Rating: 
Summary: Very Easy to Use
Review: This is my first MP3 player. I bought it because of the large capacity and the lack of a disc drive. It's very small (pager size) and does an awful lot on a single AAA battery. Overall I'm very happy with it. Both the player and the accompanying software are easy enough to figure out without much time spent reading the manual. The sound is impressive even with the original headphones they provide (based on MP3 files sampled at 192K). A couple thoughts:1. The carrying case is so tight it's hard to slide the unit into and out of it. And it doesn't quite fit right. And the carrying strap is a nuisance to put on and take off.
2. The access doors to the battery and expansion card slots are a bit flimsy.
3. The install CD worked fine on Windows 2000 but was a bit flakey on XP professional.
4. The unit is assembled in China, not Korea.
5. Too bad the USB interface isn't 2.0 with it's faster transfer rate. I rate it just shy of 5 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Not ready for prime time
Review: I purchased the FL100 128 Meg version and it wouldn't install on any of my computers (Win 2K or WinXP), giving an error message that reads: "The installation failed because a function driver was not specified for this device instance."
Since neither a Windows XP nor a Windows 2000 operating system works with this unit, it is basically a very expensive portable FM radio with recording functions. I went to the web page and found the help there to be unusable since the contents seemed to be Japanese instructions translated directly to English. Included in the site were such gems as: "Digitalway considers MP3 player as an audio system. When small part is selected, the most important thing is a sound. You can find the result in FL100. 7 type EQ mode (Flat, Pop, Rock, Jazz, Classic, Vocal, Dynamic Bass) and 5 band user EQ setting mode are provided. Please select EQ mode you want. If not, set it up." There was a firmware download, but there were no instructions on how to install/implement it. Non of the instructions even mentioned device driver problems. I attempted contacting Digitalway (the manufacturer), but as of yet they have not responded to any of my emails.
Rating: 
Summary: MPIO model FY200 with 512M memory
Review: This is a review for FY200 model with 512M. I bought this one mainly because I am a lazy bum who hates untangling earphone wires. You can wear FY200 as a necklace, the earphones are hanging with necklace nicely and safely. It's a very nice, ergonomic design. Sound quality is very nice. I like the sound quality of FY200 even better than that of the new mini iPod. There is only one problem though. It's very small, light, and has only three buttons to operate. But there are so many things that it can do and so many options. So, how would you manipulate all those using only three buttons ? That's a challenge a user has to overcome, and it takes time and possibly frustration (if you are a casual user). It can record from line-in, record FM, and record voice. Voice recording has some different VOR options. For foreign language study, there is "study" option which plays slower than normal. For line-in and voice recording there is an adjustment option for input level. There is an option for equalizer settings, and so on... So, how would you do all these things using only three buttons and a small screen ? First, I was really impressed that MPIO was able to squeeze all those things into this small, light, accessary style device. But for the casual users to exploit all those functions without difficulty, it requires more human engineering. In my opinion, they did it well. But it still requires weeks of practice and playing with the device. Regarding the installation, I didn't have any problem at all. I am using Windows/XP. I opened the product, installed the software, and it was working. The intial product doesn't have the USB disk functionality. So, I upgraded the firmware. Upgrading the FY200 to USB disk will cost some 20 Mbytes in case of 512M byte version, probably because of some temporary buffer required by USB disk specification. I was able to upgrade both firmware and Manager from MPIO site with no problem. Now, everything works fine. This device is a gem. It's located on necklace, looks cute, small, and it's light. It's sound quality is very good. I can use it as a temporary storage disk. I'm very happy with this device. Regarding customer service. If you go to http://www.mpio.com and goto the specific product, then you will find "Review" on-line discussion. If you ask questions in there, you will probably find most of the answeres. And I'm sure that most of the problems are answered in there already. I would recommend this device very highly, if you are a user who knows what you are doing. In that case, you will be able to fully exploit this device. If you are just a casual user, then use it just for MP3/WMA player. It's very simple to use it as a player.
Rating:
Summary: I love this mp3 player!
