[Aziraphale]

Hi guys, I'm in need of a new mp3 player (because I lost my old one ) So I've been checking out some Samsung models and have narrowed it down to the T9:



I've read some reviews online (such as CNET) and they've basically said the T9 is very good and packs in a lot for something this small. But apparently, some users have found that the software (Samsung Media Studio) is very annoying. Basically it just dumps all your music into one folder and you have a long list of music to sort through, and that transferring music is slow. Is that the case? I'd really like to hear some feedback on whether the software is a pain to use, and what you think of the T9 overall.

I was also thinking of the K3 or K5, but I don't really like the touchpad, so that kinda rules them out. I had a Z5 which I liked a lot, but unfortunately I lost it.

So any feedback on the T9 is much appreciated! Thanks in advance!

PS: If any of you can recommend some good earphones, that'd be awesome!

[Nuguya?]

I have this and love it since it's small and compact and it looks closely to my phone lol.

The program that you need to use is annoying. It's slow for me when it transfers. You can create folders instead of dumping it into one folder. I have multiple folders for mine. Or you can just go into the device itself and make folders and transfer it from your music folder to that newly created folder but the transfer will take longer I think. If you want to transfer videos then you have to use the program to convert it so the player can play it. After transferring your music and turning on the player the player will update it's data which takes a bit long. The shuffle is bad. I don't know if it's only mine but every time I turn it on and it's on shuffle it's always the same songs every day when it's on shuffle.

If you can get past the annoying program then I would recommend it.

[SOCKBUNNY]

The shuffle is bad. I don't know if it's only mine but every time I turn it on and it's on shuffle it's always the same songs every day when it's on shuffle.

I have the same problem with shuffle too. I always have my music on shuffle but it has the tendency to play the same songs over and over -__-
The transfer speed is kind of slow. I dunno, I have the 4gb and my sister has the 2gb and her player transfers faster than mine.
The program might be a hassle for some people. I don't use it. I just click and drop into the folders and make playlists with media monkey (or you can use WMP whatever you want) and sync to it.
And... Because of its glossy surface (think PSP) it's prone to smudges :/

I love it though :] Not many people have it, and it's so light to carry around. But not too thin that it looks like it'll break (nano... -___-) The sound quality is really good too imo And it's got all sorts of spiffy features like text reader... wallpapers... themes... and stuff.

[x kisekiboshi]

I have the Samsung Y9-T9 and it's really amazing. =]

Yes, synching is slow but I think some people say you can upload your songs using Windows Media Player or something like that? For me, the program is a bit difficult, maybe because I'm stupid or something, but for me, I have to upload it into the program then transfer it so it stays there, and then find the songs again and transfer them to the mp3 player. And sometimes I forget that I forgot to transfer it to the mp3 so yeah...but I'm probably the only person who overcomplicates this stuff :x The synching time for videos is a little slow too, esecially since it has to convert, so that's another downside...

Like what the two previous posters said above, the shuffle button is really weird. I keep hearing the same songs I played previously and it rarely plays any of my other songs. For some reason, it really loves to play all of the songs off m-flo's Cosmicolor, but it doesn't like to play my Maroon 5 album. o_O And yes, it is also a finger print magnet which is kind of annoying...but supposedly I read off a site it's supposed to be scratch proof. I don't know how true that it is yet, but I haven't found any scratches so far. There's also no built in alarm either which stinks and the radio is sometimes bad. I have to stand in certain parts of my house to get good reception, but even if there's static, you can still hear some of the radio.

For me, the buttons took a little time getting adjusted to because the back, menu, and play/pause button are on the side. But I think once you get to know it better, it'll be a breeze and you won't have any trouble.

Even though it seems like I might be bringing the T9 down, I'm certainly not. It really has great features! The screen is nice and bright and it's pretty big for an mp3 that's so tiny. And it's light and not bulky at all which is a big plus. The videos come out amazing and the sound quality is off the hook. You can also add pictures and from your pictures, you can choose on of them to be your wallpaper when you're listening to music. You can also add text files and record stuff too. And like I mentioned before, there's an FM radio which is handy if you don't feel like listening to your songs.

I hope this review helped, and hey, if you're little iffy about buying the T9, go to a store that sells it and play around with it, it's better to actually try it out for yourself...we're just simply here to guide you. =]

[Aziraphale]

Thanks Nuguya, SOCKBUNNY and x kisekiboshi for your detailed feedback! I really appreciate it! I've actually tested the player at one of the stores and I do like the feel of it in my hands, and I do like that it's got buttons instead of the funny touchpad (like the ones for K3 and K5). It took me a while to get used to where the buttons are located, so I would agree it's not particularly user-friendly in that aspect.

Wanna ask about the on/off button on the T9. I had a problem shutting my Z5 down because no matter how long I pressed on the button (I was told it'd shut off if you press it long enough), I kinda felt that I didn't shut it down properly and it still used up battery power even when the screen was black. Meaning I never quite got my 35 hours' worth although it still had a pretty long playback time. So is it just a simple case of pressing the on/off button and it really shuts off? I know this sounds dumb, but after what happened with my Z5, I had to ask.

Not too keen on using the T9 to watch videos, the screen is kinda small. I guess I'll just use Windows Media Player to transfer my music - I hope it's painless. It's not necessary to install the program when you first charge the player, right? I don't use the shuffle much, but I do like to repeat a particular album or song, I'm hoping it won't crank up there. I know, I'm weird.

Are the earphones that come with the player a good fit? They sound okay?

Thanks again for all your help!

