Samsung YP-T6Z 1GB MP3 Player - Silver

 

 

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Well - it's certainly a beautiful-looking piece of hardware - and my non-techno wife was snaffling around it, when it was barely out of the packet (so it must have something going for it!). It's extremely small, and appears well finished, and comes with USB cable, converter, headphones, etc. It uses a jog-dial, with a set of easy-to-use, intuitive menus. But...

The first thing that I noticed was the difficult-to-describe background noise which occurred during the gap between, and at the start of each song (sounded like a car alarm in the distance; I actually took the headphones off, thinking this). I noticed this despite not being a particular music aficionado, etc.

Most importantly though, the problem is that mine started 'hanging' when it 'booted' up, telling me that it was 40% booted, and not going any further. Basically it seemed to die at this point, and this was all within 6 hours of receiving it! Removing the battery, etc did nothing. Before this, my (very reliable) computer had kept freezing when midway through downloading songs to it, and I now suspect that it was the device, and not my computer, or the Yepp transfer software at fault.

People should be aware that the 'Yepp studio' software supplied with it is rubbish, not intuitive, poorly designed, and the instructions/manual (no hard copy is provided) are just as un-enlightening. Very sad given the excellent look of the rest of the system. I would suggest sticking with a generic interface such as WMP. Also, it uses a single AAA battery - not AA as the previous reviewer reported.

I may have just had a dodgy one - who knows - time will tell whether this is a design flaw. It would be good to see what other people think - if it was a dodgy one off, I may try again (and not bother with the Yepp studio software)?

First, keep in mind there are 2 1GB versions. The MT6Z with 4 line display that uses AA, and T6Z with 3 line display that uses AAA.

I bought my T6Z used, having fixed my mind to get one after searching for months for the ideal player (for me).

Upon opening the package, pluging in USB cable, removable drive automatically popping up, dragging a few music files to it, unplugging USB, and plugging in headphones, I came across the first stumbling block. How do you turn it on? There is no famous "POWER" button anywhere in sight! Good thing manual was included.. you hold the PLAY button for ~3 sec.

So, I was up and running in < 5min, listening to music.. everything is great, right?.. Wrong. Previous user had obviously done extensive experimenting with the EQ settings (he turned up all the BASS but turned off all the TREBLE), and a few other annoying things, so I wiped the slate clean by using "default set". Ahh finally everything sounds right!

My adventures dont end there. After going through a whole 4 pack of AAA within a week, I couldn't figure out what was killing these batteries... until, one day, cleaning out the closet at night, I heard something... Its quite easy to inadvertently leave it on, or accidentally have it turn on while in your pocket. Using the hold function is a must!! While on the topic of battery life: LCD draws quite a bit so dont leave it on, set auto-power off so after say an hour of no button pressing it automatically turns off, radio uses a lot of power so dont expect 40 hrs, and likewise setting volume to max ear deafening 30 proportionally also uses more power. Finally, dont expect miracles from cheap generic batteries, 1.2V rechargables, or even standard duracell or energizer alkaline. When they advertise their specialty electronics batteries as having many times longer life, they really aren't joking.

PROS:
- I can finally listen to .ogg and .wma (DRM) files! (something very few players can do) yay!
- accidentally discovered I can play old school MPEG1/2 audio too!
- out there in the world, and looking for news..no problem, turn on the radio... just caught your favorite song on the air.. hit the record button... forgetfull? Don't look stupid looking for pen and paper.. voice record the instructions!
- sound quality is top notch.
- one of very few players with surround sound and other special effects.

CONS
- included earphones might not fit everybody, and certainly aren't the best (what can you expect..they're free). Sound you'll hear is proportional in quality to how much you invest in earphones/headphones... although for many people the standard ones will be more than adequate.
- although you might be tempted to record lectures etc.. dont. Unless you plug in REAL mic in the encode port, you're unlikely to pickup much.. thats pretty much standard for any MP3 players. You're limited to typical house "room-room" distances for decent quality.
- Somebody eccentric obviously designed the menu system. It really takes a while to figure out where what is. The good thing is that you'll rarely need to fiddle around with EQ settings or tuning into FM in Japan.
- I dont know anything about the Samsung software.. never bothered. Drag-drop all year long. Nobody is forcing to use their software thought.
- Like any removable device, its susceptable to corruption. And sooner or later, depending on how much you abuse it, it might happen. Fortunately, its as easy as formating the player (either from within or using Windows)...had to do once within a year of use. Or, in the extreme cases, uploading firmware (although I had no need, I did it once to see what its like.. took 2 min, literally).
- Its only good at playing music. No spreadsheet. No games. No picture viewing on tiny screen. No colourful display. Just playing music.

This player really has some problems, and I should know - I worked my way through three replacements before I finally gave up. The player often misjudges how much battery power is left. This can leave the player shutting down on a half-full battery. Secondly, the player is hyper-sensitive to physical shock, and will crash if jolted. This means it's effectively useless if you want to hang it round your neck and go jogging, because it will crash every few minutes. All my replacements had the same problem.
Regarding Techsplosion, the seller, their customer service was slow (often 3 weeks for a replacement), didn't return calls/emails as promised, initially sent the wrong item, never refunded any of my postage costs because of their mistakes, and ultimately refused to refund after I'd received my third faulty player. I'm now receiving a refund through Amazon, who, true-to-form have superb customer service and have never left me wanting. Buyer beware!!

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1.0 out of 5 stars Poor item and DESPICABLE service from Pixmania
I believe I made a review around June this year when I purchased the item, and thought it was amazing.. how WRONG was I?!! Read more

Published on 23 Nov 2005 by V. Williams

4.0 out of 5 stars Good player, bad software
This is a good little MP3 player - good for running or the gym.
My main gripes are:

1) It comes with a kind of combined neckstrap and headphones and you can't separate the... Read more

Published on 3 Oct 2005 by Mr. J. P. Shields

5.0 out of 5 stars SAMSUNG MP3
Excellent MP3 player, so easy to use and I am NOT technically minded! so small its great to take out and about in your bag. Read more

Published on 26 Sep 2005

1.0 out of 5 stars Problems with Samsung YP-T6Z - Caution!!!!
I first bought this model as a birthday present for my partner. At first all was well we were very impressed with the features and sound quality. Read more

Published on 3 Aug 2005 by Mystic

5.0 out of 5 stars Smashing little player
Firstly ignore the other bad reviews as this is one of the smartest looking little gadgets you could possibly get your hands on. Read more

Published on 9 July 2005 by M. Convey

5.0 out of 5 stars Best flash player at the moment
The best flash-based music player in the market. I've been using it for two weeks and I couldn't be happier with it.

+ Superb sound quality. Read more

Published on 10 Mar 2005

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