Review: I've been using this mp3 player for about 4 months now, and I haven't had any problems. Reading the manual (Korean to English translation) was a little hard at times, but it's not that hard to figure things out. I usually wear it while working out, and it performs flawlessly. However, if you plan to wear it while running, you may want to get some different head phones. The stock ear buds are nice and comfortable, but they will not stay in place for long if you move your head too much (like looking left and right.) It doesn't come with an arm band, but I prefer to use the leather case and belt clip. Clipping it onto your shorts keeps it out of the rain and out of your way. The FM tuner and voice recorder come in handy. The voice recorder is best used just to record normal speech. The sound quality isn't very good if you try to record a live band. The case does seem to depress the volume up button, but it isn't enough to actually change the volume, at least with my mp3 player. Oh yeah, it looks shiny and awesome!
Rating:
Summary: WOW ! AWESOME !!!
Review: I just purchased this product primarily based upon the
other customer reviews and comments here on Amazon...
and I'm glad I did. You can install the Driver Software from the CD-ROM
and actually have music downloaded and playable in less than
10 minutes. It downloads BIG music files FAST !
10 MB songs in under 30 seconds. Very impressive.
Unfortunately, most of my music was recorded in
another format using RealJukebox's native file ATRAC-8
or something and so I'm going to have to re-record my songs in MP3 format in order to
download and play them. NO BIG DEAL.
I recommend doing this BEFORE you receive your MPIO
player...because you'll want to use it right away after
you hear it ! It's sleek, stylish, easy to navigate,
(very similar to a cell phone menu)
It appears they've added some equalizer settings
(7 in all I think) and additionally you can go in and
tweak the various Hz frequency settings INDIVIDUALLY
if these settings don't suit you.
Additionally, it appears they have corrected the plastic
hole in the carrying case over the volume control.
Mine fits fine. I think the sound is wonderful...with plenty of output power.
You may want to get a different headset for it,
earbuds have never been a big favorite for me.
One reviewer commented that he thought the sound was
flat with no bass...but it's only a little flat if
you leave the Equalizer setting
on the factory default which IS FLAT. Play around with the
various Equalizer settings until you get it to sound the
way you want. I like to listen to Dance Music which often has been remixed
and has very long extended versions resulting in large songs
and large file sizes on the order
of 10 MB each, so I DEFINITELY recommend getting the 256 MB
version of this player if you listen to large tracks or
just generally want to download a lot of music to go ! I LOVE the fact that if I fill up the original 256 MB internally,
I can slip in a card and add another 256 MB,
for 512 MB of memory!
You can keep a lot of standard album music on this player. The only real negative I've experienced is that the
User's Manual is poorly written as another reviewer commented.
It's almost as if they had someone in Korea translate it to
English and they did a poor job with the grammar
and the organization of the manual ....
but still easy enough to figure out.
The software is really self-explanatory as is the player itself. Other than that, I only have good things to say about
this product. I would definitely recommend it !
Rating: 
Summary: Good while it lasted (buyer beware)
Review: I bought this player about 6 months ago. Initially very impressed by sleek design and convenience of a small, lightweight player. Sound quality was fine to me, though I don't profess to be an audiophile. A few weeks back the player stopped working. Electronics and such seem fine from outside (i.e. player turns on and shows a song "playing") but absolutely no sound coming out. Within the past week I have left messages with Digitalway customer service and/or technical support via phone and email, but have yet to hear back - not even a confirmation of receiving said calls or emails. If you buy this player, be sure you know what you are getting into. Try calling their customer service line - listed on the website (www.mpio.com), it's almost comical. I spent ~$150 on a player that lasted 6 months and am now an unhappy customer. (If I do happen to hear back from Digitalway in the next week or so I will update this review accordingly)
Rating:
Summary: Finally....
