Have you seen the press releases on this? It comes packaged with a card that has 1,000 songs which can’t be deleted or transferred to a pc. Imo this player makes no sense at all. Imo the Slotradio concept might have a chance if the cards are priced at $20. $40 is just too much, especially given their limited functionaly. The cards will play in a Fuze as well, so Sandisk really didn’t need to make this player. I was hoping for a AAA or AA battery based player with a display, however this player has a built in battery! UGH!
The Slotmusic player might be much more useful if the FF and fast rewind functions are removed and replaced with next folder and previous folder functions. At least that player uses a AAA battery and is only $20. No display though, and sound quality is lower than the Fuze.
Apparantly not only can’t you delete unwanted songs from the card, but the slotradio songs can’t be copied to a pc, so someone can’t take just the songs they want and make their own custom card from that. Bundling music with a player makes no sense at all. I am interested in seeing more details about the player itself, although if the player isn’t available without the music and at under $50, I probably won’t buy one of these. I am disappointed that it uses an OLED display rather than a basic LCD alphanumeric display that could be on all the time while the player is playing.
Apparantly not only can’t you delete unwanted songs from the card, but the slotradio songs can’t be copied to a pc, so someone can’t take just the songs they want and make their own custom card from that. Bundling music with a player makes no sense at all. I am interested in seeing more details about the player itself, although if the player isn’t available without the music and at under $50, I probably won’t buy one of these. I am disappointed that it uses an OLED display rather than a basic LCD alphanumeric display that could be on all the time while the player is playing.
For someone as worried about battery life as you, I am surprised you would want a display that is on all the time.
“For someone as worried about battery life as you, I am surprised you would want a display that is on all the time.”
An LCD watch has a display that is on all the time, yet its tiny button sized battery keeps it powered for years. LCD displays use an extremely small amount of power. The player display would just be on while the player is on.
More details about the Slotradio player. It has a built in battery! UGH! It comes with a USB connection and a wall charger. Why didn’t Sandisk make this run on a AAA or AA battery? Imo this player is ridiculous. I thought I might have wanted one when I thought it was powered by a AAA battery. Now it seems to have much fewer features than the Fuze but at a higher price. The Fuze plays Slotradio cards, so there is really no reason for this player.
It looks like a nice device. The idea of preloaded genres on µSD cards is nice too. They’re taking advantage of the secure side of the card design as well.
Note that the FM chip supports RDS. This is a nice touch.
I think the SlotMusic concept is promising. I’m interested in whether it takes off, as it’s an ingenious new concept.
Imo it makes no sense. $100 with a $40 slotradio card? One can get a 2 gig Fuze for around $60, so this is basically priced the same as the Fuze, but has much fewer features. Okay, so it might have RDS and a belt clip, however imo it is too expensive.
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I think the SlotMusic concept is promising. I’m interested in whether it takes off, as it’s an ingenious new concept."
Of coure it is however it has to be done right. Not a $20 player without a display, or a $100 package with a player with a built in battery. A player with a basic LCD display that runs off a AA or AAA battery that navigates by folders and is priced at $30-$40, would imo sell very well. The Slotradio cards might sell well if they are released as 500 songs for under $20. $20 is imo the maximum price for an impulse purchase for many people.There are now a large number of people who have a Fuze, which can also play Slotradio cards.
Of coure it is however it has to be done right. Not a $20 player without a display, or a $100 package with a player with a built in battery. A player with a basic LCD display that runs off a AA or AAA battery that navigates by folders and is priced at $30-$40, would imo sell very well.
Ok It has bugged me enough what’s the deal with you and AA/AAA batteries? Work for Energizer? I have a cache of about 20 rechargables for cameras and mice ans keyboards… but I dont want to have to cary them around. Why are you so in to them? I’m Curious, becasue maybe you know something I dont.
Ok It has bugged me enough what’s the deal with you and AA/AAA batteries? Work for Energizer? I have a cache of about 20 rechargables for cameras and mice ans keyboards… but I dont want to have to cary them around. Why are you so in to them? I’m Curious, becasue maybe you know something I dont."
