Consumers are choosing digital music subscription services and Samsung supports this trend with the first 2GB flash player to offer subscription capabilities. With its 1.8" quality... more
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A review by lea20 on Samsung YP-Z5QS 2 GB July 6th, 2006
Author's product rating:
Sound Quality
Excellent
Ease of Use
Simple
Look & Design
Excellent
Range of Features
Diverse
Value for Money
Excellent
Advantages:
Small and stylish, cool album art, sounds great, superb battery life
Disadvantages:
No mains charger means you need to be near a PC to charge it
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I bought this as a replacement for my IPod Mini which after a year kept locking up and the earphone contacts were bad I decided upon the 2GB version as I never filled my 4GB Ipod up anyhow. It cost me just £100 on Amazon which as you can see is already cheaper than its rivals. I chose the black version.
When I opened it the first thing I noticed was the size of the box, and the unit itself, which was tiny! It's not as thin as the Ipod Nano boasts but it is the same height and width. It is also very light, yet feels solid as it is made partly of aluminum and not just plastic. It is also scratch resistant which is definetly true, as I've carried it in my bag amongst keys and theres not a mark on it.
I couldn't wait to get it up and running. There was no soaftware to install as I just plugged and played. I just opened the My Music folder and dragged and dropped the music into the players folder. I also learned how to copy JPEGS to be shown as album art on the player. You just type the name of the album you want art for in google images, and save the thumb nail (the smallest size) as AlbumArt Small. You then drag it into the folder with the rest of the songs. It is easier to have a folder for each album.
Once I figued out that part, I read on the Internet in detail and realised there was a special software upgrade available which allows you to have louder fuller sound and on the go playlists. It was easy to install if you want it, all you do is drag the upgrade file into the 'data' section of the player, and remove the USB. It will then ask you to upgrade in which you press yes and it will perform a series of resets while it installs.
That aside, and on to using the player. It has easy to navigate menu's displayed in list form. It is like the Ipod as it was designed by the same person. All you do is press the touch sensitive up and down buttons lightly, and press harder the centre to select an option. To me, it was pretty self explanotary, and after selecting music and then the album name I was soon playing tunes. The sound was clear, and I thought the little picture of the albums looked cool on its large colour screen which is grainy but readable.
I played around with the device and realised you can store almost any picture in JPEG format you have on your PC and view them as a slideshow. By simply holding down the centre when selecting a picture, you can have a wallpaper in the background of your song list. Cool!
As for EQ settings: the 3D surround modes were dissapointing somewhat but if you are listening to cheap phones, the Jazz option provides more bass. Otherwise leave it to normal. It would have been alot better if it had a graphic EQ then you could adjust each tone individually, but hardly any MP3 players boast this feature.
The battery life: I hardly had a chance to charge it and it was still going strong days later, unlike my Ipod which started to run down after an hour. I don't think the battery life is quite 35 hrs but it's definately a selling point, as the players screen shuts off to conserve battery usage (which can be annoying if you want to read a song title, you have to press something on the player).
Some other things I found really good about this player were the seperate volume control which means you can't knock it accidentally, as well as the dedicated reset button so you don't have to remember a combo of buttons in the event of a lock up. I think it sounds better than the Ipod in my opinion, as it sounds less harsh on the ears at high volumes with the right earphones. It's a flash based player so is faster to load and no moving parts means it won't go as bad as my Ipod did (in theory). You can also play WMA files, Microsofts standard compressed file format, which creates smaller files so you can add more songs. I had lots of these that I couldn't convert to MP3 through copy protection so couldn't add to my Ipod. Now I can have them all! This 2GB model stores about 400 higher quality MP3's.
I definately recommend anyone wanting a higher than 1 GB MP3 player to get one if these quick! For the price you can't go wrong. And it looks so cool and sleek too!
Advantages: Affordable, reliable, easy to use and transfer songs to Disadvantages: memory may not be big enough for all people, pictures are slow
Having had this MP3 player now for nearly 2 years, I have not had any problems with it. It is very reliable, never crashes, freezes etc on me, is really easy to put music on, and is at a very reasonable price, even the 4GB is very affordable and very durable, I have dropped mine countless times without any problems. Something you may not think of is that the screen is very clear and easy to use in all lights(brightness of screen can also be altered) ... ...to people who have a large music library, but are often able to change the music on the MP3 player due to the 2GB only holding around 500 songs, and the 4GB holding around 1000 songs. Fits easily into ipod nano(older shape) pouches therefore good for sports etc. one downfall is that the picture viewer can be a bit sluggish, and I found having pictures on slowed down the whole system(longer to load songs etc) However very good MP3 player and I would ...
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Advantages: Light, easy to use, fairly priced Disadvantages: Has to be cleaned regularly
I'm not exactly techno savvy, but once I got the hang of using it, it was simple to use and the best part is that it's light and small enough to carry discreetly in a jacket pocket or a bag to hide it from potential thieves. The 2GB of space means that you can have loads of songs loaded on it, which is perfect for long car, bus or plane journeys. The price is very good, I've seen many MP3 Players being sold in stores for at least £150 but to date ... ...this product that was worth the money it was being advertised for. The screen is easy to clean, but unfortunately it does gather dust easily so it has to be cleaned regularly. The sound quality is excellent; the noise is crisp, clear and doesn't 'skip' or 'jump' like some products. It's simple to use and the instructions make it clear about which buttons do what. It's a very durable product, I've dropped mine many times and so far it still works, ...
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Advantages: EASY TO USE AND GREAT VALUE FOR MONEY Disadvantages: INSTALLATION DISC FOR PC NOT EASY TO USE
...i decided to buy the samsung ypz5q rather than the over rated apple ipods. my main reason was the cost. however, this mp3 player has all you need for listening to music. it has great sound quality and the navigation is so easy. For those who dont want to fork out Apple prices, i highly recommend this Mp3 player.The only bad thing i have to say about it, is that its not as slim line as the ipod and the installation disc to put on the pc is not foolproof.However, ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Consumers are choosing digital music subscription services and Samsung supports this trend with the first 2GB flash player to offer subscription capabilities. With its 1.8" quality LCD screen, a slim, durable body and extended battery life, the YP-Z5 stands above the competition.
I've had this wonderful little mp3 player for a couple of months now and it can do no wrong by me, i love it!
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