Rio Carbon Pearl 6 GB

Advantages Great Price, Good features, low noise
Disadvantages Easily Scratched

...The rio carbon is a fantastic player with many features and is "playforsure" compatible giving you a wide range of shops to buy music from. The player itself is nice with a cool red glowing "Rio" however the navigation is a bit tricky ::Features:: The features list is completely dependent on the firmware that you are running. They can include: Play for sure compatibility, 6GB storage, long battery life, compact wall charger, Generic USB connection (Cable is easily replaced), Stopwatch, Voice recorder and Song Bookmarks. ::Navigation:: . If you have friends who like to fiddle with your mp3 player, then be prepared to have to explain how to use it. One main problem with the navigation is that you cannot go directly back to the track list when playing a track- meaning you have to find the artist again from the main... Read review

Advantages small, thin, lightweight, good price
Disadvantages scratches easily, low volume level

...Having read many good reviews for this product, i bought one last chritmas since it appeared to be one of the best players on the market at the time. It came out about the same time as the i-pod nano and i was tempted to buy the nano however though the nano was more popular, it would seem that the rio carbon was more reliable. With similar controls to the i-pod, the Carbon is easy to navigate and the software provided for transferring music is very helpful and makes the process very quick and easy. With a 6GB Capacity, the Carbon offers a larger memory than most competitive players whose limit tends to be 5GB. This was the main attraction for me since i was looking for a reasonably cheap player with a large memory. Another main feature is the slim, sleek design made to fit easily into your pocket or attatch with a belt clip making... Read review

Advantages Small, light, faily durable, large capacity considering the size and has an intuitive and easy-to-use menu system
Disadvantages Danger of screen damage, small screen

...As with all mp3 players with capacities over 5gb, the Rio Carbon will inevitably be compared to its more popular counterpart, the Ipod Mini. Having owned both, i have to say that there is absolutely no doubt as to which player should come out on top. The Carbon is smaller, lighter, more robust, easier to use and in my opinion, contrary to the millions of fashionable accessorizers out there, far more stylish. Not to mention the obvious price difference. Starting with the outward look of the thing, only its relatively unknown brand could possibly be sniffed at. The design is both sleek and practical with a rubber shock absorber around the edge, a volume wheel on the corner (ridiculously useful when the player is in your pocket and can be used to scroll faster through the menus), the headphone and USB connections on the top... Read review