Rio Nitrus 1.5 GB Micro-HD MP-3/WMA Music Player
S/N 3530000007310
$150 + $11 CONUS insured delivery.
FEATURES
Rio Nitrus 1.5 GB Micro-HD MP-3/WMA Music Player
S/N 3530000007310
$150 + $11 CONUS insured delivery.
FEATURES
The revolutionary Rio Nitrus packs 1.5GB (1.5 GB equals 1,500,000,000 bytes) into a stealthy, razor-thin design. You'll get it loaded with 327 songs I bought that you can either keep or replace as you wish, most volume-leveled and parse edited for quality, and most compressed at 160kbps and higher bit rates. The songs alone are worth $291 at the 89¢ per-track rate that lower-priced download outlets charge, and none of them has all of these hits:
List of the 327 songs loaded on this RIO Nitrus you'll also have. You can copy these songs to your PC and burn CDs with them, as well as just play them on the Rio. With the ability to carry over 375 songs at 128kbps in MP3 format, this Rio Nitrus was the first to offer this much capacity on a player this small.
Fast USB 2.0 connection (the new USB cable is not shown but is included) loads the player quickly. Along with the USB cable, you get everything shown in the top picture, which is everything that came with it new, except the plastic package, and you get part of that too (more on that below).
This shows the Rio at actual size on a 19-in. screen at 1024x768. All pics are of actual items.
Screen size is large enough to provide easy navigation
through menus and display of playlist items and status.
A 5-Band Adjustable Equalizer provides a custom listening experience. Quality components throughout yield a player without compromise.
Here you see the USB port, ear bud/headphone/lineout jack, and the DC power input plug.
Simple menus, thoughtful controls, and a clear display make navigation instinctive.
Here you can see the menu button that activates the menu's display, and to its right, the
control wheel that scrolls the display, and by pushing it in, activates the selected function.
Nitrus comes in black on black. Very sharp, compact, and as you can see by the shape, ergonomic.
Here you see the silver volume (+ -) buttons. The red button is a selection button
on menu items, and it is a jog-type control, also for play, pause, forward and back.
SPECIFICATIONS
Here you see the CE certification and serial number.
* Dimensions: 3” X 2.4” X 0.6”
* Weight: 2.0oz
* Battery: 16-hour continuous playback on internal Li Ion battery
* LCD: 30mm, 96x64, indigo backlight, monochromaticFeatures
* 1.5GB HDD stores over 25 hours of MP3 or 50 hours of WMA music
(over 375 MP3 or 750 WMA songs if at 128kbps bitrate)
* USB 2.0 for fast transfers
* Transfer content between multiple PCs
* 16-hour continuous playback with the rechargeable LiIon battery
* 5-Band Adjustable Equalizer with pre-setsIncluded
* Rio Nitrus 1.5
* 327 great songs
* Sennheiser MX300 Earbuds
* USB Cable
* Power Supply
* Installation Disk
* Quick Start Guide
* Lightweight headphones
* Protective clamshell case
* Braun caseSystem requirements
* Windows® 98SE, 2000, ME, XP
* Intel Pentium® II 233 Mhz or equivalent*
* 64MB RAM
* 35MB available hard drive space
* USB port
* CD-ROM drive
REVIEWS & AWARDS
Here you see the earbuds and earphones included. Both are new, never
worn. I always used the Nitrus either plugged into my home stereo or car.
Here you see everything except the headphones and USB cable packed into a Braun
Braun shaver case I adapted. Below it is seen closed up. The Nitrus comes with no
case, although an expensive one is optional. The case worked for me, so it's included.
Rio's new Nitrus is smaller and lighter than the iPod and has longer battery life, making it better suited than the iPod to many on-the-go activities.
— Peter Lewis, Fortune MagazineThe Nitrus is a beautifully designed device that has no major flaws. We recommend it highly.
— Don Labriola, PC MagazineCooler than the iPod?
— NR, MacAddictI like the Nitrus very much. It holds plenty of music for most outings, looks damn cool, and has a very good menu system.
— Mike Wiley, IGN
*The 233MHz or higher CPU requirement is only if you're using your PC to play any of the 327 songs from the Nitrus memory. It doesn't have to be that fast to upload and download songs or load and operate the Rio music-management software.
This is the software CD. The close-up below shows system requirements.
In terms of sound quality, the Nitrus's squeaky-clean 93dB signal-to-noise ratio competes with that of the best-sounding MP3 players. Spotlight C-Net Review
- Eliot Van Buskirk, CNETIt goes without saying that when it comes to portable electronics, smaller is almost always better. Newly acquired Rio's 1.5GB Nitrus breaks the latest size barrier by being the first MP3 player to feature an integrated 1-inch hard drive, as opposed to the 1.8-inch drive found in devices such as the Apple iPod. We wish that the Nitrus were cheaper than its current list price ($199), which is the same as the entry-level 10GB iPod's. But it's a slick player that will be worth the cost for users who want better battery life, are looking for a smaller package, and feel that 20 hours' worth of music is plenty to listen to on a given day.
At two ounces and 3 by 2.4 by 0.6 inches, the Rio Nitrus has design specs that sound more like those of a flash-based player than a hard drive-based one. (Unlike the official specs, these measurements were taken at the largest points on the device's curved chassis.) The player's outer rim is rubberized, making it easier to grip and less vulnerable to damage if dropped.
In terms of style, the Nitrus presents a clean, slick, mini radar-detector-like appearance, with a shiny black front and a bare minimum of well-placed buttons that make it simple to operate with one hand. A jog dial on the upper-right corner handles navigation on the backlit LCD, which has a high enough resolution (96x64) to display the advanced menu system found on previous Rio products. A red laptop-style multidirectional control in the center of the front panel handles playback and some navigation functions, while a sturdy Hold switch on the back of the player prevents accidental button activation.
