Sansa Clip+ Offers Big Sound & Tons of Features in a Tiny, Stylish Package

@promisedplanet wrote:


@donp wrote:


@7o9 wrote:


@slotmonsta wrote:

 

Letting Consumers Listen to Thousands of Additional Songs in Seconds 


 

 


 So they sped up the database refresh a whole lot… or they mean a lot of seconds.

 


 

Not sure whether you’re serious or not.  I think they meant that it takes seconds to insert/swap microSDHC cards.

 It probably is what they meant.  I’m just pointing out that inserting thousands of songs in seconds isn’t the same as listening to them (the wording they used) as soon as you’re done inserting if you have to wait a few minutes for the refresh.

 

It seems like a very nice player. I am impressed not just by the addition of the card slot, but the addition of folder browsing, improvement of the clip, elimination of the blue light ring(it  added to the cost of the player and battery usage, and was annoying), moving the volume buttons to a better location, and replacing the annoying power slider switch  with a button. I am glad that the MSRP of the 4 GB Clip+ is just $50. Many stores had high prices on the Clip. I will probably buy one of these soon.

I am still waiting for a nice AA or AAA battery powered player though. The two Sandisk released within the past year, the Slotmusic Player, and the Slotradio Player To Go both lack a display. For a AA or AAA battery based player, I want a basic LCD alphanumeric display like on a digital watch that is on all the time(or perhaps just while the player is playing?) and has a backlight that is on only while a dedicated button is pressed. One thing that drives me crazy on the Fuze and on the Clip is the display turning off just when I am trying to read it, and not being sure the player is off just by looking at it(I turn the wheel on the Fuze and press a button on the Clip to verify this).

@jk98 wrote:

 

I am still waiting for a nice AA or AAA battery powered player though.

Oldies but goodies?  http://reviews.cnet.com/4321-6490_7-6582800.html

:smileyvery-happy:

As has been pointed out in some other threads, with digital cameras the models using AA’s still sell pretty well against the smaller ones with flat lithium batteries, and aside from size they aren’t lacking in features. 

WHile the clip is all about small, and more power to them on that…  why can’t Sansa make something in a AA format with the memory, card slot, extra formats etc.  IN short an updated  M200?  

I suggest AA as they are more available than AAA, more interchangable with other gadgets, and for the slightly larger size they have 4x the capacity.

For nimh rechargeables the power rstio for leading edge AA/AAA batteries is 2.9( 1000 mah AAA, 2900 mah AA).

For alkalines the ratio is around 2.5. The AA is smaller in power per volume, as the AAA has more overhead per unit of power for packaging.

I mentioned AAA vs AA due to size constraints. While I would prefer AA, Sandisk is currently making some AAA players(Slotmusic, Slotradio TO GO) but without a display, and has made some with a display in the past. AFAIK, they have never made a AA battery based player.

A player based on an easily swappable(not soldered in) 18650 lithium ion battery would be cool. That battery has around two and a half times the power of a AA nimh battery but is only slightly larger. They retail for under $5 each, and a charger that charges one or two at a time retails for under $10. This might be easier for Sandisk to design around than A AA, since it is 3.7 volts, which is what the Fuze, Clip, etc. use. It would be interesting  to see a player that has 80+ hours of battery life and large flash memory storage(32 GB built in, and expandable to 64 or 96 GB) that still fits comfortably in a shirt pocket. I also want it to have 30+ mw/channel output into 32 ohms(and also provide decent output into 80 ohms) so that it can adequately power most full sized headphones without an additional headphone amp. It would be nice if the player also has a real line out.

Since the days of the first transister radios, fitting in a typical shirt pocket has been an important standard for portability.

Message Edited by JK98 on 09-01-2009 12:59 PM

@jk98 wrote:

For nimh rechargeables the power rstio for leading edge AA/AAA batteries is 2.9( 1000 mah AAA, 2900 mah AA).

 

For alkalines the ratio is around 2.5. The AA is smaller in power per volume, as the AAA has more overhead per unit of power for packaging.

 

 OK… I haven’t been following the AAA market recently… last I saw there were only 650mah.

 It’s more than just a smaller battery has more packaging overhead.  AFAIK AA’s are the most optimized because they sell the most of them.  NIMH D batteries are over 6x the volume of AA’s but only 3.3x the capacity at 10 AH (Duracells)

 

“It probably is what they meant. I’m just pointing out that inserting thousands of songs in seconds isn’t the same as listening to them (the wording they used) as soon as you’re done inserting if you have to wait a few minutes for the refresh.”

I haven’t tried a Slotradio card, however I imagine that there would be no wait for a database refresh. I would love to see the option to disable tag browsing in the Clip+ and Fuze, so that cards can be swapped without any delays to refresh the database. I hope we will see this in the next firmware update. The ability to disable tag browsing would also make Slotmusic cards more desirable, as one could remove a Slotradio card then go right to listening to a regular card without any delay.

Will Sandisk have 400 or 500 song Slotradio cards that sell for $20 or less? One web page I saw hinted at the possibility of 500 song cards. I doubt I would spend $40 or $50 for a 1,000 song card, but might buy one or more 400 or 500 song cards if they are priced at $20 or less.

@jk98 wrote:

I would love to see the option to disable tag browsing in the Clip+ and Fuze, so that cards can be swapped without any delays to refresh the database.

Excellent idea!

Would be interesting to see if SanDisk would add the feature to allow the user to de-evolve the player back to a folder-based player …

You would lose folder browsing too then. It actually uses the database for that, it’s not actual storage-level folder browsing.

@7o9 wrote:
You would lose folder browsing too then. It actually uses the database for that, it’s not actual storage-level folder browsing.

