more on samsung napster2 player

A few days ago I posted a note on the Samsung YP-900 and 910 players. I haven't been able to play with Napster 2.0 (which is a beta service at this point) or the 910 player, but have been getting email from people who have.

George is doing a review for an audio magazine.

I've been using Napster's 2.0 beta and the Samsung YP-910GS player and can make a few comments on the player. The beta is Napster's service is still very rough and I expect it to improve, so throwing sticks and stones at this point isn't appropriate.

The Samsung player is based on the Toshiba 1.8" drive and gives a form factor similar to Apple's iPod. Fit and finish on my sample leave something to be desired on a $400 portable audio device, but it is possible that they are having early production quality problems (specifically the control switches feel very different with one of them feeling loose and the LCD display isn't centered well).

Samsung has gone with a Lithium Polymer battery which accounts for the good battery performance. I'm regularly getting 7 to 10 hours on a charge. Lots of track changing drops the charge quickly, but this is true on all of the hard disk players I have tested.

The FM radio and transmitter are awful. You will be happier with a $10 separate FM radio. Here in LA there are enough stations that it is very difficult to find a clear slot for transmitting to another FM radio. The range, particularly in a car, is very poor. I was unable to make it work in my BMW 330. A cassette link would be a better option for most users and a mini-din link would be even better. The sound quality using it to link to my home stereo via FM was poor and is not recommended.

The unit uses USB 2.0 and the 910 has enough capacity that any user should have USB 2.0 on their PC.

We have completed an audio test using uncompressed files. The audio section isn't particularly impressive, but people who use something like this with wmp or mp3 files probably isn't interested in musical accuracy. It is possible to tell the difference between this and superior audio units using good headphones or speakers. The audio section is good enough for the supplied headphones.

Navigation isn't something that I can quantify, but I will admit that it is somewhat confusing and not perfectly thought out. I would assume that any user will become accustomed to what is provided given heavy use, but it struck me as poorly thought out in the sense that most consumer audio and video products have poorly thought out interfaces.

A year ago a 20 GB unit with an FM receiver and transmitter would have been a great value for $399. For this unit to compete against an iPod I think it should sell for under $300 and possibly under $250. I would ask to try one out before buying and try the competition. If it was my own money I would go for the iPod because the interface and sound quality are much better.

Comments

[tim]

I saw one of these at Best Buy this morning and played with it a bit. They haven't thought the navigation out and the menu switch on the demo unit was intermittent. I looked and felt really cheap. I can't comment on the other items as I really didn't test it, but this is not $400 class hardware. It may be $200 class hardware.

I'm going to get an iPod. I don't like Macs but iPods are very cool. I won't use their music store but the software is the best jukebox going. Most of my tracks are mp3 anyway.

[steve]

I finally had a chance to spend five minutes with the Samsung 910 today. It clearly isn't enough time to conduct a review. All I was able to focus on was look at the build quality, play around with the interface and listen to some music.

I can't comment on the quality of the music other than note it sounded OK. The stock headphones weren't the best and I assume substituting better units would make a big difference - this is also true on iPods.

Build quality was another issue. The unit I tried was not as well built as an iPod or a high end portable CD player. It didn't seem like something that should cost $400. People who buy online or through the mail won't think about this, but looking at one next to an iPod is dramatic. One of the keys was loose and another was too tight .. This may have been only on an early unit, but I expected a better build quality.

Navigation was not as simple as what I'm used to on the iPod. You can probably get used to it, but it is different in a cumbersome way. In my mind the lack of a scroll wheel is a big issue. Clearly your results may vary.

[Bruce C]

I have a YP-910 and have mixed feelings. At the time it seemed that the FM receiver and transmitter would be a good thing. The price seemed a bit high, but the FM one me over because I didn't want to rewire my car and thought it would work on my home stereo.

I live in a Chicago and there is too much interference to find a stable unused station when I drive around. I've given up using it in the car. I can use it at home, but the quality is very low. I ended up wiring it into my home stereo, which works much better than the FM.

The controls are a bit counterintuitive, but you get used to them. My wife has an iPod and its controls are much better, but the Samsung had more on paper before i bought it.

The sound is OK. The headphones it comes with are awful. I bought some $50 Sonys for home and some $30 Sony earbuds for my commute that are much better.

The Napster 2.0 service is a joke. Don't go with it.

I'm sort of happy, but would swap it for my wife's iPod if she would let me.