There are many threads that ask about how to listen to the Sansa Clip while it is charging. Most indicate for you to cover the pins, remove them or place something in the way. I have found a way for people to listen to their music while charging their Sansa Clips.
The answer is really simple. When you put the USB portion into the clip, do it slowly and watch to Sansa Screen. As soon as the Battery Symbol starts to charge, stop. This lets you charge your Clip without entering USB mode and allows you to listen to music. This works as my Sansa Clip is charging and I am currently listening to music off it as I am typing this out. As a note, the USB that is connected to the Clip will have some of the metal casing shown instead of firmly touching the Clip.
I have many books on my mp3 that I want to listen to while the mp3 is connected to my laptop and charging. I followed your instructions several times but when I push the USB portion into my Sansa clip+ to the point where it starts charging it connects to the laptop. When I back it out slightly it stops charging and disconnects from the laptop. I can’t find that sweet spot where it is connected but NOT charging. What am I doing wrong? Any suggestions?
I believe that the ‘sweet spot’ is very small. After a firmware update on my sansa clip, it took a few times to get it right. What Sansa needs to do is add an option in a firmware update for people to charge their Sansa MP3’s without the ‘Connected to Computer’ screen appearing.