SAMSUNG YP-U1X 512MB USB MP3 Player

• Lightweight multi-format digital audio player with LCD
• 512 MB memory holds 8 hours of MP3 and 16 hours of WMA audio
• Compatible with MP3, WMA, ASF, WAV, and Ogg Vorbis
• Integrated voice recorder; 8 EQ presets; 9-band user EQ controls
• Internal rechargeable battery with up to 13 hours of life

I have a Samsung YP-MT6Z that I use often, but was intrigued by the new design and the new features that this YP-U1 offered, so I opted to purchase the 512 meg model.

Since I'm a very heavy audio book listener, two new features (ones not offered in the YP-MT6Z) in particular appealed to me.

Adjustable Search Speed

Adjustable Skip Interval

Fellow audio book listeners can probably appreciate those two functions. Sometimes you get audio books that have tracks every 3 minutes or so, but others may have entire sections of the book divided into very large chunks, say 70 or more minutes long.

When they are in huge chunks like that (I have had one book that was provided in segments that were 240 minutes long each), you may have to do quite a bit of fast-forwarding, and depending on the configuration, that can be a pretty slow process.

Many players only offer a single, fixed fast-forward speed and only allow skipping forward on a track by track basis. The Samsung YP-U1X, however offers adjustable settings for search and skip.

Search Speeds include 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 and 60 seconds

Skip Intervals include 1 Track, 5, 10, 15, 30 and 60 seconds, as well as 3, 5 and 10 minutes

With these options, even the most demanding user should be able to find a setting that works well for them. Two fantastic additions that I wish every MP3 player had.

Another feature that I really like is the RESET button. Anyone who is familiar with Samsung MP3 players may be aware of an ongoing problem regarding corrupt SETTINGS.DAT files. The units scan the folders at startup to ensure it has a proper read of what is on the device, and frustratingly, at times, that index seems to get corrupted and cause the unit to auto-shutdown and restart when you navigate from track to track, for example.

When this happens with the YP-MT6Z, I have had to plug the unit into the PC and either delete the SETTINGS.DAT file and then allow it to recreate one from scratch after disconnecting the device and restarting it, or transfer a previously backed up SETTINGS.DAT file from the hard drive on my PC to the root folder on the YP-MT6Z. The latter method allows me to preserve the user settings and preferences, and assuming the playlist in that SETTINGS.DAT file is different enough from the file and folder structure on the device, will force a re-indexing of the content, which seems to accomplish the fix as well.

Well, with the YP-U1, all you have to do is activate the reset button (like with a pen or paper clip) and it takes care of the first method for you. That is a very sleek little solution, which I can appreciate, even if I wish they would still correct the corruption problem in firmware. Until they do, however, the reset button solves the issue nicely.

The built in USB connector (with a spiffy flip-out design) is simply genious and one of those things that can make you ask "Why doesn't EVERY manufacturer do it that way?"

One of the reasons I like Samsung players so much is because they require no drivers and no special software. They have no fancy copy protection restrictions either. You just plug the device into your USB port and it shows up as a standard, FAT-formatted (FAT-32 I think) storage device. No muss, no fuss.

I prefer the FOLDER method of storage and navigation to those that rely on MP3 tags, because I guess it seems a very logical extension of what you can do with computer hard drives. Some players (like Sandisk) seem to have issues with tags and others handle version 1 and 2 tags inconsistently.

With the Samsung, you can easily make a folder, copy your files into that folder and they are compartmentalized and stored sequentially based on the file name. If you number your tracks 01-99 or 001-999 or whatever (music or audio books) it will play them in order for each of the folders you create.

So, if you have 3 audio books on the player and are ready to listen to the trilogy, you can create a folder structure like:

\BOOK1

\BOOK2

\BOOK3

and in each of those 3 folders, you can have individual files named CHAP-01, CHAP-02, CHAP-03... etc. and they all play in order for each book.

I also appreciate that you can delete files (one at a time) directly from the MP3 player if you want. That way, after you listen to a chapter or two, you can delete them to free up room for the built-in voice recorder, for example.

You can even format the built-in storage right from the menus for those times when you just have to have the free-space for recording a lecture or something. And unlike some flakey and tempermental navigation methods like those on the Creative Labs Zen line, the Samsung relies on easy to use mechanical buttons. Not likely you'll overshoot the target menu with this method, which I do all the time with touch-sensitive units.

