Samsung MP3 Player: The Anti-iPodSamsung MP3 Player: The Anti-iPod

Besides the glitch about the supposedly two-month free trial of Napster, there were a few other irritations. By default, the player plays back your songs in alphabetic order by title, though you use the menu system to play only songs from an album, artist, or genre you select (it reads the audio tags for the info, of course).

Unfortunately, this means that, if you rip an album, you can't play the songs back in their original order unless you create a playlist specifically for that album, which is an annoying extra step. Samsung insists, though, that this is a feature, not a bug. Go figure.

You can build a playlist by scrolling through your downloaded songs and then pressing the Select key, which is tedious for longer lists. Another irritation is that the YH-920 is a one-way street. You can download files using the Napster-branded software, or build a playlist by selecting songs, but you can't delete a tune or remove a track from your playlist using the player's controls " it's back to the Napster software for that chore. You can also use a Windows file manager to transfer data files to the YH-920 directly if you want to use the player as a data transfer or storage medium.

Other glitches were minor. The special cable for connecting the device to a USB port and an electric outlet was, at 50 inches, too short. Another irritation was that the user guide is devoid of much technical information and was printed in such tiny and light type that it was hard to read.

Still, Samsung has covered the basics and, perhaps more important, offers a solid alternative to those who either are resistant to the iPod bandwagon or are offended by the iPod's relatively high price.

Samsung Napster YH-920 GS; $349.99; www.samsung.com