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Cali Sport 256MB MP3 Player

Cali Sport 256MB MP3 Player

256MB Internal Flash - MPN: 90260473

Rated 3 Star Review out of 28 reviews

Description: The rugged and lightweight Cali keeps your music playing, no matter how rough the ride.

 

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diskins from FL
Member Since
Jan 2004
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User has 15 Days of experience with this product

5 Star ReviewI had high expectations and this product did meet ...

Strengths:

Support for WPA and MP3

Weaknesses:

USB1.1 Rio Music Manager

Posted Jan 24, 2004 - I had high expectations and this product did meet them all. It's a great product. I have minor complains about the USB1.1 - I'd have preferred 2.0 to allow for faster download. The music manager is good. I'd like to see an on-the-fly resampling feature, so I can store my music at 320 VBR .mp3 and send them to the player at 64 .wma. It looks like this should work from WMP9.0 but when setting it up all it seems to do is a straight copy. I downloaded a batch utility from MS that converted all my MP3's to WMA to speed up this process until these features are available and work. In summary I'm very happy with the purchase.

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matthewsween... from NY
Member Since
Jan 2004
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User has 4 Days of experience with this product

5 Star ReviewBought the Cali for use at the gym and it is perfe ...

Strengths:

Good design: easy to use, sturdy; Supports playlists; Long battery life; Earphones fit well and are comfortable for long periods; 4 hours of songs; no skipping; armband and belt clip are great

Weaknesses:

Saving fm radio stations could be a bit easier and only stores 8 presets

Posted Feb 12, 2004 - Bought the Cali for use at the gym and it is perfect for that application. No skipping, using the armband puts the player in easy reach while running and working out, and the joystick control design is very easy to use while running. Playlist support is great so that I can use different playlists each time I go to the gym. The product also seems very sturdy with a rubber grip, although I haven't dropped it (yet). The software included is very easy to use and appears to be updated often as when I first installed the software there were several updates available. It's nice that the player can also be used like a flash memory device to store other kinds of files as well. Overall, I'm very impressed and would buy it again given what I know.

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scsven from CA
Member Since
Dec 2003
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User has 10 Days of experience with this product

5 Star ReviewA great piece of gear to run or workout with. Earp ...

Strengths:

Memory, ease of use, belt clip.

Weaknesses:

MP3 ripping software not included (available for $9.95 on line. Paper documentation skimpy.

Posted Jan 9, 2004 - A great piece of gear to run or workout with. Earphones are adequate - I normally break them every six to twelve months - so they'll be upgraded later.

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amin_ili from WV
Member Since
Oct 2005
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User has 7 Weeks of experience with this product

5 Star Reviewvery good player used it alot looks nice very good ...

Strengths:

VERY STURDY

Weaknesses:

Satisfactory head phones, and the space for songs i suggest u get a 512mb sd mem. card

Posted Oct 7, 2005 - very good player used it alot looks nice very good and sturdy. The batteries work for 18 hrs(does not come with batteries) only uses 1 batterya t a time .....hold up to 50 songs on itself it will hold like 200 once u geta 512mb mem card.

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kevinleerock... from CA
Member Since
Nov 2004
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4 Star ReviewThis is a very nice player. I bought it for mostly ...

Strengths:

fm tuner, ease of use, compact

Weaknesses:

joystick

Posted Nov 27, 2004 - This is a very nice player. I bought it for mostly for exercising. The only weakness I see is the joystick. It took me at a couple of days to get it down. Also the software that it came with sucks. It will not run with other software such as Windows Media Player, Real One Player and others. If I ever get another player, I'd get this one again.

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badun
Member Since
Mar 2005
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User has 4 Months of experience with this product

4 Star ReviewI bought my Cali refurbished to save some money an ...

Strengths:

Sturdy, excellent for working out, very good sound.

Weaknesses:

Weak FM reception, average earbuds.

Posted Mar 21, 2005 - I bought my Cali refurbished to save some money and hopefully avoid the reliability issues some users report. So far that has been the right choice. I use mine almost exclusively for running, and it has withstood some pretty harsh conditions (30 mile race in near-freezing rain) and it still looks and sounds brand new. The earbuds that come with are comfortable, but not loud enough and the sound is somewhat muddy. I replaced them with a set of $20 Sennheisers that sound MUCH better and also go as loud as I can stand. The FM reception is pretty much useless for where I live, but I haven't found any portable devices that can pull in a station I like. The joystick can be a bit tricky to manipulate when I'm on the move, but I mostly set it and forget it. All told, I haven't seen a sport MP3 player in the 4 months I've owned the Cali that I would rather have. I would definitely buy this model again, especially if I could get it refurbished.

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ecapello from WI
Member Since
Feb 2004
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User has 5 Days of experience with this product

4 Star ReviewI did a lot of research before making my purchase. ...

Strengths:

The software is very user friendly. The sound quality is great and the equalizer really makes a difference. The earphones don't hurt the ear. Lightweight for working out.

Weaknesses:

I burned the battery fairly quickly.

