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This is a printable version of the article found at http://onepc.net/reviews/0042/ To print, press CTRL + P on your keyboard now. |
By Kelly Lu (kellylu@onepc.net) - July 31, 2001
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Here at OnePC.NET, we've tended to focus more on the CD/MP3 players, since they present a huge amount of storage in comparison to the other relatively common MP3 player type: the solid state player. It was, however, the solid state players that started the entire hardware MP3 player revolution that we are seeing today, so it is only appropriate that we also cover those players a well. One of the newest players that we're looking at today is the Samsung Baby YEPP MP3 player, which is, in fact, part of the same product line that was introduced as one of the first MP3 players about 2 years ago.
Specifications
Dubbed as the MP3 player you can wear, the Samsung Baby YEPP is dubbed the world's smallest USB-based digital audio player ever introduced-much appropriate for its name. It carries 32MB of built-in memory, which is now considered to be a little on the small side since many of the newer players carry 64MB or even 128MB and connects to your computer through a USB interface for quick and easy installation and data transfer of your MP3's. It comes available in a blue and cream shade of color, which is, again very appropriate for its name.
First Impressions
I never had a good chance of looking at the player before I received it, so I really didn't know what the expect. When I first opened the box, right at the top was this tiny little round thing that looked like an egg. Being used to the much bigger MP3/CD players, I initially thought that the thing was just the remote control for the actual player or something. I was surprised when, after I went through the rest of the 80% of the box that the little thing at the WAS the actual player. Taking it out, I realized, woah, this thing is small! I mean, it's so small, I feel like I'm gonna break it or something!
Imagine playing your MP3's from a device the size of a egg--literally.
The Baby YEPP came with a thick user's manual, which I found out later to be only the same 8 or so pages of instructions in 187,987 (ok, that's a little exaggerated) or so different languages! I'm impressed with Samsung's effort in making this internationally understandable, but I was thoroughly disappointed with the contents of the manual (at least for the English section) as it was confusing and difficult to understand.
It also comes with a USB cable that I believe to be way too short, and a set of oddly-looking headphones, actually, ear buds, that double as a lanyard so that the player can be hung from one's neck (for jogging, etc.) and works surprisingly well. Also surprising was the fact that the headphone's audio quality was nearly as good as my personal Panasonic ear buds, a feat very few headphones have had to opportunity to claim.
The player itself had only a total of 4 buttons and takes 1 AAA battery.
Installation of the player was a pretty smooth process, except for the fact that the player cannot be power through the USB slot and, because of this, means that the batteries must be installed first. Once the batteries were installed, the player basically remains permanently on, although it just displays a clock with the time and such, which can be useful sometimes. I would have preferred an off button, however, since, even in the clock mode, the battery will eventually get run down after 30 days.
The Baby YEPP includes Samsung YEPP Explorer, which is a very easy to use program for transferring MP3 files to the player. It takes about 20-30 seconds to transfer a 5MB MP3 file to the player, which is quite acceptable. I found that, with the 32MB of built-in memory, about 6-8 songs can be placed onto the player for about half an hour of music, which is adequate for most cases, but would certainly disappoint on a long trip. Unfortunately, probably due to it small size, Samsung didn't include a way to expand the memory, such as Compact Flash support, so you'll just have to live with the 32MB of memory and about 30 minutes of music.
The Baby YEPP's user interface is a little clumsy, mostly due to the fact that Samsung only had 4 buttons to work with. Plus, the manuals confusing information makes learning how to use the Baby YEPP a chore. Fortunately, once one gets used to the player's interface, there are loads of functions to play, such as bass and treble levels, as well as the standard play modes such as repeat, random and intro-play.
The LCD screen does a very good job with displaying useful information to the user-even with a little animation as well! Something that I would have never expected out of such a small player is that the LCD screen displays the filenames of the files being played. Unfortunately, they're not as useful as ID3 tags sometimes, which the Samsung Baby YEPP doesn't support, but they're better than having to remember each song number.
Sound quality was very surprising for such a small device. Many of my friends and family members commented on how surprised they were with the Baby YEPP's sound quality. I felt that the sound quality is very good--of course, that's all dependent on how good of quality your MP3's are.
Of course, they just couldn't stop staring at it because of its small size!
The Tests
I tested the Samsung to see how well it handles different types of MP3 files-more specifically, at which bit-rate that it can handle. I was surprised to see that it can handle any type of MP3 file all the way up to 320kbps, which is very impressive.
Then I tested the Samsung Baby YEPP for its battery life by running it until it stops playing music from a set of new batteries… er, battery. I was surprised to see that the Samsung Baby YEPP ran for a little over 4 hours on only one AAA Energizer battery, which is very extraordinary! I could carry around quite a few of these tiny AAA batteries and this player will last for a looong time...
Being the world's smallest USB-based digital audio player, the Samsung Baby YEPP is one impressive little device; however, there were some details (and some big things) that I would have liked to see Samsung change with it as well. First of all, with only 32MB of built-in memory and with no way of adding more into it, there's plenty of room to grow in the storage department. Little details such as the much too short USB cable and the slightly sluggish user interface can be of annoyance as well.
Unfortunately, no matter how many annoyance you can have, the Baby YEPP's small size is hard to beat. I would love to see a 64MB version of this player sometime in the future, but in the meantime, I won't hesitate to show the Baby YEPP 32MB off to everyone I know just to see how impressed they get.
Even though it's not be perfect, the Samsung Baby YEPP deserves the OnePC Wow! Product Award for its rediculously cool tiny size...
Pros
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