Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Rio Karma 20GB Reviewed

Posted by timothy on from the it-plays-ogg dept.

asv108 writes "The Rio Karma has been out on the market for over a month now with very little mainstream press. Slashdot covered the product announcement back in August for one of the first mainstream devices that supports OGG and FLAC playback. I've posted a little review of the 20 GB Rio Karma, which, besides OGG/FLAC/MP3/WMA playback, has a great little dock that syncs the player via ethernet. One little known gem is that this player comes with java-based software that allows users to download the software directly from the player via any browser and sync the Karma with Linux, Mac OS X, and any other OS that Java runs on."

2 of 355 comments (clear)

  1. Made for right-handed people by woogli · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's obviously 'designed' for right-handed people. Interestingly, the iPod doesn't appear to favour one hand over the other.

    Just a thought. -- and I'm not even left-handed. :) Granted, that's the larger majority of the population...

  2. Had some ugly flaws by SendBot · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I got one of these a month ago, and after trying so hard over a couple days to want to keep it, I had to take it back in exchange for an ipod.

    After spending weeks deciding in the back of my mind, these are the features that sold me on the Karma:

    Small size (although I decided the thickness made a huge difference)

    Ogg support. This was a big factor in my decision.

    Cool dock with ethernet

    Nice display, 'analog' level dials were cool

    And I found the following to be critical flaws:

    Bugs! Too many inconveniences made it feel like it was rushed to market without sufficient QA. Songs would start over around 90 seconds into a track, or skip to another track altogether.

    The management software (a java version is available to run on any platform) is crappy. No progress meters, lame compared to itunes or musicmatch or even windows explorer. This is the only way to transfer music or files.

    Ethernet doesn't run at full duplex. WTF!?

    Nothing esepcially useful about ethernet connectivity like a web server, ftp server, or smb. You might as well just hook it up over usb2 to avoid shitty transfer rates.

    The physical controls on the device suck. It's awkward to use with one hand, especially if you wish to look at the screen and not your thumb/fingers. Some buttons are redundant, and it's not especiially clear at first how the scroll wheel will fuck up whatever you're listing to. It has separate volume buttons, but they're not exactly convenient.

    It's physical presence is very... present. It's thicker in real life than I wanted to believe. It's also a little heavy. Ipod rules this comparison.

    So, I just got an ipod instead. Same price and features, less annoyances, better support/accessories, iTunes isn't too bad. I like the 1394 better than usb2 for recharging it with the data cable. I'm sure there are a few other reasons to go with an ipod. I just figure it's no comparison with the karma, except that current lack of ogg support is kind of weak. I wish apple would pull their head out of their asses on this issue.

    Short version. The Karma is crap unless it can get some major annoyances resolved.