Posted Feb 10, 2004 - I did a lot of research before making my purchase. This little unit is suprising. The sound quality and user friendly software make it easy to edit your playlist. I'm not wasting a lot of time maintaining this unit. It's pretty much "load and go". The armband and case are a nice touch. This is a very useful product.

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duttongreg from OR
Member Since
Mar 2005
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User has 10 Months of experience with this product

4 Star ReviewI've owned this player for almost 10 months withou ...

Strengths:

N/A

Weaknesses:

N/A

Posted Mar 22, 2005 - I've owned this player for almost 10 months without a single problem thus far. I mostly use it throughout the day (at work, commute) and occasionally for working out. In contrast to some of the other reviews, I've found my player to be very durable. I've even dropped it a couple of times. But, the fact that my player seems durable and others have examples that are not doesn't speak well to the consistency of build quality. Ditch the factory earphones for a better pair, and invest in a AAA battery charger (it WILL save you money over conventional batteries in the long run!) I've found FM reception to be outstanding, I could get it in the lab located deep inside the university where I used to work. Also, all of my music is WMA on my hard drive, so loading is a snap. Haven't tried expanding to 1GB yet. Overall, I'm very happy with it.

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jones833
Member Since
Dec 2002
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User has 30 Days of experience with this product

4 Star ReviewThis is my 3rd Rio Sport (first the S30S, then the ...

Strengths:

-Sleek and Sporty design; Easy to use menu; Easy to read display; Excellent sound quality; Large capacity; Durable for working out/exercising

Weaknesses:

-FM Tuner is very weak; Included head phones do not fit well on all ears, would recommend buying aftermarket head phones; Can be a little pricey unless you find a good deal; Only USB 1.1, NOT 2.0

Posted Feb 7, 2004 - This is my 3rd Rio Sport (first the S30S, then the S35S), and I would definitely recommend the Rio Cali Sport 256. There is not a lot of improvement between each model, but if you have the spare cash they change just enough to make it worthwill to upgrade. The primary improvements are the sleek design and colouring, as well as the increased capacity to 256MB. With the 256MB SD card I have in my unit, this gives me a 512MB capacity, or approximately 120 MP3's. I have consistently used the Rio Sport for working out and have never had any problems with it. It is a durable rubbery-feel unit, is very small, and has a sturdy included holder that will clip tightly onto your waistband or can be used with the included armband strap. My biggest complaints of the unit and the included head phones, the weak FM Tuner, and the fact that it is only USB 1.1. With the head phones, I find that they constantly fall off of my ears during cardio workouts where a lot of movement is done. I liked the idea of having an FM Tuner included so that I could tune to the TV stations being broadcast in the cardio section of the gym, but the tuner on this is so weak that I usually either pickup no signal at all or a lot of static in the reception. The last area I think this unit is lacking in is the fact that it is NOT USB 2.0 compatible, which makes it much longer to load MP3 files to. I was suprised that Rio stayed with the USB 1.1 format that was on there old sport models, but would release other new MP3 players around the same time as the Cali, such as the Nitrus and the Karma, and would use the USB 2.0 format on them. Overall, I would still definitely recommend this unit over other brands, particularily if the main use of it is for exercise.

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dmcnair from NC
Member Since
Jan 2004
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User has 50 Days of experience with this product

4 Star ReviewI have been quite please with this player, overall ...

Strengths:

small good sound overall has FM tuner 256MB

Weaknesses:

software not intuitive nubby that toggles cursor movement not sensitive headphones very uncomfortable no MP3 encoder provided no AM or WeatherBand tuner limited or no FM presets

Posted Feb 26, 2004 - I have been quite please with this player, overall. I think it is a product that gives good value per dollar. I purchased the player to use when working out, so I needed something that is weather resistant, shock resistant, and small. I also wanted an FM tuner for those times that I get tired of listening to the WMA files. This player is sturdy, which is a big plus for those that work out. The arm band is comfortable, and the case has a built-in belt clip. The FM tuner has decent reception -- no worse than my old Sony armband FM tuner and I'd venture to say that this tuner even gets better reception. Perhaps the best thing is that I can store lots of music on it. I have 2-3 hours of music on it right now, and it is just over half full. I'm using the WMA 64Kbps, which gives fine sound for listening through standard headphones. Drawbacks? The software is not very intuitive -- it takes getting some familiarization before you get used to it. Also, the software isn't the most stable I have seen -- it has crashed several times. Rio doesn't give you an MP3 encoder, and that stinks. Your only choice is WMA unless you buy an optional MP3 encoder. WMA has been sufficient to meet my needs, though. What I find most annoying is that the software provides several encoders other than MP3 -- such as OGG -- but the player does not support those encodings. I encoded more than an hours worth of songs in the ogg format and then tried to copy them to the player, only to be told that the player does not support ogg! Plan on buying your own pair of headphones, because what they give you I found to be very uncomfortable to wear. I bought a pair of Sony over-the-ear headphones for $9.99 and they work well. The FM Tuner doesn't have presets that I have been able to find. Rio needs to add support for presets, and an easy way to access those presets (such as another button on the device that scrolls through the presets). There is no AM or Weather band tuner, but I didn't see any MP3 player that had those tuners. Finally, the only complaint I have about music playback is that there is a slight, but definitely audible tone/whine when the music drops out, such as between tracks. This player probably isn't ideal for playing some classical music or any other music where the volume/intensity frequently fluctuates between very low and very high. I'm happy with this player with respect to the things that I use it for. I would buy it again. If you are an audiophile, then I'd go with something on the higher end and not this player.

