Take a Look at This One
Written: Apr 13 '03
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Pros: Fast data transfers; 128MB memory; voice recorder
Cons: Buggy transfer software; no WMA support; not expandable
The Bottom Line: Watch out for the primitive software and lack of expandability. Besides that its a winner.
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| mp3king9876's Full Review: Samsung Yepp YP-30 (128 MB) MP3 Player |
Overall, this is a nice MP3 player which gets the job done for me (I.E. entertaining me for two hours while I work out). It has 128MB of flash memory, which holds around 30 of my MP3 files (this depends on the bit rate, of course). One of the cons I mentioned--no WMA support--can't go without notice, as many people seem to prefer this format. Although it does have advantages over MP3 (I.E. smaller file size) they are not as widespread yet and I probably wouldn't use them anyway. But for the WMA fighters out there, you won't be impressed. Moving on, the voice recorder feature is handy, especially for quickly making notes that I would definitely forget otherwise. The voice files are saved in a proprietary format, and they are converted to .wav upon being transferred to the PC. The program used to transfer MP3 files to the player--the Yepp Explorer--is (to put it nicely) substandard. The spelling mistakes in the menues really give it away, but sometimes when transferring a batch of songs, certain files don't even show up on the Yepp afterwards. I later corrected this problem, by slowing down the transfer rate, but this setting is not saved between sessions so I have to do so every time. It is an extremely bare-bones program which basically just allows you to copy mp3 files to the player, and copy voice recordings from the player to the PC. The player uses one AAA battery. I can't accurately state how many hours it lasts, but I'd guess around 8-10. Overall, considering it is only one AAA, it is very impressive. The player does not have a rechargeable battery, and it will not charge rechargeables that you put in. (Obviously, considering their is no AC adapter) So, be prepared to go through handfuls of alkalines if you use it extensively--or opt for some NIMH's. Next, because of the player's size, it is not expandable using any external cards. Watch out for this if you are considering upgrading, if 128 just won't cut it for you. Another disadvantage is that the firmware cannot be upgraded. I haven't found any bugs yet, but that means it is limitted to only playing MP3 files--no possibility of supporting future music formats.
For completeness, I finish off with some less relevant facts. The CD with the transfer software on it also comes with a primitive CD ripping utility--something I never use because I find Exact Audio Copy far better. You can download a Logo Editor, which lets you change the startup logo on the player to whatever you like. There are several equalizer settings on the player, and it has a few other features such as setting a start and end point and listening to that section of the song as often as you like. Finally (and I'm not sure if other players do this), when you start the player up again, it continues off at the same position in the song that you were last listening to--very slick for listening to audio books.
So, if you don't know what WMA is or will never use it, and don't plan on adding extra memory, give this one a look.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 175
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Epinions.com ID:
mp3king9876
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Reviews written: 4
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