Bottom line is this thing puts the iPod Shuffle to shame. It has a very easy to read 4 line display that is the same size and very similar to (though not quite as bright as) the YP-MT6Z. I can't imagine running a player without a screen, and the monochrome display (dark blueish text on a white/light-blueish background) does a great job of helping you get the most from your player.

For $69-$79 for the 512 meg version, I'd be all over this thing, cause the Shuffle just can't hold a candle to it, imo.

If you prefer a unit with a standard replaceable battery, you can snag the Samsung YP-MT6 or the newer YP-C1 lines, which get like 40+ hours from a single AA battery.

But if you don't mind an internal rechargeable battery, this thing is a fantastic choice, I believe.

Buy SAMSUNG YP-U1X 512MB USB MP3 Player Now

So far, for the price I paid, this seems like a far better deal than the iPod Shuffle that was its competition.

Sound is good, operation is straightforward: it works like a flash drive, just copy your MP3 folders in and you're good to go.

The one sticking point I have found is that it is finicky about which USB sockets it will work in. It wants a socket with a good power supply, which means that it won't work in unpowered USB hubs. It won't work in the USB ports on the front of my computer, for instance, but will work just fine in the ports on the back of the computer. Likewise, it doesn't like the USB port on the keyboard of my Mac at work, and gives a "USB Low Power Notice."

Under Windows, plugging it into a USB port without enough power causes the Device Manager dialog to flash on and off, apparently because the electronics aren't working 100%. You get the same behavior in the dialog that lets you shut down removable devices before ejecting them.

When in doubt, use the USB ports in the back of your computer that are part of the motherboard.

Aside from that one issue, though, I'm pretty happy with it.

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1. It's almost exactly the same size as an iPod Shuffle.

2. The 4-line display is clear and bright with white backlit LCD.

3. Multi-lingual support (14 languages) for both menu and Mp3 tags -pretty nifty.

4. Built-in rechargeable battery, charges in a USB port.

5. The USB jack "flips" out so there's no cap to lose.

6. The menu controls are pretty intuitive.

7. The build quality is very good.

I would recommend the Samsung YP-U1X over the iPod Shuffle. It is just so much more versatile a product with an LCD screen.

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I don't have a ton of experience with portable audio players but I knew what I wanted: an inexpensive flash player that could play ogg vorbis files (an open source audio format) as well as mp3s. The Samsung YP-U1 definitely fits that bill and the sound quality was surprisingly good (though obviously, dependent on encoding quality -I tried up to ogg Q8).

After using it about a week, I've discovered some quirks and features, good and bad, you might want to know about.

GOOD

Very small. Fits in my car's ashtray.

Nice sound quality using included earbuds, at least with ogg files.

USB jack is incorporated into device itself and used to both charge the battery and transfer files. There are no dongles or AC adapters to keep track of.

Interface and LCD screen are fairly intuitive and natural to use, while not being up to the iPod standard. (Though really this device is competing with the iPod Shuffle which has no screen at all..)

Included software rips CD's efficiently to ogg, mp3, or other formats and adds basic ID3 tags.

Software also has subscription to the Gracenote music recognition service, so songs were identified correctly even from homemade mix CD's -this was very convenient.

Player functions as a standard FAT32 flash drive. You can copy files to and from the device manually. You can also save and edit non-music files, etc.

Voice record feature is handy, though sound quality is obviously not the greatest with the tiny condenser mic.

BAD

The music management software is fairly primitive in the way it organizes music both on the PC and on the player... in folders rather than with tags. Multiple playlists can be created on the PC, but only one (completely different) playlist can exist on the flash player.

SUGGESTION

If you want the highest sound quality and the best file naming/ID3 tagging, you might want to use some other ripping and/or music management software and then just manually place your music on the player.

All in all, this player seems like a good value if your main goal is just to listen to some tunes and keep things simple.

I think that the mp3 is a much better product than the I-pod because it stores up to 128 songs, and it is a much more manageable product than the I-pod. The I-pod has a very large storage base, which is really useful to any lover of music because you can store all your albums. There is a disadvantage with the I-pod because even though it stores up to 10,000 songs; most people who own one of these products would waste half their time hunting for the song that they really wanted to listen to. There is much more point in spending money on an mp3 as you can download the songs you want and if you get bored of one song, then you can always delete it and put on a new song that you like. The mp3 is a much more practical product as you don't waste time in looking for a song that you really like.