I hate having to connect a player to a pc or AC charger to charge it. I hate having to monitor how much battery power is left, and having to remember to charge it. I hate running out of power while I am out and want to listen to music. I like the idea of using a AAA or AA battery so that I can carry spares, and if I am using rechargeables, I can charge up to 4 batteries at a time outside the player.
"I have a cache of about 20 rechargables for cameras and mice ans keyboards… but I dont want to have to cary them around. "
Carrying one or two AA or AAA batteries is easy. I can keep them in coat pockets. In addition to my Fuze and Clip I have an older player that uses one AAA battery. It has only one GB of storage though so I bought the Fuze then the Clip. This older player is so convenient to use since it uses one AAA battery and navigates by folders. The sound quality is a bit lower than the Clip or Fuze, however it also has an LCD display that is on all the time while the player is playing. It doesn’t have a card slot though. I wish Sandisk would make a player with a card slot that uses a AA or AAA battery, has a display that is on all the time while the player is playing, navigates by folders, and has a card slot. An LCD display would consume very little power. Digital watches with an LCD display that is on all the time run for years on a tiny button battery. They typically have a backlight that is on just while a dedicated button is being pressed. Why can’t an mp3 player be like that?
I also bought a Sandisk Slotmusic player. It was only $20, however it is still a disappointment. It has no display, and the sound quality is lower than all my other players. I bought it since it uses a AAA battery. I hope Sandisk makes an improved Slotmusic player that uses one AA or AAA battery, has a basic display that is on all the time while the player is playing(LCD?), a card slot, and sound quality equal to the Fuze.
"It is really nice to know that Sansa Fuze can play the new card. I am exciting to know i can get 1000 songs by 40 bucks in an absolutely legal way, great deal. "
The card would probably be very useful in the Fuze, as you could use the song ratings or the go list, and have it just play the songs you like. I do wonder about what songs are on the card though, and what bitrate is used(I hope it is at least 192 kbps, and if it 256 or 320 kbps that would be even better). I hope the protection is on the card directory itself, and that the songs are mp3 and not individual protected wma files(protected wma files give shorter battery run time than mp3 files at the same bitrate). I guess if I like just 10% of the songs on the card it is still worth it. Imo though, a 500 song card priced under $20 would probably sell much better than a 1,000 song card priced at $40. Also with 500 song cards, the music on each card could be more specific than with a 1,000 song card, so that if one chooses a card based on their interests, a larger percentage of songs will probably be liked with a smaller capacity card. The initial 1,000 song card has 7 genres. workout music for example is one category that people either love or hate. The same thing goes for heavy metal. I hope Sandisk decides to put out 500 song cards as well as 1,000 song cards. Who knows, perhaps they might even decide to have 3 or more sizes, and have 2,000 song cards as well. I guess it depends on how cooperative the music labels are. Imo there is probably great potential for classical music on slotradio. There are so many older classical music recordings that are probably generating little revenue for the music labels.
I wonder how many people will decide to buy CDs with certain songs they have on Slotradio but like so much they would want to have on their pc, car stereo, home stereo, etc.
Ok It has bugged me enough what’s the deal with you and AA/AAA batteries? Work for Energizer? I have a cache of about 20 rechargables for cameras and mice ans keyboards… but I dont want to have to cary them around. Why are you so in to them? I’m Curious, becasue maybe you know something I dont.
One thing I know is the natural place to use a battery operated portable player is away from computers and AC outlets. On the other hand, mice and keyboards you usually use right near a computer, so mine plug in and are powered by the computer.
As has been pointed out before, removable NiMH cells can be charged in as little as 15 minutes, usually 4 at a time. Internal lithiums take at least a couple of hours, with no option to swap a charged one.
I really wonder what is so different about the player and camera markets. I’d guess that more than half the cameras Canon or Nikon sell run on AA’s, and most/all of the rest have Lithium batteries that are at least swappable.
