Only slightly bigger than the single "AAA" alkaline battery that powers it, Samsung's YP-T5H flash memory player can store up to two hours of music, play both MP3 and WMA files, tune in FM stations, serve as a voice recorder, and do a few other things as well. Having that much audio entertainment in something that takes up less pocket space than a disposable lighter is my idea of portable electronics!

The Samsung YP-T5H MP3 player carries your tunes in a tiny, tidy package.

Compact and cool
Samsung offers two different models of this little player, differing only in casing color and memory capacity. The YP-T5H has a white and silver casing, and 128MB of storage. The YP-T5V has a blue casing, and can hold 256MB of music. Both devices have MP3 and WMA playback, and can encode incoming signals from various sources (including the built-in radio) as compact MP3 files.

The YP-T5V holds 256MB of music, and comes in a distinctive blue and black color scheme.

When I first received the white Samsung yepp YP-T5H MP3 player to review, I was taken by the look — compact and cool. But was it too compact? Since the player was only slightly larger than my thumb, I was a little concerned about using the controls. I needn't have worried. Despite its miniature size, the yepp player controls were well laid out. I could easily work all the functions without any fumbling.

The player's controls are few in number and simple to use.

Few controls, many options
The front panel had a small toggle switch, which handled most of the navigation chores. The few buttons on the top had multiple functions, depending on what the player was doing at the moment. They were raised enough to feel, but low profile enough not to be accidentally activated while rattling around in my pocket (unlike the buttons on my cell phone).

The three-line LCD screen was legible at a comfortable distance, and by changing the color of the screen to one of seven different tints, I could modify the look of the yepp to suit my style — I could even set it to random color selection if I didn't want to make up my mind!

Various jacks were located on the ends of the player. One end had the headphone jack, the lanyard loop and the cover for the battery compartment. The other had the sub-minijack audio input and the USB port.


Managing the yepp through your PC
The PC is an important component of the yepp system, as the majority of the player's file management can only be done on a computer. After installing the yepp Studio program, I was ready to start.

I loaded music CDs into my PC, and the tracks appeared in the yepp Studio's playlist window. Through my Internet connection, the program could access Gracenote.com, a database of CD track and artist info. The info was automatically downloaded and attached to the tracks, meaning I didn't have to type in any artist or song titles — which was a big timesaver! (Of course, for those rare instances when Gracenote didn't have the information on file, I could open another window and enter the data myself.)

The left side of the screen had a media player, as well as an area to organize the music. The custom playlists (called "albums") were created here. Dragging the selected tracks over, I could set up my own thematic albums, with the tracks sequenced in the order I wanted. I even had a choice of icons for these folders (either Standard, Pop, Classical or Original Soundtrack), giving me a quick visual reference of the contents.

The yepp Studio, where you can manage your music. Albums you've created are displayed on the left side of the screen.

Once I had my albums set, I simply left them on my PC until I was ready to move them to the yepp player. Using the PC, I wasn't limited to the storage space of the Yepp player (two hours of MP3 music at 128 kbps for the YP-T5H; four hours for the YP-T5V). Similar to the concept of, say, loading a 5-disc car changer for a trip, I could swap out the albums stored on the yepp, and bring in new ones from my PC — and be ready to hit the road with a new batch of tunes! Instead of fooling with jewel cases and carousels, though, I just connected the yepp via its supplied USB cable, and did it all on-screen.

Loading files from an external device
I also had the option of loading music from an external device, such as a CD player. The yepp came with a cord that used a mini-jack to plug into the "line out" terminal on the source component, linking it to the yepp's sub-minijack input. The player automatically encoded the incoming signals as MP3 files to maximize space.

Although I could transfer music directly from, say, a portable CD player with this connection, I couldn't effectively manage the files once they were in the yepp. Songs imported this way are labeled by default 001, 002, 003 etc. To give them artist and song titles, I just pulled them over to the yepp Studio on the PC.

The transfer process from an audio source was very much like copying something to cassette tape. I pressed the "Record" button when I wanted to start, and pressed it again to stop. One advantage to this system was that I could transfer from non-digital sources as well. Using my component cassette deck, I was able to transfer some songs a friend of mine recorded years ago on cassette into the player, which converted them to MP3. Working with the files in the yepp Studio, I finally had her music on my PC (albeit with the sound quality of cassette tape), properly labeled with song and artist info.

Using the radio
The yepps also had an FM radio tuner, which stored up to 20 station presets. The reception was surprisingly good — even without an external aerial. I received all of the stations I normally could in our listening area without much trouble. Occasionally, I had to position the yepp player just so, but on the whole I could just tune to a station and listen — even while on the go.

The yepp could also record from its built-in radio. When I pressed "Record," it immediately started, which made recording a song off the radio fairly easy. It also stopped recording promptly, so I could pretty much isolate the song I wanted. Within the player itself these radio files received default labels — "F001", "F002" and so on, but I could (through the yepp Studio on the PC) label and store them as I chose.

Using the voice recorder
The voice recorder function was one I found very handy indeed. Using all the available memory, the YP-T5H can hold about 8 hours of voice recording (16 hours with the YP-T5V), so I could easily record a lecture or a presentation.

Mostly, though, I used it to record brief reminders to myself. Even with some albums loaded, I usually had enough space for at least a few audio notes.

Overall, the quality of the voice recordings was good. Obviously, the closer to the sound source, the cleaner the resulting recording. The amount of ambient noise also made a difference. You shouldn't have any problem making out what the professor said in a college classroom — making a note to yourself in a crowded stadium during a touchdown is something else again.

A good thing in a small package
Samsung packed a lot into a very small device. The YP-T5H player and its earbud-style headphones weighed practically nothing and took up almost no space — I could take them anywhere. And with about 11 hours of continuous play per "AAA" battery, it was the perfect companion for poolside relaxing or a daylong hike along the Appalachians.

The YP-T5V and YP-T5H are fun little players. I'm glad, when asked to review one of them, I said "yes" to yepp.