheaper.
Cons: Lack of an inline remote, unattractive, not hugely durable, easy to accidentally press controls, occasional hard-drive failures (more than most), problems with some of the USB drivers, the Rio Music Manager is over simplistic, the sound quality is uneven.
Overall: The cons above are a bit picky (there isnt much to pick with this player) but, the aging Rio Karma manages to hold its flame high above the wind of many other competing MP3 jukeboxes. Very few other players have come to the level that the Rio Karma has reached of pure functionality.
Alternatives: (There are many alternatives in this category, however, the two most popular would be, in my opinion, the iPod and Creative Zen Touch)
iPod: iPods popularity is warranted, being one of the easiest and most fun to use MP3 players on the market, the click wheel was an innovation on Apples part, it is easy to see why they are so popular. With billions of accessories and huge support network, beginners to the MP3 world will enjoy this player. However, lacking the ability to support Windows Media Codecs and some other popular codecs as well as the strong protection against music sharing makes this a slight turn off for audio geeks.
Creative Zen Touch: Excellent playback capabilities, Creative who have had a monopoly on the computing audio for some time now, do not let their experience go to waste. The interface and software included may have a higher learning curve than the Rio Karma. This includes many of the gimmicks such as an FM recorder. Surprisingly supports few audio codecs (MP3, WMA) and no lossless codecs, since Creative have had such success in Hi-fidelity computer audio.
On: 2005-05-23
What a GREAT player! Besides a false alarm with cheap headphones recently, it hasnt had a problem since I bought it in July 2004.
Charging and transferring music: Id say charging takes...probably around 5 hours to fully charge it, from no battery life to full. Battery life is definitely a good 15 hours: it played through a round trip to Maui. Transferring music is a dream - I use Windows Media Audio files, and its very easy to transfer files directly through the Windows Media Player. (I even found it a little faster than the Rio software that the player comes with, on Windows 2000 and Windows Media Player 9.)
Controls within the player: GREAT organization. Music is organized by Artist, Album, Track, Playlist, Year, and Genre, and then within, say, Artist, it has Artists by each letter, and then you can also view all Artists, organized alphabetically. I didnt find it at first, but you can also make playlists on the player, even while music is playing! My only complaint is that you cant change the order of songs, but I realize that thats probably a lot to ask of a portable MP3 player. Unless youre using very quiet speakers or a song is unusually low volume, the volume definitely goes high enough. Also, you can scroll back and forth through a song, or up and down the list of songs playing without changing the song currently playing, with the scrollbar, in the two different views. All the buttons are very solid feeling, and the Rio stick is easy to use.
Physically, the player IS very solid feeling: I dropped it once, on a tile floor, when it was in its cradle. It stuck the next time I started it up, on the startup screen, but when i restarted it after that, it was just fine. Its a little on the heavy side - but for 20GB of music, which is 4 times my whole music collection.
I cant say anything for the Customer Support, because I havent had to use it yet!
All in all - I highly recommend it; its a great value and investment! (And mine was $300!)
On: 2005-05-18
My Rio Karma would get stuck at "Starting" screen and the harddisk would start making weird noises. Hard resetting did not help. After doing a lot of googling, it turned out that many people had this same problem and the solution was to whack it hard. I, of course, didnt believe it at first but it worked. Here is how you do it -
1. Turn the player on. It would keep showing "Starting" screen.
2. Whack the player hard on the backside. You might have to do it 3-4 times. I banged it on the floor.
3. The player would restart itself. You dont have to turn it off and on again.
Hope this helps.
On: 2005-05-09
I bought my mp3 player two months ago, and im very happy with.
Easy to use and is nice to your eyes, no problems so far.
On: 2005-05-07
I Bought my Roi Karma in june of 2004, and it just died on me in may of 05. bakc around december the scroll wheel got pushed in after i accidently droped it and it landed on the scroll wheel. this didnt really matter because i didnt use it anyway. it still worked fine after that. i was quite careless with it, droping it all of the time walking down the street and it falling on the hard pavement. it survived a good 15-20 drops, but the other day it finaly broke. when i turn it on now it makes noises and feezes on the starting screen.
after using my friends ipods, and using my rio karma, i cant tell a difference in the quality. so if its between the karma and the ipod, DEFFINATLY go with the Karma. it dosent matter if it dosent have a carrying case or how ugly it is, beacause its in your pocket or in you hand most of the time. i listened to my karma all of the time. i would turn it on when i left for school in the morning, set up a long play list to last all day, and turn it off when i got home about 8 hours later.
this is a great buy i would rate it the #1 mp3 player out there.
 On: 2005-04-29
I got the Rio Karma in January of 2004, and it died on me on November 2004. It served me well.
The Rio Karma is a pretty good player overall. The controls are fairly good, and the menus are easy to navigate. They dont look the best, but they suffice. There are plenty of features on the Rio to last you a while. It has a stopwatch, Rio Taxi (which allows you to transport files) and others.
I dont really like dealing with the Rio Music Manager to transfer my music to it. But you really dont have a choice.
Upgrading firmware is pretty difficult if youre not tech savvy.
Rios tech support isnt very good either. A fall of two feet brought my Rio Karma into oblivion. Apparently Rio only supports their product for 90 days, so after that youve got a $250 paperweight. They only offered a refurbished model to me for half price. For the record, it was the scroll wheel that got pushed in. Imagine navigating the menus with the stick.
The Rio fits nicely in your hands. Its a little thick but its very small. It looks a little ugly compared to players like the iPod.
The Rio Karma plays a plethora of music formats, such as MP3, OGG, WMA, FLAC, and WAV. I mostly use MP3 but if you use other formats you will like this about it.
After it broke I purchased a 40 GB Apple iPod to replace it. I really like it more than the Rio. The menus are easier to navigate and the iTunes software is easier to use than the Rio Music Manager. Upgrading firmware is easy as cake. The battery life is a little weaker though.
One thing I really didnt like about the Rio Karma was the lack of a case. It does not come with one nor is one available for purchase. Rio includes this little gray bag that does not do the job. Because of this the screen got very scratched and dust got under the screen.
I do like the MX300 earbuds though. They sounded very well. After a few months the right channel blew out so I had to replace them.
The Rio Karma has come down in price a little, so its more affordable. If you cannot afford a player such as the iPod or the iRiver, the Rio Karma would be an okay choice. Just be careful with it. Rios tech support isnt that great. They will only support it for 90 days, while Apple supports the iPod for a whole year.
On: 2005-04-27
I wouldnt use this thing even if I got it for free. Its UGLY! It looks like some video camera from the 1980s. Eeekkk.. Shame on you Rio!
If you want a Rio that is not only great quality and STYLISH.... try one of the Rio Carbons. This little gal who needs pretty things in her life selected the Rio Carbon Pearl.... Nice alternative ladies to the "cute" Ipods.
On: 2005-04-12
I had this over a year now and I still love it. Battery can go for 18 hours, you can play WMA-DRM files, plus Mp3! It will resume where you left off when you power down, good for audiobooks. If you tag all your files with genre and dates, the RIO DJ software built in can give you good entertainment by letting you hear just 80s, or just 1985, or just classic rock, ect. Buy this player and you will not be sorry. I paid $220 for mine, at $179 its a steal.
On: 2005-04-11
The first one the hard drive crashed and the second one looks like it is about to do the same. I end up spending money shipping it back and lose the usage time. Horrible product that I bought through Amazon. Wish I had not done so.
On: 2005-04-08
Ive had my Karma now for 14 months without a problem. Then I made the mistake of taking it for a jog. Now it doesnt work. Tech support advises that this is a common occurence. Apparently the magnetic heads go out of allignment when subjected to this type of jarring. It cannot be repaired. Rather, for the low low price of $124.95, they will replace it with a new one. Also, the battery cannot be replaced, so when it finally wears down, youll have to replace the unit. Considering that the competition now has players with much more memory, Im not sure that Id purchase this again (Im not even sure Ill replace it).
