Whatz the difference between slotRadio and slotMusic cards?

I’ve read a lot about slotRadio cards in this thread : http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?board.id=sansafuse&thread.id=27198

I’ve even bought and used one with my Sansa Fuze.

But what is the difference between slotRadio and slotMusic cards? Do slotMusic cards have the same limitations (e.g., not being able to rewind, see/choose the playlist tracks, choose the Equalizer etc. while playing) as has been noticed in slotRadio cards?

And whatz the price difference vs the content? I can see slotMusic cards being sold like music albums and you might get only 10 or 20 songs vs 1000s in slotRadio cards…

Any insight on this?

with slotradio cards you get 1000 tracks at 4 or 5 cents each. this of course has some limitations on the playback as you have noticed. 

slotmusic cards are just 1 album on each card. all songs are DRM free high quality MP3s.   

I need more info : Do slotMusic cards have the same limitations on playback as slotRadio cards?

I also notice that we cannot view the tracks of slotRadio cards thru a PC and we cannot write to the card. But I guess these limitations aren’t there in slotMusic cards. Further, not every mobile phone with a micro SD card slot can play slotRadio, but most (if not all) can play slotMusic. Is this something to do with the manufacturing technology?

I believe you can do anything you want with the tracks on a slotMusic card: play it in any order you like, copy it to your PC, move it to an MP3 player’s internal memory, etc. Even delete it and use the card for other things.

slotRadio, on the other hand, has built-in restrictions. You can’t change the order (but you can skip to the next track) or copy the tracks from the card to other devices.

Slot music is like your own music that you got on CD and ripped to your computer. Yours to do with what you will.

Slot Radio is like your radio. No control except to not listen to a song or go back to a song (Like changing to another station) 

Ok, these are true &known facts, but, from a technology perspective, why don’t slotRadio cards play on most mobile phones & MP3 players (other than Sandisk), whereas slotMusic cards do? And from a business perspective, one would think it makes more sense for Sandisk to make slotRadio compatible with most phones & other PMPs, but this doesn’t seem to be the case. Is it something to do with copyright issues?

mnong wrote:
Ok, these are true &known facts, but, from a technology perspective, why don’t slotRadio cards play on most mobile phones & MP3 players (other than Sandisk), whereas slotMusic cards do? And from a business perspective, one would think it makes more sense for Sandisk to make slotRadio compatible with most phones & other PMPs, but this doesn’t seem to be the case. Is it something to do with copyright issues?

Paying artists for the rights to use and license their product is expensive and there are artists that dont want you to use their music however you want simple as that. Slotradio is to be used on Sandisk devices only because thats what is paid for. It has everything to do with copyright issues.