Like most MP3 players, the silver, rectangular YEPP can fit into your shirt pocket. Unlike many of the devices manufactured by smaller companies, this player feels solid. Navigating between songs, voice memos, and the phone book is easy. However, we noticed a distinct delay when skipping between songs, which can be annoying when you’re trying to jump over more than a couple of them. In addition, the Diamond Rio 600’s superb graphical interface has raised the bar for LCD displays; the YEPP’s blocky font interface looks dated in comparison. The device comes in two embedded flash memory flavors--64MB ($249.95) and 32MB ($169.95)--both of which have an expansion slot for additional SmartMedia memory cards. YEPP stands for young energetic personal passionate, but don’t hold that against it. All in all, this is a solid player with decent expandability and extras.
Putting MP3 files on the YEPP is easy. Samsung’s drag-and-drop file-transfer software could not be simpler, and the company includes a special version of RealJukebox that lets you encode MP3s at 128 kbps. In addition, the player comes with basic phone book software, allowing you to take up to 350 names and numbers on the road, either by entering them directly into the unit or by importing the information from Outlook. The voice-memo feature worked fine, although it’s definitely not for high-fidelity recording. This handy function can hold 128 minutes of data when there are no songs on the player; if necessary, music can be erased on the fly to make more room for memos