Diamond offers audio upgrade

Owners of the Rio PMP300 digital audio player by Diamond Multimedia Systems Inc. can now upgrade their portable players to a new model, the Rio PMP300 Special Edition, for a $150 fee.

Both players enable the mixing and storing of digitized music and voice files using a PC. Like the previous model, the Rio PMP300 SE supports the MP3 compression protocol and comes with software that can convert CD tracks to MP3 format on the PC.

The original player carries 32MB of onboard memory, which can store up to one hour of digital audio, while the special edition version doubles the storage capacity with 64MB of onboard flash memory. In addition, the Rio PMP300 SE comes with a transparent teal case design.

The Rio PMP300 SE is being sold for $249.95, $100 more than the Rio PMP300 model. Both versions of the the Rio PMP300 can be purchased directly from the Diamond Multimedia Online Store at http://www.diamondmm.com/where-to-buy/online-store . Details about the upgrade program can be found at www.rioport.com .