slotRadio on Sansa Fuze!

I would like to compile it myself.

Read these. Think of your mom. Think of your dad. Now, think of yourself loading music for them… It is precisely like radio, only without the chatter and the commercials. Effortless, with good curation.

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/product-testing/from-the-lab-blog/the-no-fuss-music-player

http://www.momfuse.com/2009/05/sandisk-slotradio-fall-in-love-with-music-again-sop-bonus-entry-12/

http://eightymphmom.blogspot.com/2009/04/sansa-slotradio-player-from-sandisk.html

And - even geek.com - http://www.geek.com/articles/gadgets/review-sandisk-slotradio-player-bundle-20090513/

Thanks for those links Sansational. I guess I sometimes forget that not everyone is marketing to ME! hahaha!

I also didn’t realize the player came with 1,000 tunes, as well.

Let’s say I want to buy 1,000  songs on a card for my Fuze. Exactly how can I buy it online? I click around the Sansa site and all I get are albums and a couple bundles, but I can’t find what we’re talking about here. I guess I could go over to Radio Shack… but I really need a very specific link to find this for sale at Sansa. (I hate their flash web site.)


Since I’m posting I thought I would point out that even if I like only 20% of the songs that’s 200 songs I like for $40, and I think $0.20/song is fine for music which is sorted by genre, has no commercials, etc.

Alright, I needed to go to Radio Shack today anyway, so I got one of these cards there. I wish I had been able to buy it online and beat the sales tax, but at least I have the card in hand now.

Not mentioned anywhere is that the card comes with a microSD cardholder which holds two cards. You might attach it to your key ring. I am pleased with that thing because it lets me care for the card I removed to put this in, as well as an extra. There are 7 playlists on my rock card and when I powered up it refreshed in less than half a minute.

What seems odd about the card is the control’s functions have been reassigned. UP is Pause, as usual; DOWN is skip instead of a menu; LEFT & RIGHT switch playlists instead of accessing prior and next cuts.  The player remembers where I am in each cut as I switch playlists, I am thinking there’s no way to rewind and if there are 1000/7=143 songs per playlist you really won’t skip all the way around to listen to that missed cut again.

I’m going to wear out the battery really fast because I have to read the screen a lot, and look at the screen art, which always reverts to that small size instead of staying put.  I think a lot of the music is selected well; not just popular stuff but selected with headphone users in mind, for example.

We have three Fuze users in the family, so this purchase is a slam-dunk.

I have very specific music tastes, but I also currently travel a lot for work and don’t currently have a lot of time to sift through music to load my fuze with fresh material.

My Wife and I both have 8Gb Fuze players and I purchased a couple of the 80’s & 90’s cards for both of us out of curiosity. The cool thing about using the Fuze to play the slotRadio cards is that you have the best of both worlds. You can play your own songs and then switch to slotRadio whenever you like. Also, I’ve already heard some great songs that I really like that I probably would have never downloaded and/or purchased had they not been pre-loaded on the slotRadio card. My Brother was asking me about slotRadio on the phone last night and we both realized that I can simply give him one of our cards to try out in his Fuze!

Anyway, I was so impressed with my initial slotRadio purchase that I purchased the “Rock” slotRadio card which I haven’t had a chance to listen to as of yet. I really hope that Sandisk continues to create more slotRadio cards! Also, it would be super cool if you could use slotRadio cards in the Sansa Clip players!

My only current complaint is that there is no way to easily get to the EQ settings from within the slotRadio navigation while a song is playing.

 

One final note: I initially had an online ordering glitch and attempted to cancel my slotRadio order online which yielded no reponse. I received a duplicate order via UPS which required numerous phone calls to Sansa Store Customer Service which seems to currently reside somewhere in India. Sandisk really needs to work on their slotRadio online store and the customer service department that currently deals with online slotRadio ordering issues as they are definitely not up to standard.

 

Message Edited by NYCasphaltSurfr on 06-10-2009 09:49 PM

NYCasphaltSurfr wrote:

  Also, it would be super cool if you could use slotRadio cards in the Sansa Clip players!

