The i-MPIA is a solid and surprisingly light MP3 player, voice recorder and storage device. Read our Australian review.At 88.3 x 33 x 14 mm, the i-MPIA 4000 is larger than many solid state MP3 players, such as the Nomad Muvo NX. It's still not up to the meaty size of the Acer MagicDrive however, and it arguably makes better use of its expanded size, including very easy to use controls and a large and easy to decipher LCD screen. It weighs in at 30g without its single AAA battery installed. For a unit of this size you almost expect it to weigh more; when you pick it up it's a touch surprising how light it really is.
We were critical of eFX's DMR-1635 voice recorder for having a difficult interface, owing to its single menu button, and the i-MPIA 4000 manages a much better job of things. It has a single dedicated play/stop button on the face of the unit, a record button and hold switch on the right hand side and a rocker button/dial on the left hand side that's used for menu selection and track skipping. Alongside the rocker are two headphone sockets, one of which can also be used with the supplied line in socket (for legitimate recording purposes only, naturally) or for dual music listening, if that's your thing. Inbetween the dual sockets lie volume up and down buttons and a flimsy rubber cover that protects the USB cable socket. Like its voice recording brethren, the i-MPIA 4000 uses a dedicated USB cable rather than a USB plug to connect to a PC, which rather increases its carrying bulk.
The supplied Manager Plus software is also somewhat reminiscent of the DMR-1635's SkyManager software, in that it's not terribly well laid out or visually pleasing. Thankfully, you can skip using Manager Plus for everything but firmware upgrades, as once the i-MPIA 4000's driver is installed it appears as a removable drive that can accept any normal file copying routine you care to name. One caveat here, though; on our test system running Windows 2000 it incorrectly identified the best driver as the Windows 98 version, which wouldn't read properly. Manually changing the driver fixed the problem, but that's a hassle we suspect most users could do without. Running it on a Windows XP Pro system realised the system's driverless install claims neatly, so this may only be an issue for Windows 2000 users.
In terms of musical playback the i-MPIA 4000 supports MP3, WMA and ASF audio files with a choice of five graphical equaliser presets that can be activated by pressing in the selection rocker when a file is playing. The unit also doubles as a voice recorder with up to 34 hours of recording time. It's capable of recording external audio sources -- including its internal FM radio -- directly to MP3 format at a variety of bitrates, up to 320kbps. It has 128MB of internal storage capacity (eFX also sells a 256MB variant), and like every other drive on the market can be used to transfer files at will.
Our biggest concern with the i-MPIA is that comparatively its battery life doesn't really live up to expectations. eFX rates it as being capable of up to 9 hours of playtime, but at least with the supplied battery our system conked out at just over five hours of MP3 playback. In recording mode, it's rated for seven hours of recording time; presumably the 34 hours of recording time listed is in terms of memory capacity, not real battery life.
Between the i-MPIA 4000 and the company's own Voice Recorder DMR-1635 the choice is fairly obvious; while the i-MPIA 4000 does cost more, it's a more capable and easier to handle player. The driverless nature of its install puts it well ahead of the DMR-1635, but against the established 'name brand' competition? We'd still plump for the Creative Nomad MuVo NX, if only for the size benefits and the fact that it comes with a dedicated USB plug rather than needing a cable, but if you're in the market for a unit that also includes FM radio playback, the differences between the i-MPIA 4000 and the Acer MagicDrive are very slight indeed.
eFX i-MPIA 4000 MP3 Player
Company: eFX
Price: AU$299
Distributor: Selected resellers
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Im considering purchasing the EFX I-MPIA 5000
I was wondering about the sound quality in playback, FM radio and voice recording? How is it compared to the Creative Muvo TX FM?
Also Im concerned if the USB1.1 connection is too slow and especially what the real battery life is for playback and recording (official figures is 8 hrs and 6, respectively)?
Would anyone who owns or had used this player firsthand please comment?