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While it may not look quite as swish as Apple's iPod Nano, Samsung's not very catchily titled YP-Z5 is one of the best MP3 players on the market. I've certainly had no regrets about buying one to replace my now defunct iPod Mini. It's roughly the same size as an iPod Nano, except that it's slightly thicker depthwise in order to accomodate the larger battery. And while it isn't quite as sleek looking, it's still pleasant on the eye. Because whereas the second generation iPod Nano has a battery life of up to 24 hours, the YP-Z5 can manage up to 38 hours playback. Admittedly, you're unlikely to get the maximum quoted battery life from any MP3 player unless you have it running continously without a break. But still, I've had at least 24 hours out of mine on one charge and with the screen set to medium brightness. And while removing and replacing the YP-Z5's rechargeable battery when it eventually stops holding charge will invalidate the warrantee, it is at least easily accessible. Unlike the Nano's which is soldered in.
The Z5's interface is pretty easy to use, which isn't surprisingly since it was designed by the man responsible for the controls found on the first-generation iPod. The screen is just under two inches in size and it's pretty clear, although like the iPod Nano, it can show album art and pictures, but it can't play video. At least, it doesn't play video right now. Samsung say it's capable of playing video but they've not released any kind of update to allow them to do that, nor do they plan to. But given that the Z5 is in my pocket most of the time, that's not a big issue. It'd just be a nice bonus feature if Samsung ever got round to enabling it. The audio quality is excellent, the only downside being that the device doesn't do gapless playback - which means that there's always a slight momentary break between songs. Personally, I don't mind this, but if you're listening to an album where the songs blend into each other, then it might annoy you a bit. There are a variety of equalizer settings, though I don't bother with these for the sake of saving battery life. The volume control on the side is pretty damn handy as it means you can change by the volume without actually having to remove the Z5 from your pocket.
The Z5 comes in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB models - the latter is easily big enough for the amount of music I have - half of the stuff I have on it doesn't get listened to that regularly anyway, so I can always prune my collection if need be, so that's no problem. In fact, the only thing that I really do consider a problem is that the Z5 uses a non standard cable to connect to your PC. Instead of a standard mini-USB connection it uses a proprietary cable. Which means that if you want a replacement cable you have to get one from Samsung. E-Bay, ever a source for cheap cables, has devices which will let you charge the Z5 from mains power, but I couldn't find any non-official cables. So if you lose yours, your looking at about fifteen pounds to get a new one. This gripe aside, the Samsung YP-Z5 is a pretty handy gadget. Its long battery life and bigger, sharper screen make it a better choice than an iPod Nano or indeed any other competing MP3 players. Unless you really need video playback, the Z5 is worth every penny.
The Z5's interface is pretty easy to use, which isn't surprisingly since it was designed by the man responsible for the controls found on the first-generation iPod. The screen is just under two inches in size and it's pretty clear, although like the iPod Nano, it can show album art and pictures, but it can't play video. At least, it doesn't play video right now. Samsung say it's capable of playing video but they've not released any kind of update to allow them to do that, nor do they plan to. But given that the Z5 is in my pocket most of the time, that's not a big issue. It'd just be a nice bonus feature if Samsung ever got round to enabling it. The audio quality is excellent, the only downside being that the device doesn't do gapless playback - which means that there's always a slight momentary break between songs. Personally, I don't mind this, but if you're listening to an album where the songs blend into each other, then it might annoy you a bit. There are a variety of equalizer settings, though I don't bother with these for the sake of saving battery life. The volume control on the side is pretty damn handy as it means you can change by the volume without actually having to remove the Z5 from your pocket.
The Z5 comes in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB models - the latter is easily big enough for the amount of music I have - half of the stuff I have on it doesn't get listened to that regularly anyway, so I can always prune my collection if need be, so that's no problem. In fact, the only thing that I really do consider a problem is that the Z5 uses a non standard cable to connect to your PC. Instead of a standard mini-USB connection it uses a proprietary cable. Which means that if you want a replacement cable you have to get one from Samsung. E-Bay, ever a source for cheap cables, has devices which will let you charge the Z5 from mains power, but I couldn't find any non-official cables. So if you lose yours, your looking at about fifteen pounds to get a new one. This gripe aside, the Samsung YP-Z5 is a pretty handy gadget. Its long battery life and bigger, sharper screen make it a better choice than an iPod Nano or indeed any other competing MP3 players. Unless you really need video playback, the Z5 is worth every penny.