No in-line remote or carrying case is included (in fact, all you get is the player, an AC adapter, and Sennheiser earbuds), and neither is offered as an accessory at this time. Since the device is meant to be toted in a pocket, this isn't major faux pas, but a thin, protective case could prevent scratches from keys and other in-pocket objects.
The Nitrus's small, light design makes it suitable for jogging, but jostling the player while it's in the process of reading from the hard drive to the flash-memory buffer can cause your music to skip and may ultimately damage the device (it has 90-day warranty). Rio claims that it is indeed suitable for jogging--and it might be--but you're probably better off with a high-end flash player if you're looking for an athletics-oriented unit.
While it lacks extra features such as voice recording, an FM radio tuner, and line-in encoding, the Rio Nitrus has everything you need for MP3/WMA playback and more. Among its onboard features are a five-band graphic equalizer with moving high-resolution sliders, as well as six EQ presets; nine midtrack bookmarks (great for audiobooks); resume and shuffle/repeat functions; a date/time indicator; and a stopwatch.
Rio Music Manager is a polished, powerful tool for transferring tunes to the Nitrus. For loading the player with tunes, Nitrus comes with impressive syncing software that makes its 1.5GB capacity actually feel more like 10GB, so long as you don't mind connecting the device to your PC (sorry, no Macs) every few days. Rio Music Manager 2.0 offers a plethora of powerful automatic and manual syncing options. Not only can you transfer individual songs, you can sync specified playlists, albums, artists, or genres and even set an exact percentage of new music to send to the device upon each syncing session. Multiple profiles let you set up different syncs, which can be manually executed later with the click of a button. For instance, you could delete your French-pop playlist and specify that Rio Music Manager transfer '70s jazz onto the player in its place. The well-designed program has too many other outstanding syncing tweaks and stylistic touches to list here, but suffice to say that the company has broken new ground with this software package.
A note about connectivity: While the Nitrus does not show up as a removable drive, it comes with a simple app called Rio Taxi, which allows you to transfer data files of any type to the device's hard drive and subsequently onto another Windows computer running the software.
With its new line of portable players, Rio made a concerted effort to offer superior battery life, especially compared to the iPod. According to company specs, the Nitrus's internal lithium-ion cell lasts up to 16 hours--an impressive claim that our testing verified.
In terms of sound quality, the Nitrus's squeaky-clean 93dB signal-to-noise ratio competes with that of the best-sounding MP3 players. It puts out 8mW of power per channel, which drives the included Sennheisers to deafening levels and provides ample power for higher-end headphones, such as our reference Shure E3c, to reach high volumes as well.
Connecting to a USB 2.0 port, we transferred a playlist with 100MB of music onto the player in 72 seconds, for a transfer rate of 1.39MB per second. Understandably, transfer time was slower over USB 1.1, at 0.45MB per second.
Here (above) you see the clamshell I cut out of the plastic theft-proof packaging it came in. Since no case is provided, I decided to cut the theft-preventive package so that the molded part holding the player remained intact and able to use separately, as a clam shell. I trimmed the edges to round them and cut recesses to allow the plugs to be used when the unit is encased, if desired. Below you see it in the shell, secured with a rubber band. This was a good protective measure for transporting it, since all the scratches you see would have otherwise been on the player.
Because of the improvised packaging clam-shell protective cut-out and overall very good care, it is nearly like new, with everything that came packaged with it, plus the 327 songs, the Braun case, and the earphones, that idn't come with it. The lightweight earphones are new, as are the original ear buds, and have never been used—though the bud cover foam on one side is degraded, as they do over time, but some don't use them, and if you do, replacements can be gotten at most superstores and are inexpensive.
CONDITION
Here you see the quickstart manual. The controls and menus are standard and intuitive. Below is
the AC adapter, which also charges the battery as the unit is played. Battery life is as advertised.
Pay Now
You can pay now by clicking the PayPal button below (PayPal fees are included). Clicking the button does not commit you to pay, but just takes you to the safe and secure PayPal site where you can complete payment. You will receive a receipt and e-mail acknowledgement, and the Rio package by U.S. Mail.
PayPal is accepted, make payment to User ID customerservice@silkscape.com . Sold as described. Payment to be by PayPal, checks drawn on Chase or Fifth of Third banks, U.S. Postal money order or W’strn Un’n counter transfer (not money order). Bank wire transfer can also be arranged ($10 bank fee). Postal money order, W’strn Un’n counter payment, or cashier checks from these banks gets delivery on day of or next day of receipt. Personal or company checks from these banks may take up to seven days to process. Shipping amount U.S. buyer is $9, insured.For Canada, the payment method is by PayPal, wire transfer, U.S. or Canadian POSTAL money order ONLY, PAYABLE IN U.S. Dollars ONLY, or W’strn Un’n counter transfer (not money order). Shipping amount for Canadian or Caribbean regular-bid buyer is $12. Wire transfers add $10 bank processing fee. Insurance other than possible built-in indemnity not available—shipment at buyer’s risk for loss/damage.
For Europe, payment method is by PayPal, wire transfer or W’strn Un’n counter transfer (not money order). Shipping amount is $15. Wire transfers add $10 bank processing fee. Insurance other than possible built-in indemnity not available—shipment at buyer’s risk for loss/damage.
For Australia and Asia, payment method is by PayPal, wire transfer or W’strn Un’n counter transfer (not money order). Shipping amount is $17.00 Wire transfers add $10 bank processing fee. Insurance other than possible built-in indemnity not available—shipment at buyer’s risk for loss/damage.
