Digitalway MPIO FL100 128 MB MP3 Player

by Digitalway

Product Details

Product Manual [1.29mb PDF]

• Item Weight: 1.4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00008V6NI
• Item model number: FL100/128MB
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (220 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,504 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Capacity: 128 MB

From the Manufacturer

Meet the Winner of iF Design Award 2003 and Innovation Design Award 2003. The FL100 with hi-tech mirror finished sleek design has many great functions crammed into its small body.

7 Pre-configured Equalizer Modes and 5 Bands
Customize Sound with 7 EQ Modes (Flat, Pop, Jazz, Classic, Vocal, Dynamic Bass) and Custom 5 Band User EQ settings.

4 Line Full Wide Graphic LCD
  Shows you all the information you need such as scrolling ID3 tag artist/song/album name, battery status, track duration, settings and so on. The cobalt blue Led Backlight is useful in dark environments.

Powerful MPIO Manager2
Includes ID3 tag editor, PC Audio function, Intro logo editor, FM Station editor, Skin Switch function, size control function, and auto Firmware upgrade function. User-friendly interface adds ease of use.

Fully Compatible with Windows XP
  The MPIO FL-100 drivers are authenticated by Microsoft for use with XP.

Integrated FM Radio with Recording Function/Voice Recorder with Built in MIC
  Record directly from the built-in FM radio or the built-in MIC.

SD (Security Digital)/ Multi Media Card (MMC) Slot for Memory Expansion
Memory cards up to 256 MB.

Multi-Format Player
  Supports MP3, WMA, MPEG-2, -2.5; ASF.

Latest RealOne Player Included on the Setup CD
Famous multimedia plug-in by Real Networks co which features MP3 encoding (320 Mbps), animation replay, PC audio, CD-R writing, and Internet Radio.

16 pi Hi-Fi Sound Earphones
Provide fuller fidelity and better bass.

Multi-Language Support
Both the player and the remote are capable of displaying characters in most common languages including English, Korean, Japanese and Chinese.

Firmware Upgrade
Upgrade your MPIO with newly released firmware to evolve.

11 Hours Non-Stop Playing Time
On 1 AAA Alkaline battery.

Unlimited Folder Function
Create folders by Artist, Genre, and Album etc.

Powerful Search Function
Navigate other files while playing a file.

Data Storage Function
  Equivalent to 88 floppy disks.

Included Accessories
User's manual, 16 PI High Efficiency Earbuds, CD-ROM with MPIO Manager2 and RealOne player, AAA battery, USB cable, Carrying Case, Hand Strap.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MPIO FL-100 MP3 Player (256MB version), May 2, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Digitalway MPIO FL100 128 MB MP3 Player (Electronics)

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.

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AWESOME MP3 player - great for gym, September 18, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Digitalway MPIO FL100 128 MB MP3 Player (Electronics)

I did I did allot of research and read allot of reviews before I bought the mpio and couldn't be happier. Five minutes out of the box I had it loaded from my work computer (win2000) and the software installed just as easily from my laptop (winxp-pro). The transfer software is very easy to use.

The sound is great. It played MP3, WMF and MPG audio. The sound quality was far better than I expected. The ear buds are very nice and work well at the gym. The radio tuner really surprised me too. It picks more stations than my car or desktop radio with amazing clarity. Perfect for the gyms TV stations. It gets all the volume and more than I need. I couldn't imagine listening at it's highest level. The equalizer seems to do a decent job too for such compact device.

It comes with a clip carrying case that hooked tightly to my shorts and I had no problems with it at the gym during either cardio or weight training. Aside from being great looking the design is extremely functional. I could adjust volume and switch titles without looking the controls. The volume has different contours for up and down. The problem others reported with the pouch hitting the volume button has been addressed. It fits perfectly in the case with no adjustments.

I went for the 128 because I felt I could invest in expansion if I needed it. As it is this holds more than enough room for trips to the gym or walks with my dog. I store my music on my computer, personally I would rather have a compact device than some bulky thing.

For the price the quality is overwhelming. I have shown it to people at work and friends. 2 are ordering 1 for themselves.

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite simply, the best MP3 player on the market., November 13, 2003

By 

Lorin Kee (Thompson's Station, TN United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Digitalway MPIO FL100 512 MB Silver Titanium MP3 Player (Electronics)

This player met all of my qualifications:
#1. It's very small. Inside the included belt clip it looks exactly like a pager. You could easily keep it in your pocket or wear it around your neck with the include strap. For me the IPOD wasn't even an option because I wanted my MP3 player to be pocket-sized.

#2 There's no hard drive. The FL100 uses flash memory so there's no chance of skipping during exercise, etc. I don't care what the Mac folks say- if it has a hard drive it CAN skip.

#3 The FL100 has lots of memory. In researching this product, it seems that 512MB is about as big as you can get in flash memory. Sure, the IPOD has more, but I normally don't have more than about 5 or 6 CDs in regular rotation. However, if you need more you can always expand memory using the SD/MMC memory card slot. I haven't shopped around very much for memory cards, but I know that the capacity goes up to at least 512 MB, meaning you could at the very least double your memory to over a Gig.

I use the included Real One software to rip CDS at a variable bit rate (128 average). With better headphones I might notice degradation in quality, but so far I have no complaints. Even classical sounds great! Real One seems to be drawing from a better internet database than others (like MediaPlayer). I have yet to find a CD on which it can't find title/track info. Files are extracted into folders: Artist > Album > Track # and Title. You then use the MPIO manager software to download these folders directly to the device.

The architecture of the FL100 is superb. Browse through titles while listening, display titles or MP3 tag IDs, set repeats, delete tracks directly from the device, display 1 of 2 different peak meters while track plays, and so on. The graphic EQ presets are not very good unfortunately. But you can manually set the EQ to your liking. The voice recorder is fun, but even better is the ability to record FM radio. I'm a talk radio fanatic so this is something I use frequently. You can choose high or low quality recording. With only about 40MB free, I recorded about 3 hours of talk on low quality.

I do wish this device had the ability to function like a thumb drive in explorer. Unfortunately all data must be uploaded/downloaded through MPIO manager. Perhaps this could be changed in a future firmware update- I don't know.

Lastly, I would recommend picking up some AAA rechargeable batteries. I use my player all day and burn through about 1 battery a day.

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