Sandisk's mp3 player strategy?

If I was in charge of Sandisk’s mp3 player division, I would make sure that Sandisk had some players that could have more storage than any other flash memory based players available. I would design players to accept upcoming new card standards so the players are available well before the cards. SDXC cards have been out for several months, yet Sandisk still doesn’t make an mp3 player that can use them. There are plenty of people who are hungry for an mp3 player that can hold more than 64 GB of flash memory.

Are the Sandisk SDXC cards 3 bits per cell? If so, then perhaps Sandisk should develop less expensive 4 bit per cell cards for use in media players. These should be okay for mp3 players, as data isn’t written that often. If the cards are priced low enough, and they are good for at least 1,000 writes they should be okay for use in media players and consumer level digital cameras(pros might want to pay much more and get faster cards good for at least 10,000 writes).

Since Sandisk’s mp3 players have a card slot so that the memory can easily be expanded, it seems to me that it would be more important to offer these players with a choice of different battery capacities  than different amounts of built in memory.

Actually, as long as I can get a day’s use out of a player, I’d prefer to have mega-storage (over 80 GB) rather than more battery.  I always can charge at night.

@miikerman wrote:

Actually, as long as I can get a day’s use out of a player, I’d prefer to have mega-storage (over 80 GB) rather than more battery.  I always can charge at night.

A day’s use seems entirely reasonable to me. My players run from 14 to 16 hours on a charge, and I am ok with that, given my usage scenarios. I have no issues with remembering to charge my players, or having to do it…I do have multiple players, after all.

As far as mega-storage, my highest capacity player right now has 30GB of usable capacity, and that is real nice…just about anything I might want to listen to on any particular day is on it. Until 32GB cards are cheaper, I’ll stay this way…two 24GB Clip+'s, (which gives you about 22.5GB usable each ), and my 32GB (30GB usable) rockboxed Mini for my tunes…and my Fuze is just for podcasts and 150 or so songs for work use.

Would I like a 32GB card for my Clip+'s? Sure…maybe someday. Do I want my Clip+'s to be bigger so they run longer on a charge? No…I like them just the size they are.:smileyvery-happy:

“A day’s use seems entirely reasonable to me.”

Others might want a week of use before recharging. There may even be some who want to go a month without charging. Imo though, charging once a week, and not once a day is what seems reasonable. Most people listen for 60 hours a week or less, so imo 60 hours of battery life seems very reasonable.

For those who listen 20 hours a day, 60 hours of battery life could get them through 3 days! :slight_smile:

How would you feel if you needed to refuel your car every day, rather than perhaps once a week or less?

But, it’s much easier to charge your player than to fuel your car with gas:  just plug it in at nite …    :wink:

I’m not saying that a longer battery charge wouldn’t be nice, for the reasons you state.  But if I had to choose between longer battery life and greater storage capacity, storage is going to win every time, for me.  Even the newest generation Apple Shuffle (you know–the one that now has buttons again (and that still pales in comparison to the Clips, costing significantly more for significantly less, apart from the look of jewelry)   ;)  ) has “only” a 15-hour battery (and frankly, I was surprised by that lack of progress–I guess that more charge just can’t be put into that small a battery?). 

@jk98 wrote:

“A day’s use seems entirely reasonable to me.”

 

Others might want a week of use before recharging. There may even be some who want to go a month without charging. Imo though, charging once a week, and not once a day is what seems reasonable. Most people listen for 60 hours a week or less, so imo 60 hours of battery life seems very reasonable.

 

For those who listen 20 hours a day, 60 hours of battery life could get them through 3 days! :slight_smile:

 

 

How would you feel if you needed to refuel your car every day, rather than perhaps once a week or less?

 

 

 You make it sound like charging a player or players is a Herculean task…when all it takes is plugging it in a for a couple hours.:dizzy_face: It’s an easy thing to blend into your daily routine. I don’t believe in leaving them charging overnight, trickle charge or not…I’d rather unplug it when the charge is complete. So I do my charging usually in the morning, while I am having my coffee and then breakfast, and catching up on emails and the four forums I post in.

 

I can charge all my players at the same time, if I so desire…and only need the computer for one of them.

I have wall chargers with mini-USB ends for both Clip+'s (550mA and 1000mA outputs) …total cost-less than $5, since one is from my old cell phone. One of them stays in my backpack and goes with me wherever I go, as does at least one of the Clip+'s.

 

Then I have an AC charger with USB slot (1000mA output) …cost-just under $3…that I can use for my Fuze and/or Mini, but I usually only need it for the Mini, since I don’t need to swap content on it. My Fuze gets charged each day when I load my podcasts onto it, so the only time it needs more charge time than that is days I use it at work.

"But, it’s much easier to charge your player than to fuel your car with gas: "

It doesn’t take 3 hours to fill your car with gas though.

 " You make it sound like charging a player or players is a Herculean task…when all it takes is plugging it in a for a couple hours. It’s an easy thing to blend into your daily routine."

This reminds me of the quote from Henry David Thoreau

“Men have become the tools of their tools”

An mp3 player shouldn’t be a pet that I need to feed every day.

@jk98 wrote:

"But, it’s much easier to charge your player than to fuel your car with gas: "

 

It doesn’t take 3 hours to fill your car with gas though.

 

 " You make it sound like charging a player or players is a Herculean task…when all it takes is plugging it in a for a couple hours. It’s an easy thing to blend into your daily routine."

 

This reminds me of the quote from Henry David Thoreau

 

“Men have become the tools of their tools”

 

 

An mp3 player shouldn’t be a pet that I need to feed every day.

 

 

Why not? Clearly your players already run your life…anyone familiar with your posts would agree with that, I am sure.:wink: (no offense) And you feed yourself every day, don’t you?:stuck_out_tongue:

“An mp3 player shouldn’t be a pet that I need to feed every day.”

At least an mp3 player doesn’t need to be walked or have a litter box. :smileyvery-happy:

@jk98 wrote:

For those who listen 20 hours a day, 60 hours of battery life could get them through 3 days!

Anyone who listens 20 hours a day needs to get a life! :dizzy_face:

@tapeworm wrote:

 

Anyone who listens 20 hours a day needs to get a life! :dizzy_face:

 

And some sleep!

I would like to be able to leave mine at work without bringing it home to charge every night. Would be nice to be able to have 40hrs and then just bring it home on the weekend.

I guess you could get an AC charger for it and use that at work–inexpensive.

“Feed me, Seymour!!”  Is this the Rocky Sansa Horror Show?

I feed the lil monstas daily, sometimes they remain plugged in, other times it’s a morning session of podcast updates.  The new Fuze+ has considerably longer battery life, and it’s physically bigger too.  At least we are seeing a 16GB version, nice to see more onboard flash memory.

With the Fuze+, I note an interesting change, it’s kind of like that little conundrum you feel on a long road trip: as you pass a gas station, you wonder whether it’s time to fill up.  It’s kind of nice to sail on, listening, and not worry about that “low batttery” warning.

With the rounded lines of the new machines, the micro SD card makes sense, having a smaller footprint, or should I say “slot”, especially when thinking of environmental influences (dust incursion).

Personally, I’d love to see the line include a workhorse like the e200 used to fill.  Sooner or later, the novelty of passing form factors wears thin, and something simple and solid like the Clip+ just makes sense.

Bob  :smileyvery-happy: