Samsung YH-920

[Timothy Huber]

Well, after 2+ years my Zen battery died. Best Buy had a sale on the Samsung YH-920, their new "Napster" device, so I picked one up.

Not the best choice I've ever made, but not the worst either.

Pros:
* Great size -- I've been so used to the Zen that this seems positively sleek
* Pretty good sound - but let's be honest, I'm listening via earbuds and over my car stereo so it doesn't have to be pristine
* Decent battery life - so far so good
* Simple but usable interface - not as good as the Creative UI but workable
* Audible.com support - this was a critical factor for me. With a 45-60 minute commute each way I've been using Audible.com audiobooks for a few years, first on an Iomega HipZip, then on Pocket PC and CD-RW. Downloading several full 20-hour books onto a single device is extremely convenient.


Cons:
* In the Album view, tracks are displayed not in album order but ALPHABETICALLY(!). The workaround was to make a playlist for each album, however the playlist could only be made in the Napster client and resulted in retransferring of all the content as well. I discovered that in the Artist view, by Album, the tracks are shown in the order they were transferred to the device. So I can get track order as long as they were transferred in the right order.
* 160KBPS limit - any audio files with a higher bit rate are converted to 160kbps before copying to the device. Not an issue for too many of my files but still...
* Poor playlist support - all playlists must be created in the Napster client and on the fly playlist support is limited to one "Mobile Playlist"

Would I be happy if I'd paid full price? No
Am I happy with it at the sale price? Yes

Regards,
Tim

[Timothy Huber]

Well, after 2+ years my Zen battery died. Best Buy had a sale on the Samsung YH-920, their new "Napster" device, so I picked one up.

Not the best choice I've ever made, but not the worst either.

Pros:
* Great size -- I've been so used to the Zen that this seems positively sleek
* Pretty good sound - but let's be honest, I'm listening via earbuds and over my car stereo so it doesn't have to be pristine
* Decent battery life - so far so good
* Simple but usable interface - not as good as the Creative UI but workable
* Audible.com support - this was a critical factor for me. With a 45-60 minute commute each way I've been using Audible.com audiobooks for a few years, first on an Iomega HipZip, then on Pocket PC and CD-RW. Downloading several full 20-hour books onto a single device is extremely convenient.


Cons:
* In the Album view, tracks are displayed not in album order but ALPHABETICALLY(!). The workaround was to make a playlist for each album, however the playlist could only be made in the Napster client and resulted in retransferring of all the content as well. I discovered that in the Artist view, by Album, the tracks are shown in the order they were transferred to the device. So I can get track order as long as they were transferred in the right order.
* 160KBPS limit - any audio files with a higher bit rate are converted to 160kbps before copying to the device. Not an issue for too many of my files but still...
* Poor playlist support - all playlists must be created in the Napster client and on the fly playlist support is limited to one "Mobile Playlist"

Would I be happy if I'd paid full price? No
Am I happy with it at the sale price? Yes

Regards,
Tim