[Turner_Brown]

Size: 1.47"(W) x 2.46"(H) x .58"(D)
Magnesium/aluminum weighs in at 3 oz.
supports MP3, WMA, Secure WMA, Ogg, ASF and JPEG
65K color screen with picture/text viewer
10 hour lith-poly rechargable battery built in
Clock, alarm, recording with int. mic or line in
FM tuner (with recording abilities)
Functions as a mass storage usb device (no need for software)
USB 2.0

Included:

Cradle
Earphones
Line-in Cable
Charger
Belt Clip
Direct USB adaptor


Picked this up for the woman...but she can't have it until I play with it

Expect a short review on this tonight.

 

[aleitry]

looking fwd to the review. where did you purchase it?

 

[Turner_Brown]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aleitry looking fwd to the review. where did you purchase it?

http://datavisioncomputer.com/cgi-bi...53c439&site=DT

 

[sno1man]

Yes I would be very interested in your results. I have friend that has one and while I found the functionality good the sound quality was pretty poor with distortion in the high and low end.

However it is possible that the problem was his MP3 files and not the player itself.

 

[Turner_Brown]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sno1man Yes I would be very interested in your results. I have friend that has one and while I found the functionality good the sound quality was pretty poor with distortion in the high and low end. However it is possible that the problem was his MP3 files and not the player itself.

Yeah...I don't have high hopes for the headphone out. But hopefully it will be good enough for her md-33's.

 

[aleitry]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turner_Brown http://datavisioncomputer.com/cgi-bi...53c439&site=DT

that's gold Turner_Brown gold! I'll swing by 5th ave tomorrow to look at it in person. Yeah - definitely let us know what you think of it. Also, does it have any sort of bookmarking feature like the Zen Micro?

 

[Turner_Brown]

Okay...some initial thoughts....

Gear used-
grado sr-60/rs-1
sharp md-33
sr-71

The navigation is almost identical to the iriver h1xx series. The picture makes it look like there is a 4-way rocker switch around the center button. This is not the case. It is a joystick exactly like the iriver's.
price paid, $169 + shipping

Size:
This thing is REALLY small. I actually don't think I would want a player any smaller than this. Here are some pics

Build Quality:
It's metal....except for the screen. Seems solid enough. Only complaint here is the neck strap attachment. It's basically a little hook that free slides in and out of the top of the unit. Kinda hoaky and has the feel of a piece of cheap jewelry.

Navigation:
If you are familiar with the iriver...you will take to this like a duck to water. It's very intuitive and quick. The screen looks really good. No complaints here.

Sound:
The headphone out only has about 60% of the power of the H120's. It can power the md-33's really well. The sr-60's not so well. I can crank the volume to 40 (max) and it's pretty loud....but there is some clipping issues in the high and low freqs. This seems to be a universal problem as it also clips with the md-33's. I didn't even bother to unwrap the stock buds. The sound quality isn't quite up to snuff with the h120 either. It is no where near as transparent as the h120. The preset EQ settings are pretty drastic and useless like most other dap. The user EQ (7-band) is a nice touch and is a lot more useful than the presets. I tried using this as a source for the sr-71 > rs-1 for sh!ts and giggles. I have to max out the volume on the YP and turn the knob on the sr-71 past 12 o'clock to get it rocking. (too loud for most people)

Functions:
Haven't tried most of the stuff yet...but one thing I thought was kinda cool was the ability to program the FM record to start/stop at a certain time. (no more missing Stern). I did try to load one pic...it was pretty big ~1mb, it took forever and looked pretty shotty.

Conclusion:
This really isn't up to par with "headfi" standards as far as sound quality goes, this is where I assume most of you will stop reading. But for the rest of the people still here...this would make a great little (and I stress little) player for a jog or the gym. The extra picture/text viewer features will probably never be used on 95% of these units...but I guess some people just like to have the option. Even though it's $20 more than the 1gb Apple Shuffle I would still take the Samsung any day of the week for the following reasons:
True drag&drop
a SCREEN (color at that)
it's smaller
FM radio


P.S.- I am only comparing the sound quality to the h120 (which I find to be exceptional) so I may be a little tough on the YP...I guarantee my fiance will think this thing is the proverbial "bee's knees".

