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Overview:
With their corporate headquarters in Seattle,
Washington, RealNetworks Inc. delivers their online music
service under the RealRhapsody
name.
Features:
Product Usability: We found the service relatively
easy to use, although we had used their RealPlayer in the
past and had already developed basic familiarity. If you
have used the RealPlayer program you should not have any
problems with their music service.
File
availability: There
is a library of 700,000+ songs available.
File
Quality/Usability: RealRhapsody
is an on-demand streaming service, which means you do not
actually download the music files to your computer...they
are 'streamed' directly from the Real servers to your computer
over the Internet. Real boasts CD quality music,
however the documented bitrate is 128Kbps, which is acceptable,
but certainly not CD quality. 320Kbps is known to be identical
to the source (CD), however you will be hard-pressed to
find ANY download service that offers this.
Download
speeds: This is a
music streaming service (music files are not downloaded
to your computer), therefore you would expect access times
to be quicker, however there is still buffering time required
for the music to start playing. Users with slower Internet
connections (modem) will experience some delays between
tracks.
Software
compatibility: This
service is only compatible with Windows
(98 SE, ME, NT, 2000 and XP).
Member
Benefits: Other than
the 14 day free trial offer, there are no other known benefits
to using the RealRhapsody
service.
Cost:
Purchase/Registration:
RealRhapsody
is currenlty only
accepting credit card payments.
Product/Service
Costs: RealRhapsody
offers 1 package consisting of unlimited
access to a library of 700,000+ songs for $9.95 per month.
This provides you with the ability to listen to as many
songs as you wish on your computer, however burning
them to CD will cost an extra 79 cents per song.
Exchange/Refund
Policy: RealRhapsody
offers
a 14 day free tial period,
however once the trial period has expired your credit card
will be charged $9.95 per month, at the beginning of each
month. You can cancel at any time, however you
will not be reimbursed for any portion of the month paid
in advance, and you MUST call them to cancel your
account....they do not provide an electronic cancellation
process.
Support:
RealRhapsody
offers varying levels of customer support, from an online
knowledgebase (with a large library of FAQs) to email support.
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