... This is simple with the Samsung software which converts them to MP3's.
Apart from the already present music, photo and video folders in the unit you can easily create your own folders and use the device as an external HDD for extra storage, file transfer or back up. This is also real easy.
It ... Read review
Advantages: Great sound, MP3 / colour photo / video / FM / games, smart design Disadvantages: does'nt have the kudos of the iPod
...This is simple with the Samsung software which converts them to MP3's.
Apart from the already present music, photo and video folders in the unit you can easily create your own folders and use the device as an external HDD for extra storage, file transfer or back up. This is also real easy.
It has 5 games included I have not used them but hey are;
Othello - win stones by placing then either diagonally, horizonal
... ...have not really used the Samsung provided software. Samsung actually includes a very useful looking multimedia studio software which includes image and video editing. The image capture to take still images from video is a nice feature.
Summary
I only bought my 20Gb iriver 3 months ago and was dissapointed by it's large size and lack of video playback. After some research I choose the samsung as a replacement.
... more
size 2.5"(W) x 4"(H) x 0.5"(D) (1.8" HDD) Available in 20GB/30GB Memory capacities MP3, WMA, WMA-DRM, MPEG compatable Janus Upgradable and JPEG Playback FM stereo radio @(87.5-108 MHz) 1.8" TFT LCD 260k colour screen Voice Recording USB 2.0 & USB OTG 25 hr life Rechargeable Battery (950mAh Li-ion) Signal to noise ratio - 90 dB with 20KHz Jack output power 20mW 5 games
Supplied with charger, USB cable, In-Line Recording, Ear Buds, USB host adaptor, manual and CD
I bought my 20GB unit one month ago for £144 on ebay and can highly recommend it. I take it everywhere it's great.
Introduction and first impressions
Well straight out of the box you will notice how small it is, tiny in fact for a 20GB model. At size 2.5"(W) x 4"(H) x 0.5"(D) it's even smaller than the iPod. weighing in at 135 gms it is also light as a feather (well almost). This said though it appears to be a robust unit and features intelligent HDD protection against sudden shocks.
It's design is very smart - black plastic (with pearlesent silver flecks) and silver. However the black plastic does show up fingermarks very eaisily.
The 1.8" screen with it's 260k colour screen is very bright and crisp and located on the top half of the front. Only a few multimedia MP3 players have a screen of this quality in this price range. Under the screen there are three buttons for the menu navigator/ volume control/select and skip (fwd/rwd) functions. These are multifunctional depending on the time pressed
The menu, tool and (on/off play/pause) switch are on the righthand side of the front embedded neatly around the curve of the unit. This makes the unit very easy to use in the hand held configuration as it fits perfectly for use by the first fingers of the hand.
Located on the side are the loop/repeat/record and hold switch. The hold switch is a standard feature on MP3 players and ensures no accidental pressing of buttons whilst in pocket or bag etc.
On top are the Mic for voice recording and le line in and headphone jack sockets. Being on top is especially useful when pocket carrying the unit.
All of the buttons are clearly marked and this makes it obvious as to their function.
The software is really easy to load and use it is a simple drag and drop then sync process with the unit connected via the plug and play USB2 connection (which works flawlessly as a mass storage connection). It transfers MP3, jpeg, and Mpeg very quickly (faster than my iriver). However the player is in-operable when connected to via USB to your pc.
Playback
The menus are easy to navigate using only 2 buttons allow fast selection of music, photo, video, text, storaage or USB connection.
The J70 supports MP3, WMA, Ogg Vorbis, JPG (up to 2Mb in indeed), TXT and video It's not gap-less but we are talking split-seconds for music. This gap is more noticable when viewing 1.5 to 2 Mb photos.
The sound-quality is just brilliant (slightly better than my iriver), providing the origonal recording you use is good enough you get deep bass and pure high-tones. The earbuds are good quality and comfortable, however I do wonder if I could get even better sound (which would then be amazing) if I had better quality earphones. Unlike some players, it has quite some output, it can go pretty loud. Too high for somes liking me thinks, but it's nice that I have the choice to play my music loud if I want. That said there is a nice fade in feature you can select which gradually increases the volume as tracks start.
Photo review is easy and you can store them exactly as on your pc in the same folders. The 1.8" screen is of course small but clear and bright enought to give a fair representation of your phots.There is a nice slideshow feature allowing you to cycle through photos. This of course does use the battery quicker
Video-playback is 15 frames per second (fps) which is good enough, only in fast scene's does it misses frames recorded by my camera at 30 fps.
Text view is available and you can place bookmarks to return to, not sure how much reading you would want to do on the 1.8" screen.
The superb music playback is available when viewing photos, video and text.
The reception on the radio depends on where you are, inside or out. But when reception is good, you get good sound. There are 20 presetable locations.
I have'nt really used the recording via the included mic but from the FM-radio it sounded just the same as when it was on the radio.
It has 18 pre-set EQ-settings and a user setable EQ (9-band equalizer) . Best of all and something I have not seen on other players is if you set the genre on your music lists you can set auto eq. This means you can link rock, classic, jazz and pop eq settings to individual genres automatically. An excellent idea!
The player also has SRS WOW, which comes with SRS, WOW, TruBass and High Definition, you can set up all of these to desired levels indivually between 0-10.
The screen provides you all the information you might need; clock battery indicator shows you EQ preset, play-mode time-bar file-name, file-type, bitrate, which number of file whether you're playing via Folder or playlist etc
The battery life is excellent with mine reaching 23 hours on FM straight playback. Obviously using more volume or uing selections of music/FM/photo view reduces the playback to around 14 hours. Video is listed as 7 hours straight playback.
Other features
If you're watching a video, playing music, reading text files it resumes where you left it. You can also of course set it to shuffle or repeat your folder or all the music.
You can also rip your CD's directly from your PC drive or any connectable cd drive to the unit. This is simple with the Samsung software which converts them to MP3's. Apart from the already present music, photo and video folders in the unit you can easily create your own folders and use the device as an external HDD for extra storage, file transfer or back up. This is also real easy.
It has 5 games included I have not used them but hey are; Othello - win stones by placing then either diagonally, horizonal or vertically Omok - win the game by placing stones either diagonally, horizonal or vertical Tetris - stack the blocks Chips - maze game with keys and obsticles
You can change many settings including the scroll speed, backlight timing, LCD off time, text colour.
I use photoshop for my image manipulation so have not really used the Samsung provided software. Samsung actually includes a very useful looking multimedia studio software which includes image and video editing. The image capture to take still images from video is a nice feature.
Summary
I only bought my 20Gb iriver 3 months ago and was dissapointed by it's large size and lack of video playback. After some research I choose the samsung as a replacement.
I am no longer dissapointed, the samsung is a brilliant little device.
Small / Lightweight Excellent sound Good photo/video plackback Nice robust design Easy to use
Rating a 95% from me (It loses the 5 percent for only having a 160x128 pixel resolution. But then again for the price I paid this little machine is also a huge bargin.
If having the status of owning an iPod is not your most important criteria then this samsung should deserve some serious concideration.
