Rios on Sale
They may not be in the business anymore, but Rio still has some pretty darn good (and cheap) MP3 players for sale. If, thanks to the Christmas season, you’re running low on cash but you still have this overwhelming patriotic urge to contribute to the US economy, buying these players is a great way to say, “Screw debt, I like ramen noodles anyway.” Also, while iPods now come with their own “I’m with the cool kids” membership button and decoder ring, it’s nice to know that there are other options you can explore without having to make friends solely based on the color of their earphones.
This 20GB Rio player has most of the bells and whistles found on standard high-capacity MP3 players, like a voice recorder, WMA/PlaysForSure support, and USB 2.0. Some users have complaints about the line’s sometimes shoddy crafting, but it works as advertised and has ten-times more space than an iPod Nano despite costing only slightly more.
Don’t have than much music besides your semi-complete collection of Barry Manilow and Celine Dion tunes? Go for this 5GB Rio player, which will fit about 1,000 songs from your apparently godawful library and then some. Then you’ll be able to enjoy your music anytime and anywhere you like without having to torture your loved ones with looped plays of “My Heart Will Go On”. Jeez, no wonder the ship sank.
Finally, if you’re a gym rat and all you need is about 2 hours worth of good music (none of that rap rock crap and emo excrement; if they’re signed to a major label they’re too commercial for us hipsters!), consider the Rio Forge 256MB player. Compact, gray, and somewhat oddly shaped, the Forge is a fine little device that doesn’t require a lot of money to try out. Sweat on it for all we care; it’s your glands.