On: 2005-04-05
I own this player for a couple months already and I`m very pleased with this thing. First off the purpose for this player for me is a home juke box, and it handles that task just perfectly-docking station+RCA hook up...Excellent. The only beef I have so far is a lack of remote control ( whis is the case with any mp3 player out there ), it would be very useful. But other than that I can`t complain-after I tuned the equalizer ( which is very sofisticated ), it sounds very, very good.I can simply transfer any music to it and that`s enough to enjoy the music at significantly better quality than from a cd player, believe it or not. Mainly that is so thanks to its amazing equalizer. And 20 GB is more than enough to keep an entire collection on it-you save your CD`s, no more scratches...As for the hard-drive crashes, as it was indicated before, it only happened to my player once, and only because it fell on the floor ( thank god on a robber mat ), so there was a legitimate cause for that, other than that-there are no crashes or glithes or anything of that nature what so ever. So I highly reccomend it for anybody who is much into a good sound like I am.
On: 2005-04-02
I bought a Rio Karma from elsewhere due to an attractive price of $144... I was aware of past reviews of problems with the harddrive and how people were saying their experience was extremely poor. I thought to myself, maybe it wont happen to me- since I take pretty good of my electronics. Well, the first 3 days of use was good, however I noticed that the player skips every so often like a CD; Im simply walking down the street when this happens. The 5th day, I was transfering songs to the player when it suddenly shut itself off. Now my player simply turns on and abruptly turns off and loops in this manner- rendering this player useless. (And I just bought this!)
I suggest people to avoid this product. Dont bother taking chances, the reviews are right- this product sucks. Better to spend more money and get a iPod or iRiver. Now I dont know what Im gonna do with this piece of junk...
---
Edit (April 8):
As it seems the remedy to get my player back in action was to format the entire player. After loading some more music, soon after it happened again when it would just automatically boot. Perhaps it has faulty ways in editing/generating the database?
On: 2005-03-30
I purchased the Karma, and from the moment it came out of the box I was very impressed. It looks very nice, and has a good shape for one handed operation. It also has a solid weight and a large screen. The interface on the player is very well organized as well:
-You can delete songs/albums right on the player
-You can create/edit playlists on the player
-It features RioDJ, which has many different selections for playing songs; eg. songs from the 70s, songs that are new on the player, songs that you havent heard in a while. For a high capicity player, this is very useful.
For computers, transfer is lighting fast, it did an entire ablum in about 30 seconds.
Also inclueded is a dock, loaded with features. From this dock you can:
-Hook up to a network using ethernet
-Charge the player
-Hook up to a USB port
-Hook up to a stereo
All nessecary cords are included. Additionaly, the dock has blue lights on it that look pretty cool. They can be set to pulse to the music, or stay on steadily.
I spent about 5 days researching this product before I bought it. I talked to friends whose Ipods always broke, and looked at other similar players. From what I found, you cannot beat the price. You get tons more features, than an Ipod or other player. If you purchase this, you will not be dissapointed.
NOTE: I have read reviews on other sites about the Karma, complaining about how it borke after jogging. AS with most hard dreve players, they are extremely fragile. Jogging or other bumpy activities are likely to break it. It is ideal for weight lifting, stationary bike, etc. According to Rio, it is intended as a jukebox, that is, hooked up to a stereo and used instead of CDs.
On: 2005-03-30
You guessed it. About the 3 1/2 month mark the hard drive goes out. A piece of crap. I refuse to pay $175.00 for refurbished job. The customer service support is awful. I know the price is inviting especially for 20 GB Mp3 player. Look at all the past reviews and you will see a common thread. If I pay $220.00 for a MP3 player I can reasonably assume it should last for a decent amount of time. I am currently deployed in Afghanistan and as of today without my music. Buy elsewhere there are plenty of choices. Say no to poor quality and to a company who outsources their jobs.
On: 2005-03-26
I have had the player for over a year and recently had the thumbwheel break for no identifiable reason. It just flops around in the slot making navigation of songs problematic. Rio wants $124 to fix. I have also had intermittent problems with the hard disk freezing. My use has been largely in the context of airplane flights, so it really hasnt been subjected to significant jostling or abuse. I found the ability to play FLAC (lossless audio format)far superior to MP3 format and thought the size and features of the Karma were ideal, so I am disappointed that the product is so poorly constructed. I will be buying an iPod.
On: 2005-03-16
Seldom worked. Thrice replaced. Companys customer relations department played the telephone hold game while a supervisor was allegedly being located.
Save yourself a long distance fortune and try a different MP3 product. Life will be less aggravating . . . or maybe I did something bad in a previous life.
On: 2005-03-15
First of all, I did not buy this player and if I had bought an MP3 player I probably would have gotten an Ipod. As luck would have it a friend gave a Rio Karma to my father who admitted he had no use for it and gave it to me. Im glad he did. I have lots of friends with Ipods and it has a notable advantage compared to the Ipod- the software is light, easy to use, and I dont have to worry about formats.
Mine was very easy to install and since I have three computers I installed it on all of them without any trouble. Some MP3 players dont allow that. The main gripes I have with this is that the button system isnt that great and the random feature is troublesome to access. Its easy to use otherwise; I admit I never even touched the instruction manual. The screen is easy to see and the songs are easy to access. The transfer rate is fantastic (USB or Ethernet) and it holds enough for the average person. Classical music buffs will appreciate the lack of gaps between tracks. In the Ipod that seems to be a problem and if you listen to things like long symphonies its annoying. The battery life is great and lasts more than enough time for both school and homework. I do wish it charged faster and the docks blue light is considerably annoying; removable batteries might have been nice too. Another downside it that the original software is a bit buggy and you REALLY need the firmware updates on Rios website. The ripper with the software isnt my favorite either-I recommend using Windows media player for that. The sound quality is fantastic, so ripping at high bit rates is worth it.
The player itself is kind of unattractive and there arent any cases made by the company. However, I made an attractive and functional cover out of duct tape and plastic wrapping only for security. A store bought case would probably be thicker, but I havent needed one. Mine has handled quite a bit of abuse without a problem including the time my little brother managed to steal and "play" with it. Its not designed for physical activity though, as I learned when I tried to run with it. A lot of the reviews here mention faulty devices, so maybe Ive just been lucky. If mine does break Ill update this review.
I would remind buyers that it seems the Mp3 market hasnt been perfected and most people I know with Mp3 players have had them break.
Edit: OK, now ive had some problems that have gotten really annoying- the down volume button doesnt work and occasionally the player will freeze up and I have to wait for the battery to run down and restart it. Very annoying.
Edit2: I did have to reformat, but darn this is a hardy device, as it survived my "caveman smash it on the table" fixing method and works well now.
On: 2005-03-12
I got mine a few weeks ago. I have dropped it four times once on concrete. (Ive got to get a case or make one). It never missed a beat. It works marvelously. Good sound quality and volume. I have never come close to running out of battery life (15 hours). Charging with the cradle is a cinch. The only problem I have is when transferring MP3s to it from the computer. Its a problem with the RIO Music Manager software. If the file doesnt rip properly it will lock up the Karma during transfer. All you have to do is cancel the transfer, pull the USB cord, and restart avoiding the defective track. I have found about 1% of my CD tracks produce this problem, and the problem repeats on that tract every time.
I use mine for scriptures and music. Im a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) so I have the Bible and modern revelations 11 Gigs worth. This thing is awesome. Ive gone through the whole quad in under 3 months. I just did the OT in 2 weeks. I can organize the books easily within albums to my pleasure. There are multiple ways to look up your tracts and go back and forth within a track or song. Really great when studying scriptures. When it shuts down because of being in idle, you can set it to come back at the beginning of the track you were on, right where you left off, or neither. I love this feature.
Great backlight and display. The display is full of presentation options.
I use a set of Koss clip-on headphones, $9.99 at Radio Shack. They let me hear whats going on around me (phones, people etc.), have excellent sound, and are incredibly load. I heated and bent the clips for long wearing comfort.
Rio recommends Real One to do the Ripping. I found Microsoft Media Player 10 to be quite a bit faster. I do most of my labeling edits inside Media Player and then finish them up in Rio Music Manager. Rios program allows bulk changes; thats really nice. It creates a translation database. Basically, it doesnt care where the music came from. You rip it into your computer and Music Manager goes and finds it automatically and in real time. Then you can tell it what it is and it remembers it that way and transfers it to the Karma that way. For example if you are loading disk 3 of the New Testament and it has the Books of Mark and Luke on it, You go into disk three in Music Manager, select the Mark tracks, and rename the Album to NT 2 Mark (in properties, right mouse click) and it transfers them into a new Album with that new name (in its data base not your computer). That way all your Scriptures are in order and by book. Or for example I put all the short books of the OT in one book with the artist being the book name. On your computer it still stores the ripped tracks as disk 3 of the New Testament.
