What is this?
The seemingly basic MP3/WMA player comes with a few surprises like its large backlit split screen LCD, and the ability to record voice and FM broadcast and to recharge via USB.
User Review(s)
"Could be good, but isn't" This player has a few "bugs" and I have even updated my firmware to 1.05.1. I wouldn't recommend this to any of my friends, it doesn't feel stable at all. For example, one time it just stopped responding, the music wasn't playing and the display had frozen and I couldn't even turn it off so I had to wait for the batteries to run out. From kristnjov, January 26, 2005
"Great MP3 Player" Great MP3 player if you want to carry max 80 songs around with you. Plays MP3s and WMAs as well. Radio is pretty good. Sound recorder is great fun. Creative Media Source and Audio Converter are absolutely great programs.
The only cons are that you need a USB lead. Also it went wrong on me twice, but all you need to do is go to the Creative website. I have had it for a year now and it still works fine.l From Sam Waton, January 06, 2005
"creative rhomba got aot of buggs" creative rhomba got aot of buggs for the first time i starded it it was not responding. and after long time it started to work then it was time to load it with music... but then the computer couldnt find the player. and after that when i was able to load it with music it worked great in 5 min... i listned to sound in some seconds then i wanted to change sound track then it stared to formatting it self and now it keeps formatting and formatting and formatting... From anonym, September 25, 2004
"well..." i bought it, try'd it at the store and everything went fine. came home plugged it into my pc and... total disaster. it began formatting itself and kept telling me to downlodd the firmware from creative.com, wich was what i did. after that absolutely no problems, it works perfect. the firmware should be 1.05.01
the only thing i hate about his product is the tuner wich is actually crappy because it has no antenna or the antenna is to small.
but overall,with this new firmware, it works flawless. From Alecs, July 01, 2004
"Bad player don't buy it !!!" read the reviews on the Internet the same way you are reading now. When I went to the store I have been misled by the salesman. He told me that the creative is a great brand and no one returned the product so far. He told me " if it was a bad product creative would have taken it of the shelf by now". I bought the product and it stop working after TWO DAYS" not responding at all. I talked to the customer support and they ask me to send the product to them. It takes along..... time to get it back believe me I havent got the mine yet. Dealing with their customer support is hell. remember I warned you "Dont buy this product"
it has good sound (when it is working most of the time it won't work ) From Arik, June 03, 2004
"Mmhh..." Mmh.. I still don't know whether I'll buy it. I'm not a computer expert. What do you think? Will I be able to handle the Rhomba? Is it possible to subdevide the music into diffrent maps? Great name btw. Rhomba sounds more like an animal from Africa or so. From Rich, May 24, 2004
"Smashing! Great music thumb drive." I popped in here after i'd ordered the Creative Rhomba, something i'm sure i can't afford.
I'd looked at other £100 region players, but at best they had 128MB, and tended not to support wma, so already this looked promising.
Frankly anything more is a plus.
It's a great music player, a perfectly good thumb drive, a reasonable radio, and the recordings bounce out to a format that's transferrable to CD pretty easily.
I have managed to record about 5 continuous hours of radio before the battery started to moan, and unless Live Aid is on again soon i can't see that being a problem.
The only gripes are really tiny - Creative Rhomba would be nice to power it from the usb cable while in use, and of course in an ideal world it would be USB 2, though it transfers pretty fast on my PC - 4 minutes tops to fill it - and of course a digital radio would be great, but i guess there's a power issue.
The only big problem is finding a little bag for it to go in, not to keep it safe, just to keep it warm and comfy. From SaintRichard, March 17, 2004
"WOW!!! Large LCD, enough capacity, radio, 10hrs contineous play!" Well, I also bought it today...I was between a MiniDisc and a portable mp3 like Rhomba!I ended up with Rhomba due to the following: I will rarely need more than 256MB memory, and when the time comes, I already own an mp3 discman, so I can have 650MB*[number of CD's I have with me]! So the only reason I wanted Rhomba was its size and the built in radio...What I don't like is its 10hrs autonomy, which is relatively small I think espesially when you consider it has no batteries. And then, the USB 1.1 Interface is a bit small when you want to fill your just formatted Rhomba with new melodies, and then get out ASAP.... A Rhomba with 20Hrs stamina and USB 2 would be the perfect 4 me....but I saved 150 euros (180 instead of 3xx a minidisc would have cost me) and the no batteries thing saves even more money ;)
It's a good buy if you consider what you WOULD LIKE and what you REALLY NEED....cya :) From Nikiforos Fidetzis, February 06, 2004
"Great MP3 player -- lousy thumb drive" If you were hoping, like me, to use this device to replace your existing thumb drive, forget it. The proprietary plug on it means that you have to carry the cable around with you too if you want to plug it into other USB ports. What a hassle!
The player itself is great, awesome sound quality. Despite others' opinions of the radio, I think it is also high quality. From Jerry, January 11, 2004
"small package, huge storage, standard protocol" this player is pretty awesome if you ask me. the sound quality can't be beat either recording or playing, the radio works well, and it shows up as a normal USB mass storage, meaning that special software is not needed if you don't want it and that it is compatible with linux, mac and windows. the way it handles folders is neat, too.
honestly, the only bad thing I ican say about it is that there is no visualization mode for spectrum analyser. From bobby, December 30, 2003
"The best!!" Hello,
Here a small review from me! Just bought it today, (128 MB version)perfect player. The radio works ok and the mp3 to. Only onr contra and that is that they don't deliver a small bag with the player. Anyway if you need one buy this one!!
Greets,
Rogier
From Rogier Swarts, December 15, 2003
"You won't regret this purchase" pro:
-256 mb really is a lot.
-you can listen 10 hours of great quality music.
-the extra big lcd shows the titles of your favorite songs really clear.
contra:
-the radio sucks
-the headphones aren't really powerfull, so if you really want to enjoy your music, you better buy some of a better quality.
conclusion: the two contra's are no problemo for someone who really likes music. By the way, all free headphones suck, and who buy's this stuff to listen a radio? Then you better buy such a crap thing, which only cost 3 pounds.
SO IF YOU BUY THIS,YOU WON'T FEEL SORRY YOU DID...
By the way, creative media source is really fine, better than iTunes if you know how to use it... Learning it isn't hard buy the way, it's like an evolved version of windows media player From jon, December 05, 2003
"Excellent audio, many features, some quirks" Audio is excellent, although the supplied headphones don't deliver much bass. Volume can go VERY load; I haven't had mine past a third.
Slight hum on FM reception when backlight is on; this is only to be expected.
User interface takes a little getting used to! Why did they bother with the "split" in the screen - it's just one LCD. Backlight is v. useful.
Negative points:
* Non-standard USB cable; it's unclear whether Creative will provide spare cables.
* No soft carry case (yet) - I'm using a small one from a camera shop.
* Technical specs could be more detailed: what's the headphone impedance?
* Can the battery be replaced? (see recent online tales of woe regarding iPod battery replacement).
* Neck strap seems a little flimsy where it attaches to the Rhomba.
* Creative MediaSource. Hmmm. Can we have an iTunes plugin please?
From Matthias Grunwalde, November 27, 2003
"Cool and Good" When i got it in my hand and turn the power on. The Cool blue light and the design, did that i spend the money on it. And what a great little things it is. The sound is must better than the Muvo. Radio and no batteri..
If you dont have it - Go get it....
Cyber-Greatings
Jay Jay From JayJayDK80, October 18, 2003
We're currently upgrading our user review system; so we won't be accepting new reviews for now. Rhomba Specs
Interface(s)
Original USB
Released date
October 2003
Platforms
Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP
