The market for digital audio players is fast shrinking as more mobile phones let you play and record MP3 music. But until mobile phones are light and durable enough, and vendors become a bit more generous with storage, companies like SonicBlue will have something to sell.
SonicBlue churns out hip, attractive players that are supposedly more rugged and durable and so will appeal to those of us who take music to the gym or on jogs. The Rio S35S from SonicBlue straps to your body (wrist or chest) and gives you up to four hours of skip-free music in a rugged-looking player.
A large, backlit display lets you easily navigate by song title and artist, or switch to FM radio. Transferring your favourite MP3 or WMA digital music files is a breeze using Rio Music Manager software.
Besides good audio quality, it is vital for MP3 players to have loads of memory, which the S35S does not have. It has 128MB of built-in memory and is upgradeable to 256MB, which pales in comparison to the Apple iPod and Sony's digital audio players that take Memory Sticks, so running out of memory would never be a problem.
SonicBlue Rio S35S
Specifications
