Samsung P2 touchscreen DAP hits the States

After a month or so of delays, Samsung has finally launched its P2 media player in the States; and it's not putting the 3-inch touchscreen sporting, flash-based, Bluetooth-enabled DAP out there all by its lonesome. Today Samsung announced MPfreedom, a website with info and customization doohickeys, and of course content partnerships with the likes of CinemaNow, Rhapsody and Napster. As we heard before, Samsung is also going to be supporting the player through "Blue Wave" firmware upgrades, the first of which is due for December, and will include Bluetooth phone call and file transfer integration, along with AAC compatibility -- currently only WMA and MP3 are supported -- and some other frills. Samsung is emphasizing its 3-inch, 16:9 display that can run video at 30fps (WMV and MPEG-4), and of course the touchscreen "EmoTure" tap 'n slide interface. The player is available in 2GB, 4GB ($199) and 8GB ($249) capacities, in your choice of black, white or red. There's 35 hours of music playback or 5 hours of video on the battery, and Samsung tossed in an FM radio for good measure.

[ScOObyDoo @ Nov 1st 2007 2:51PM]

I got mine 3 weeks ago off Amazon, and can't really recommend one. I got it mainly for the bluetooth, and it simply sucks. Headsets don't reconnect when you turn it on, which is quite insane.

I tried it on a Pulsar 590A and a Voyager 855, and every time I turned it on I had to do menu > bluetooth > connect...

The interface stinks, "gestures" like next track and volume control don't work well at all, the USB cable can't be found anywhere else (so you are stuck with just the one it came with) and battery life is quite bad.

Needless to say it went back. Perhaps the firmware will resolve this, but I hate firms that ship products the don't work, and make you wait for updates (Yes HTC, I'm also talking to you...).

[doogie749 @ Nov 1st 2007 3:00PM]

How did you get this 3 weeks ago- on Amazon the 4 gig just started shipping 4 days ago and the 8 gig just started shipping 2 days ago?

[ScOObyDoo @ Nov 1st 2007 3:05PM]

The 4Gb has been shipping for weeks, the 8Gb has been stuck on "in stock soon".

Even Circuit City has had them on shelves for around 3 weeks now. Bestbuy also has them in select stores, and started selling them around the 10th.

[azayzel @ Nov 1st 2007 3:18PM]

Too bad to hear it sucks so bad, it would be nice if all portable media players (PMP's, who needs another silly acronym for audio players?) featured built-in bluetooth. I think the main issue right now is the lack of decent phones; i.e., ones that don't make you look like an idiot and sound decent as well (maybe Bose will drop one in the near-future?). BT is definitely cheap enough, the transmitters can be had for so little it's ridiculous!

Thanks for the tip!

[Alexander @ Nov 1st 2007 3:53PM]

yea i saw one in circuit city on october 22

[Sam @ Nov 1st 2007 6:29PM]

The Bluetooth has been outstanding with my Creative Bluetooth stereo headphones. Its works even better than the dongle that came with them.

[UnnDunn @ Nov 1st 2007 3:06PM]

Does it do gapless track switching?

[0mega @ Nov 1st 2007 3:27PM]

the futureshop near my house has had them for ATLEAST four days (i went there monday. ) so its been shipping for longer than that...

[MacVicta @ Nov 1st 2007 3:41PM]

Why wouldn't you pay $50 more for the 8gb iPod touch?

[ScOObyDoo @ Nov 1st 2007 3:57PM]

1) Not everyone wants an iPod. I don't mind them, but some people prefer anything BUT an iPod
2) FM Radio with RDS
3) Bluetooth
4) Bluetooth

I can't stress enough how cool Bluetooth can be with the right player and headphones.

Plus, why WOULD you pay $50 more? If $249 gets you a fairly decent 8Gb player, why would you pay $50 more to get the same?

That said; the Touch really is more mature than the P2, the screen is nicer and of course you get access to 1000's of iPod accessories. Samsung is going to have a hard time shipping large amounts of this player, Bluetooth and radio alone won't be enough for them.

[joe23521 @ Nov 1st 2007 4:22PM]

The Touch has so much more potential that it's easily worth the extra $50, imo. Not to mention the out of the box features it already has.

[bugmat @ Nov 1st 2007 5:05PM]

I agree with Scooby to a point - I've just bought the 8GB Touch, and though it pains me it has no FM tuner or BT (and limited formats as usual), the ability to HACK it convinced me :)

[shuyin198x @ Nov 1st 2007 5:14PM]

Simply because the touch is too BIG.Not everyone wants a huge screen, nor want wifi. All you need from a dap is BT/Music/Videos/Nice Aesthetics[dependent on the person]
I must say, the phone sync is very enticing.This might be a bigger factor here in the EU but the touch is more expensive. 8gb touch €300,16gb €400,8gb P2 is €200.

[MacVicta @ Nov 1st 2007 5:35PM]

"Not everyone wants a huge screen, nor want wifi. All you need from a dap is BT/Music/Videos/Nice Aesthetics[dependent on the person]"

Then why would you want this? It's more of a PMP than anything. I mean a 3 inch screen?

If all you want is music playback then a touchscreen will only hinder your ability to use the player. That's what the iPod nano, Zune 4/8, Creative Zen, etc. are for.

Otherwise you're in iPod touch territory and this sucks compared to it. And too big, Lol. It's a whole 10mm taller and wider while 2mm thinner.

http://www.sizeasy.com/page/size_comparison/5441-Apple-iPhone-vs-iPod-Touch-vs-Samsung-YP-P2-vs-Meizu-M7

[rai @ Nov 1st 2007 6:26PM]

Ipod touch is nice and stuff, but why buy that when it's just a 30 sec rip off an Iphone? Apple is swimming in cash from fan boys... slight remakes of the same thing makes everyone rush out to buy one...

and there should be nothing wrong with people going for a mp3 player that aims to go beyond the boring wires... called.. bluetooth... Ipod touch do what? hell even the Iphone doesn't support stereo bluetooth... and it gets the gadget of the year...

but hey, you can't argue with people that just got apple injected into their veins... $50 is like 50 songs off Itunes man, it's not cheap and 3.5" vs 3.0" screens... the samsung IS smaller, and NO it's not treading Ipod Touch territory, since I didn't recall the touch pissing on the ground..

[shuyin198x @ Nov 1st 2007 6:51PM]

My personal preference as to why not 50 dollars more is:
Design,BT and Price. Might be $50 to you, but its €100 to me.Yes its €100 less than the 8gb itouch.
I'd buy this purely on my preference of the above.Mainly its nice aesthetics.

[Alberto @ Nov 1st 2007 6:59PM]

ok ral, here is your answer. To buy a iphone. First must buy it with a credit or visa debut card. And Two, you have to sign for att service...no way around it.

Ipod, all you got to do is show up and buy it. NO hidden fees or extra service to sign up for. Plus, the hackability factor is much higher on a ipod then on the iphone. You run the risk of Apple undoing whatever you did with an update.

Now is that fair of Apple. No. I was a fanboy...but Apple can kiss my hairy butt.

[SteveMB @ Nov 1st 2007 8:03PM]

Are you crazy? Why would anyone pay $300 for an 8GB mp3 player? Even $250 is ridiculous...

[yeppyepp @ Nov 1st 2007 4:32PM]

It's a great player with good bluetooth syncing. We've never had any troubles and with upcoming firmware updates from Samsung with cell phone pairing it will be killer.
http://www.yeppyepp.net

[pgl @ Nov 1st 2007 4:51PM]

I played with the demo model on display at bestbuy... I found the interface to be clunky and unresponsive. Trying to scroll through the menus with the cosmos interface, it would take a 2 to 4 swipes to get to the next set of icons and during the swipes I would accidentally select the icons when i didn't want to.

[yeppyepp @ Nov 1st 2007 5:06PM]

And exactly what you should expect trying a demo at a best buy. The players been handled by hundreds of people who don't care what happens to it, it may be stapped tightly to the display counter, dropped, etc... You really should try to demo a unit NOT at a best buy or circuit city. The interface is very responsive, very easy to use and works well.

[pgl @ Nov 1st 2007 6:21PM]

jeez... fanboy much? I know you run a samsung fansite and all since you were pimping your site a couple posts up and all, but my opinion is mine. So, there's no need to insinuate that I'm ignorant for making a judgment call based on 5 minutes of use. I stood there playing with the P2 longer than most will before their eyes wander to ipod touch thats right next to it.

