Attractive Player, Lousy Functionality
Written: Dec 28 '07
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Pros: Capacity, construction, UI, price, not an iPod, sound quality.
Cons: Inherent sync problem, cannot build library locally, poor documentation and support.
The Bottom Line: Stay away from any MP3 players that can only be sync'ed in MTP mode like this one.
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| benchpress's Full Review: Samsung Yepp YH-J70L (30 GB) MP3 Player |
I bought this player because it was on sale. In fact, I bought two of them at the same time for $70.00 each, one for my wife, and for spares. After wrestling with the unit for a few days, I am not in a hurry to throw out my old and trusty Rio Carbon (see my other review http://www.epinions.com/content_177647816324) until I can get my hands on a cheap 16GB flash player.
Construction:
The unit is made of plastic, and well put together. It is relatively sturdy, and does not feel or look cheap like some low-end players. It measures 4” x 2” x 0.5” and it is much lighter than its iPod contemporaries. Connectivity and recharging is done through the same proprietary port.
Battery:
The battery capacity is not as good as Samsung claims but it could play for over 10 hours in one charge.
Sound quality
Even with the ear buds that came with the unit, the sound quality is quite good. In automatic mode the unit will select the appropriate equalizer profile for the music with surprising accuracy. The sound is crisp, clear and loud.
Capacity and reliability:
At 30 GB, I was able to dump my entire MP3 collection into the player for my wife. She uses it exclusively for workout. So far, the unit is still holding together after a couple of months spent in the gym and on elliptical machines.
UI:
The UI is user friendly and intuitive. The menus are attractive and easy to read – even for someone in his 40’s. The screen is bright and the colours vibrant. Together with the unit, it makes a very attractive statement when the player is switched on.
Unfortunately, this is where I ran out of good things to say about the player.
File Transfer and Music Library:
The worst aspect of this player is file transfer/synchronization. According to the manual, the unit must be synchronized with Windows Media Player version 9 and above via MTP mode. However, in MTP mode, the unit will freeze and choke up after transferring anywhere between one to five files. It just simply cannot transfer more than five files in one session without having to reset the unit and restart Windows Media Player. I tried both players, one replacement unit, on three different computers with the same results.
After researching through some user groups and web sites, I discovered that the MTP transfer was inherent in the vast majority of the model. I also discovered an undocumented “feature” of the unit whereby I could turn off the MTP mode and allow the unit to connect to the PC in UMS mode, turning the MP3 player into a USB hard drive. One should have no problem gauging the quality of the documentation for this product just by this undocumented feature alone.
Connected in UMS mode, the unit had no problems receiving GBs of MP3 files either through Windows Explorer or any music library applications such as Media Monkey or iTune. However, the player does NOT have the ability to generate a music library locally at all! Therefore, unless the files are transferred via Windows Media Player, there is no way for the player to sort by album, genre, artist, etc. None.
Needless to say, the lack of library features really hampers the usability of a high-capacity player and limits the enjoyment of music quite severely.
Other Cons:
-Does not come with a case.
-Lack of FM radio. For that price, the unit ought to come with a radio, or at least a built-in FM transmitter.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 70
Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
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Epinions.com ID:
benchpress
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Location: Toronto, Canada
Reviews written: 54
Trusted by: 2 members
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