Be sure and update the software when you get it, Ive heard complaints about the down level versions it usually comes with.
Expect to spend 15 to 20 minutes per CD to rip, label, and transfer the music. You can do all three concurrently.
The instructions are all on the CD, no quick start so you have to read manual on screen. They have an excellent knowlege base on their web site.
When you copy music from the player back to a computer it doesnt keep it separated by album. So do that one album at a time.
Bottom line I would recommend this player without hesitation. The only drawback is the case situation; you have to look to third party vendors. randi566@msn.com
On: 2005-03-12
ok, i got this player a couple of days ago but i already know this thing is so much better than anything else. a couple of my friends have ipods, a 3G and a 4G, and another one has a dell jukebox. when they first saw it they were skeptical but now both realize that mine beats theirs hands down. its very user friendly and easy to use (my friends were amazed at the left handed capability). rio really did a nicce job on the dock too,i have it hooked up to my tv so whenever i play video games, i dont have to listen to that music, i listen to mine. rmm, is also really easy to use and very helpful, you can copy a cd onto the comp, transfer to the rio player and play music off of the computer or rio at the same time.i highly reccommend this to everyone!!!
by: Anonymous On: 2005-02-28
I know I am just a kid, but I know more about mp3 players than a lot of people do. I recieved the Rio Karma for my birthday. All of my frinds have Ipods, but this was cheaper and held more songs. (...)
Anyway...I run with my Rio Karma everyday and have even dropped it on the ground a few times, but it still works. It isnt too big to hold and uploading songs takes seconds. It is very user friendly, also. I let one of my friends use it and within minutes, she figured out how to use it w/o the manual. The battery lasts over 10 hours, and charges completely within an hour and a half. My friend owns an Ipod, and her battery is always dead. The sound is great, and it conveniently fits in your pocket. Once, it froze, but it quickly recovered.
I would recomend the Rio Karma to anyone because it has a long battery life, it very good sized, and has TONS of memory for a minimal price. I would not recomend buying ANY mp3 player with under 1 GB of memory, because they are WAY to expensive to hold 150 songs. Your space runs out faster than you think.
I hope this helped!
On: 2005-02-24
I bought the Rio Karma because I liked the files supported, the price, the size, and the battery life. I had it for one day, my daughter, the audiofile, tried it, asked me for this to replace her IPOD, gave me hers. I bought another Rio Karma for me by the end of the same day. What a surprisingly great little thing!
On: 2005-02-18
Im sure youre all sick of these comparisons to the iPod, most of which just say "iPod sucks!" or "dont get this, go for an iPod!" I, however, have used the iPod extensively (and I really DO like it), and have recently purchased a Karma. Thus, I hope this review helps as a real comparison between two fairly similar products (and yes, they ARE similar - theyre both 20 gig mp3 players with comparable functions, though the iPod does have some more extras).
Size - Like I said above, the capacity of the Karma and the iPod are the SAME. Really, theres no difference here.
Design - It depends on what youre looking for. Style is, of course, a matter of personal preference, but the general consensus is that the iPod is prettier. Its also slimmer, but the Karma is shorter. Moreover, the Karma is easier to navigate with - it has a highly hand-oriented design, dedicated volume buttons, and both a joystick and a scroll wheel. Both players have a "Hold" switch, so again, no big difference there.
Portability - The iPod definately wins here. The Karma is, like I said, a bit thick, though it is rather short to compensate. Also - there are a million different cases available for the iPod, while you really have to look for someone to clip your Karma to your belt.
Battery Life - The Karma claims to have 15 hours, compared with the iPods 12. I havent put that to the test yet, however.
Note - BOTH these players have NON-USER-REPLACABLE batteries - if you want a replacable battery, go with the Creative Zen Xtra (which is a good deal bulkier than either of the two players Im discussing here).
*Sound* - Heres the kicker where Im concerned. I have always been (and, honestly, still am) partial to CDs - So, the second I got my mp3 player, I downloaded a few songs to check out the quality (with a pair of decent headphones). I listened to the Karma and to my personal CD player with the SAME pair of headphones, and the sound of the Karma was, if not the same, then very close. The iPod, even with a good pair of headphones (rather than those silly earbuds), cannot compare in that respect.
Reliability - All I have to say is that complaints about hard drive failure are much fewer in number than some of these reviews would have you believe. Also, there is updated firmware, and you typically get a 90-day warranty in case anything goes wrong. Still, I havent had my Karma that long yet, so Im in no real position to make a definitive statement. Just dont be scared out of buying this player.
Overall - I really do like this mp3 player. However, like the iPod, 300 dollars for ANY 20 gig mp3 player is just too much. I probably would not have bought it had I not received an amazing deal through another seller. If you buy it off Amazon, however (the current price on this site is 200 dollars), its definately a good deal. That being said, I highly recommend this player if what you really want is your entire cd collection in the palm of your hand with CD-quality (or almost cd-quality) sound.
If you want neither the iPod nor the Karma, you should also look into the iRiver, Creative Touch, Creative Zen Xtra, or the Dell DJ.
On: 2005-02-09
I am very dissapointed with this player. I am now on my third player. I sent two back to Rio and I have no intention on sending a third.I was told not to go running with this player because the pounding can damage the hard drive. So I got this player specifically to use while travelling. Songs started to skip after three weeks of use and finally it got to the point where the hour glass stayed in a perpetual spin mode. I could not even shut the player down...had to wait till the battery ran out! For what I paid for this player....what a waste!!! Most likely I will end up throwing it out and purchase a player with a flash and no hard drive.
On: 2005-02-05
The sound on this little puppy is excellent. Id not bought a digital music player because every time I listened to one, I was acutely aware of how poor it sounded compared to my CD player, and often even compared to FM radio. Then I ran into someone with a Karma. With cheap headphones it sounded way better than most units. I tried my really good traveling headphones on it and it sounded even better. I tried my very nice over the ear headphones that I use to listen to music off my home stereo (with a headphone amp) - it sounded even better.
My wife has an iPod, and the "sounds better stops at good traveling headphones. After that, the better the phones, the more you become aware of the shortcomings.
The upshot - Im now re-ripping a lot of my music at very high bitrate ogg vorbis or wma, because the sound quality on this player is so good, you can tell. Now my crisis is that I want to wear really first rate headphones all the time...which looks kind of goofy on the subway, if you know what I mean.
On: 2005-02-01
Ive had my Karma for about a year now, and have had nothing but good experiences with it. The year included a deployment to the Persian Gulf, and being limited on space it was a great help to burn my whole CD collection to my Rio and leave the CDs at home. Ive got about 3500 songs on board now (mostly .wmas) and still have plenty of room for more. I do not agree at all with other reviewers assertions that its a fragile player. I dropped mine several times while running aboard ship, and it (literally) never missed a beat. It has very good battery life and a much more user-friendly interface than the iPod. My only beef - or regret, I suppose - is that theres very little in the way of third-party support for it. The entire industry seems to have decided Apple is the winner. I could find an iPod case in aluminum, neoprene, or ostrich skin, but I couldnt find a single case for my Rio. I wound up using a CaseLogic universal PDA case. Ive likewise had no luck finding a car charger, yet in every electronics store theres a wall of support gadgets for the little white devil. So I can give the Karma a very strong recommendation, but caveat emptor. Its by far the best of the high-end mp3 players on the market, but you may be buying the next Betamax.
On: 2005-02-01
You can find cases for this particular model (along with many others, including the creative nomad zen nx) at vajacases.com. Just expect to shell out a few to get you own customized case
On: 2005-01-30
I received this over a year ago for Christmas. I have had no problems whatsoever. Ive even dropped it a few times. The only downsides are no case, and the front is a little scratched due to this.
On: 2005-01-29
worked fine for 6 months then started locking up. To unlock I needed to reloaded the firmware. This worked several times but the last attempt to reload didnt work until I slammed the thing down in frustration. Somehow this magically fixed it and I was able to proceed with the firmware reload. Spend the extra money and get an Ipod unless you like frustration.
On: 2005-01-29
If youre looking for a portable music player and your priority is storage, rather than small size, this is what you should buy. Aside from a few tiny things that make this player imperfect...its perfect.