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While it may not look quite as swish as Apple's iPod Nano, Samsung's not very catchily titled YP-Z5 is one of the best MP3 players on the market. I've certainly had no regrets about buying one to replace my now defunct iPod Mini. It's roughly the same size as an iPod Nano, except that it's slightly thicker depthwise in order to accomodate the larger battery. And while it isn't quite as sleek looking, it's still pleasant on the eye. Because whereas the second generation iPod Nano has a battery life of up to 24 hours, the YP-Z5 can manage up to 38 hours playback. Admittedly, you're unlikely to get the maximum quoted battery life from any MP3 player unless you have it running continously without a break. But still, I've had at least 24 hours out of mine on one charge and with the screen set to medium brightness. And while removing and replacing the YP-Z5's rechargeable battery when it eventually stops holding charge will invalidate the warrantee, it is at least easily accessible. Unlike the Nano's which is soldered in.
The Z5's interface is pretty easy to use, which isn't surprisingly since it was designed by the man responsible for the controls found on the first-generation iPod. The screen is just under two inches in size and it's pretty clear, although like the iPod Nano, it can show album art and pictures, but it can't play video. At least, it doesn't play video right now. Samsung say it's capable of playing video but they've not released any kind of update to allow them to do that, nor do they plan to. But given that the Z5 is in my pocket most of the time, that's not a big issue. It'd just be a nice bonus feature if Samsung ever got round to enabling it. The audio quality is excellent, the only downside being that the device doesn't do gapless playback - which means that there's always a slight momentary break between songs. Personally, I don't mind this, but if you're listening to an album where the songs blend into each other, then it might annoy you a bit. There are a variety of equalizer settings, though I don't bother with these for the sake of saving battery life. The volume control on the side is pretty damn handy as it means you can change by the volume without actually having to remove the Z5 from your pocket.
The Z5 comes in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB models - the latter is easily big enough for the amount of music I have - half of the stuff I have on it doesn't get listened to that regularly anyway, so I can always prune my collection if need be, so that's no problem. In fact, the only thing that I really do consider a problem is that the Z5 uses a non standard cable to connect to your PC. Instead of a standard mini-USB connection it uses a proprietary cable. Which means that if you want a replacement cable you have to get one from Samsung. E-Bay, ever a source for cheap cables, has devices which will let you charge the Z5 from mains power, but I couldn't find any non-official cables. So if you lose yours, your looking at about fifteen pounds to get a new one. This gripe aside, the Samsung YP-Z5 is a pretty handy gadget. Its long battery life and bigger, sharper screen make it a better choice than an iPod Nano or indeed any other competing MP3 players. Unless you really need video playback, the Z5 is worth every penny.
The Z5's interface is pretty easy to use, which isn't surprisingly since it was designed by the man responsible for the controls found on the first-generation iPod. The screen is just under two inches in size and it's pretty clear, although like the iPod Nano, it can show album art and pictures, but it can't play video. At least, it doesn't play video right now. Samsung say it's capable of playing video but they've not released any kind of update to allow them to do that, nor do they plan to. But given that the Z5 is in my pocket most of the time, that's not a big issue. It'd just be a nice bonus feature if Samsung ever got round to enabling it. The audio quality is excellent, the only downside being that the device doesn't do gapless playback - which means that there's always a slight momentary break between songs. Personally, I don't mind this, but if you're listening to an album where the songs blend into each other, then it might annoy you a bit. There are a variety of equalizer settings, though I don't bother with these for the sake of saving battery life. The volume control on the side is pretty damn handy as it means you can change by the volume without actually having to remove the Z5 from your pocket.
The Z5 comes in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB models - the latter is easily big enough for the amount of music I have - half of the stuff I have on it doesn't get listened to that regularly anyway, so I can always prune my collection if need be, so that's no problem. In fact, the only thing that I really do consider a problem is that the Z5 uses a non standard cable to connect to your PC. Instead of a standard mini-USB connection it uses a proprietary cable. Which means that if you want a replacement cable you have to get one from Samsung. E-Bay, ever a source for cheap cables, has devices which will let you charge the Z5 from mains power, but I couldn't find any non-official cables. So if you lose yours, your looking at about fifteen pounds to get a new one. This gripe aside, the Samsung YP-Z5 is a pretty handy gadget. Its long battery life and bigger, sharper screen make it a better choice than an iPod Nano or indeed any other competing MP3 players. Unless you really need video playback, the Z5 is worth every penny.