The Rio Forge Sport is go-anywhere flash player. The 2.3-ounce player (available in 256MB or 512MB capacities) runs on a single triple-A battery and has the right blend of rubber, chrome, and silvery plastic to make it look rugged and outdoorsy. It has the usual four-way rocker with a center select button and separate buttons for power, menu, and volume. In keeping with its sporty image, the Forge Sport comes with an armband and a clip that works for the edge of a pocket, though not on most belts. But since it has a lock switch, you can just put the player in your pocket and go.

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Rio Forge Sport Reviews

CNET Reviews reviews the Rio Forge Sport and gives it a ‘Very Good’ rating. They write – ‘Rio forges ahead with its newest fitness-friendly player. Excellent battery life; sleek design; user-friendly interface; included software is handy and easy to use; memory expandable via SD/MMC; supports Audible content and protected WMAs. The Forge is easy to use right out of the box, thanks to its straightforward user interface. The Menu button takes you into a list of main options, from which you can easily navigate through the player’s many features. Playback options are plentiful; you can play all or sort by one of the nine other fields: Album, Artist, Genre, Track, Year, New Music, Playlist, Spoken Word, and FM Recordings. Unfortunately, you can’t create playlists on the fly. The Settings sub-menu isn’t lacking much either. Among other things, you can choose how you want the Hold switch applied (to all the controls or to just certain ones) and select from seven different equalizer settings: Custom, EQ Off, Rock, Jazz, Classical, Pop, and Trance. You can also bookmark up to nine tracks.’

PCMag reviews the Rio Forge Sport and writes – ‘The Rio Forge Sport is a small, light 256MB flash player with good sound, sport earpieces, so-so FM radio, good battery life, and a big display.’

Cooltechzone reviews the Rio Forge Sport and writes – ‘Throughout our performance tests, the Rio Forge Sport did quite well. Majority of the music genres sounded well with the pitch, highs, lows and mids all sounding intact and without too much exaggeration and general disturbance. The volume levels also performed well, however, we did notice amplification of sound at the very high level. Once we turned down the volume level a bit, the audio sounded very normal.’

Rio Forge Sport Press Release

From the Manufacturer

The Rio Forge is designed for people that like to play hard and use music to play even harder. Rugged and compact, the Rio Forge Sport player uses no moving parts and stays solid even when your body is moving fast.

The Rio Forge series is our latest generation of flash-based sports players. The Rio Forge is designed for people that like to play hard and use music to play even harder. The new design integrates the protective rubber grip from previous models with a stainless steel face plate for added durability. Up to 20 hours of battery life allows you hours of non-stop work out time. Comfortable Sport Clip earphones and a newly designed case with armband keep your player and music secure and accessible. Simple menus and intuitive controls make for easy one-handed operation. Stopwatch and Lap Timer make the Forge the ultimate gym or running companion.

Rio Forge Sport Features

Product type– Flash player
PC interface(s) supported– Hi-Speed USB
Digital storage– None
Digital player supported digital audio standards– MP3, WMA, Audible
Weight– 2.2 oz
Battery technology– Alkaline
Color– Blue
Mfr estimated battery life– 20 hour(s)
Included accessories– Arm band
Software type– Rio Music Manager, Drivers & Utilities
Microsoft PlaysForSure– Yes
Audio system built-in display– LCD
CD system type– None
Cassette system type– None
Tuner type– Digital Radio tuner
MD system type– None
Remote control– None
Headphones type– Binaural
Cable(s) included– 1 x USB cable -
Slot(s) provided– 1 x SD Memory Card
Battery– 1 x Alkaline AAA type Standard battery

Box Contents

Rio Forge 512, Carrying Case with Armband, Sport Clip Earphones, 1 Energizer AAA Alkaline Battery, USB 2.0 Cable, Installation Disk, Quick Start Poster, Warranty Card
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