**Compatability**
Mp3 isnt the best sounding format, there are lots of others that sound better. If you have a cd you really like, you might consider converting it to FLAC or OGG which sound much better. With the Rio Karma you dont have to worry about not being able to play some of the wierd formats because it can play all sorts of formats that other players cant.
**Storage**
It has enough storage for anyone. No one listens to 20 GB of music and gets bored with it before getting a chance to return home to switch up their beats. Dont think youll fit whatever number of tracks is advertised though, it just doesnt work out that way, what with varying formats and song lengths.
**Design and Software**
They thought of everything. Tons of features built into it. The program that comes with it to load music on is well-thought out and hasnt crashed on me yet. One annoying thing is that whilst in the docking station, the player keeps charging even after its fully charged, you can tell because it stays warm. Its not a huge deal, but it doesnt seem great for the player.
**Battery Life**
I havent been too good about watching the clock so I cant say for certain how long the battery life is, though Id venture to say its a little less than advertised. Which is still quite good considering it charges up fast and you dont have to buy batteries eva. And you can charge it up in the docking station or with just the charge cable, for travel purposes, so you dont have to pack the dock.
**Compared to the ipod**
The Ipod is nice. This is very close to the ipod thats of the same GB capacity (or nearest capacity). The main differences are that the karma can play better formats, making it sound better and that its not as cute as the ipod (so i guess if youre a girly girl you might prefer an ipod). The karma is a little bulkier than the ipod. The ipod is sleek and fits nicely into a pocket whereas the karma is more square, and while of comparable weight (pretty durn light) a little more noticable in the pocket. Though it doesnt bother me because I wear slightly baggy pants. Yes. Slightly baggy.
**Overall**
I bought mine about a year ago when it was $300 and I dont regret my purchase. Its held up nicely and its pretty rugged, ive dropped it a couple times and its fine. The only reason to not buy this player is if you want to use it for snowboarding or jogging or something, a smaller cheaper player would be better for that. RIP Mac Dre
On: 2005-01-27
Im 26 yrs old and military, so this is a pretty adult review. Ive owned 3 Rio Karmas inside of a month in a half. The good points of the Karma is like every Harddrive MP3 player, you can practically put your lifes collection of CDs on it, completely eliminating carrying around CD cases in your car. I had 677 songs on my Karma and I still had 16.2 Gigabytes left on it (notice the verbage "had"). Now...The bad. This thing is about as durable as dropping a newborn, thats the reason Ive owned three. One took a bump from about 5 feet, and would no longer boot up past the beginning screen, I called the Rio Help Desk and was told to take it back, its done. The second one was a replacement from the store for returning the damaged one. This one completely shutdown on me after a morning 1 1/2 hour PT run, in about 30 degree weather, needless to say it went back to the store. The third one hasnt went bad yet, i brought it for my girlfriend and shes had better luck than me with the device. The bad thing is this device is not designed for physical activity, its harddrive based so it needs to be stable. The device fails the durability test completely, one good drop and your going back to the store with it, the case hasnt enough protection to keep from jarring the harddrive on impact, making it lousy for all us physical activity people. Another thing is this device tends to freeze up at times, but just reset it and its fine (hopefully youll have a small enough pin to fit into the hole they provide). Overall I was very impressed in the beginning with the device, but now that I know the flaws, I would consider an IPOD over the Rio Karma any day of the week, Im very disappointed considering its a sony product and I always buy sony first. Overall:
Sound: 5
Battery: 5
Display: 5
Accesaries: 4 ( needs a carry case or something )
Durablity: 1
Recommendation: Not this player unless your a couch potato
On: 2005-01-27
Usually I check out the customer reviews before I buy a product but unfortunately have no control over those buying me Christmas presents. Evidently looking over this section of Amazon.com, my father bought a Rio Karma for me and I was certainly excited to use it upon delivery. But within a week, the device froze for the first time. Before it was a month old, the Karma froze beyond user repair. I havent contacted customer service yet, but Im certainly worried having read many of these reviews.
On: 2005-01-23
Like the rest of the horror stories. The hard drive issues are so bad that I had to RMA for a second unit three months in. Get this; the second unit died with-in two months. Now first off let me note my use of this unit I would classify as light use. At work or in the car (using an FM modulator) were the only times I really used the unit. I really dont know how this product made it to production. Its weak at best and really needs to go back to R&D. Outside of the hard drive issues here are a few more worth mentioning.
1. The screen covers scratches very easily. In my opinion to easily.
2. WHERE ARE THE ACCESSORIES? No case, no cover, no clip, etc.....
3. The 90 day warranty is a big fat joke. I had to speak with the RMA company several times with issues. They sent back a refurbished unit that looked liked it had been dropped several times. Returning a refurbished unit is expectable just not a ragged out looking unit. I couldnt believe they sent the unit to me looking like that.
In ending I spent full price on a unit thats not worth $50. I WILL NEVER buy a Rio product again.
Like the rest. I-POD here I come.
On: 2005-01-16
As I was reading the reviews, I was very surprised about how many bad reviews there are. I bought my Rio Karma back in June04 and I have had no problems whatsoever. I dont even think I have had to reboot it ever. The battery life is amazing and it lives up to its 15 hour promise of battery life. I dont use the playlist feature because i perfer to listen to the whole album. Some bands I listen to, like Pink Floyd, have to be listened by the album, not the song. It pays the songs like they were on a CD, where there is no stop in play when listening to albums. The sound quality is great and the amount of time it takes to charge is very short. It takes about 2 hours to have it fully charged starting when the battery was dead. That is a very fast time, I think. To get a partial charge that lasts for a few hours, it only takes about 20 minutes. I have seen and used an IPod before and I will take my Rio Karma anyday of the week. I have dropped this before, once while it was on and once while it was not on. It worked perfectly fine when i dropped it the first time on a tile floor and the second time i dropped it on concrete and it still works fine. This IS the hard drive MP3 player to get and I got mine from Amazon.com.
On: 2005-01-13
Ive made 3 motorcycle trips from New Hampshire to Flordia with this player. Its rugged, dependable and plays for about 18 hours on a charge. I couldnt imagine traveling without it.
This week I did a 800 mile loop through Flordia and South Georgia, the Karma makes those flat miles fun.
On: 2005-01-08
The rio karma is actually an excellent Mp3 player
-the harddrive space is unbelieveable, ive put in over 60 cd albums into it and i only took up 2gb, amazing
-it also has many features that are cool, like playlists, rio dj, and the ability to load doccuments and files onto the rio and use it like a thumbdrive(rio taxi).
the problem with the rio is the shell around it...which is a piece of s***.
- a fingernail can put a sizeable scratch into the back
-the players screen is very prone to getting scratches and scrapes
-the shell cant fall more than a foot without the case itself breaking in two (which is a pain to snap together)
rio HAS to make a protective case or a better shell for the karma...
because if you dont treat it like a god and handle it with upmost extreme care, you will break the case.
On: 2005-01-06
I originally got my Karma about a year ago. I researched the available players, and I thought it had the richest feature set at that price point (20GB drive for $270, multiple music formats, etc.). I was ecstatic about it.
For about 3 days.
The unit started crashing like crazy. I returned mine to the store within 10 days (J&R), and they replaced it with a brand new one. I felt okay about this because I also had purchased an extended warranty. I spent the hours neccessary to customize the new unit, upload the songs (did I mention that, if youre somebody who NEEDS all that storage space, replacing music can take a LONG time?), and was merrily on my way.
Until the next crash. As some other users experienced, I actually couldnt get my unit to turn on or off consistently. I had to carry a paper clip with me all the time, and sometimes, even the forced shutdown wouldnt work. Fortunately, my experience with Rio was quite pleasant. Since I called within the regular warranty period, they replaced it with a refurb within about 2 weeks (I did have to pay for posting, but that was it).
Karma #3 was okay, until it, too, started having problems about 2 months later. Rio, to its credit, replaced that one as well, and Im still using #4. About 3 months ago, the navigation wheel fell off the track, vastly reducing the amount of "music-on-the-fly" you can enjoy. This is because the Karma forces you to move through longs lists of songs one by one if you dont use the scrolling wheel.
