Anyone know what stores have this in stock?
THX
Not sure. I went to Best Buy yesterday and they just had the Clip+.
Try a search engine search for the latest. A nice source I found was the SanDisk online store: selling the players at the full retail price, but for the next couple of weeks, the store is throwing in a free, nice carry case and free shipping. And be sure to register with SanDisk first–you’ll get 10% off the price.
http://shop.sandisk.com/store?Action=DisplayHomePage&Env=BASE&Locale=en_US&SiteID=sdiskus
I also saw, last night, Amazon.com selling them–but at more than the full retail price, now, for the 8GB version and for some of the 4GB colors, and $5 under retail for other of the 4GB colors (I assume the Amazon computers will be bringing the over-retail prices down at some point . . .).
Wow, like the little case and free shipping deal! The hardest part is deciding which color, they look awesome “in person”, hard to show on the computer screen.
Bob 
I think that the orange case is pretty snazzy–and just think of it along with the orange player, for someone into orange overkill. 
Now, the debate…it’s time to buy a microsd card for the CZ. But do I want a 16GB, or do I want to spend the extra for a 32GB? On the one hand, I already have a 16GB in my 8GB Clip+…but I also have a 32GB card in my 8GB Cowon D2. Decisions, decisions…
I guess it boils down to price. If you can get a decent 16GB class 4 card for $20, and need to pay $50 for a decent 32GB class 4 card, then the 16GB card makes sense. If you can get a good class 4 32GB card for $40 or less, then getting the 32GB card might make sense. I have a feeling that card prices may drop quite a bit in the next few months as pc demand is weak, and some DRAM makers may convert more of their production capacity to making flash memory. Not that I want flash memory producers to suffer, but I want some sort of impetus for them to make SDXC cards mainstream, and to sell micro SDXC cards at affordable prices.
How fast is the card reader in the Clip Zip? If you put a class 10 card in it, how fast will files be written? I guess some who bought a class 10 card and put it in the Clip+ were a bit annoyed that it could only be written to at around 4MB/s or so?
@jk98 wrote:
I guess it boils down to price. If you can get a decent 16GB class 4 card for $20, and need to pay $50 for a decent 32GB class 4 card, then the 16GB card makes sense. If you can get a good class 4 32GB card for $40 or less, then getting the 32GB card might make sense. I have a feeling that card prices may drop quite a bit in the next few months as pc demand is weak, and some DRAM makers may convert more of their production capacity to making flash memory. Not that I want flash memory producers to suffer, but I want some sort of impetus for them to make SDXC cards mainstream, and to sell micro SDXC cards at affordable prices.
How fast is the card reader in the Clip Zip? If you put a class 10 card in it, how fast will files be written? I guess some who bought a class 10 card and put it in the Clip+ were a bit annoyed that it could only be written to at around 4MB/s or so?
Interesting question. I’m loading FLAC files right now for a battery test, when sending to my class 2 16GB card, it was around 2.3-2.4 MB/second on a 9GB transfer, for whatever that is worth. I don’t have a higher-class microcard than that to test. The internal memory, on the other hand, is running between 3.4 and 3.5 MB/second on a 7GB transfer.
“Interesting question. I’m loading FLAC files right now for a battery test, when sending to my class 2 16GB card, it was around 2.3-2.4 MB/second on a 9GB transfer, for whatever that is worth. I don’t have a higher-class microcard than that to test. The internal memory, on the other hand, is running between 3.4 and 3.5 MB/second on a 7GB transfer.”
Keep in mind that the transfer will be much slower if there are many small files rather than a small number of large ones. If you don’t believe this is very significant, then you can do as I did and back up your favorites folder on a card(these are very tiny files). I have many favorites, and when I was backing this up the transfer was at less than 1MB/s.
I am also wondering if the hard drive on your pc might be very fragmented. Do you defrag often enough, and is there plenty of extra space on it? I have a 4GB class 2 Sandisk card(the rest of my cards are class 4 except one 8GB class 10) which surprised me as writing to it was at almost 4MB/s. I was expecting closer to 2 MB/s.
@jk98 wrote:
Keep in mind that the transfer will be much slower if there are many small files rather than a small number of large ones. If you don’t believe this is very significant, then you can do as I did and back up your favorites folder on a card(these are very tiny files). I have many favorites, and when I was backing this up the transfer was at less than 1MB/s.
I am also wondering if the hard drive on your pc might be very fragmented. Do you defrag often enough, and is there plenty of extra space on it? I have a 4GB class 2 Sandisk card(the rest of my cards are class 4 except one 8GB class 10) which surprised me as writing to it was at almost 4MB/s. I was expecting closer to 2 MB/s.
My C: partition is at 3%, and the D: partition is at 4% fragmented. I generally wait until I hit 5% to run a defrag. As far as free space, the C: has around 19GB free, and D: has 111.5GB free.
In my mind, it all centers on what amount of space you need to feel comfortable with, and if you can find a price that you likewise can feel comfortable with. I like carrying around a lot of music (in fact, I’d like to carry my full collection–alas, no 100GB+ Uber Clip yet :( ) and a sale on storage got me hooked.
There are benefits to carrying more than one player at a time. For example one could be used for rock music, and the other for podcasts, audiobooks, and classical music. A second player solves the short battery life(12 hours or so) of the Clip+ and Clip Zip for many people who don’t want to carry a usb battery pack. Since these players are so inexpensive, having more than one seems reasonable.
With the Clip , having a jersey pocket with my backup device is the way I roll. I listen to podcasts and audiobooks when cycling, at moderate volume, so I can hear the hissssss of approaching traffic’s tires. I have a wee mirror on the helmet too, to keep an eye on what might be approaching.
The little guys are small and light enough that I carry a second one with different content. Most days, I have had the e200 loaded with a collection of Audible books. It’s a little heavier proposition though, with the Clips being so small and light. I can ride until the cows come home and still have a live Clip.
Bob
I was just thinking about carrying two Clip+ players clipped to each other.
You folks are giving me things to think about; but carrying multiple Clips around–which I now have–just seemed so nerd-like to me (for me–no offense to others!).
FLAC battery life, not so hot…I updated my review of it here with those results.
What comes next, the Clip Zip style pack containing one Clip Zip in each color?
They could even have one color that is only available in the style pack.
You just know that people buy multiple Clips, in part to get other colors.
I just switched Clips from the Zip to the Plus+. The dead battery icon is cool, a very large battery icon pops up.
I has a sad.
Switched to the Clip+ and plugged the Zip in for lunchtime electrons. Man! I was underneath a Golf Diesel, installing connecting rods, and the music stopped, with my hands coated in assembly oil. Yeah, looking very nice. New rings, especially the lower oil control rings, and this baby is good for another 300,000.
Having the backup makes this job that much nicer. The Clip Zip has only been plugged in for checkups and music transfers, allowing the battery to “go deep”. Impressive, since it just died this afternoon.
I had to go play a little bit this afternoon, taking the Clip Zip for a little cycling run, went to watch the skydivers landing at the Lodi Airport.
Bob 
