Introduction:
With school over, and summer fast coming, I decided to purchase an MP3 player. I looked at my current status, and my upcoming financial needs (college), and decided on a sub $200 MP3 player. There were quite a few in that range, but I decided I need something over 4GB, to be able to handle a large portion of my music collection. The prime contender was the iPod Mini. The Rio Carbon won over the iPod, due to more storage space, 5GB vs. 4GB, and the battery life, 20 hours vs. 8 hours. Besides, Apple products are for n00bs.

Specifications:
• 5GB of memory stores up to 80 hours of MP3 or 160 hours of WMA Music
• Plays MP3, WMA, and Audible audio formats
• Built-in mic for voice record
• Easily drag & drop data and music files onto your player
• Rechargeable battery offers up to 20 hours of battery life on a single charge
• USB 2.0 for faster downloads
• Charge from USB or the included power adapter
• Windows & Mac compatible
• Includes Rio Music Manager

First Impressions:
• Rio Carbon 5GB Player
• Carry Case
• High Quality Ear buds
• Power Adapter
• USB Cable
• Installation Disk
• Quick Start Guide
• Warranty Card

The Rio Carbon 5GB was shipped from Rio in a brown box via UPS. The box was undamaged. The product was secure, surrounded by bubble wrap and air packs.


It arrives in a full retail blister pack, that only took me 27 minutes to open.


Small. Damn, this thing is small. It’s about the size of my cell phone, and smaller than the iPod Mini. It fits into my pocket beautifully.


The front of the player is a grey plastic. It has a grey rubber edge, used as a grip, and some protection against shock. The bottom has a polished metallic finish. The screen is 1.25”, and backlit is small, but gets the job done just fine. The backlight doesn’t just turn off, it fades out, which is a nice touch. The screen shows a battery indicator, artist, song, playtime bar, volume level, elapsed time, track number and number of tracks, and can cycle though the bit rate, codec, copyright protection, size, or date and time.

There is also an integrated microphone on the front. The controls are on a four way pad with a “Select” button in the middle. The controls feature a very sweet red back lighting. The right corner has a wheel to control volume and for menu navigation. Underneath the wheel, you’ll find a menu button. On the top of the device, there is headphone jack, USB port, and power button. Some people complain about the lack of a physical hold button, but you can do this by pressing the middle button while holding down the menu button. Oh, and these are good buttons. They offer decent resistance, and you don’t have to “caress” them like the iPods.


Accessories:
The standard included accessories are there as well, the case, ear buds, power adapter, USB cable, install disc and manual. The player has to be removed from the case to access the front, so it’s awkward. It does get the job done though, holding the Carbon securely in place. The included “high quality” ear buds are okay, but don’t expect audiophile quality from them.


The charger is very streamlined. You can change from your computer’s USB port with the included USB cable, or use the wall outlet. The USB cable plugs into the wall outlet for charging. This eliminates the need for a power brick.


Also included is an adapter for your headphones. There was a problem where headphones with a metal base around the connector would short a circuit and cause static. The fix is to use the supplied adapter, though this does not need to be used with the supplied ear buds.


The install disc has drivers for Windows 98, but XP users don’t even bother opening it. I got it running right away without it.



Menu:
The main menu options are: Play Music, Bookmarks, Settings, Voice Recorder, Recordings and Stopwatch. Hit Play Music, and you choose from Play All, Album, Artist, Genre, Track, Year, New Music, Playlist, Spoken Word, and Recordings.

The book marking feature is worth mentioning. It takes you back to the same place you were in a song, with the same settings. Just hold down the select button and pick one of the nine bookmark slots.

The voice recorder is useful, for those reminders you always seem to forget. The stopwatch actually could be useful if you run with your Carbon.

Software:
Rio includes the Rio Music Manager, which you could use, but also works with WMP 10, and iTunes, though I believe iTunes requires a separate plug in. Since it uses WMA, it will work with most music services, including MSN Music and Napster. A nifty feature is being able to auto sync with Windows Media Player 10 and Rio Music Manager.

The device shows up on your PC as a removable drive, so you just drag your music files, or for that matter, any files over to it. File transfers are reasonably fast, utilizing USB 2.0.

Playback:
This little unit handles WMA, MP3 and Audible formats. That’s all I need. However, it doesn't support AAC, or Apple lossless. The Audible compatibility is nice; having books read to you is pretty sweet. I’m not sure when the forums will be available for download in Audible format, but I’m sure GK is working on it. You get a free month of Audible.com as well with your purchase, just listen to the preloaded informational track about Audible on the Carbon. Audio playback is clear, undistorted, and loud. You can adjust the five band equalizer settings to your heart’s desire.

Recording:
Recording is crisp and fairly clear, though don't expect to record your band's next album on it. You can here a sample of audio capture through the Carbon here. Sexy voice, isn't it?

Conclusion:
Overall, I think the Rio Carbon is a good buy. It beats out its main contender, though it has its share of quirks. It has a very versatile design, and packs tons of features for a price lower than that of its main competitor.

Pros:
Long battery life
Capacity
Price
Small size

Cons:
No on the fly play list creation
Limited accessories available
Carrying case is awkward
No FM tuner

I give the Rio Carbon 5GB 9 Pimp Hats out of 10.

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Nice, you gave me the link a while back and I bought one, I loveit cept for the carrying case though.
Nice Review.

Another aspect you'll probably be seeing soon as an even more "PIMP" quality is the voice recording feature (taking it to class for help keeping notes)... I used to tote a little microcassette player with me, in case my hands started cramping up while furiously trying to keep up with my college professors. Problem was keeping all the cassettes for different classes organized... Good write up!

Sweeet review Spectrum......

Heres are some sweeet deals on that product...........
UK Deal
USA Deal

Good review there specci...the Rio ones are pretty popular over here along side the Ipod ofcourse....the Creative pendrives are also usefull for the college goers...shame they dont have microphones on them tho