Digital Mp3 Player

The Samsung P2 is an eye-pleasing update to the Samsung product line of mp3 players. It has sleek, sophisticated, round edges, is quite lightweight, and has a black glossy finish that is reminiscent of a grand piano. The sound quality is excellent, especially compared to similarly priced mp3 players on the market. The battery life varies depending on how much you utilize the touchscreen interface, but on average you can expect twenty to thirty hours of use.

I was a little reluctant to purchase a touchscreen mp3 player, as I generally prefer to press physical buttons, but the execution of the P2 interface is excellent, and I must admit it has won me over. One thing I might mention though, is that when advancing the screen from one to the next, you have to swipe it from right to left, which seems a little counter-intuitive. The reverse is true when you are looking to go back a page, swiping from left to right.

With the manufacturer's default settings, you make a circular motion on the screen to go through the menu, which can be a little tedious, although it seems like a fun feature at first. Thankfully, this feature can be disabled, letting you use a more functional grid menu.

The functions of the P2's audio player are superb, although it can be difficult getting it to sync with Winamp 5.5. However, if you use Windows Media Player to sync your P2, it should work great. The P2 will sync your playlists without any problems, and is also excellent about recognizing albums when they are copied directly like a mass storage device. The integrated player functions are complete with a customizable equalizer that has several presets and a clarity adjuster. The spectrum analyzer, album art, and track info are great additions, but it would have been nice if the preset light shows tracked with the music. I consider that to be a minor flaw, though, and it doesn't really detract from the experience very much at all.

The video player is not bad, although there are some problems with motion blur while viewing dvd's. Also, in order to view videos, you will need to convert them through Samsung's software in order to play them. That seems to be fairly standard though, with most similar mp3 players requiring you to use some sort of proprietary software.

The Samsung P2 can be a bit pricey, but in addition to the features I've already mentioned, it also has an FM radio tuner and bluetooth capability for up to two different bluetooth devices. There is also a pass-through for your cell phone to a set of bluetooth headphones. The bluetooth feature is particularly useful if you have headsets, a car radio, or speakers that utilize bluetooth technology.

Overall, I feel that Samsung has made a great contribution to the mp3 players currently on the market with the P2. If a new mp3 player is in your budget or on your wish list, then this one is comparable and sometimes even better than the market giant iPod Touch.