Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Rio Fuse: Small, Sleek, and Ready to Go
Posted by Kent Pribbernow in "HARDWARE" @ 10:00 AM
Personally, I am not a big fan of flash-based digital audio players. They offer limited storage capacity and are often rather overpriced with limited features. But Rio's Fuse is a competent little player. It's a $99 128MB USB flash storage player that you simply plug-in to your PC for easy music transfer, holds up to 60 songs, and offers all the same features you would except in a media player such at EQ presets and mutliple play modes. All in a tiny package the size of a cigarette lighter with over 18 hours of battery life.
Obviously not for serious audiophiles, but for casual users, inexpensive flash players like the Fuse make sense. There are a couple knocks against this device however. It lacks an expansion slot, which means you are stuck with the built-in 128MB. And it does not support Apple's popular AAC audio format, which means users won't be able to play music purchased from the iTunes Music Store without converting the track(s) to MP3 or WMA.
Obviously not for serious audiophiles, but for casual users, inexpensive flash players like the Fuse make sense. There are a couple knocks against this device however. It lacks an expansion slot, which means you are stuck with the built-in 128MB. And it does not support Apple's popular AAC audio format, which means users won't be able to play music purchased from the iTunes Music Store without converting the track(s) to MP3 or WMA.