Review: I finally found an MP3 player that could replace my Sony S2 AM/FM radio. The MP3 comes in real handy whenever I'm in the part of the gym that has bad reception and the FM radio is great when i don't want a repeat of my MP3 tracks. After hearing each song 2-3 times with your routine workout, it kind of loses its luster. Two features I haven't really used are the external memory slot and the voice recorder. Haven't had a chance to buy an external memory card. The two problem that people complained about to which I concur are 1) the battery has a low life expectency and 2) the sound quality is so-so. First off, i read some comments about the volume not being loud enough or that the sound quality was below average. The reason, in my opinion, is the lack of bass. I've even switched to a pair of high quality Sony headphones that's suppose to increase the bass. In addition, I even adjusted the preset graphic equalizers. Didn't seem to make much of a difference. This leads to our second problem. Because I constantly need to turn up the volume, almost to the max, it drains the battery at a much quicker rate. For gym use, with the volume in the low 30 (range being 0-40), I get a battery life of about 4 hours. But while in the office, with the volume at 7 or 8, I can obtain a battery life of up to 9 or 10 hours. But with that kind of volume in the gym, you might as well listen to the barely audible sound coming out of the gym's overhead speakers. Overall, this unit is great if you need an MP3 player and a FM radio with an external memory slot. I'm hoping to have a different memory card for each genre of music in the future. If you aren't extremely picky about sound quality, then I would highly recomment this unit. By the way, it looks great too and clips right on to my existing arm band that came with my Sony S2. One other recommendation I would also make is to go out and get some rechargable batteries if you do buy this unit.
Rating:
Summary: A great mp3 player at a great price
Review: I just bought the mpio FL 100 256mb to replace my Rio S10. I was quite happy with the S10 although it only had 64mb memory, no radio and a few idiosyncracies such as not being able to delete songs directly from the player (instead of having to use music manager software).
I am very pleased with my purchase. The fl100 is just plain sexy with its mirrored face plate. the controls are small but seem to work well. the multi-function buttons enable the player to have a lot of control with a minimum of size. The battery life is probably in the 8-10 hour range for me. My Rio got nearly 25 hours with a single AA battery, the fl100 uses a AAA battery thus not as much juice available, but still respectable I think. the fl100 is so light and compact in size you can carry it virtually anywhere. the included leather case with belt clip is quite nice but has one MAJOR flaw. there is a clear plastic side panel which completely covers the volume control and the menu button. the result is that the volume can change on you when the player is in the case...either full volume or no volume. this can be circumvented by carefully stretching the case a little bit after you've put the player in it and then using the lock switch once you've set your volume. It's too bad that digitalway didn't design the case better because that is really the only major flaw with the unit. But wait, there's more... The manual is so poorly written it is laughable. I can't even understand what it is saying much of the time. I normally don't even read manuals but this player is a bit complex to figure out without some assistance from a manual. Even now, I'm not sure what a couple features are supposed to do because I can't discern a difference whether they are enabled or not. for instance there is a system setting for "fade in/fade out". I would assume that if enabled this is supposed to gradually fade in and out of the song that is currently playing...but I do not notice a difference is this is enabled or not. Also the function of the 'study mode" is to actually enable you speed up or slow down the material that you are listening to, sort of like a tempo control. It's particularly useful for listening to the spoken word. I like this player a lot. I wanted a player that had decent battery life, FM radio, good amount of built-in storage but also expandable memory. The fl100 has all this and more. I had considered the iriver players because of their small size and apparent durability, but the non-expandability of them turned me off. It does take a bit of time and effort to learn how to use all the features of the fl100. I had a really hard time figuring out how to create folders of music and navigate between them. Another thing is that Mac users can use iTunes for music management but creating folders on the mp3 player is not intuitive. I would rate the durability of this unit as very good in the case and average out of the case. It is very light, but if dropped could get dented pretty easily. The Rio S10 on the other hand has a padded protective clam shell case which is excellent for durability and the player itself is plastic which would help protect it in falls I think. Motto is, don't drop it.
Rating:
Summary: The worst customer service ever.
Review: I purchased my FL100 a few months ago. The performance was fine, I downloaded a debugged version of their software off the internet.
However, I recently went on a business trip and neglected to take along the USB cable that comes with the player. Unfortunately MPIO uses a proprietary cable that I can't seem to find anywhere.
When I contacted MPIO Customer Service about ordering a replacement cable, they never got back to me.
Rating:
Summary: Great Player
Review: I love this little MP3 player. It is the only one w 1/2GB of memory built in, has a radio, and is EXPANDABLE!!! With 1GB card now available you can create your own private mixes on the cards and pop one in and you are set for a weekend. I bought this for my loooong commutes into DC. It is small compact and very easy to use!!
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