[SOCKBUNNY]

^you shut it down the same way you'd turn it on. Press the stop/play button for about 2 secs and you'll see the shutdown animation. It has a start up animation too. It also has this jingle it plays when you turn it on/off. If you leave the device on without playing music, it'll shut down automatically by itself when it reaches a certain time, you can change that yourself, the max is 5min without playing.
and no, you don't ever need to install the program if you don't want to. I didn't find a need for it. you'll only need it if you want to convert videos to watch on it.
the earphones that come with it are pretty good imo, pretty good sound quality. you can add the foam covering if you want on it to make it more comfortable too... the cord is kind of long for me, then again I'm kinda short so it might just be me ^^"

[shizniz00]

dang thats a nice phone...id like one like that

[sketchy62]

get a k3. i swa it in person looks pretty nice.

or the k5 iwth built in speaker... either one looks nice


yea they look nice... i dind tlike the touch buttons though

[Jaeho]

dang thats a nice phone...id like one like that

It's an mp3 player. lol But Samsung *does* have phones that look similar to the yp-t9

x kisekiboshi, I thought it was scratchproof at first... but now that I've had my t9 for several months, I can see countless small but noticeable scratches... =/

[OoOitzCathyOoO]

I'm looking into a new MP3 player as well.
Maybe I'll get this one too! ^^

[Aziraphale]

^you shut it down the same way you'd turn it on. Press the stop/play button for about 2 secs and you'll see the shutdown animation. It has a start up animation too. It also has this jingle it plays when you turn it on/off. If you leave the device on without playing music, it'll shut down automatically by itself when it reaches a certain time, you can change that yourself, the max is 5min without playing.
and no, you don't ever need to install the program if you don't want to. I didn't find a need for it. you'll only need it if you want to convert videos to watch on it.
the earphones that come with it are pretty good imo, pretty good sound quality. you can add the foam covering if you want on it to make it more comfortable too... the cord is kind of long for me, then again I'm kinda short so it might just be me ^^"

Awesome. Thanks so much again, SOCKBUNNY! Really appreciate your help in answering my questions. Looks like I'm leaning more and more towards getting this player. I think it's cool that there's an automatic shut down option and I like long cords, hehe.

It being a fingerprint magnet... shouldn't pose too big a problem, right?

Jaeho: any way to minimise scratches appearing on the player?

sketchy62: nah, I have no use for speakers on a small mp3 player, so no K5 although it's very nice. And I really don't like the touchpad.

[Jaeho]

Jaeho: any way to minimise scratches appearing on the player?

For the first few months, I was VERY careful with it. Like... I never stuffed it anywhere else besides my pocket.
But then I got careless and stuffed it into my bag with other materials ----- big mistake. lol And it was my art bag with art tools and such.
Every mp3 player, phone, etc will develop scratches eventually anyway. ><;

I hope you enjoy the t9 if you decide to get it.

[tranced_azn]

lol mine dropped on the concrete sidewalk many times and i shove it in my bag also. luckily just tiny minor scratches. anywho i have this mp3 player also and i love it =DDD. if you don't want to use the software or windows media to put songs on it, you can just make folders and drag and drop, but i think you have to download a different firmware or enable something on it to make it do that. if you want some samsung t9 tips i recommend going to www.anythingbutipod.com (i think that's the site) and go looking around the forums there. REALLY helpful stuff. oh yea and it is kind of a fingerprint magnet. i wish they sold one of those clear cases for it ><.

[Aziraphale]

LOL, Jaeho. I'll be very careful with mine, don't wanna lose it again :\ I just placed an order for it, hopefully I'll get to play with my new toy soon! It'd better be good, it's costing me so much.

tranced_azn: thanks for the tip and link! I think using Windows Media Player to sync songs is good enough, I did that with my Z5 and didn't have a problem. Yeah, I wish they had clear cases for players that collect fingerprints like nobody's business. Maybe Samsung should take note.

Thanks again everyone for all your help and patience!

[saera]

Okay, hopefully you read this.

I think BestBuy has the latest version, the bluetooth version, out, which I HIGHLY recommend that you buy. You can hook it up to wireless headphones, or even your cellphone (I know the Korean t9B only works with samsung phones), which is a nice little feature for only 20 more dollars.

People complain about SMS (Samsung Media Studio) because they don't know that you don't have you use SMS. You NEED to download the latest firmware which is version 1.68 (just released).

Basically the T9 is formatted as a MTP, which is a hassle, so with the firmware update, you can change it into a UMS which allows you to create folders through My Computer rather than relying on SMS. Don't bother using Windows Media Player or SMS or whatever you use. Create folders in the music folder that T9 already comes with, and just copy and paste into that folder through My Computer. It's just like a flash drive.

Transferring music through SMS or any other program takes a lot longer than just dragging and dropping.

SMS using Gracenote to find your ID3vtags for your songs, which usually works well, it just takes a longgg time to tag all your songs (faster than doing it by hand, but either way), and sometimes it takes a week or two for brand new albums to be tagged properly.

Just don't forget to download the firmware. It comes with a new background theme and a new game and more languages and all sorts of other useless things.

Lastly, (i know, I'm all over the place), dont forget to do a "library update" after you add songs through some program besides SMS.

[Aziraphale]

^ Wow, that completely went over my head for a while. LOL.

Thanks very much, saera! I am getting the T9B, which I think is the bluetooth version, but it'll take about a week or more to arrive (hassle with payment mode ). I'm not sure where to download that firmware you recommended? So you're saying that with the firmware, I don't have to retag all my music or whatnot? I thought using Windows Media Player was just a matter of dragging and dropping - although I had a bit of a problem with folders cuz I ended up with too many for my Z5.

And a "library update" is...??? (sorry, as you can tell, I'm hopelessly tech illiterate )