The D-Link DMP-100 MP3 Player
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Features
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The
Cover Box
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- Built-in 32MB
memory (expandable to 64MB)
- SmartMedia Card
slot (16MB/32MB)
- 62g (without
batteries)
- 63mm x 85 mm
x 17.5 mm (W x H x D)
- Two AAA size
general/rechargeable
- Signal to Noise
Ratio 90dB
- Output Frequency
Range 20Hz ~ 20KHz
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D-Link Corporation is definitely not the new
kid on the block, since 1986, they were always known as the leading manufacturer
of networking, connectivity and Data Communication products. Just last year,
D-link saw a big opportunity to enter today’s Computer Multimedia Dimension.
Since 1999, D-link manufactured several interesting award winning audio video
products as their USB Radio, USB Video Capturing solution and Digital Web
Cameras. D-link continues to offer the best value in the connectivity market
today by combining quality products with affordable prices.
With the recent MP3 impact on the music industry,
several multimedia companies decided to take the wild ride on manufacturing
their own MP3 players. One of the first ones were introduced very late in
1998. This little device capable of full length MP3 decompression amazed people
all over the globe. Unfortunately, its overwhelming price tag limited these
devices for people with the money.
Taking a look at the present, these devices matured
a lot and at the same time dropped weight of their price, making them somehow
more affordable to a much greater public. Of course technology is not the
only cause these devices are becoming more and more attractive to the public,
a big play on that is today’s competition. Just two years ago there was two
companies that took their chances on start producing these players, today
there are over 20 companies all over the world trying to compete with each
other.
Today we will be working with D-Link’s DMP-100
MP3 Player, this is our fourth MP3 Player review here at the Target PC Publishing.
The D-Link DMP-100 is D-Link’s latest MP3 solution. An identical player is
sold by Pine, they call it the D’music MP3 Player. They share the same design,
and identical specifications; both companies are working with the same OEM.
Technical Impressions
Judging by the looks of
the DMP-100, this device is by far more attractive than the Outrageous MP3
player we reviewed a few weeks back; the front of the unit features all of
the main functions of the unit. The most appealing part is the reasonable
34mm-x 13mm LCD screen providing up to 24 characters. The LCD is playing a
big role in the player as most of the information and configuration is done
via. It displays the information of a MP3 file that is being played, shows
different preset modes with graphs, the track, duration of the song and several
other features. Basically 90% of the features are done via the LCD. Here is
a little table showing all the icons (messages) that can de displayed at the
top of the MP3 description.
Looking left we see the mini microphone used for voice recording, the DMP-100
provides up to 2 hours and 15 minutes of recording time using the standard
32MB built-in Media.
If you look a little lower, you see the
joystick styled audio controls. It includes the Play/Pause button, Previous/next
(Rewind / Fast Forward) and at last followed by the stop button. The middle
one is used to turn on and off the player. Going a little bit lower, we see
4 different buttons (menu, mode, sel, eq) The menu is bringing up the control
panel showing the remaining memory, uploaded files, serial number of the unit
and the delete function when an MP3 music is playing. The mode button lets
you chose your current audio source; mp3 or voice recording. The Sel button
also knows as Select/Repeat has two different functions. In the menu it works
as select and when playing music, you can specify different repeating options
(5). To end, the EQ button is the Equalizer options for sound enhancements;
more on that later.
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Main
View
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Back
View
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Left
Side
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Right
Side
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Top
View
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The left side of the unit features another four
buttons; the two upper ones are the volume controllers. The third button is
marked as A-B; it moves a song about five sec back. The fourth and last is
the Record function which is used for voice recording.
Going to the right side, we see the Hold Switch;
it disables all the keys of the device, this will get in handy when doing
activities as the player will never get interrupted. A little lower, the I/O
Data port is situated, used for data transfers with your PC. To finish it,
at the very button there is a little door, it’s used for the batteries. The
DMP-100 uses two x AAA batteries, which by the way are already bundled with
the unit. The slider for ejecting the SmartMedia Card is located on the rear
face of the Player.
The top side of the unit comports the Memory
Card I/O. The DMP-100 player is coming with a 32mb media built in the PCB.
For those that 32Mb won’t do the job you can upgrade it to 64Mb by purchasing
an extra 3.3v memory card, D-link sells that option for $79USD.