This would be a neat trick as the Clip doesn’t have a card slot. :dizzy_face:

More slotradio information: I got to what I think was the end of the first playlist and a voice announced something like “Slotradio, 1000 songs on a tiny card.” I am wondering if the play order of the music has shuffled at that point, but I’m not sure. A couple times the player has frozen between songs, and switching from one playlist to another unsticks it. There is 64MB unused area on the card that I suppose we might be able to put music on. For completing a survey about my shopping experience, Radio Shack gave me a coupon worth $10 off on $40 purchase so I suppose my next slotradio card will be quite cheap. I think someone would be much wiser to buy a Fuze than the $99 slotradio itself and I wish Radio Shack stocked those. I had to tell the clerk that the updated Fuze could play what I was buying.

shelded wrote:

More slotradio information: I got to what I think was the end of the first playlist and a voice announced something like “Slotradio, 1000 songs on a tiny card.”

 

Great . . . are you telling us there is SPAM pre-loaded on these cards too? :angry:

shelded wrote: 

 For completing a survey about my shopping experience, Radio Shack gave me a coupon worth $10 off on $40 purchase so I suppose my next slotradio card will be quite cheap.

 

Even if it were the other way around; RS gave me $30 meaning I could buy another card for only $10, I’m still not sure that’s what I would spend it on. But that’s me. :stuck_out_tongue:

shelded wrote:

I think someone would be much wiser to buy a Fuze than the $99 slotradio itself and I wish Radio Shack stocked those.

They used to . . . so did Best Buy . . . so did Walmart . . . so did Circuit City. That’s 4 major retailers (all with brick/mortar stores and on-lines sales abilities) that used to distribute Sansa products. I’m having a hard time figuring out how SanDisk expects to increase their sales and comparable product market-share percentage when no one is selling them anymore. Or is this ‘the writing on the wall’ that the Sansa audio product line will soon be extinct? :neutral_face:

shelded wrote:

I had to tell the clerk that the updated Fuze could play what I was buying.

That’s not surprising. The caliber & knowledge of salespeople at RS used to be quite good, but unfortunately has been on a steady decline for the past several years. You’re lucky if you can find one now that knows the difference between a AA and a AAA battery anymore. :cry:

@tapeworm wrote:



They used to . . . so did Best Buy . . . so did Walmart . . . so did Circuit City. That’s 4 major retailers (all with brick/mortar stores and on-lines sales abilities) that used to distribute Sansa products. I’m having a hard time figuring out how SanDisk expects to increase their sales and comparable product market-share percentage when no one is selling them anymore. Or is this ‘the writing on the wall’ that the Sansa audio product line will soon be extinct? :neutral_face:


I hope not. Maybe they’re aiming to ask for a bailout ? :stuck_out_tongue:

More information while using the card:

Putting the track list with times in text format in the card’s extra storage space would be a nice feature even if the song order changes. On the Fuze, the songs now play without times showing in any way. The only way to learn what’s playing is to bump the knob to turn the screen on, and that runs battery down.

It’s been mentioned that many of these songs are not ones we would have sought out to buy; I consider this educational and exposes me to much music I have ignored over the years. I heard Atlanta Rhythm Section do a cover song that was new to me, and nice.

I have the Rock card and found The Troggs Wild Thing on the Classic playlist and on the Workout playlist. I’ll conclude that my 1,000 songs doesn’t count that one twice, but that the lists contain some mingling. I’m finding the Chillout playlist to be a total waste on me :confused: and the Classic playlist is sometimes quite classic (old). I think anyone buying these cards should expect a high rejection rate just to make sure they’re not disappointed. I’m fine with 20-40% good stuff.

I think the songs have not been (properly?) volume leveled – that’s the worst thing I have discovered yet.

I wonder if that $20 SlotMusic player will play these SlotRadio cards? That would be $60 for the dentist office to play allllll day loooong. Would they have to pay an ASCAP royalty? :stuck_out_tongue:

Slotmonsta did not list existence and contents of the 80’s & 90’s card, it would be the only other card I have interest in until they come out with a classical card <good luck>.  It would be nice to know the 80’s &90’s doesn’t overlap the Rock card much.

@Tapeworm:

I don’t see much need for cynicism here. I don’t care that Tapeworm thinks it unworthy, nor should anyone care if I like it. The fact is, the product is fair and the price is extremely competitive with options people spend money on elsewhere. Spam included on the card, yes, if that’s what you call it, it’s simply a 5-second radio ad. The card was not sold saying “no advertising” although I would not tolerate much of that between songs.

