Rio vs iRiver

talking_walnut

I'm gonna get an mp3 player soon and I need some advice on which one to get. I've narrowed it down to either the Rio Karma or the iRiver ihp-120 (I'd love the 140 but I don't think my finances will stretch)

Can anyone give me some pro's and con's of each. I've seen a good few people on the board mention that they have an iRiver but I haven't heard anyone say they have a Rio.

I think it'll come down to the interface in the end. I've read that the Rio interface is fantastic, with the ability to make playlists on the fly and access any song in seconds. The portabe HD feature with the iRiver is very attractive but if the interface is s**tty then it wouldn't be worth the extra money.

Please advise me oh wise tech heads.

P.S wheres the cheapest place I can get them??

rymus

Dont know much about the Rio, but two strong points of the iRiver would be the FM tuner and the real-time MP3 encoding. The encoding alone is worth buying it for.

Fabritzo

Dunno about the Rio, I took the review from stuff magazine, they give it a good write-up but they seem to be blind to the existence of the i-river. No one seems to have the Rio, it's kinda nice too, it looks....stodgy?

Civilian_Target

Just got a Rio Karma. I'll tell you about it when I get it. For more info on the karma, go to www.riovolution.com

Agent Smith

damm that rio looks cool

talking_walnut

Keep me informed will you civilian?

Can someone with a n iRiver let me know what the user interface is like? Can you make playlists on the fly on it?

Civilian_Target

I'm waiting on the postman. And hoping that this thread will turn into an "OMG this thing rocks" thread.