mp3 players

I've lived with my Karma for two months now and love it. The RIO software is good and solid (although I wish Musicmatch's Jukebox supported Karma better), the Karma user interface is convenient and intuitive, the sound quality is high and there's_lots_of space for music. I've never come close to running out of battery.

One key advantage is the large and readable display, suitable for aging eyes (mine).

I_love_having my entire music collection with me anywhere I go.

The only drawback that comes to mind is the slow download. USB 2.0 should run a lot faster than it does. 10GB takes about 5 hours to download.

The RIO web site doesn't give an obvious way to order an extra power supply but if you call the toll-free number, they are available. Delivery takes a while but they do ship.

I've owned a Rio Karma for about two months now, and I'm overwhelmingly happy with it. I thought I should write a review, since a lot of the reviews here on Amazon have some false information, and should be corrected.
First, I'll name the positives:
* 20 gigabytes of hard drive space.
* 15 hour battery life (that's almost twice the iPod's).
* A wide variety of audio formats: MP3, WMA, FLAC (an open source lossless format, basically a WAV file at half the size), and OGG Vorbis (an open source lossy format. Smaller file size than MP3, higher audio quality).
* Superior audio quality to most other players. In professional reviews, it's usually a battle for best sound quality with the Karma and Creative's players.
* The Sennheiser MX300 earbuds that come stock have suprisingly good sound.
* Highly customizable equalizer. 5 preset modes, along with 3 custom modes. It has a 5 band parametric equalizer, along with auto gain control (to keep songs dynamically similar).
* VERY quick button response time. You'll never find yourself waiting for a menu to load, and songs start IMMEDIATELY after you tell them to (It's a shame that most other players can't do that).
* On-the-fly playlist creating, editing, saving, and deleting. Very easy to do if you want to put a playlist together quickly.
* Rio DJ. The Karma keeps track of which songs you listen to and can create a playlists according to what you like. It can also, for instance play songs from a certain decade, or even songs that you haven't listen to for a long time.
* Bookmarking. If you listen to very long tracks, such as audiobooks, you can set a mark in it and come back later.
* Crossfade. The crossfade will allow songs to flow into each other very nicely.
* Gapless Playback. If you listen to live CDs or bands that have gapless albums (like Pink Floyd) you'll love this. This will get rid of gaps between songs. Follow this link to learn more about gapless and how well it works: http://www.pretentiousname.com/mp3players/
* USB 2.0 and Ethernet support. The Karma can be used on any operating system that supports networking. You can put the Karma on your network and access it from any other computer connected.
* Dock. The dock for the Karma has RCA output, so you can easily hook it up to your stereo system. The dock also can pulse with the music.
* The Karma comes with all the cables you need - Ethernet, USB 2.0, RCA, AC adapter.
* Auto-synchronization of music files. You can tell the Karma to update itself with new music every time it plugs in. Also, if you have a collection that is over 20 gigabytes, you can have it automatically swap files around, keeping songs you play a lot on the player.
* Ergonomic design fits comfortably in your hand, and the controls are all very easy to access with one hand. For some, the controls have a steeper learning curve than other players, but after a few hours you realize how easy it is to use. Your hands will thank you.
* Deatiled information about each track. Along with all the usual MP3 tags, the Karma will tell you the codec, bitrate, date loaded, times played, and last time played.
* Very active user-discussion forum at http://www.riovolution.com , where a handfull of Rio engineers come by and answer some questions. If you have any questions, there are plenty of people there that would be more than happy to answer them.
* Most importantly, the Karma gets somewhat-frequent firmware updates with bug fixes and new features. New firmware (1.68) was just released two days before I'm writing this, and it fixed pretty much every problem that people have been having.

Now, I have to point out that there ARE flaws that should be taken into consideration.

* There have been a slightly above average number of reports of hard drive failures. The Karma uses the same Hitachi drive as the Dell Jukebox, which is also having problems. I, personally have not had any problem, and neither have a lot of other people, but there is a risk. I would highly suggest buying a third party warranty to back you up in case of any problems. The Karma comes with a 90-day warranty, and the RMA process is a pain. A third party warranty is an excellent investment.
* The screen isn't scratch-proof. Look into getting a screen protector (there is someone on riovolution that is selling them for pretty cheap, or you can pick up a PDA screen protector at most electronics stores).
* Rio's customer service is terrible, but any answer you need can be found at riovolution.
* There is no remote or official playthrough case. There's only one playthough case available, created by a riovolution member, and can be found at http://mindknob.com . I, myself bought a Nintendo Gamecube disk case that the Karma fits perfectly in and protects very nicely.
* No "USB Mass Storage". When you plug the Karma into the computer, it's not seen as an external drive. On the other hand, it comes with some software than can transfer non-music files over. There is also a third-party company that develops some software available to do this.

Overall, I think the pros GREATLY outweigh the cons. The Karma is the perfect player for audiophiles or someone who is looking for an awesome music playing machine. Please look into a third party warranty when buying this, or any other expensive device. Feel free to ask questions at the user discussion forums.

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 don't know how this product made it to production. It's 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 couldn't believe they sent the unit to me looking like that.

In ending I spent full price on a unit that's not worth $50. I WILL NEVER buy a Rio product again.

Like the rest. I-POD here I come.