S3 Rio 500 Portable MP3 Player

Anything related to controversy and audio piracy has been thrown in with the word MP3 ever since Diamond Multimedia, whose Rio Division has recently been purchased by S3, launched their Rio PMP300 Portable MP3 Player. Such a device meant a boon for consumers. For the first time in history, a product was devised with no moving parts and aside from memory expansion cards, did not rely on a cost-incurring medium for audio playback. No longer did one have to strictly rely on their computer to make use of ones favorite tunes in MP3 format and songs could be easily added to or removed from an MP3 player as the user so desired.

Diamond Multimedia was subsequently sued by RIAA and was under threat of seeing their brainchild living a rather non-existent life. Fortunately for the pro-MP3 generation, they were allowed to continue the manufacturing of such hardware.

In this review, we will be taking a look at the S3 Rio 500. The Rio 500 has come a long way over its predecessor in terms of features, performance and style. With double the memory of the earlier Rio 300, the Rio 500 appeared to have been a reflection upon public demand of the features that users really wanted in the Rio 300, but never got. We will look at these advancements in detail as well as give you an overall idea if the Rio 500 delivers what it promises.

The Rio 500 Line

Unlike the Rio 300, the Rio 500 comes in a variety of 3 different units. No to fret however as each unit differs from the other only in terms of its outer shell. Deciding between them is only as "difficult" as choosing your colour preference. These units are as shown here...