I went to Future Shop last weekend planning to buy an ipod shuffle. When I got there they only had the 1gb (I wanted the 2gb) I started looking for other options, when I turned the corner down the next aisle, there it was…Sandisk Sansa clip 4gb!! radio, mp3 player, voice recorder, display, on sale for $69.95! the price I would have paid for the shuffle with less options!! Needless to say I took one home. So far so good!
But coming on here I find people leaving comments: “IT STOPPED WORKING” “BATTERY NOT CHARGING” “DEAD AFTER 4MONTHS” “HELP BEFORE I RETURN IT TOMORROW” etc…
Of course people share the bad experiences more than the good experiences but it makes me kinda skeptical about the upcoming months, I bought cuz it seemed like an amazing deal, or is it inexpensive because it is cheap?!
I’ve had it for almost two months, and it’s a 4Gb unit as yours. I can tell you that my clip:
* Charges without problem
* The full charge may last less than 15 hours but more than 10 hours, for sure. I think it is because I mainly listen to VBR mp3 files.
* Does not discharge by itself during the night (I’ve left it powered off for one week and the battery didn’t discharge)
* Communicates perfectly with at least four different PCs (one of them a laptop; it charges with it as well)
* Works without problem in either MSC or MTP mode.
* Three of four times I’ve had to ‘reset’ it (hold the power on switch for 10 seconds) but it didn’t relate to any ‘permanent damage’.
I think there are MANY ‘lucky’ people like me, and the chances are that you will be another one. Think of how many ‘DEAD CLIP’ comments are here in the forum: 100? 200? I don’t think it’s more than that. And how many clips have been sold? Many thousands, for sure.
Holly, I just bought the 4GB for 69.95, because London Drugs in Winnipeg matched Future shop. I’ve been using it for a week and it’s AWESOME. I bet if you check out an ipod forum you’ll see just as many scary stories. Do NOT buy a shuffle, having a display screen is way better. You can navigate thru the menus really easy, and it’s just way more fun to use than an ipod. I know, because i have a shuffle too.
One more thing - the winnipeg public library has an excellent selection of audiobooks for download, and you can drag and drop them onto the clip no problem. When i told my son about this, he got all excited and downloaded some audiobooks, only to find out that you apparently can’t put them onto an ipod!!! He was bummed out.
I’ve also had the 4GB for a couple months and have had absolutely zero problems. Awesome little player.
It seems like there were some battery problems in some of the earlier production runs of the 1GB & 2GB (which Sandisk will RMA without problem). I haven’t heard of any battery issues with the newer 4GB.
I came to the Clip after two bad results with two different RCA Lyras. I got mine through Buy.com and a Google Checkout discount. All in all, I paid $61.
I’ve enjoyed my Clip immensely, as seen through any of the threads on this forum I’ve started. It’s a wonderful sounding player, even with 128kbps MP3s, and paired with some descent headphones, the Clip truly sounds remarkable.
I think best of all, I’ve enjoyed searching the Web (as well as the real world) for accessories for my Clip, including headphones, a padded mini-pouch, a silicone skin, screen protectors, etc.
People will, invariably, encounter problems with their gadgets, including the Clip, and I thank God for this forum for just that. But, I’m also glad there’s a place to rejoice in this tiny little marvel and share the good and not just the bad with others.
I’ve had two 2GB Clips since December ~ January and aside from minor bugs (that Sansa has been very responsive in acknowledging and correcting), they both have been rock solid. I have been somewhat physically unkind to mine and it takes it
I gave one to my son when his e250 puked - and he likes the Clip better.
The Clip sure sounds better than any other MP3 player I’ve had. And you can’t beat the size/cost/features/support.