Office Depot sells Sansa players, they’re brick and mortar and you left them out. Pretty much agree that the marketing of the players is not up to par, and the Fuze’s capability is being undersold. But Sansa is innovating and can sell on the internet without going extinct.

The Radio Shack people were absolutely on the ball. I asked for a CR2032 and the clerk didn’t ask me what it was. Until just mere weeks ago the Fuze did not play this card, I don’t fault the person for not knowing that. I budgeted 2 hours to drive all over town for what I needed and got it all in my first stop at RS and was very happy with that.

@shelded wrote:

@tapeworm:

I don’t see much need for cynicism here. I don’t care that Tapeworm thinks it unworthy, nor should anyone care if I like it.

If you like it for what it is, I’m thrilled to death. I’m merely saying I wouldn’t buy it. Nor would several others who have posted here. But by your own admission:

@shelded wrote:

I’m finding the Chillout playlist to be a total waste on me :confused: and the Classic playlist is sometimes quite classic (old). I think anyone buying these cards should expect a high rejection rate just to make sure they’re not disappointed. I’m fine with 20-40% good stuff.

If 20-40% of the total 1000 songs are all that qualify as ‘good stuff’, then that $40 price tag is even more of a ‘non-value’ than I previously thought. That raises the price per ‘quality’ song up to $1 - $2 each, $ .10 - $ .20 rather than the 4 cents per song as advertised. Even I-tunes sells them cheaper than that, and you only have to buy the ones you want!   

Edit: math correction.

Admittedly, not a huge price difference but I’d still prefer not to pay for music I have no interest in, nor have no way of knowing what’s on the card until after I’ve bought it.

@shelded wrote:

Office Depot sells Sansa players, they’re brick and mortar and you left them out.

Thanks for reminding me . . . Office Depot (Correction: OfficeMax) used to sell Sansa players too. At least in the ones around me (and there are several) I used to see Fuzes & Clips. Recently, they’ve been pulled and the only mp3 players they now sell are Crowns, Memorex, Phillips, & Creative Zens. Plus a couple more off-brands I can’t remember.

Edit: Sorry, I always get these two (Depot & Max) mixed up. The point is many retailer’s used to carry Sansa products, but now don’t.

@shelded wrote:

The Radio Shack people were absolutely on the ball. I asked for a CR2032 and the clerk didn’t ask me what it was.

I would hope not. It’s only the most widely used & most popular size digital watch battery on the planet.


Cynical? Maybe. Sometimes the facts are. I’m just calling 'em as I sees ‘em. But I’m being totally honest & sincere in this: Thank you for your posts regarding your impressions and experiences with the SlotRadio cards. You have given a lot of useful information that people want & need to know about these products. And so far, SanDisk ain’t lettin’ go with much about them. Their only comments have been, “Try it, you’ll like it.”

A couple decades ago, that catch-phrase and attitude was enough for people to do just that. Consumers have gotten quite a bit more savvy since and especially with the economy in the shape it’s in, are scrutinizing their shopping choices much more carefully, so the information you’ve provided will help a great many people who are considering purchasing one of these cards. Some will determine that they are the greatest thing since sliced bread, and others will conclude that the SlotRadio cards are not for them; but either way your contributions will have helped those who have read them to make a more informed decision. :smiley:

Message Edited by Tapeworm on 06-12-2009 04:48 PM

@tapeworm wrote:


@shelded wrote:

I’m finding the Chillout playlist to be a total waste on me :confused: and the Classic playlist is sometimes quite classic (old). I think anyone buying these cards should expect a high rejection rate just to make sure they’re not disappointed. I’m fine with 20-40% good stuff.


If 20-40% of the total 1000 songs are all that qualify as ‘good stuff’, then that $40 price tag is even more of a ‘non-value’ than I previously thought. That raises the price per ‘quality’ song up to $1 - $2 each, rather than the 4 cents per song as advertised. Even I-tunes sells them cheaper than that, and you only have to buy the ones you want!

I think your math is a bit off - 20% of 1000 is 200. At $40/card, that’s 20 cents per song (10 cents per song if you like 40%). That’s still a lot less than Amazon or iTunes, but you have to sift through a lot of other stuff.