Why didnt I use the (extended) warranty to replace it? Because this unit hasnt crashed, frozen, or otherwise died. While Id love to have a fully functional Karma, Ive learned to settle for a functional one. Karma #5 could have been an even worse lemon.
A number of users have posted positive comments, and Im happy for them--theyre lucky. Its also possible that based on the feedback, Rio has addressed some customer concerns. But I still wouldnt recommend the Karma. Why?
Lets suppose Rio has fixed all of the manufacturing defects on this unit:
1) You STILL should pay no more than $250 for it. Comparable units are in this price range, and I bought my Karma for less than $250 LAST YEAR (about $275 with extended warranty).
2) You would be better off with a unit that is less fragile. Extended warranties dont always cover everything, and they add to the cost of the unit. Most importantly, the warrantor has no direct relationship with the manufacturer, and theyve already made their money off of you. So they dont have the same incentive to make you happy, and you could get screwed down the line.
3) You should opt for a unit with a removable battery (sorry, iPod). Your rechargable battery will eventually die. People who opt for the big jukebox/hard drive digital players usually use them in the house car, and on their person. When the battery finally dies permanently, replacing it can cost another $100, because the manufacturer has to open the case and replace the battery for you. New players have been released that allow you to replace the battery yourself. Those are a better buy.
4) If possible, look for a unit that is backed up by a strong manufacturers warranty. Preferably something that guarantees replacement with a NEW (not refubished) unit. I like the fact that with the iPod, your extended warranty is through Apple itself, which makes it more appealing. Hopefully other companies will follow suit.
Its just not reasonable to expect a user to spend $300 on consumer electronics and then have them spend the majority of the time servicing the unit instead of enjoying it. Ive read some good things about the latest offerings from Creative Labs, but older reviews show that they havent built the perfect mousetrap, either.
I understand why the iPod lovers recommend their product so zealously, but some of us want a product that is less proprietary. Im going to work Karma #4 until it dies, and then Im stepping up to something better.
UPDATE: Jan 31, 2005--Karma crashing lots..."I cant hold her! Shes breaking up! Shes breaking up!!!"
Good riddance to bad rubbish
On: 2005-01-06
Based on the positive reviews I purchase the Rio Karma. It is absolutely horrible. It is very big and heavy for a 20Gb MP3 player. Maybe 2X an iPOD.
It skips very easily with very little motion. Absolutely cant be used during exercise.
It locks up easily. The only way to reset is let the battery run out.
Easily the worst electronics item I have purchased in the last 5 years.
On: 2005-01-05
I couldnt stand the Karma. The first one I had froze up after only two months. Since it was still under warranty, the manufacturer sent me another. After about 8 months I started having problems with it again: it was tempermental about downloading music from my pc, it would freeze up, it took too long to switch from one album to another, and then eventually it just seized up and stopped playing. When I called tech support they said that my warranty had expired and tough luck. After two unsuccessful tries, and an unresponsive help line, my recommendation is for interested MP3 buyers to stay away from RIO.
On: 2005-01-02
This is a real good MP3 player that I would recommend to everybody. I owned this one for a year and just bought another one for my wife. Great quality, great sound, good battery life. It is easy to use and transfer music using the included software.
On: 2004-12-21
Got this player about a year ago and was very happy at first. I have had Rio players in the past but this one had all the features I wanted and it appeared to work very well. Right after the 90 day warranty is when it first locked up. I searched the internet and found that this is a very common problem and wished I had researched this unit before I bought it. Am VERY disappointed that it freezes up all the time but have learned to carry a paper clip with me to reset it. And for anyone interested I am NOT a fan of the Ipod. The Karma would be excellent if only it worked...
On: 2004-12-15
Overall I really liked my Karma, its never crashed and has great sound. My only problems with it were that I found it a little bulky to have around and in the hand, and it fell once and the scroll wheel broke. When this happened I had to get it in the right position and sometimes it would still shut itself off because of this. Also the lack of the case is annoying, I cut a piece out of a Visor screen protector to put on the screen. My only other problem is that it has been stolen. The palyer is also not on the cutting edge in terms of size. It came out over a year ago, and whiel other players have been reduced slightly in size or remodeled, the rio hasnt. However it was a great mp3 player and i was sad to see it gone.
On: 2004-12-15
Caution! Its a LEMON! I just want to add my 2 cents worth to all the other (very truthful) warnings already out there. I bought a Rio Karma, thinking it was a better priced player than iPod. Which it would be if it didnt turn into a paperweight in less than two days after purchase. For a paperweight it is a bit pricey. So, all in all, I would say it is overpriced.
I returned it once the hard drive starting acting up (one day after purchase) and maddening little whirring sounds started to intrude on my listening pleasure (loud little whirring sounds popping up in the midst of my tracks, every couple minutes, enough to give one a tick in the eye after a while). Im not an expert, but it seems like a terminal case of bad engineering to me!
Thanks to all the (totally accurate) negative reviews on Amazon, I didnt make the mistake of replacing it with another Rio "bad" Karma. Instead I took a deep breath and bought the higher priced iPod (20GB with docking station and remote included).
I am now in love with my iPod. Happiest purchase of my life! Nothing is perfect, but iPod comes pretty darn close (Ive had it for 5 blissful months now, with no problems... I even use it all day at work without any glitches or hitches). I recommend the iPod HIGHLY. I know it is spendy, and accessories add up (but that is what Christmas is for, right?). In spite of the cost, it is well worth it. The iPod works flawlessly, the music quality is wonderful. Who needs the aggravation of bad engineering when trying to enjoy hours of awesome music.
Well, thats my 2 cents worth. A big thank you to all those others who took the trouble to put their warnings on here. It saved me lots of further aggravation, without a doubt.
On: 2004-12-13
The Rio Karma is the best portable audio player period... when it works. But alas, reliability is terrible.
Ive had mine for about 3-4 months. First one died at precisely the 90th day of the 90 day warranty. I call the Rio RMA office in Texas, which btw is not an 800 number so youll have to make a long-distance call. I was put on hold for about 10 minutes, and since its a long-distance call it adds insult to injury. When I finally get through I get a customer service rep who cant speak english properly, thus making a aggrevatingly long phone call even longer.
So Im stuck calling them for 2 weeks straight, getting the runaround each time. They tell me to send proof of purchase, which I do, then nothing happens. I call for 2 weeks and each time they ask for proof of purchase, which Id sent a 2 weeks earlier. Finally, one day I get a female rep (I guess girls are better at everything after all) and she sorts it all out in one day! It turns out that my proof of purchase has been sitting at the fax machine, unattended, the entire time.
So I finally get a refurbished model. Its a great player again. Gapless playback makes album listening perfect, the sound quality is top notch, and battery life is commendable. But, it just died. And as I speak Im about to go through the RMA process yet again. Both times the harddrive has died on me, and Im none too confident about the next one that I get (If the RMA is approved...)
Its a shame that the Rio Karma is such an unreliable player, as if it were more reliable Id recommend it ful-heartedly. But, given reliability issues, I advise that you stay away.
On: 2004-12-12
My Rio karma crashed after the 90 warranty was up. Do not buy from Rio, they do not support their products. I wish I had realized that it came with basically no warranty. This is unacceptable in such an expensive item.
On: 2004-12-10
I got my Rio last December and by January I had problems with it.
it would freeze up and I would have to wait for the battery to die before I could use it again. I sent it back to the manufacture and 3 months later I had the same problem not to mention that my 6 year old cd player skipped less when snowboarding then the karma. yeah I realize its a MP3 player but it would hick up after I hit a kicker or rail. I then sent the second one back and Im now on my third. It to is just as janky as the first two! it freezes at the startup and wont play anything! I HATE THIS RIO KARMA. Damn a pox on Rio for ever making this piece of #@$!. So dont be like me kids save you money & your hair, get an ipod.
Pablo
On: 2004-12-10
Im really surprised to see all of the negative reviews on the Karma. Ive been using mine for about a year and it has performed almost flawlessly. One of the nicest features is the long charge time. I use mine plugged into the aux input of the car stereo and dont bother with a car charger because it will normally last until I reach my destination, even on long trips. Ive had it come out of my cup holder a couple of times and skid across the floor with hardly a skip. I also use it as the primary jukebox for my home music system. With the RCA connectors on the docking station plugged into one of the aux inputs Im good to go. Sure beats fumbling around with all of those CDs. I use the red stick for virtually all of the functions and it is very easy to get used to. The wheel is okay for skipping forward/backward through a track. One of the coolest features of the Karma is the file formats it supports. The Ogg Vorbis is absolutely amazing, the sound is much higher quality at lower bit rates so more tracks fit on the drive. The desktop software is easy to use and will satisfy most music transfers. I have also used iTunes and RealNetworks to pick up a few tracks. Although iTunes forces you to burn/rip to another format. This player will work with just about any system, such as Linux, since it also has a web interface so you can plug it right into your network. I recommend getting the latest firmware upgrade (v1.68) from the Rio site. It takes care of any reset problems (at least it did for me). They also have a good user community site which has been helpful. The Sennheiser MX300s are pretty decent too. So to summarize. Pros: great sound quality, long battery life, multiple formats, easy navigation and ease of use. Cons: questionable quality.
On: 2004-12-09
I first bought this player last january and had a hard drive crash after just two months, I called RIOs tech support and sent the player back, I had a brand new player within 3 weeks. Since upgrading the firmware to this player it has worked perfectly. I love how easy it is to navigate and all of the accessories which come standard with it, such as the dock. I too looked at Ipods first... but the price, battery life, and the fact that it was an Apple product turned me away. I am very happy with the Karma even though it did malfunction and I would buy one again but would definitely purchase an extended warranty with it. It really is a great player.
On: 2004-12-07
Rio has really poor customer service.
Youll need free long-distance because youll wait 20 minutes per level as you try to get to someone who knows what they are doing (I never did get to anyone who could actually help). I strongly suspect Rio farms-out CS to the lowest bidder.
Woe unto you if your Rio product is last years model. Rio is in the selling business not the customer satisfaction business. Ill be looking for a different manufacturer after Christmas when I replace this ... item.
On: 2004-12-06
Love the design but my hard drive failed 1 hour after I opened the box, it took months and many phone calls to get a beat up replacement. Customer service has poor communication skills and I had to go through several layers of supervisors to get results. Second device had its hard drive fail as soon as the waranty expired. Now Im out of luck, no help from RIO.
On: 2004-12-04
I fell for the Rio Karma for its combination of price, battery life, ogg/flac support, ethernet dock and java management software (works on linux for everything except firmware upgrades), and unique and ergonomic design - and a contrarian nature. A year later Im still in love with it.
Theres a great online community, with regular participation from Rio employees, and Im really impressed by how much thought theyve put into the details of the player. It has superb audio characteristics, gapless playback, a 5-band parametric EQ, a robust filesystem, and an on-board web server. It supports some of the copy protection schemes for online music purchases - not iTunes, of course.
You can use either the USB (on Windows) or ethernet (any operating system) to transfer and organize music or non-music files. Its not a plug-and-play USB hard drive like some other players though - you have to use the software. The ergonomics are great - its palm-sized, and the major controls are perfectly situated for thumb and index finger. The screen reverses for left-handers. Both player and dock have nifty blue lights.
Minor beefs: You have to dig into a menu to turn shuffle-mode on or off; the Audible audio-book format isnt supported. Ive had to "reboot" it a couple of times after freeze-ups, but its always recovered beautifully without any data loss. I hope they come out with an larger-disk version before I run out of space!
On: 2004-12-04
The answer to that question will go a long way in determining what DAP to buy. If you tend to listen to albums more so than simply listening to individual songs, then the Rio Karma is the only player in which you can hear it as intended by the artist. The Rio Karma has gapless playback. What is gapless playback and why should you care? Well, gapless playback is the ability to play an album continuously without artificial space (gaps) between the songs. If you listen to classical music, jazz, or various type of rock music, you undoubtedly have albums in which one song `bleeds into the next with no gaps intended between the two. If you like live music and have recordings of your favorite artists, there should not be gaps between songs. All other DAPs (outside of the Rio Karma) present gaps between songs - some more than others.
If songs are your thing and gapless doesnt matter or you want an FM receiver or the ability to record, then perhaps this isnt the best player for you.
In my case, I was looking for a player that was gapless, could play FLAC and Ogg Vorbis file formats and was at least 20GB. The Rio Karma was the only player to meet all three requirements. I would have preferred 40GB and a digital out from the base unit (for connection to a stereo), but that total package was not available elsewhere either.
I bought an extended warranty with my unit to be safe, but I have not had a single problem to date. It is a truly wonderful player with outstanding playback quality.
On: 2004-12-03
The answer to that question will go a long way in determining what DAP to buy. If you tend to listen to albums more so than simply listening to individual songs, then the Rio Karma is the only player in which you can hear it as intended by the artist. The Rio Karma has gapless playback. What is gapless playback and why should you care? Well, gapless playback is the ability to play an album continuously without artificial space (gaps) between the songs. If you listen to classical music, jazz, or various type of rock music, you undoubtedly have albums in which one song `bleeds into the next with no gaps intended between the two. If you like live music and have recordings of your favorite artists, there should not be gaps between songs. All other DAPs (outside of the Rio Karma) present gaps between songs - some more than others.
If songs are your thing and gapless doesnt matter or you want an FM receiver or the ability to record, then perhaps this isnt the best player for you.
In my case, I was looking for a player that was gapless, could play FLAC and Ogg Vorbis file formats and was at least 20GB. The Rio Karma was the only player to meet all three requirements. I would have preferred 40GB and a digital out from the base unit (for connection to a stereo), but that total package was not available elsewhere either.
I bought an extended warranty with my unit to be safe, but I have not had a single problem to date. It is a truly wonderful player with outstanding playback quality.
On: 2004-11-28
I purchased a Rio Karma for my daughter last year for Christmas. It failed in the first thirty days with a software problem Rios help line in India called "common." It weighs a ton and is not very durable. The track wheel failed several weeks outside the warranty period. The initial warranty period was not extended after we had to ship it in for repairs. I really really wish I had gone with the IPod. Not an impressive effort.
On: 2004-11-27
Well I have had my Karma for a total of about a week. It has already locked up on me. When it does this just remember that there is a reset button on the bottom, where if you push it with a paper clip then it will turn off. Dont try and remove the battery unless you are good at taking strange new things apart and putting them back together. Luckily enough I have had a little experience with this. But to the problem at hand. My Karma locked up on me. I tried to reload the firmware like all of the manuals say, well I couldnt. The player wouldnt be recognized by my computer. So that didnt help. I was reading another review on some other page and found that another guy had this problem and about 75% of the other people that have bought it. All you have to do to get your Karma to work again is beat the crap out of it. Just slam it down on your tabletop and all is well. You have to do it hard enough to get the hard drive unstuck. Because that is basically what is wrong. Your hard drive was stuck in a certain spot and just needed a lil talkin to. If you have never seen a hard drive apart, all it is a thick CD that spins. So you just need to get it spinning again.
When the player works it is pretty awesome. But you have to get it to work.
On: 2004-11-27
After a few months my Karma started developing intermittent problems, requiring frequent resets and one or two reformats of the hard drive. After 10 months it gave out completely. Luckily Id bought a product replacement plan. I bought an ipod with the refund.
I like the ipod fine, but I liked the Karma better when it was working. Navigation was superior and the parametric equalizer was much better than the ipod presets. Karmas battery life is *much* better than the ipods, even with the improvements for the ipod 4th generation.
Karma deserves its reputation as the best designed hard drive mp3 player. Its a pity that hard drive malfunctions put a damper on things.
On: 2004-11-27
I purchased a Rio Karma for my daughter last year for Christmas. It failed in the first thirty days with a software problem Rios help line in India called "common." It weighs a ton and is not very durable. The track wheel failed several weeks outside the warranty period. The initial warranty period was not extended after we had to ship it in for repairs. I really really wish I had gone with the IPod. Not an impressive effort.
On: 2004-11-26
After a few months my Karma started developing intermittent problems, requiring frequent resets and one or two reformats of the hard drive. After 10 months it gave out completely. Luckily Id bought a product replacement plan. I bought an ipod with the refund.
I like the ipod fine, but I liked the Karma better when it was working. Navigation was superior and the parametric equalizer was much better than the ipod presets. Karmas battery life is *much* better than the ipods, even with the improvements for the ipod 4th generation.
Karma deserves its reputation as the best designed hard drive mp3 player. Its a pity that hard drive malfunctions put a damper on things.
On: 2004-11-22
I was one of the people who dismissed all the early negative reviews of the Karma as a fluke. I didnt want an Ipod (I think theyre ugly and theres something freakish about them, like if each religion adopted an MP3 player, the Ipod would surely belong to Scientology.) I assumed most of the people complaining about their Rio Karma either misused it, or maybe got one of a batch of "bad" builds, or just liked to hear themselves complain. I bought mine in November 2003 and used it quite a bit. Never had any problems. Travelled to Europe and Mexico. Was even thinking about writing a letter to Rio to tell them what a great product I thought it was. AND THEN... after six months it stopped working properly. Started freezing on me incessantly. Then making the clicking sound that so many hundreds of others have complained about. No amount of reformatting or flashing firmware or software upgrades would help. It got so bad it wouldnt even boot. And, of course, by that time it was out of warranty. The Karma is a product that had so much promise, and could have been so great -- and has been ruined by truly substandard build quality, and even worse customer service and support. My guess is that Rio was very shrewd in limiting its warranty to 3 months -- because theyd have a lot of broken Karma to replace. The company should be ashamed to have their name on something so shoddy, and they should be taken to court and forced to compensate all of the people theyve ripped off. (Why arent companies held accountable for this type of behavior?) Theres simply no excuse for this. The Karma ended up in the trash, and guess who ended up spending $400 on an Ipod?
by: Anonymous On: 2004-11-21
Like someone else said, I must have gotten a good one. I dont know how someone can write a negative review about this player. I have had only a couple lockdown problems but that was before I knew how to use the settings menu. The extremely long battery life is also a plus along with the sheer ease of use. The only downside for me is the absolete lack of accesories made by rio for this product. However, despite the one minor downside, Ill take the Karma over an Ipod any day.
On: 2004-11-17
When the Rio Karma works, it is fine. Sounds great, has neat features, easy to use, downloaded music from my computer with minimal trouble. However, the caveat is WHEN the Rio Karma works. Within weeks of using it, the player began to lock up without warning. The only way to unlock it is sticking a paper clip, or something similiar, into a small hole on the player. Calls to the maufacturer were useless - they simply said to make sure I had all the newest downloads, both the firmware and the software. I cannot tell you how many times I downloaded the same firmware and software, in hopes it would solve the problems with the player. But it typically would play for 5 or 6 times, them myseriously lock up, giving a variety of messages - bad sector, bad song (even though it had played that same sector/song many time before, and would play it again, once I was able to reboot it). This went on for about 8 months, and it was consistently frustrating; I estimate the player locked up, withuot any rhyme or reason (I didnt drop it, it would happen whether it was moving or still, and it could happen at any time, with any song) about 20 times in the 8 months I had it. I had to carry a paper clip around with me whenever I used it, because invariably, it would lock up. Talking to someone who had an IPOD, they said that in the year they had it, it had locked up only 2 times. Finally, one time it locked up, and would not turn back on. I tried everything in the manual, and on the website. I called the manufacturer, and they had no additional advice; they mostly parroted what was on the website, which didnt help. The customer service representative advised that my disk was "dead" and that I would have to buy a new one, since it was outside the 90 day warrantee. He offered to give me a "refurbished" one for the low low price of $179.95, which is only about 70 bucks cheaper than a new one. I asked the rep why he thought I would buy another one of the same players after mine died after only 8 months - he had no reply to this. Not only would I not buy this product, I would not buy anything else by RIO, or whoever owns the company now. They do not stand behind their product, and if you read other tales of woe here about this product, you will see that this is true.
DO NOT TAKE A CHANCE ON THIS PRODUCT. I know what happened to me does not happen to everyone, but it has happened to too many people, as evidenced by the reviews here, to be a fluke. Its too expensive an investment, and too expensive a product to have a disreputable reputation like this, and it certainly should have more than a 90 day warrantee. Though, since it seemingly doesnt last more than a year for many people, maybe 90 days is all this company can afford to give.
On: 2004-11-16
When the Rio Karma works, it is fine. Sounds great, has neat features, easy to use, downloaded music from my computer with minimal trouble. However, the caveat is WHEN the Rio Karma works. Within weeks of using it, the player began to lock up without warning. The only way to unlock it is sticking a paper clip, or something similiar, into a small hole on the player. Calls to the maufacturer were useless - they simply said to make sure I had all the newest downloads, both the firmware and the software. I cannot tell you how many times I downloaded the same firmware and software, in hopes it would solve the problems with the player. But it typically would play for 5 or 6 times, them myseriously lock up, giving a variety of messages - bad sector, bad song (even though it had played that same sector/song many time before, and would play it again, once I was able to reboot it). This went on for about 8 months, and it was consistently frustrating; I estimate the player locked up, withuot any rhyme or reason (I didnt drop it, it would happen whether it was moving or still, and it could happen at any time, with any song) about 20 times in the 8 months I had it. I had to carry a paper clip around with me whenever I used it, because invariably, it would lock up. Talking to someone who had an IPOD, they said that in the year they had it, it had locked up only 2 times. Finally, one time it locked up, and would not turn back on. I tried everything in the manual, and on the website. I called the manufacturer, and they had no additional advice; they mostly parroted what was on the website, which didnt help. The customer service representative advised that my disk was "dead" and that I would have to buy a new one, since it was outside the 90 day warrantee. He offered to give me a "refurbished" one for the low low price of $179.95, which is only about 70 bucks cheaper than a new one. I asked the rep why he thought I would buy another one of the same players after mine died after only 8 months - he had no reply to this. Not only would I not buy this product, I would not buy anything else by RIO, or whoever owns the company now. They do not stand behind their product, and if you read other tales of woe here about this product, you will see that this is true.
DO NOT TAKE A CHANCE ON THIS PRODUCT. I know what happened to me does not happen to everyone, but it has happened to too many people, as evidenced by the reviews here, to be a fluke. Its too expensive an investment, and too expensive a product to have a disreputable reputation like this, and it certainly should have more than a 90 day warrantee. Though, since it seemingly doesnt last more than a year for many people, maybe 90 days is all this company can afford to give.
On: 2004-11-08
My third Rio Karma in the last nine months has died. Similar to the previous two, a malfunction with the hard drive (each suffered a fate slightly different than the other). But, nonetheless, the player has locks up in start mode and refuses to initialize (its a sickening and monotonous click and grind). I have become an expert at the various methods of resetting the player (resetting with paperclick, reinstalling firmware, etc.), to no avail this time. Three strikes and youre out. When this thing worked, I LOVED it, but I just cant deal with the poor track record and will never buy another. I have done a lot of research and understand I am not alone with these issues, so all I can simply say is BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK. The warranty stinks and the units tendency to break is too great a hurdle to get over despite the great features. Now Im looking at Creatives Zen Touch. Hopefully, Ill have better luck.
On: 2004-11-07
My third Rio Karma in the last nine months has died. Similar to the previous two, a malfunction with the hard drive (each suffered a fate slightly different than the other). But, nonetheless, the player has locks up in start mode and refuses to initialize (its a sickening and monotonous click and grind). I have become an expert at the various methods of resetting the player (resetting with paperclick, reinstalling firmware, etc.), to no avail this time. Three strikes and youre out. When this thing worked, I LOVED it, but I just cant deal with the poor track record and will never buy another. I have done a lot of research and understand I am not alone with these issues, so all I can simply say is BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK. The warranty stinks and the units tendency to break is too great a hurdle to get over despite the great features. Now Im looking at Creatives Zen Touch. Hopefully, Ill have better luck.
On: 2004-11-01
if u were like me and are trying to decide between an ipod or rio karma i highly recomend the karma.
-the ipod has 8hrs of batt life the karma has 15 hrs
-the karma can create playlists on and off the computer the ipod can do neither
-the karma has the "rio dj" which allows the player to create custom playlists with different preferences such as random play, genre, age of the song, etc. the ipod can not even do random play
- the karma supports "wav" files the ipod cant (bad news for kazaa users who got an ipod)
-the karma has much better sound quality than the ipod
-the karma is smaller
- and if u like all the nice accessories that the ipod has think about it the prices are insane for what they are selling when u could get a similar product for your karma for a lower price.
- and if u want a smaller player like a mini ipod
-Consider the rio carbon which is the smallest 5gb player out there and it is 1 gb more than the mini also it is lighter and looks better.
- in conclusion the most important thing is EVERYONE HAS THE IPOD BECAUSE THEY ARE DRONES the karma is newer and better
- just tryin to help but the choice is still yours
On: 2004-10-22
When I bought this player, I was very happy with it for about 3 months, I ould put all my songs on it and it worked great. Then, one day the software crashed on the player, I called the customer service which is not a 1-800 number then tried to get something out of the person on the other line which most likely was in India. They had no idea of what to do and their only solution was to send back the player with $15 to get a new one!!! I should have bought a IPOD, at least they have a 3 years warranty. This player has a 90 days warranty!!! For something that expensive this is ridiculous!!!
Save time and money, buy a IPOD!!!
On: 2004-10-12
After reviewing everything I could get my hands on anout the hard disk jukeboxes, I decided on the Rio Karma. In an effort to avoid going throught the hassle of emails and mailing back a broken player, I decided to go to an established electronics store (the one that ends in City). Ill admit it, the main reason I got the player was to listen to music while I ride my motorcycle. The Karma was great in that I could load a ton of music so I wasnt hearing the same stuff over and over again. And the long battery life was great, beaing that it is really hard to change batteries while riding down the freeway at 60mph. The sound quality, even over small helmet mounted speakers was pretty good, usually loud enough to be heard over the exhaust pipes. The sound quality sitting at a desk indoors was great. My problem is that my motorcycle vibrates, especially at high speeds. The price I pay for riding a Harley, I guess. This is why I kept the player on myself, not mounted to the bike. Even after fixing up one of my jacket chest pockets with anti-vibe materials (Dr. Scholls gel shoe inserts) the darn thing would lock up needing a paper clip to reset it. This went on for a week until it finally gave up the ghost. Upon start up the RIO logo would spin a couple of times, then there would be an audible click and the machine would turn off. I never dropped it or banged it around. Oh, and that major electronics store? To return anything you have to fill out a form online and ship the item back. Hard disks are great for sitting at a desk, but Im thinking Flash memory or mini-disc might suit my needs more.
On: 2004-10-09
Bought the Rio a few months ago and still enjoying it. Only managed to fill up three of the 20 gigs of storage so far, capacity will not be a problem. The wheel on the side is great for jumping ahead in long playlists. The little red knob, similar to those on laptops, took a little getting used to but I am now a big fan. Its more durable than the reviews have indicated, I dropped mine twice onto hardwood floors (followed with an accidental kick across the room on the second occaison) and it still works with no problems. I typically leave it in my back pocket while working in the yard or around the house and its survived all those bumps as well. Originally I bought this model because it was compatible with Win98, and lower price than others on the market. Very satisfied, would recommend buying. My brother in law even prefers some of the features compared to his ipod. Especially using the blackberry-esq wheel on the side for menu navigation, vs. the red knob.
On: 2004-10-08
Bought the Rio a few months ago and still enjoying it. Only managed to fill up three of the 20 gigs of storage so far, capacity will not be a problem. The wheel on the side is great for jumping ahead in long playlists. The little red knob, similar to those on laptops, took a little getting used to but I am now a big fan. Its more durable than the reviews have indicated, I dropped mine twice onto hardwood floors (followed with an accidental kick across the room on the second occaison) and it still works with no problems. I typically leave it in my back pocket while working in the yard or around the house and its survived all those bumps as well. Originally I bought this model because it was compatible with Win98, and lower price than others on the market. Very satisfied, would recommend buying. My brother in law even prefers some of the features compared to his ipod. Especially using the blackberry-esq wheel on the side for menu navigation, vs. the red knob.
On: 2004-10-08
Ive been using this player daily for a little less than a year now. I have had very few problems with it. It has locked up a couple of times, but they were partly my own fault. Sometimes itll slow down a bit while thinking about what its doing. If you hit the power button or try to make it execute too many commands at once, you may actually cause it to lock.
I take it to the gym, run with it, rode the STP with it...never a single skip. I set it on the treadmill when I run at the gym and it bounces happily along with my steps playing perfectly the whole time. 5-band adjustable graphic EQ is great...very easy to tailor the sound to my taste. I really love the Rio DJ function, I time my breaks at work by it...2 hours of music...break...2 hours of music...lunch...etc.
Best part: Ive dropped this thing on the cement, on the treadmill (it fell off the front, landed on the tread, and slammed into the wall behind me), and off my desk at work, but it keeps on playing. Im having a hard time deciding to replace it, because after having dropped it hard enough for the scroll wheel to break off...tearing the whole thing apart and using superglue to reattach the wheel...dropping it again and irreparably breaking the wheel...IT STILL WORKS!! By this time its so ugly, though, that I think Im going to have to move on...I can hardly read the display through all the scratches on the front!
On: 2004-10-08
Also had a HD failure after 5hr of use. Called Karma and they said too bad, that I could send it back with 230 bucks and they would fix it, some kind of stand behind your product company!!
Anyway unless your willing to have an 300 buck paperweight like me an the other guy buy from a better company.
Mine is going it the trash since I dont like to be reminded of getting ripped off.
On: 2004-10-07
Also had a HD failure after 5hr of use. Called Karma and they said too bad, that I could send it back with 230 bucks and they would fix it, some kind of stand behind your product company!!
Anyway unless your willing to have an 300 buck paperweight like me an the other guy buy from a better company.
Mine is going it the trash since I dont like to be reminded of getting ripped off.
On: 2004-10-05
I bought the Karma after reading several favorable reviews - I could not have been happier until the hard-drive crashed at the start of my week-long vacation recently. The re-set button shut the karma down, but restart did not work. No music on holiday...Even worse I tried to re-install the firm-ware but my computer no longer recognizes the device. I contacted the RIO customer service a week ago - still no response. Basically I have a $300 paperweight. I am moving on to a Creative Zen Touch...
On: 2004-09-19
First, I highly suggest you live in the Contential US if you buy this product. The Rio customer service is good, but their services are limited. So, when your Rio locks up, the only place they will ship to is the USA.
Within two weeks of purchasing this item, the drive froze. I was told that I could have it shipped to somewhere in the USA. Which, currently I am not in the USA. I was highly disappointed with this product. First, to freeze that quickly isnt a good sign. I am now looking for MP3 players with removable memory and removable batteries. This was an expensive lesson for me to learn. Hopefully, you do not make the same mistake.
This product had great potential, decent price for MP3 players, but the problems with it freezing and options with this product are a big letdown.
On: 2004-09-18
First thing you notice with the Rio Kharma,is the red control laptop style stick. Its uncomfortable to navigate and does not feel natural to use. Rio Player designers should have made the controls similiar to the Rio 600. Whats worse is that it skips when jostled a bit. You can walk and listen, but not for any strenous activity. Flash memory or even CD players fit that purpose. My player locked up, and later the menu button sank below the case and did not return. Right now I have to settle for the replacement from Rio. If I had to do it over again, I would certainly not purchase this player even though the docking station is cool and the RCA jacks to plug in to your stereo is cool, but lets face it, the negatives outway the positives for this player.
On: 2004-09-14
Rio Karma, MP3 player, by Digital Networks of North America.
Digital Networks North America (DNNA)
2600 San Tomas Expy
Santa Clara, CA 95051-0953
It would be a great product by DNNA (Digital Networks of North America), only if DNNA supports this product properly. Unfortunately their tech, support, and guarantee policy systems are awful and misleading
Better Business Bureau for Silicon Valley, main page bbbsilicon . org If this link doesnt work properly, just click on the company reports button on the main page and fill the name of the company "DNNA", city "SANTA CLARA", state "CA" that will give the complains report for DNNA.
You can also file a complain on line, on the main page by clinking the file complain on line button. Its easy and its free.
Important to note:
DNNA, supports Rio Karma:
For 90 days only, from the day of purchase (and or counting since the date of order is placed, according to one their customer reps)
After 30 days youll might have to pay for the repairs of your "new unit" or they might send you a refurbished one and probably in a bad shape.
No guarantee/supports at all without proof of purchase. This is really bad for the dos that bought this unit on second hand and or at ebay.
On: 2004-09-14
Though initially thrilled with the feature-set: ogg, flac, 20gig, 16 hour battery, ethernet -- my enthusiasm for this company and this product has sunk very low.
Although I never did get the ethernet port to work, I was quite happy with the karmas | | |
