[smhughes]

Until Sonic Blue changes this thing from a "toy" to an "Audio Component" they'll have problems selling this thing. Sonicblue needs to rethink its target audience. Based on the looks of this thing and the *small* 40 gig drive it is aimed at teenagers; problem is teenagers don't have the cash to fork out for this thing.


A few recommendations for Sonic Blue:


1. At least support the other mp3 players you are currently selling. The Rio Riot is currently not capable of downloading files from this "Advanced Digital Audio Center".


2. USE A BIGGER HARD DRIVE!!!! It's pretty sorry that I paid 1500 bucks and can only get to "L" in my CD collection without even using the highest available mp3 setting. What's up with THAT!?


3. USE A 10/100 ETHERNET CARD! HPNA? What is THAT!?


4. uhhh...USB 2.0?


5. Fire the case designer! Get someone that will at least make this think "look" like it's worth 1500bucks.


6. Between the screen and the functionality, this thing is AWESOME. It boots up in less than 20 seconds. I prefer to use my PIII650 laptop with 802.11b ethernet without serving as an MP3 player.


Overall, once I upgrade it to a 120GB HD I'll be ecstatic!.

 

[toots]

Three things keeping me from buying one of these:


1) Price

2) Hard drive size

3) Lack of bandwidth. Yeah, USB 1.1/HPNA just don't cut it for downloading any serious collection. Then again, solve this problem, and bump into the drive size issue.

 

[smhughes]

Actually, to fully take advantage of this thing you would really *need* to rip all of your CD's again so I actually could live with the current configuartion (with exception to the hard drive), it's just annoying not to have an ethernet connection built in (my Rio Receiver even has an ethernet connection built in; but they discontinued that... *go figure*). It is an awesome concept and for what I'm using it for there is nothing at all better, even a new computer...a bit much for what you get though, but I think sonicblue was *almost* there with this product; I hope they don't quit now.


Actually, it's kind of a mish mash concept since the audio and visual interface to me are "high end" but the hard drive and networkings seem to be low end.


...and it doesn't even support the Rio Riot, so now I have to rip a new CD twice...



Jerz

 

[smhughes]

This is strange..., got home from work today and checked to see how much space was left on the HD only to find out sixty something was used and a message stating "Audio compression in prgress". I guess this thing continues to compress after you rip the cd's.


...cool...

 

[smhughes]

Well, if anyone is interest, I got to "R" this time and ran out of space again. The good news is I just finished installing the new 120GB Maxtor without a hitch. The bad news is I need to rip ALL of my CD's once again. I strongly recommend to anyone purchasing this system to go ahead and upgrade the drive to 120gigs immediately (if you don't mind voiding your warranty of course and I suppose something could always go wrong) this will prevent you from having to start ripping from scratch. I really wonder why it is not an option on a new machine.


More good news is that I'll be ripping at 320kbps this time and 96kbps for portable. I should now have plenty of room. I probably won't be able to tell the difference though.


Thanks Randy for telling me how to perform the upgrade it was breeze.







Jerz

 

[smhughes]

Whilst I was upgrading I snapped a coupla pics:

http://www.rgns.com/avs/Rio%20Central%20006.jpg
http://www.rgns.com/avs/Rio%20Central%20008.jpg




Jerz

 

[acourvil]

Will this machine support a 160G drive?


If there was a hack to add a 10/100mb Ethernet connection, I might be ready to buy one . . .

 

[smhughes]

No, based on what another guy said (and I cannot confirm this) the max the Rio Central will recognize is 137gigs.


As for the LAN at 100mbps? At this point I really don't think it should be a *major* concern because once you move your files from your pc to the rio via a usb ethernet connection you should never have to do it again. Of course, I don't think you'll be able to access the hard drive as a networked hard drive on your pc. It would be very cool if you could use this thing as a networked hard drive so you could play tunes at any pc on your network, especially since the Rio Receiver was discontinued, but once the cd's are ripped or copied via the slow network connection you really could live without the higher ethernet connection.


The usb ethernet connection currently is "good enough"; the hard drive is unacceptable.

 

[toots]

I'd be surprised if the Rio Central can go over the most recent IDE roadblock, which happens around 137 Marketing Gigs. Putting a 160G drive in there could well result in a 137G player. Better than 120G, I suppose, but probably not enough to justify the added cost.


Then again, I could be wrong.

 

[acourvil]

120G would be enough for me, I was just curious. Is the hard drive upgrade as easy as the upgrade for a Replay?


But I really do want an ethernet connection.

 

[smhughes]

You need a standard size phillip head screwdriver to get off the main case, a very small phillips head to get the HD out of the cradle and a screwdriver and butter knife to take the case apart once the screws are taken out.


You simply rip out the old and slap in the new, boot up, insert cd that came with drive, and tell it to (I'm not sure of the exact wording here but it is multiple choice) upgrade as new. Reassemble.


Actually it is easier than the replay since you don't need to stick the HD in a PC and patch.


The Linksys USB to ethernet dookickey works flawless. You can access upgrades via your home network just like a replay, you just have to initiate it at your end.





Jerz