 Well, yeah, fix that part too.

 

"You would lose folder browsing too then. It actually uses the database for that, it’s not actual storage-level folder browsing. "

If that is true, then it really ■■■■■. Why isn’t it storage-level folder browsing? Unfortunately I think you may be right about this though, as I was using my Fuze last night in folder mode, and two files in a folder on the player were in reverse order from the way they appeared in the folder on the pc. I still can’t understand why. I will watch for this.

Message Edited by JK98 on 09-02-2009 01:45 PM

@jk98 wrote:

"You would lose folder browsing too then. It actually uses the database for that, it’s not actual storage-level folder browsing. "

 

If that is true, then it really ■■■■■. Why isn’t it storage-level folder browsing? Unfortunately I think you may be right about this though, as I was using my Fuze last night in folder mode, and two files in a folder on the player were in reverse order from the way they appeared in the folder on the pc. I still can’t understand why. I will watch for this.

Is the idea here that the database loading algorithm might load the files by creation/modification date, causing the files to not be displayed in alphabetical order by filename?

 

Maybe it is storage-level folder browsing, and the firmware simply sorts by some other file attribute than filename (why, I don’t know).

The files that were switched in order had names that were the same until the 20th charachter. Windows dealt with this properly, but the Fuze had them in the wrong order. I guess the Fuze doesn’t look at the full filename, or even the first 20 charachters.

I’m in the market for a MP3 player to take to the gym, so I would also like a FM turner on it. The sansa clip+ was recommended.

When you download music, do you put it on a sd card first?, opposed to my a windows library?  What about other free download music sites… can they be used as well?

This forum did not speak highly of the accessories for the sansa clip+. What accessories are available for the Sansa Clip+?

Is the Sansa Clip+ a better purchase than the Ipod Shuffle? How comparable are the two?

Any type of tutorial video would be helpful.

Thank you.

@dvreeser wrote:

I’m in the market for a MP3 player to take to the gym, so I would also like a FM turner on it. The sansa clip+ was recommended.

When you download music, do you put it on a sd card first?, opposed to my a windows library?  What about other free download music sites… can they be used as well?

 

This forum did not speak highly of the accessories for the sansa clip+. What accessories are available for the Sansa Clip+?

Is the Sansa Clip+ a better purchase than the Ipod Shuffle? How comparable are the two?

Any type of tutorial video would be helpful.

 

Thank you.

 

The card is not SD, it is microSD.  You can load music on the card with a separate card reader, or while it is in the player.  The player also has internal memory (models from 2 to 8 GB) and does not require a card.

I don’t have a shuffle, but AFAIK the main similarity is the size.  The clip+ has FM, recording,   a DISPLAY , some control over what songs you listen to, and the memory slot.   

You can download music to the Clip+ from whatever source you have, including free music sites.  The Clip+ will accept unprotected music as well as DRM’ed music.  You can download directly to the Clip+ if it is connected to your computer, or first to your computer and then to the Clip+ (I think most people do it the second way, so that they have a copy of the music on their computer, in case something goes wrong with the music on the Clip).

Accessories:  that’s easy, there are none yet.  The Clip+ has a built in clip, and so can be clipped to your shirt, your pants pocket, your dog’s collar, etc.  You also can purchase a generic velcro armband and clip it to that.  A few companies made cases for the original Clip (one silicone, one leather, one neoprene rubber) and I think it likely that someone will do so for the Clip+ in the next few months (the Clip+ only recently came out).  Generic-y AC chargers (plus from the likes of Belkin, Griffin, DLO, Macally, etc.) can be used with the Clip+, available all over, as long as they are 5V (the norm for AC USB chargers); likewise, generic car chargers are readily available.  Finally, you can use a patch cable (available all over) to go from the headphone jack of the Clip+ to the input jack of speakers.

The newest Shuffle is great if you want the smallest of players (it’s the size of many headphone in-line volume controls) and don’t care about a display, fm radio, recording ability, or memory expandability (all of which the Clip+ has).  The Clip+ also will let you use a Rhapsody “all-you-can-eat” music subsciption, and Audible audiobooks.  For me, the Clip+ is a nice cross of small and usability (more so than the Shuffle–I want a screen for navigation and informational purposes).  And no special software is needed for the Clip±-you simply can drag and drop music to it.  (By the way, it also is less expensive than the Shuffle, for more memory.)

Thank you;excellent information.one more thing,for the clip+,what style of ear buds come with it?can you chose

different ones? does scan disk have a picture of them on there site?

The Clip+ comes with earbuds that sit in the outside of the ear but don’t enter.  I think I’ve read that they are fine enough to start with, but, quite candidly, I’ve never used them, given the availability of very nice earphones of various types at attractive prices nowadays–I think that this investment is very worthwhile.  The earphones that come with the Clip are standard–there is no choice as to type/style.  But, as noted above, easily replaced by you with earphones of your choice.

An image: Amazon.com

The supplied earbuds with the Sansa are pretty decent, compared against many readily available types.  I find that they have a warm balance with pleasant bass, compared against many other “off the shelf” types.  Many users never use them, opting instead to use a favorite pair with their Clip.

Managing your music, audio books, and podcasts is simple with the Sansa.  You can simply “drag and drop” the audio files to the connected device, or use any one of many available applications, Windows Media Player being the most readily available, to keep track of your music.

Many users use applications like Media Monkey or Winamp to handle the task, or services like Napster or Rhapsody to transfer subscription music.  The Clip is happy with all of these.  Which one you will use, or even a combination of all the above, is up to you; one isn’t limited to a sole application to enjoy the Sansa.

µsansa