Multifunctional MP3 player from Samsung

Canada.com reviewed YP-P2. Please check:
http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/story.html?id=ad651192-b598-4d36-b0c1-04ffa5575437&k=88499

Murray Hill , The StarPhoenix, Published: Monday, March 17, 2008

The King of the Hill in terms of MP3 players is Apple's iPod line; however, not everyone wants an iPod or a Zune, for that matter.

Samsung's new YP-P2 is designed to compete with an interface similar to the Touch, but at a lower price and a much more svelte look.

At first glance, the YP-P2 looks a lot like a smaller version of the Touch -- its entire front panel is a flat glass screen with a single LED below it. It looks clean, and the smaller size is quite appealing (52mm L x 10mm W x 86mm H). It weighs 86g, and fits very comfortably in your hand.

It's a flash based device, which means no onboard hard drive to skip or break down. Supported audio formats include ASF, MPEG4, MP3, WAV, WMA, and supported video formats include AVI, ASF, MPEG-4, WMV, and JPEGs are the picture file of choice.

Unlike iPods, this MP3 player will play a wide variety of different audio and video formats, saving users the pain of converting their files to something appropriate for an iPod.

The Lithium-ion battery with a full charge offers up to 30 hours of music play and five hours of movie play.
One of the unfortunate things about the YP-P2 is that it only works with a PC -- Windows XP and Vista. I think all devices like this should work with both Macs and PCs, so this, to me, is a serious limitation.
The three-inch widescreen is in the 16:9 format and at 480 x 272 resolution displays movies at 30 frames per second quite easily.

A big plus to the YP-P2 is that it has Bluetooth 2.0 compatibility. This enables users to take advantage of some of the excellent Bluetooth wireless headphones on the market and free themselves from cumbersome headphone wires that always seem to catch on something.

It's very easy to get your music onto the YP-P2 -- it's simple as drag and drop on your PC.
I had trouble with the touch interface -- it's not as intuitive as I'm used to with my Touch and my hands are just too big to operate it properly. I had trouble getting the device to do what I wanted because my touch wasn't accurate enough and I kept trying to repeat gestures I've taken for granted on my Touch.

You can save up to 30 presets for the FM radio on the YP-P2, and video, and text can be loaded; however, you need to use the Media Studio software that comes with the device to load and convert these files.
Is the Samsung YP-P2 a replacement for the iPod Touch? No; it is an inexpensive alternative. It is widely available, and the 8GB version sells for $270 at Futureshop.ca.

PROS: Small, but with a nice sized widescreen, plays MP3s -- so you aren't slaved to iTunes for your music. Bluetooth 2.0 and an FM radio make this more multifunctional than an iPod.

CONS: Only works on a PC. The touch commands are difficult to use and you can only charge the P2 when it's connected to a computer. Video is not very easy to load, and the largest capacity you can get is only 16GB.
E-mail Hill at: mhill@sp.canwest.com, and find past columns on the web at: http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/columnists/hill.html