Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I researched MP3's for several weeks after having a bad experience with the Creative Zen V Plus. My primary interest in an MP3 is to listen to audiobooks, downloaded from my local library for free, while traveling. I wanted it to be easy to use and to have good bookmarking features. I narrowed my list to those recommended on the library's link to Overdrive, the service they use for books.
I got what I wanted and more with this great little unit. First, it looks cool (though I wish the shiny surface didn't get so marked up with fingerprints). Books are easy to download. I like the feature that allows you to shut off the player and return to where you left off in a book or song when you turn it back on. Bookmarking is easy as long as you remember what track you were on (if you want to listen to music after you listen to a book). It's easy to fast-forward or reverse.
It took a few minutes to get used to using a light touch on the touchscreen, but now I love it.
The battery lasted almost as long as my flight to Japan, and it recharges quickly. I do recommend getting a plug-in charger for travel if you aren't taking your computer.
It's great to be able to set the FM radio to various countries--I recorded songs from the Japanese radio stations to play as background for my slides--way cool! Fun to wake up to J-pop (Japanese popular music) while I was there (using the alarm feature).
Haven't used the bluetooth feature yet, and the screen is too small to enjoy videos. Seems like there is room so they could have made the screen larger.
Music quality is great, and it's fun to have the speakers. The earphones did take a little getting used to because of their shape, but they deliver wonderful quality sound.
Since I'm not very intuitive with products like this, I really appreciate the very thorough manual that comes with this, though you have to download it and print it yourself.
I recommend checking the various message boards on Amazon to get a variety of opinions before you purchase an MP3. I found them very helpful. I also recommend going to the company's website and taking a look at the manual to answer questions before purchase. In this case, it's samsung.com.
The only complaint I have is that it doesn't come with a case and it's an odd size. I found a cool case in Japan.
All in all, I'm delighted with the size and features of this MP3 player and hope it lasts a long time.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Samsung YP-S5JAB 4 GB Slim Portable Media Player with Speaker (Black)
With 4 GB of built-in memory, the Samsung S5 represents the second generation of Samsung\'s portable media players to come with a built-in speaker. With the S5, users will still enjoy the high-quality 1.5-watt speaker (the same speaker that came with the S5's predecessor), which can slide open or closed to offer a choice between a portable device and a desktop speaker system. Packed with tons of great features, the S5 comes with video playback and photo viewing capabilities, an alarm clock that can be used with MP3 files or an FM radio/recording, and built-in games. Last but not least, the S5 has built-in Bluetooth 1.2 connectivity, a feature that allows users to pair with wireless headphones or cell phones. Imagine never missing a call and even turning your S5 into a speaker phone--with the S5, you don't have to imagine, because it\'s ready.
The built-in FM tuner will scan the entire FM range in less than 60 seconds and automatically place the available FM stations into presets. To eliminate stations with marginal reception, you can adjust the sensitivity to only preset stations with strong reception. The S5 comes with a built-in microphone so you can record live sound, such as an important lecture or your neighbor's garage band, as an MP3 file. MPEG4 video files are the most common open video format available today, and the S5 comes ready to play MPEG 4 files right out of the box. Samsung multimedia software included with the S5 transcodes video files on your PC before transferring to the S5, so files on the S5 play at an optimal frame size and rate with minimal effort from the user.
Samsung multimedia software also can assist in transferring JPEG images onto the S5 for later viewing. Once on the S5, images can be zoomed and re-centered. Any JPEG on the S5 can become the wallpaper during music playback. For added user convenience, the S5 is compatible with music subscription services, such as Rhapsody, Napster, and Yahoo!. The player supports MP3, AAC, and WMA audio files, MPEG 4 video files, and JPEG photo files. Compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems, the S5 measures 3.78 x 1.83 x 0.58 inches and weighs just three ounces.