 

[aleitry]

Thank you for your thoughts Turner_Brown. Since a 4G iPod and a Zen Micro are my only DAP references, I have 2 questions: 1) have you ever heard either player; and if so, 2) how does the Samsung compare?

Oh, and excellent pictures. I didn't realize how small this player was til I saw them. All in all, if there weren't so many horror stories about the iRiver H10 I would wait for the H10 1GB to come out. I've seen the 5G in person and I liked it a lot.

Another function important to me is the ability to bookmark files. I hear lectures and audiobooks quite often. To that end, the Zen Micro certainly has the upper hand.

 

[Turner_Brown]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aleitry Thank you for your thoughts Turner_Brown. Since a 4G iPod and a Zen Micro are my only DAP references, I have 2 questions: 1) have you ever heard either player; and if so, 2) how does the Samsung compare? Oh, and excellent pictures. I didn't realize how small this player was til I saw them. All in all, if there weren't so many horror stories about the iRiver H10 I would wait for the H10 1GB to come out. I've seen the 5G in person and I liked it a lot. Another function important to me is the ability to bookmark files. I hear lectures and audiobooks quite often. To that end, the Zen Micro certainly has the upper hand.

I haven't heard the zen...but the ipod sounds better than the Samsung. I don't see anything about being able to bookmark. You can, however, speed up or slow down the playback. It also has voice activated record (if there is a long silence in the middle of a speech you can set it to shut off and not start recording again until it hears a noise automatically).

 

[aleitry]

Thanks for the additional feedback. I've started a thread inviting general comments about it. In this new market, where a $20 differential can get you something bigger, but without the same features, buying a smaller DAP is not so easy anymore.

 

[Turner_Brown]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aleitry Thanks for the additional feedback. I've started a thread inviting general comments about it. In this new market, where a $20 differential can get you something bigger, but without the same features, buying a smaller DAP is not so easy anymore.

I hear ya...this wasn't even for me and I had a hard time deciding.

 

[truffles]

Hey Brown,

Thanks sooo much for your first impressions!! It was worth the short wait
for.

Ummmmmm, I think I might just give this a shot now. It doesn't seem that bad. Although, the colour freak I am . . . I wish it came in more colours, like they have in Asia.

I'm not sure if you've had enough experience with the player yet, but could you help me answer a few questions ?

1.) Could you actually make multiple playlists on the go ?

2.) I've read some mini reviews on cnet, amazon, and engadget . . . and many of them had complaints of the player crashing due to duplicates of the same file. Do you experience that too? Somone also said it'll crash if you have the player filled up to 1GB.

3.) Does the fade function, actually crossfade tracks or they just fade in and out of tracks?

4.) I'm not really a big fan of cases. Do you happen to know if the case and screen of they player are scratch resistant?

5.) Would it be possible to function the player in your pocket without looking at it?

6.) Could you drag and drop pictures without the Samsung imaging software?

Think that's all I have. Sorry for all the questions!

Hope your wife enjoys the new player! Be sure to let us know what she thinks.

~ truffles

 

[Turner_Brown]

1.) Could you actually make multiple playlists on the go ?

No. Just one.

2.) I've read some mini reviews on cnet, amazon, and engadget . . . and many of them had complaints of the player crashing due to duplicates of the same file. Do you experience that too? Somone also said it'll crash if you have the player filled up to 1GB.

I've got about 60mb left and haven't had a problem thus far.


3.) Does the fade function, actually crossfade tracks or they just fade in and out of tracks?

I'm pretty sure it just fades in after you restart a pause.

4.) I'm not really a big fan of cases. Do you happen to know if the case and screen of they player are scratch resistant?

eh...I'm guessing not.

5.) Would it be possible to function the player in your pocket without looking at it?

Once you get the hang of if I don't see why you couldn't play, pause, skip a track or adjust the volume all from inside your pocket.

6.) Could you drag and drop pictures without the Samsung imaging software?

I put an image on it by dragging and dropping...no software needed.

 

[Spade]

Hmm, no bookmarks? Maybe a resume function like the Creative Nano Plus?