Having It All!
by Gary Woods

Hardly bigger than a lipstick case, the Samsung Yepp YP-T5 digital audio player has it all. It has a readable screen with up to 256 MB capacity, an FM radio tuner with a microphone for recording as well as line-in recording, and a number of sound-enhancement modes. It measures .9 by .9 by 2.1 inches and weighs only 1.3 ounces with the batter installed.

The YP-T5 is easy to operate with a four-way job switch controlling volume and forward/back and three dedicated buttons for recording, play/pause and A-B repeat selection.

The player sounds great and comes with good-quality earbuds. The FM tuner pulls in weak signals easily and is very stable. Voice recording quality in the WAV Format is adequate and intelligible but slightly muffled.

The YP-T5 records FM radio broadcasts as MP3 files and can also rip a line-level audio source to MP3. You can control the bit rate and auto-sync times, so songs that are separated by silence go into different files. The player has SRS, a simulated enhanced stereo effect and Tru Bass, an increased bass effect. These enhancements as well as treble and bass settings can be stored as one of six presets.

You'll get just over 13 hours of playing time from a fresh AAA battery and really the only downside is the player's USB 1.1 interface instead of the zippier USB 2.0 The Samsung Yepp YP-T5 retails for $149.99 and for more check out http://www.samsung.com.

If you have any suggestions or questions for me please drop me a note at garyandlaury@santabarbaraproperties.com or see my column on the Internet at http://www.santabarbaraproperties.com or call me at (805) 729-0910