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Mats13 from CA
Member Since
May 2004
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User has 10 Days of experience with this product

4 Star ReviewThis is my first MP3 player. I did alot of researc ...

Strengths:

Great sound quality, easy to use, tons of storage space, durability, size, backlight display

Weaknesses:

Software can be a bit hard to navigate (how do you re-order/move songs), radio sound quality is weak, joystick can be hard to use when running

Posted May 18, 2004 - This is my first MP3 player. I did alot of research etc., and settled on this one. I bought the Cali on Ebay, and I have been really happy with my decision ever since. Although you can get much smaller MP3 players, this one is durable, it's easy to download songs, and is still quite small considering its 256mb capability. It easily fits into any size pocket, or in your hand. The belt clip is great, and the armband is ok too. I have jogged with it (it is better on your waistband rather than using the the armband). I have dropped it a few times already, and it has been no worse for the wear. I agree that the colour is a bit too military-ish like. The sound quality/equalizer/volume is great, as well as the provided earphones. The radio sucks however, and trying to set your presets is another issue. If you purchase a Rio Cali I am sure you will be more than satisfied. PS, you can rip your songs using MusicMatch Jukebox (8.2), but not Real Player.

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phrixion from CA
Member Since
Aug 2004
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4 Star ReviewI was looking for something to listen to when I hi ...

Strengths:

Small, Light Weight, Expandable Memory (additional 1GB), Price (factory refurbished), FM Tuner, FM Pre-Sets, Equalizer, Stop Watch, Expandeable to 1GB

Weaknesses:

Only up to 1GB, ear phones (included), belt clip/case (included)

Posted Aug 4, 2004 - I was looking for something to listen to when I hiking/runing and something with a good bit of storage that wasn't going to break or was too nice to be played with hard, like an iPod. Additional memory gives it 1GB of storage and uses 1 AAA battery for about 6+ hours of continuous play. It has a nice set of features: stop watch, clock, date, FM Tuner w/ presets, equalizer and PC software. I was impressed with the quality of sound with good ear phones and the functionality of the equalizer. The software driving the product is very nice, hardware is only OK. I didn't like the battery cover, which can be broken easily, in addition to the nipple used for play back control seems too fragile for a durable player.

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bradmorrell from ND
Member Since
Mar 2004
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User has 1 Days of experience with this product

4 Star ReviewOverall a good player for the money ($152 from New ...

Strengths:

Decent price, upgradeable memory, good sound, battery life.

Weaknesses:

Radio reception is poorer than a walkman, jog dial is difficult to use when running, and like many I don't care for olive green. How about a deep red or blue?

Posted Mar 12, 2004 - Overall a good player for the money ($152 from New Egg), but an extra button or 2 would be helpful to reduce the number of submenus to navigate when using the radio, changing EQ settings, etc. The radio is difficult to use and only picks up the strongest of stations. If I could do it again I would probably buy a cheaper player without the radio. Like most flash players it uses USB 1.1 instead of 2.0 which is retarded, and I haven't yet figured out a way to delete songs/albums from the player without deleting everything on it by reformatting. This would be less of a nuisance if the songs didn't take 5 times longer to reload due to slower USB (which still only amounts to a few minutes, but why waste my time?) Of course I just got it today, so maybe I haven't had time to completely master the player or the software that comes with it.

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Sutherland26... from GA
Member Since
Jan 2004
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User has 2 Days of experience with this product

4 Star ReviewAlso bad that you have to use Rio Taxi to to trans ...

Strengths:

Excellent sound and very loud. The player is louder than I would ever want to listen to it, which is a good thing. It feels fairly sturdy and came with a good accessory package.

Weaknesses:

Awful software. Not extremely intuitive. The Windows media plugin allows you to use windows file system to transfer, which is easier, but then you lose the ability to transfer playlists.

Posted Jan 12, 2004 - Also bad that you have to use Rio Taxi to to transfer data files. The headphones are of better quality than I expected: they are of the over-the-ear variety which are perfect for my athletic needs, but a casual user might want to purchase something else. The transfer speed is fairly fast, even for USB 1.1. I would purchase it again definitely.

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DOtheDAN from MO
Member Since
Dec 2003
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User has 4 Days of experience with this product

4 Star ReviewPricegrabber is a great website to get a great dea ...

Strengths:

Received mp3 player in 3 days. Saved $25 purchasing from Pricegrabber.

Weaknesses:

Pricegrabber gives you 7 days to return it for full refund. Not good if it is for a Christmas present.

Posted Dec 12, 2003 - Pricegrabber is a great website to get a great deal. Shipping was prompt. I saved $25 on the RIO mp3 Player. I didn't like the 7 day return policy. MP3 player is a Christmas present. I had to give it early.

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