Thresh's comments in BLACK

Thresh:
We've all heard the saying, "Size isn't everything." Although we might find it hard-pressed to believe our girlfriends when they say it, when it comes to the Rio, we have to admit: size is everything. The Rio is a tiny 3 ½ by 2 ½ by 5/8 inches, roughly the size of a pack of cigarette (smaller, in fact). It has a sleek, spiffy lookin' design, with most of its important functions on the front panel. Its buttons were refreshingly big, a far cry from the sometimes almost microscopic buttons found on some MiniDisc players we've come across.

It has the standard forward and rewind buttons - press and hold to scan through your current song, or press and release to jump to previous/next tracks. Like all players nowadays, you'll have to "doubleclick" to jump back one track, pressing it once will bring you back to the beginning of your current selection - slightly annoying, but something we've all grown accustomed to.

The Rio also comes with several additional features, most of which have become standard in portable music players:

On the front panel:

• Random - As the name suggests, this feature will randomize the order in which the tracks will be played.
  
• Repeat - Will replay the track you're listening to.
  
• A-B - Select Excerpt. While a song is playing, push this button once to mark the start, and again to mark the end. This is a neat little feature if you there are particular sections of songs that you enjoy listening to.
  

• Menu - Allows you to view the total/remaining memory, both internal and external.
  
• Preset Equalizer (Normal, Classic, Jazz and Rock) - Supposedly accentuates sounds from each particular music genre.
  
• Intro - Plays the first 5-10 seconds of a track, then moves on to the next.
  

• Power Saver - Will shut off the Rio automatically after 15-20 seconds of no activity.