Rio Introduces Carbon, iPod Mini Contender

[Kent Pribbernow]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/item_a1.jpg' target='_blank'>http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/item_a1.jpg</a><br /><br /></div><i>"The Rio Carbon 5GB is the next generation compact player with power and performance. Rio Carbon 5GB is perfect for the music lover with a few hundred CDs or someone starting out their digital audio collection who wants room to grow. The ultra slim design goes anywhere, and its superb battery life of up to 20 hours continues long after mini-powered players have died."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/item_a1.jpg" /><br /><br />Yes, Rio is gunning straight for Apple's Mini. And though I'm not keen on the navigation controls and user software, I have to say this product doesn't look all that bad to me. Not to mention the advantage in battery life. Still, priced at $249 (same as the iPod Mini) I would choose the iPod over Carbon.

[Felix Torres]

How about at $199?
Remember, unlike Apple, Rio discounts their products.
(The Nitrus was also introduced at $249 and it got to $199 in less than a month.)
Also, consider that Rio is using the Seagate microdrive which has special antivibration tech.
And, of course, the Rio supports Janus, so filling it up with 2500 songs will only cost about $16 per month. :wink:

[Kent Pribbernow]

How about at $199?
Remember, unlike Apple, Rio discounts their products.


True, no other company but Apple reins such tight control over MSRPs. Other companies allow channel partners to slash prices or offer incentives. Nope, not Apple. That might entice consumers to buy products in places other than the sacred Apple Store. Competition is a bitch, isn't it? :roll:

[Felix Torres]

How about at $199?
Remember, unlike Apple, Rio discounts their products.


True, no other company but Apple reins such tight control over MSRPs. Other companies allow channel partners to slash prices or offer incentives. Nope, not Apple. That might entice consumers to buy products in places other than the sacred Apple Store. Competition is a bitch, isn't it? :roll:

Good point about channel partner incentives; it reminded me that BEST BUY, for one, has been actively promoting Napster by bundling pre-paid cards with music player sales. A month of free subscription music would be a natural bundle with the new Rio to get buyers hooked...

That kind of deal worked wonders for MSN during the christmas of the "free" PC.

There's a lot of creative ways that retailers can mix-n-match products to maximize their profits and differentiate their offerings from competitors.

Would be interesting to see how much, if anything, the Napster co-branding does for Samsung Yepp sales after Janus is deployed...

[Suhit Gupta]

Even though most articles claim that the look of the Rio Carbon is bland, but I really like it. It is interesting that the clam shell like design makes it look like a lot of flip cell phones. In fact it looks a lot like the LG VX6000.

Suhit