Rio Chiba = Dirty Poop
Buy an iPod. I hate to fall over the overpopulated side of fence but I am finally ready to admit that my non-Apple portable mp3 player is complete crap. It is a Rio Chiba, and you should by all means never buy a product from Rio. Call me racist, but I don't hear bad things about iPods (other than the price), and all the other brands are sketchy at best.
Marigold got it for me last year for Christmas for about one hundred dollars and it worked great for about four months. It was easy to use and very durable. Then one day I dropped it about three feet onto soft carpet. Now it doesn't do shit. I looked up how to fix it and saw that the warranty on the thing is for 90 days and after that it cost about one hundred dollars to return it to get it fixed. Also, some message boards revealed that many other people had the same exact problem (and at about four months to boot!). I wouldn't go as far as to say conspiracy. What company that wants to make money would deliberately make a faulty product? But they have deliberately made a cheap-ass piece of crap, and then provided terrible customer service. Cheap, bottom of the line products don't necessarily piss me off. After all, I buy store brand food at the grocery store, or even worse, FMV (For Maximum Value) food. What really gets me is the next to zero customer service. I couldn't get a single person to email me back, and there were no phone numbers to call, even for an automated service. Their website gave predictable, repetitive advice for a similar problem that really had nothing to do with mine in the FAQ section. What do you do if your question isn't frequent? Or if your website isn't updated frequently? You're shit out of luck is what you are.
I broke into the thing in order to try to fix it myself, but I could only get it to work while it was plugged into the computer via USB. It acts like it is working fine for transferring music to it. But try to use it as a portable, handy music player and you get only get an electric word displayer. The specific word is, "upgrader." I have given up. And it actually broke back in April. Because I am stupidly stubborn, it has taken me this long to let it go.
I can now give it away as a White Elephant gift, scattered parts and all. At least I got that. Perhaps I can trade it for the iPod that some sucker brought to the party.
Marigold got it for me last year for Christmas for about one hundred dollars and it worked great for about four months. It was easy to use and very durable. Then one day I dropped it about three feet onto soft carpet. Now it doesn't do shit. I looked up how to fix it and saw that the warranty on the thing is for 90 days and after that it cost about one hundred dollars to return it to get it fixed. Also, some message boards revealed that many other people had the same exact problem (and at about four months to boot!). I wouldn't go as far as to say conspiracy. What company that wants to make money would deliberately make a faulty product? But they have deliberately made a cheap-ass piece of crap, and then provided terrible customer service. Cheap, bottom of the line products don't necessarily piss me off. After all, I buy store brand food at the grocery store, or even worse, FMV (For Maximum Value) food. What really gets me is the next to zero customer service. I couldn't get a single person to email me back, and there were no phone numbers to call, even for an automated service. Their website gave predictable, repetitive advice for a similar problem that really had nothing to do with mine in the FAQ section. What do you do if your question isn't frequent? Or if your website isn't updated frequently? You're shit out of luck is what you are.
I broke into the thing in order to try to fix it myself, but I could only get it to work while it was plugged into the computer via USB. It acts like it is working fine for transferring music to it. But try to use it as a portable, handy music player and you get only get an electric word displayer. The specific word is, "upgrader." I have given up. And it actually broke back in April. Because I am stupidly stubborn, it has taken me this long to let it go.
I can now give it away as a White Elephant gift, scattered parts and all. At least I got that. Perhaps I can trade it for the iPod that some sucker brought to the party.
posted by Stephen "Steve" at 12/12/2005 03:21:00 PM
3 Comments:
funny, I am just in the process of selling my 20GB Ipod.
Really for no reason at all, I just want change. It works great, but it is almost too much. I mean 20GB who really needs 2 weeks of music. I only use it to workout or plane trips.
I want to use the money for a Ipod video or a Sony PSP and all for no reason, I'm just a finicky shopper.
Posted by Courtney
I'm still using my Archos Gmini (AKA = Buggins) daily as our main source of music. I have it hooked up to our stereo so it plays all the music, and charges at the same time. I also have used it every few days for exercising, and Weeshie takes it to work most days. The only problem we've had is a less than spectaculor battery life. On a full charge it only lasts about 5-6 hours, about half of what it advertised itself as.
Posted by Justin
Justin: That's not uncommon with portable mp3 player batteries. The iPod is notorious for not coming close to the quoted battery life. They are getting better, but my ipOd can't hold more than a 2 hour charge anymore and it's barely a year old!
Steve: Play the field. Don't buy into the iPod hype. I have already decided my next mp3 player will not be an iPod. The battery life is shit, and it's a pain in the ass to music back off if it or transfer it to another computer. I'm not saying don't byuy an iPod if that's what you want, just be sure you've checked out the alternatives. Internet research might help too!
Posted by Frank