Nowadays most of the features of the MP3 players are not related to music and the
Samsung YP-P3C is no different. On the other hand the player is a complete media centre that is so feature-rich that most of your comfort and convenience related needs are taken care of.
Appearance:
The player comes with connecting/charging cable, a pair of earbud style earphones, installation CD and a user's guide. The player has a nice 2.5-Inch widescreen display and slim form factor looks very chunky and fashionable. With no buttons in the front the styling of the P3 is quite contemporary.
Features:
With an 8GB flash memory and a large and vibrant display screen, the P3 is a good video device. It can play many video formats but not the most popular .avi! On the music front, the device plays almost all the known formats. While the haptlc* touch screen responds to swipes and strokes the forced feedback ensures that the conformity to the touch is delivered to the user. The forced feedback has ten adjustable Intensity levels to suit your choice.
To add to the comfort, you can connect the P3 to an A2DP compatible stereo bluetooth headset or speaker set and stream music wirelessly. It is also possible to share data with your PC wirelessly; these can be Images, movies, music or any other data. It is possible to connect the P3 with a mobile phone through Bluetooth so that when one receives a phone call, the music will pause and one can finish the phone call to resume the music — all this automatically.
The equalizer settings are not accessible if you're on Bluetooth headset. The P3 can be a very useful dictation/ spy device with exceptionally clean voice recordings through the built in microphone. But absence of a standard feature like the camera limited the P3 from becoming a complete media centre.
But the real fun begins when you go beyond these major features. The desktop of the P3 comes in very many exciting flavors and colors and setting these up is as fun as using them. Then there are functions like the subway schedule of many leading cities of the world and you being able to store your contacts in the P3!
Samsung has tied up with many third party (Internet) content providers and free trial subscriptions for the P3 owners. Also, through the boring times, the P3 can keep you entertained and engaged by offering the games feature too.
P3 comes in 16GB model too, and the doubling of memory comes at three thousand rupees extra. If you're a movie buff, then having the 16GB version makes sense
(Internet info: at CES 2009 were showcased 4GB and 32GB versions too). If the memory is full and the battery power left is low then you can try the FM radio function to keep yourself entertained. The recording hot key allows the user to create a collection of rare FM recordings. However, an external memory slot would have made this player easy on info exchange and sharing.
The P3 is faster and evidently has brighter display than its lookalike predecessor, the P2. Even the screen resolution is better in the P3. For the sound effects there is a vibration woofer function, which uses the same motor as that of the forced feedback (the tremors or vibrations as effects experienced in-sync with the game action) on the tune of the musical beats.
Performance
You got to be careful with the P3. It is chunky but slippery. It is very easy to start the music or movie as the Icons are ready on the opening screen. For convenience, the movie or music resume from where you had left it even after a fresh start up. Haptic touch screen is not so responsive and easy to operate. There were no feedback modes to choose from and the one that came factory set was a bit annoying as it lingered after the screen strike was over. In fact the issue was the very same one during the woofer operation, as the vibration seemed to be slow and lagging.
The default desktop screen is very colorful and the color rendition of the screen was superb. Small animation vignettes that keep the desktop from becoming drab and boring are very good. You can easily hold or lock the operation with a tap to the power button and unlock the P3 by quickly tapping it twice. But the screen kept coming alive asking to unlock even when the player screen was gently rubbing the pocket seam. The Bluetooth transmitter of P3 works only if the player is in direct line of sight of the headset.
At the video front the movie resolution is slightly lower than the screen resolution, and the movie cannon be seen in full-screen mode! A very basic feature that even a decent Samsung mobile phone has — analogue AV out to connect the P3 to your TV is not available. This would have added to the convenience of sharing images and movies with friends and helped us to getting public from personal!
Bottom line
All the feature related complaints fall short when the core — the audio performance is so good. There is nothing further to say when the price, compared to the reference 8GB iPod Touch, is around 25 to 30% lower.
