Samsung Yepp YP-55V Review

daanger0us writes "RAM based MP3 players are still pretty popular. As hard drive based MP3 players get larger storage capacity, the RAM based MP3 players have to add new features to keep themselves compelling to customers. The Samsung Yepp YP-55V is one of the RAM based MP3 players that's added some pretty cool features at a reasonable price. 256MB of RAM, FM Tuner, ability to record from a line-in, from the FM Tuner and voice recording, USB Drive capabilities, upgradeable firmware, weighing in at 2.2 ounces all for around $160. Designtechnica has a full review. How many people still consider a RAM based audio player when shopping?" Update: 09/03 22:11 GMT by T : That should be "MB," not "MG" as it originally read.

Comments

iPod Looms

[blackmonday]

The iPod can be bought for 200 bucks refurbed (10 gig previous generation...10 GIG!) Why would I get this for 40 bucks less? Radio and Voice recording would be a welcome addition to future iPods though.

I'm in the market right now, and the Rio SP250 wins over this one too. CD Based, larger, but with integrated FM and 700 megabyte CDR capacity.

Re:CD based MP3 players

[Ugodown]

I am always presented with the problem of organization with MP3 CDs. With so much on one disk, I don't know where to look for what I want, and I get an 'information overload feeling'.

How many people still consider a FLASH player?

[default luser]

I did, and I bought one.

My Creative Labs MuVo is not only a good mp3/wma player, but was also one of the first to function as a convenient USB drive. Why the hell would I have paid $75 for a 128MB flash drive a year back when I could have both for $150?

Obviously, this concept is catching on and prices are dropping, so anyone who is even considering USB drive who doesn't already own a portable music player should be interested.

iPods don't

[Flamesplash]

iPods don't seem to care about movement at all. I'm really amazed though. People jog with them.

Minidisc is the way to go.

[Jason1729]

At 256 meg, this mp3 player's capacity is about the same as a single minidisc, but it's not expandable. Minidiscs cost under $2 each, and the files can be re-arranged on them like with an mp3 player. The battery life on a minidisc player is better than the yepp player too which doesn't make sense since the yepp doesn't have to power a motor. A CD based mp3 player is much larger than a minidisc player (even if it's designed for the 8cm CDs), and the battery life is terrible.

Jason
ProfQuotes

Really?

[bshort404]

They still make these?

I have to occasionally make a hard decision on what to include on my iPod. But usually it's between keeping every Magnetic Fields' song or switching to carrying every Beatles song. Ever.

I get bored to easily to ever carry around a player that only has 256 megs.

Re:CD based MP3 players

[MemRaven]

You really only need enough storage space for one track, I suppose. I've got an iRiver MP3/CD player, and much like the Rio Volt, what it does is spin up the CD drive, buffer what basically amounts to a whole song (more if you're doing Track Order on the iRiver), and then stop it. So it only even tries to use the CD player in between songs.

But I've never tried to use it while jogging. That's what I've got my Yepp (old-skool "Hip Hop" model, which is damn near indestructable) for.

Re:Minidisc and MP3 are NOT the way to go!

[Anonymous Coward]

oh please. Yeah, there is a player that handles WAVs - YOUR FUCKING CD PLAYER. Get off that "lossy sucks" high horse bullshit. That's not the point of PORTABLE audio. If you don't want lossy compression then you listen to the cd, and don't bitch about the fact that it isn't portable. For fuck's sake.

Re:CD based MP3 players

[Vermifax]

FYI, thats 180 seconds of Audio CD shake buffer. Its like 8 megs of ram, or 480 seconds of MP3 shake buffer. Quite frequently the disk will stop spinning and it plays from the buffer.

The guy above who said 'they can't hardly take much shaking' doesn't know what he was talking about.

Re:I'll tell you what the problem is:

[tetro]

NetMD sucks the big one. Try using their OpenMG software and tell me that you've never had it crash. The upload and download restrictions totally killed the chance for NetMD to become big. Especially when the program crashes and you have 1 less checkout because of that, NetMD seems like a piece of trash compared to an Ipod. If it had better software and did not have any upload or download restrictions, NetMD would have killed the memory based MP3 players. Anyone remembers those radio and tv ads that referred to a NetMD as an MP3 player?

Re:CD based MP3 players

[Sven The Space Monke]

I can assure anyone out there, this guy is as right as you can get. My brother has that model, and uses it while driving via tape adapter. Last January, he got us in a SERIOUS acident. Launched the car about 20 meters off a highway divider (we were going FAST....). This was one of those accidents where the cops showed up and asked (I mean it - they really asked this) "How the fuck did you guys survive this?". They've seen accidents like this before, and historically, they use shovels to get the victims into the ambulance. Anyway, the iRivier didn't skip a beat, despite being launched into the windshiled. The car was totaled, BTW. Damage estimates were about 30-40k. The whole thing was bent into a U-shape.

Word of advice - if you ever find yourself in an accident like that, GO LIMP. Let go of the wheel, let Newton take control. If you fight him, he'll kill ya. And pray you land right side up. Oh, and don't forget to enjoy the ride, 'cuz that's gonna be the ONLY fun part.