Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Goodbye iPod!, 23 Feb 2008
I was recently looking at various mp3 players to purchase, and having never liked Apple products (I've had tons of problems with them before, so there was no way I was going to purchase an iPod), I had narrowed my search down to this Samsung and the Sony NW-ZA818. I must say that I was tempted by the iPod touch too, but I was never going to shell out 200 quid on an mp3 player just because it has wifi support-- on the basis that I will have access to a computer in most places that I will actually be looking to use wifi. In the end I went with the Samsing because of the bigger screen and the fact that I found the Sony product ugly (despite the fact that I'm sure it's a great player). I have to say that I'm really glad I made that choice.
The YP's screen is really clear, the sound quality is great and you can edit the sound options on the YP to your liking. I have to say that the touch screen was a bit fiddly at first but after a while it seems to warm up to you. You can easily add music to the player via drag n' drop, or you can sync with Windows Media Player-- so that's not an issue either. You have to use Samsung's proprietary software to transfer video, though I've never really found that to be an issue. What's really great is that, unlike most multimedia players, this one supports a wide range of video formats-- including xvid and divx.
Other little perks include that the YP has play/pause and volume buttons on the side (have fast forward/rewind would have been nice too, but it's a minor annoyance) and it also has bluetooth (I don't really use it, but some folks might). Samsung also recently added support for Text files, which can be really handy at times so kudos to them. The FM radio makes for a nice change to my usual tracks every once in a while, and you can record the radio too. The menus are also really intuitive, so it's an easy product to navigate through. Finally, again I have to give Samsing a pat on the back because the firmware updates on the YP are really good. They actually give the product proper enhancements and Samsung has done a good job of actually listening to complaints that people have had with the player and resolving them with the updates.
Bottom line-- great player (if only they had models with more memory, then it would be pretty much perfect).
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great little gadget, 31 Dec 2007
I bought it a few days ago and the price is very reasonable, especially compared to the iPod Touch which, like ALL Apple products, is scandalously overpriced in my opinion. It also has a longer battery life than the iPod and although it doesn't have wi-fi capabilities, it has bluetooth which is very handy, and an FM radio which offers an alternative to listen to.
The player itself looks great, its light and is actually fairly easy to operate. There are a number of different settings which give you a lot of options for personalising it, some being better than others. The touchscreen takes a bit of getting used to. Of course I had never used one like it before, but I soon got the hang of it. The secret is to be slow and delicate with your fingers.
One or two little niggling complaints. The software is easy enough to use but is unbelievably slow. Maybe its just my PC, but it takes an awfully long time to upload music onto it. Also, there are some albums where the artist deliberately doesn't put a pause between the tracks, such as Enter Shikari's "Take to the Skies" album. Basically, one track merges into another and its quite a common and effective technique. However, the YP-P2 puts pauses in where they shouldn't be. Its not a massive problem but it means the album doesn't sound like its supposed to and it sounds like its jumping. Its a big oversight by Samsung I think. I can't find a way of stopping either. By the way, if anyone knows how to stop this, I would greatly appreciate you letting me know... cheers.
Apart from that, its a great little thing and I would thoroughly rcommend it to anybody looking for great sound quality, stunning good looks and reliability and practicality in spades. Its also worth investing in a protective case and an AC charger I think.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A few minor complaints, but overall pretty good, 19 Jan 2008
This is a reasonably good MP3 (and video) player, which is in direct competition with the "iPod Touch". My first impressions of it as I took it out of the box were positive... its a nice size and weight, with good styling. Perhaps not as slick looking as its Apple competitor, but it still holds its own adequately. I don't really use the video capabilities, but the pre-loaded ones that I watched were displayed very nicely. And the sound quality (as with the MP3 playback) is top-notch. A few minor gripes, however: The software that comes with it is rather cumbersome. It wouldn't allow me to manually rename tracks before importing them (which is easily possible on Apple's iTunes software), and then to make matters worse, it wouldn't allow me to import more than one track with the same information. What I ended up doing was using Windows Media Player to rip my CDs to my computer's hard-drive, and then importing them from there. Kudos to Samsung for allowing the option to sync the MP3 player with your Windows library, but personally, I prefer to edit my playlist manually, and thereby keep my computer uncluttered by deleting the files once installed on the MP3 player. I find that I have very few problems when using the Windows software instead of the Samsung software. However, one problem I did find is that the MP3 files are sometimes listed weirdly on the device itself. For example, I uploaded a 3 disc audiobook, and two of them were listed together (under the author's name) whereas the third was listed seperately (under the narrator's name). There were a few other similar glitches, like track information not being accurate, and album songs being mysteriously shuffled on occasion. But... I did manage to eventually upload all of the files that I wanted. And once the files are ripped onto your hard-drive, its relatively quick... I managed to install over 600 songs onto the MP3 player in under 10 minutes, and my computer is not even particularly fast.
A few more technical issues: at first, the touchscreen wasn't very responsive. I found myself having to tap it quite hard in order to get it to do what I wanted. But, that issue seems to have resolved itself fairly quickly. So maybe the screen just need a little time to warm up or aclimatize. In fact, the only SERIOUS concern that I had was that every now and then the sound would distort strangely for no apparent reason. It sounded a bit like when you get water inside your ears after swimming in a swimming pool. Its only happened to me twice so far (very briefly) and I've had the device for a few weeks already. I found that switching it off and then back on again solved this problem. But it hasn't really happened frequently enough to impair the functionality of the player and, touch wood, it won't happen again.
The player only comes with a USB cable (charging is via the computer) so you'll more than likely need to invest in a mains charger (£10 or less) at some point, unless you happen to keep your computer switched on for long periods of time. Can't quote an exact charging time, since I've only charged it a few times, but we're talking between 1 hour (minimum) and 3 hours (maximum). The battery life is very good... again, I can't quote an exact figure, but take your average iPod battery life and add a few hours. Mine even came with a plastic case and screen protector, which weren't advertised or expected, so I can't complain. Make what you will of the Samsung stock earphones... I don't think anybody buying a mid-range MP3 player seriously expects earphones that exceed what they pay for them. I haven't tried them, personally, because I have a set of Bang & Olufsen A8 ones which are obviously far superior. But I dare say that they compete reasonably well with the white buds that come with iPods.
I haven't tested the bluetooth facility yet, because I lack the necessary equipment, but I'm guessing that it works. The FM radio tuner certainly works though, and is obviously a nice feature, which is sadly lacking on the iPod Touch. That said, another reviewer mentioned that the radio doesn't work via bluetooth, so you can't have your cake AND eat it.
Just a quick note about Samsung's technical support: there is a telephone helpline that you can call if you have problems. More kudos to Samsung for having a UK-BASED call centre... I get really irritated when the tech people can't even speak English well enough to understand your problem. Fortunately I had no such problems with Samsung, though. That said, the first tech guy I spoke to was not as helpful as I had hoped, and it would seem that he even HUNG UP on me mid-way through my query. But... perhaps it was just a bad connection, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I re-phoned Samsung a second time, and the person who assisted me was helpful and knowledgeable. Not a *perfect* experience, I'll admit, but she did do her best.
So... like I said, a few minor issues, but generally, I am pleased with the quality and performance of this product.
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