Following in the footsteps of its 500 and 600 models, Rio's latest solid-state MP3 player takes a giant leap in portable music technology by integrating 128MB of memory into a device the size of a cigarette packet. The Rio 800 can hold more than two hours' worth of near-CD quality music in its tiny shell, and can play for almost 10 hours on a single battery charge.

Both MP3 and WMA audio file formats are supported and can be combined in any playlist. This is especially useful if you have Windows Media Player 8, which can create high-quality music in very small files, allowing you to cram more music into the player's memory.

Audio files are transferred using a USB connection and RealPlayer Jukebox software. From here, an entire digital music collection can be arranged into playlists, allowing you to pick and choose which chart favourites you'd like on your portable player. Although it is a good audio management tool, this transfer process does take longer than the simple drag-and-drop approach.

Despite being small in stature, the Rio 800 is big on features. Using the menu and operation buttons, you can navigate a selection of preferences such as playback options, playlist construction and file management. You can even bookmark your favourite tracks for quick access and choose from seven tone settings, as well as customising your own bass and treble levels.

An oval-shaped backlit screen displays not only the track titles but also artist names, album titles, track times and volume levels.

The Rio 800 is designed with a built-in microphone that acts as a Dictaphone and can store hours of speech, depending on how much free memory your player has. Recordings can be accessed and replayed using the designated record button, and the quality is excellent considering this function isn't the player's primary one.

Like most technologies new to the market, the Rio 800 isn't cheap and you'll have to fork out almost £300 to get your hands on this little nugget. However, it does offer great sound quality and playback features to make any journey worthwhile.

Contact
Rio: 0118 944 4400 www.riohome.com ALSO CONSIDER

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