e.Digital Corporation (fka EDIG)

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Amazing June 09, 2003

Reviewer: trevor lowing from Newport News, VA United States

At about half the size of a small deck of cards the MPIO FL100 is pretty small. Light too, even with the AAA battery it weighs almost nothing. The inteface is intuitive. The MPIO Manager software makes transferring files simple. Windows Media files are also supported.
The FM reciever is outstanding. In my office building this little device gets better reception than my Sony portable stereo. The FM tuner has a seek feature also.

The electronics inside the device are manufactured by Samsung, but what makes this thing so nice is that attention to detail and the software and firmware support provided by MPIO. Unlike many small electronics that tout the ability to firmware upgrade, MPIO actually follows through. Currently you can update both the Media Player software and device firmare for tweaks and new features.

The only weak points to this MP3 player are the earphones and the LCD dimming too fast. The headphones are OK, but seem a little cheap. Whenever you press a control the LCD backlight comes on and goes off too fast. There is a backlight setting in the firmware settings, but is only turns the backlight feature on or off.

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38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

MPIO FL-100 MP3 Player (256MB version) May 02, 2003

Reviewer: A guest from Saint Paul, MN United States

Every dedicated bicycler and gym fanatic needs one of these amazing players. These are the best-kept secret in the MP3 player market. I was unable to find them at any retail locations in Minnesota (not even found at the Mall of America). So I was hesitant to make the online purchase, but I'm glad I did. The player is unbelievably lightweight. And although it's small it manages to feel relatively sturdy due to the metal construction on the back and sides of the unit. The inclusion of the SD memory card expansion is one of the main reasons to buy this unit. The included software MPIO manager works well, however the inclusion of Real Player is probably a poor choice since Real Player (aka Real One) is extremely invasive on any computer. The good news is that you can use any number of other programs to convert files to MP3 or even use the built-in Windows Media Audio (WMA) converter with Windows XP. Although it was generous of them to include the black leather-like case I had to cut a hole in the side so that I could use the volume controls. Had I not cut this hole, the volume button would be constantly pressed in. The included ear-bud headphones are pretty weak but oddly comfortable in my ears. They have no bass. I ordered some Sony NDR-E888LP ear-buds to compensate for this and they worked great but are less comfortable. Using open ear headphones while exercising might be a mistake with this unit since the internal amp seems slightly underpowered. I've used Sony's street-style headphones and they work well if I'm not moving too quickly. With ear-buds the volume is more than substantial for biking at 25mph+. The RANDOM function seems to play songs randomly from the memory card and then randomly from the internal memory, it won't mix the randomization. This could be fixed in a future firmware upgrade. The small gripes I have about the player are really insignificant but a review should be critical. The style can't be beat, the blue backlit LCD is easy to read and it looks fantastic. The 'lack' of a remote control is actually a great thing for me on a mountain bike. The last thing I want is another proprietary point of failure and some additional weighted wired device slamming all over the place. The FM Radio works perfectly for me until battery life is dwindling. It even works in my office where some mini-systems won't pick up similar stations. I get about 9 to 10 hours from one Energizer Titanium AAA battery. Using a rechargeable GP 800 mAh NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) battery I get about 7 to 9 hours depending on the operating temperature. I purchased the 256 MB version and recommend spending the extra cash for the additional internal memory despite the nearly unlimited SD expansion capabilities.

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Digitalway FL100

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=sc_pgc_c_3_0/601-5055502-9343333?asin=B00008V6NI