Yes, I know demo units aren't exactly the best things to test stuff on because kids like to rip out keyboard keys or puncture speaker domes. But you know, the player is 95% touch interaction thats meant to be handled by more than 100 people's simulated touches, strokes, and what not. Me using it should be no different. I also only commented on the cosmos interface, you know the pretty one, and how unusable I found it. Maybe you're going to hint that I have no soul now...

[pgl @ Nov 1st 2007 6:23PM]

jeez... fanboy much? I know you run a samsung fansite and all since you were pimping your site a couple posts up and all, but my opinion is mine. So, there's no need to insinuate that I'm ignorant for making a judgment call based on 5 minutes of use. I stood there playing with the P2 longer than most will before their eyes wander to ipod touch thats right next to it.

Yes, I know demo units aren't exactly the best things to test stuff on because kids like to rip out keyboard keys or puncture speaker domes. But you know, the player is 95% touch interaction thats meant to be handled by more than 100 people's simulated touches, strokes, and what not. Me using it should be no different. I also only commented on the cosmos interface, you know the pretty one, and how unusable I found it. Maybe you're going to hint that I have no soul now...

[Evan @ Nov 1st 2007 4:54PM]

Got mine from Best buy at least two to three weeks ago... they had a number of them, not on display however. As far as the bluetooth goes, just got motorola s9 headphones and works flawlessly... as far as the other comment saying that the headphones dont reconnect, that problem simply has not happened with mine. Would recommend it highly.

[Xidius @ Nov 1st 2007 4:59PM]

Seeing your sensor dots on the screen was a (slight) bug on the first iPhones. For Samsung - it's a feature!

lol

- Xidius

[shuyin198x @ Nov 1st 2007 5:19PM]

Aren't the dots just part of the design. Few minor bugs have been weed out by the latest firmware, but this is not one of them :P

[Xidius @ Nov 1st 2007 5:54PM]

I thought so at first, but the dots can be seen through the on-screen graphics.

- Xidius

[Matt @ Nov 1st 2007 10:56PM]

Are you talking about the dots in the background? That's part of the design. Notice how they light up in the middle? Also they're only there when using that style of interface.

[shuyin198x @ Nov 1st 2007 7:05PM]

If you look at the UI from engadget's un-boxing.I dont think you can see those dots.Its just shows up when you use the swirly UI at the main menu.

[Kevin G @ Nov 1st 2007 5:53PM]

to azayzel ( I think the main issue right now is the lack of decent phones; i.e., ones that don't make you look like an idiot and sound decent as well (maybe Bose will drop one in the near-future?)):
i have a samsung SGH-D900, bought it from Ebay for $300 a year ago, plays mp3s and videos with A2DP bluetooth, great menu and smart features, sounds good, has a POP email client, runs Java apps like google maps and opera mini which are free downloads (needs data plan, $6/mo with t-mobile), video camera, 3MP camera, 60G internal memory, takes micro SD cards, the battery is only $12, it's the 2nd thinnest slider phone on the market at 13mm, after samsung's U600 came out at 11mm.
oh and by the way, we'll have skyscrapers on pluto before bose makes a product that sounds as good as their competitors'.

[Jake @ Nov 1st 2007 6:40PM]

I am pretty sure that I still think the Zune should have Mac support...

[Chris Leckness @ Nov 1st 2007 6:49PM]

We've already purchased and given one of these away at Mobilitysite.com.

The Bluetooth with the Motorola HT-820 Headset is Awesome. I used this player for my trip to the Sandisk Block Party last weekend and I can say, the battery life is stellar.

[shredmaster007 @ Nov 1st 2007 7:39PM]

I recently purchased the YP-T10 and I think its a better deal if you're looking for bluetooth.

[Darksky @ Dec 11th 2007 10:35PM]

I just purchased my P2 for $139.99 CDN 8gb Black... At a Future Shop. It was supposed to be on sale for $149.99, but they mis-tagged it or something I guess. Either way, That same day I won an ipod Nano 3rd Gen black 8gb... Considering Future Shop was selling the Nano for $199... For $139.99, what else is out there that comes close to this P2? You better believe I am selling the Nano, encrypted Firmware, and what not. An ipod touch though, if it was even close to the same price, I would consider because as was stated above, it can be hacked.

Wicked, well built hardware, with a lovely open firmware / OS... Heaven. Google, are you listening?