Simple, small, and high quality...or so I thought...
Written: Dec 21 '03 (Updated Feb 23 '05)
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Pros: Size, sound quality, FM radio and file storage
Cons: Headset, manual - It died!
The Bottom Line: Compact, powerful, able to store 60-70 songs, with quality sound and FM radio. - UPDATE: Don't recommend any longer due to poor service!
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| jlandis44's Full Review: Mpio FY200 (256 MB) MP3 Player |
I decided that I wanted an MP3 player since I recently began a job that required me to travel cross-country periodically. I felt that something like this would be much easier to deal with than a CD player and CDs. All I had to do was figure out what the story was regarding MP3 players. I had heard of them, and even seen them, but never gave much thought to them due to no real need. I figured that I'm rather tech savvy and could figure it out though! So, I read a little on the internet as to what to expect and what to look for, and off I went to the store.
I ended up at Best Buy (one of my favorite places in the whole world!) and noticed that they had a pretty wide selection of players. I wanted something small, yet able to hold a few hours of music...enough to last the 5 hour plane ride while not repeating songs. That led me to the conclusion that I needed something with at least 256 MB. I also didn't want to spend more than about $200. I really wasn't looking for something that would give me my entire music library. Just sounded like I'd spend too much time dealing with uploading and organizing music. For my initial download, this player held approximately 65 songs. Less than I had hoped, but still quite adequate.
The design of this unit is actually quite nice. It reminds me of a disposable lighter! It weighs about the same and its about the same size as one. It has 4 buttons, and most of the time you only use 2 of them. Once you read the manual and learn how to control the player, it really is quite simple (although be forewarned that the manual is obviously written by someone who has English as a second language! There are places where bad grammar actually affects the meaning of the sentences!). The main button on the front of the unit is on/off/pause while the main button on the side is a joystick-like button that also acts as a normal push-button. This allows control of song selection and menu options. It actually has a rather extensive menu so configuration is diverse. The other two buttons are a record button and a hold button. Admittedly, I haven't exactly figured out the usage of the hold button, but it doesn't seem to be necessary for what I do. Record is for when using the unit for voice (or other) recording features. The supplied headphones have good sound quality, but I really do not like their design. They have some extra loops in the wires that are supposed to be used behind your head to hold the wires in place while the earpieces are out of your ears. Quite frankly, they get in the way and spend more time twisted than useful! The overall wire length is too short as well. I found that I had to have the unit on my shirt pocket or lapel or the wires wouldn't reach my ears. I'm also not a big fan of the "inner-ear-canal" earplugs - mostly because I find they are difficult to keep in my ears - but that could be more due to my ears than anything. I like the feeling that the sound really is all I hear from these ear-plugs though.
To run the unit requires one AAA battery. It allows for up to 11 hours of playing on one battery, and the unit has a battery meter on the display that gives a general feeling for battery discharge. The power provided is ample to run the unit with a menu system of backlighting, and to powerfully drive the headset. I am quite impressed by what this unit can do on a AAA battery for 11 hours!
The built-in FM radio feature is a nice addition as well. I found it a little difficult to set the stations at first (mostly because of the poor descriptions in the manual!). But, it allowed for 20 preset stations which is more than most cars allow! Signal quality was quite good considering the small size of the unit.
The software supplied with the unit allows for easy download and control of your songs on the unit while connected to a PC. I found the software installation to be easy, with the functionality equally as easy (I didn't even read a manual). It allows you to organize your music into folders as desired and download the whole mess when ready! It gives you pre-knowledge of how many of your songs will fit on the player so there is no guessing. Overall, a very clean piece of software.
The unit also allows itself to be used as a file-storage device, but requires a firmware upgrade to do so (available now through the product's website). I cannot comment on this feature as I have not used it since I already own a portable USB flash device for file transport so I have no need for the feature.
Overall, I think this unit is perfect for someone like me who just wants to use it for short bursts on a monthly basis. If you are someone who will use this unit daily, you will find that you will spend too much time changing your music lest you get tired of things. In other words, I don't recommend this for someone who spends 2 hours per day on a train and wants to use it for everyday commuting. I suspect you would want to change music every three days and that could get annoying. But, for someone like me who uses it for a monthly cross-country flight and the occasional exercise session, it is perfect. It is light, versatile, and long-lasting.
UPDATE:
OK, maybe I jumped the gun on this review initially. In the past two weeks, the player stopped functioning properly. Every time I turned it on, the song would start playing, then it would abruptly stop and turn itself off. I determined it to be a corrupted song and cleared out the contents of the player and reloaded. This fixed the problem...temporarily. About two weeks later a similar thing occurred.
The player would come on and not actually begin playing music but just leave the backlight on and freeze. The only way to turn the unit off was to remove the battery. I tried reloading the songs to no avail. I then reformatted the flash memory...no affect either. Finally, I loaded the updated firmware only to have the player stop communicating with my PC! I emailed the support email address for the unit and have received no response in over 3 weeks. It is still dead, and due to the lack of response from the company I will not purchase another unit from them.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 180.00
Recommended for: Athletes - Lightweight and Portable, Perfect for the Gym
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Epinions.com ID:
jlandis44
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Member: Jon Landis
Location: Boyds, MD
Reviews written: 38
Trusted by: 2 members
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