Samsung's newest PMP is slim, sexy and sports a 3" widescreen touch display. Do all the bells and whistles add up to a killer audio-visual experience, or were we left wanting?
Review summary of the Samsung YP-P2:
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 Entering Samsung's line of portable media players at the top, the P2 does everything well. We loved the 3-inch widescreen, we loved the way it handled user-generated content and loved that we had so many options for both the media we put on the device and the way we decided to actually transfer the media to the device. We would have liked to see Samsung launch the device with the Bluetooth calling feature, the menus weren't as easy to navigate as we would have liked, and they still haven't nailed the touch screen technology. But overall, the P2 is a good multimedia device, and when speaking specifically about video, it is very good. Release: November 2007. Price: $250.
Pros: Slim, attractive design, gorgeous 3-inch widescreen display, multitude of transfer and playback options
Cons: Difficult navigation of menus, limited use of touch technology, awkward music slideshow feature
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Full Samsung YP-P2 Review:
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Design & Interface - Very Good
Sleek, glossy and slim, the P2 is slightly longer than a credit card, and its face is dominated by a 3-inch widescreen touch display. The hard, sturdy casing did have some weight to it, but certainly not enough to bother us. Predictably, Samsung has branded the touch interface, going with the dubious title of "EmoTure". Silly names aside, it's neither the first nor the best example of the technology that we've seen, but we liked it nonetheless.
The menus themselves are a little awkward; we liked how the P2 took advantage of the EmoTure setup on the main menu, but we were puzzled as to why immediately after you got into the submenus, the slide navigation disappeared. We're not sure why they moved from the stylistically bold main menu to the comparably boring and ugly list format when searching through audio or video files, and we hope to see a change in the future.
Navigation was quick, though, and there was no noticeable lag when tapping our way through the menus. We did notice that we had to frequently tap things several times, which did get frustrating, although it was made apparent to us while changing settings that the first tap appeared to select the item, and the second tap actually "clicked" it. We also found scrolling through our song list to be awkward, with the scrollbar not responding properly to our finger slides.
Transfer Software - Good
Windows Media Player 11, Rhapsody and Samsung's own bundled software can all manage the P2, each delivering content from different sources and in different ways. Their bundled software, Samsung Media Studio 5, isn't completely cringe-worthy, but was far from ideal. However, there are a few reasons that it makes sense to make it your primary application to use with your P2.
Once connected with the Samsung Media Studio, it's all drag and drop. Songs are added by simply highlighting them and dragging them to the player window. It's not as automated as Windows Media Player's setup, but it definitely offers specific control over which files are on the device, and it's not difficult to select the entire library. We loved the way it transferred our DivX and Xvid movies without requiring transcoding.
We also tried the P2 with our Rhapsody account, and found it extremely simple. You could add any song from Rhapsody's catalog, in addition to whatever audio files you had stored on your computer. It's difficult to use Rhapsody as your only program, however, since it can't add video files. CD ripping was just as simple as with Samsung's program.
The transfer process with Windows Media Player 11 was much easier than with the Samsung software and offered more features than the Rhapsody player (although didn't add access to all of Rhapsody's catalog); we literally plugged in the device, opened WMP11, and it asked us if we wanted to sync our library. We said yes, it started syncing, and within an hour, our entire WMP11 library was synced to our device.
Speeds were on par with other USB 2.0 devices, and even when using MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) to transfer our own videos, speeds were surprisingly fast, although we did notice that it took a considerably longer time to transfer our DivX videos; apparently WMP11 doesn't care that the P2 can play them without first converting to WMV.
Audio - Very Good
The P2 currently supports three audio formats: MP3, WMA and OGG Vorbis. The first of Samsung's Blue Wave updates in December should add AAC playback, but currently you're stuck with those three. We like to see FLAC capability, but it's pretty rare, and once Samsung adds AAC it will be pretty formidable. Amplification of the sound was adequate, and even if the device was set to maximum volume when it was turned off, it will be set to half-volume to prevent the user from blowing out their eardrums unintentionally. While this feature is nice, we only discovered it so easily because the player has a habit of turning itself off way too quickly.
The included photo viewer works while music is playing on the P2, allowing you to listen to music while browsing photos or viewing a slideshow. The viewer is compatible with both .JPG and .BMP files, however, the integration between the music and the photo viewer is quite poor; we wish they had included a complete set of music controls within the slideshow itself, something we hope they fix with future Blue Wave updates.
Samsung has chosen not to use the Podcast name for their syndicated audio and video, instead branding them "Datacasts". Naturally, they're the same thing, although within Samsung Media Studio, their organization is pretty poor. The original collection is pretty sparse, and lacks most marquee "Datacasts", but users can find their own manually and add them to the program by entering the URL of the syndicated feed.
Video - Very good
The P2's manual lists a litany of supported video formats: MPG, AVI, WMV, ASF, SVI, MP4, RM, MOV and SMF. Its flexibility with .AVI codecs was probably most impressive, as both DivX and XviD videos played in excellent quality without any issues.
While Rhapsody took care of the audio subscription services (The device is also compatible with Napster), CinemaNow offered the pay-for-play video services. While we objected to CinemaNow's movie purchase fees ($9.95 to $19.95 for a movie with 480x270 resolution), we liked how CinemaNow automatically detected the P2 on our system when we logged onto their site (even if we had to use internet explorer just to access it). TV shows and music videos downloaded from the service looked great as well, going for about $1.99 per episode or per video.
The biggest problem we experienced with CinemaNow was not compatibility but availability; the library of movies, tv shows and movies was incredibly small, compared to the vast music collections of Rhapsody and Napster. We didn't mind this so much, since we were able to add our own content to fill the gaps left by the paid content providers, but the user who doesn't want to bother with finding or ripping their own videos, it could be problematic.
Overall, we were pleased with the video playing experience on the P2. With both audio and video, we found the impressive list of options allowed nearly any user to have a positive experience, and most importantly, the videos looked great.
Accessories - Good
The accessories included with the P2 were pretty standard; a pair of earphones, USB cable, a small plastic stand, software CD-ROM and a quick-start guide. We were somewhat disappointed by what amounts to the bare minimum (the stand is only slightly convenient), but we liked the headphones, which were of significantly higher quality than most we see bundled with PMPs. The manual was in .pdf format on the CD-ROM, a trend we're both pleased with and finding to be more and more common.
We normally like to see some sort of clip or way to attach our flash-based PMP to a bag or article of clothing, mainly because they tend to be so small. Without the clip, the players tend to gets lost deep in our pocket, but mainly we feel that something so small and light should be worn, not carried. The P2, while a flash-based device, is larger and heavier than most of its 2GB and 4GB contemporaries, and seems to be better suited for a pocket, so we didn't fret the lack of a clip as much.
Value - Good
Selling for $250 with 8GB flash memory, the Samsung YP-P2 would be rather expensive as a stand-alone MP3 player. However, if you're looking for a PMP, but don't want to empty your wallet for an iPod touch, Samsung may have come up with a compelling choice for you. That said, if features are more important than style to you, a $230 Archos 605 will give you Internet via Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as 4GB flash memory and a SDHC slot. Samsung has promised firmware upgrades for their devices though, and the first one coming in December is supposed to add Bluetooth calling and AAC support. The former could be a significant addition that may further increase the value of the YP-P2.
Price and availability
The Samsung YP-P2 will start selling for $250 () in November 2007.
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