I've had this CD player for three years and it just recently quit working. It wasn't just three years of use, it was three years of use and abuse. You could kill a man with this and it'd keep on truckin and truckin ain't for sissies.

I have had my unit for 3 years now and the only problem in all that time is when the lid button to indicate closed position broke off. It was an easy fix and the unit still works to this day. Running a lens cleaner every now and then helps to keep the sound quality and readability up to par, also.
As for battery life; 12 hours using alkaline and 10 hrs with nimh, average. Higher bitrates tend to increase drain so I suggest 128 to 192 as the best range for battery life and sound quality.
WMA support is excellent and yes, you can use VBR for mp3.
I am planning on buying another one when this one finally up and dies on me.

I got this player about a year and a half ago, used it mainly for travelling at first, then around the apartment instead of stereo (nice especially when you want to listen privately or not wake up neighbors). BUT, after fairly light use during this time, it now doesn't work....most of the time I'll pop in an mp3 cd, and it will 'choke', and display will read "no disk" error message. Sadly, this appears to be a common problem with this model (search the net and rio forums). So, until it happens, it's a great player for the money...but be aware, it's NOT a long-lasting player...moderate usage will get you 12-18 months, I think, and heavy usage, mmmmaybe a year.....me, I'm replacing with a Sony ;)

If you do buy one, batteries in mp3 mode last about 10 hours in my experience, and only a few hours for normal cd's (2-4hrs). I used NiMH rechargables with no problem. ALso, there is a 'hack' on the web where you can update the firmware of this model with a version 2.10 which gives you more options....intended for the SP-100, I think.

I received this CD player as a hand-me-down from an older sibling, and, at that point, it was in seemingly perfect working order. Turns out, it was in perfect working order, but only some of the time. It skips more often than Michael Jackson gets a plastic surgery and will short out if it is too hot/cold wherever you are using it. Furthermore, I timed how long it takes to load a cd, when it was working, and it sometimes took over a minute and a half. The buttons are too sensitive and the equalizer settings are less than grand. Overall, a great paperweight, but not a good cd player.

I bought this product from a local Best Buy after returning a couple of solid state mp3 players conked out on me. I was fed up with mp3 players, and decided to give this guy a shot: the ability to play mp3 CDs was appealing.

I have had this product for almost 2 years, and take it to Gym often. The good thing is that I have dropped this sucker many times and it still works. It certainly seems durable, at least with my experience.

The bad thing is this player is not motion friendly while skipping often. You can walk with it, even fast, but the minute you start running: skip, skip...Thus not very good on treadmills either. However, if you just want to read in coffee shop or stroll on the beach, this CD player works fine. The battery life is ok.

Finally, I have noticed that ever so often (very rarely), the player has a tendency to keep spinning while not playing the song. However, I don't know if it is because I have dropped it one too many times or it's just a faulty CD (even though it happens has happened with more than one brand of CD's).

All in all, this CD player is a decent product for its price, but it does have its faults.