I thought the dentist office idea was great, but then I remembered that there are royalties for airing music in public. I’m sure there is some terms of service that only allows this for personal use, so that the dentist office would be violating those. If they are going to air music without paying royalties, where they get the music from is probably the least of their problems.

@bdb wrote:


@tapeworm wrote:
I think your math is a bit off - 20% of 1000 is 200. At $40/card, that’s 20 cents per song (10 cents per song if you like 40%). That’s still a lot less than Amazon or iTunes, but you have to sift through a lot of other stuff.

Oops! My bad! :stuck_out_tongue:

bdb and I took the same math. At 20% acceptable tunes this is $0.20/song and if SlotRadio sells music at that price they don’t have to take cynical comments from anyone. Facts are, this is a fair product at an extremely good price. Is there any other legal way to get selected high quality music in your portable device at a dime or nickel apiece? If so, is it packaged as well as this plug and play card?

Since the 20-40% was my “worst case” estimate, let me clarify and update that. I am saying expect that, so you are not disappointed. I’m probably only skipping 20% of the songs, and most of those are on one playlist. There are another 40% which are OK (just like the radio, not everything is awesome). I can let a couple of the playlists run quite a long time before skipping a tune. This is wonderful for music while outside or at the office in the cubicle. It is, after all, hits radio.

90’s rock, Modern rock: I can’t believe I am listening to some of this stuff and liking it. This is working for me: new music to me, old music to you. The Cranberries, Franz Ferdinand, Alter Bridge… bands I never heard of and like.

I’m not selling this to anyone, but I was motivated to post because it seemed there was some inaccurate thinking about the product. Then when I bought it, I saw the opportunity to plug gaps in knowledge for anyone else considering buying SlotRadio.

@Tapeworm: Office Depot #137245 is a black Fuze. Maybe you’re right, extinction approaches, they used to have red too. :slight_smile: OD just recently had a great sale on Clip (maybe new inventory is coming soon for back-to-school?).

Message Edited by shelded on 06-12-2009 06:16 PM

This is actually a really good idea since it facilitates exactly what I want out of my MP3 player: I turn it on, music starts playing! I would like to have a small library of genre based SD cards to keep in my car much like I used to do with mix CDs. SlotRadio would make this kind of collection easy to start.

That said, I would only buy one of these myself if they were >8GB cards and costed only a few $ more than a non-preloaded SD card. Sorry. It would make an awesome gift though, although I’m the oddball in my family/friends in that I don’t use an iPoop, so SlotRadio is effectively useless to them.

It really is a good idea overall, good luck!

Also, any word about the quality of the music?

I can’t tell what the data capacity of the card is, but I’m guessing it’s at least a 4GB card, maybe 8GB. The card is partitioned with the majority of the card in a proprietary format. I have not gotten out the Linux tools but Windows can’t see the hidden partition.

The quality of the music seems great, the data format is unknown.

Someday when I’m tired of the music I may reformat it and maybe I’ll find it was a 32GB :smileyvery-happy:

It’s probably a Hidden FAT32 partition. You can use linux’s fdisk to change the partition type without wiping the data, but nevertheless I’d do a full backup of the card using dd and work on the image file instead. Maybe there is DRM? I distinctly remember being told that there wouldn’t be DRM and it would be totally open so you could simply copy the music over to your collection if you wanted to.

Openness sells. Closed off stuff makes me regret buying it, and usually involves a trip back to return the item…

@mngrif wrote:

 . . . Maybe there is DRM? I distinctly remember being told that there wouldn’t be DRM and it would be totally open so you could simply copy the music over to your collection if you wanted to.

 

I believe this is the case with SlotMusic cards, but the SlotRadio cards are a different ball 'o wax. I don’t think you can copy these, or for that matter, manipulate them in any way. That’s why you can’t change the play order of the songs or anything.

@tapeworm wrote:


@mngrif wrote:

 . . . Maybe there is DRM? I distinctly remember being told that there wouldn’t be DRM and it would be totally open so you could simply copy the music over to your collection if you wanted to.

 


I believe this is the case with SlotMusic cards, but the SlotRadio cards are a different ball 'o wax. I don’t think you can copy these, or for that matter, manipulate them in any way. That’s why you can’t change the play order of the songs or anything.

That seems to be what I recall as well…not that I’m buying either of them.:stuck_out_tongue: