The Rio Forge is an impressive MP3 player specially designed for people who like their music mixed with sport. Rio has designed the Forge range to suit people who listen to music while they are on the move, so these players will be great in the gym, on the track or on the road.
You can buy players with 128MB, 256MB or 512MB storage capacity - enough to suit the longest and most arduous workout! But, if you want more you can also add external memory cards to take your capacity over the 1GB mark.
At the basic level the 128MB model will give you up to 4 hours of music, the 256MB model will give you up to 8 hours and the 512MB model will give you up to 16 hours. The range supports MP3/WMA formats. And, the player also comes with a built-in FM tuner, if you buy the 256/512MB models you’ll also get an FM Record function so you can record from radio if you like. On average you'll find that you’ll get up to 20 hours play back time with a standard AAA battery with all products in the range.
Rio has made sure that the Forge range looks sporty and cool too, and it’s designed to be durable. You get the familiar Rio rubber grip with a durable stainless steel face and built-in anti-skip technology to make your listening experience as smooth as it can be. You also have the added bonus of a timer/stopwatch function too; this could come in real useful!
The player also comes with specially designed Sport Clip earphones and an armband case to make things as easy as possible - it doesn’t matter what you’re doing when you’re listening as you can always get at the controls with one hand with no problem. And, the menu system will take you no time to master as it’s intuitive and simple to use.
This player comes with the Rio Music Manager software as this will make it easy for you to transfer and manage your digital music. If you have the technology you can transfer via USB 2.0, which takes no time at all. The kit also contains your armband carrying case, your earphones, an AAA battery, a USB 2.0 cable, an installation disk and a quick start poster. Available accessories include memory cards, FM transmitter and car stereo adapter. If you shop around on the Internet you'll find Forges available on sale from around $70.
Pros
- Size/Design - The Rio Forge is very compact and designed with sports in mind. It’s robust but good-looking at the same time.
- Expansion - You can upgrade any of the Forge range with extra memory - this player can grow with you.
- FM Tuner - Unlike many comparable players, the Forge comes with a built-in FM tuner (and a stopwatch/timer!).
- FM Record - The 256/512 MB models also come with a useful FM Record function so you can record from the radio and listen to your recording later.
- Sports Features - This range really was designed with sport in mind, there are loads of features designed to make the player easy to use and to listen to while you’re working out.
- Skipping - The Forge range is specially designed to be skip-free, no matter what you’re doing while you're listening.
- Audio - Most reviews rate the audio quality here highly.
- Software - You can use the Rio Music Manager if you like but you can also now use the Windows Media Manager software (or various other music management programs) to manage your transfers/music if that’s easier for you.
Cons
- Earphones - Some users find the special sports earphones hard to use/unusable; some reports say they don’t stay in so well when you’re running.
- FM Tuner - The reception/stations you get may well depend on where you are when you try to tune in.
- USB Jack Cover - You have to take the cover off to connect the USB cable - a lot of them are getting lost!
- Construction - Some users don’t feel that Forges are particularly durable. They can feel a bit flimsy to some.
Usage Tips
You can tell your player what kind of battery you’ll be using in it (i.e. whether you are using a rechargeable battery or a standard one). The player will then automatically adjust its battery meter so you’ll get a much more accurate power reading.Most computers that are USB ready will accept these players as external drives with no problem so you can use just about any accepted method of uploading and transferring rather than having to swap to the Rio software if that’s what you prefer.