Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)About this reviewer: I listen to Lossless music (Flac) and tons of books (200/year) a lot.I use this SanDisk 8GB Clip player about 20 hours a week.
PRO:
1. Sound quality.Not only does this support MP3, OGG, FLAC (the lossless format of choice) WMV, secure WMA, podscasts, & Audible files, it plays them with perfection.Now this is objective, not a "whatever ***I*** buy and review sounds better than what you have" crap. The sound quality is scientifically top notch.I don't know if the URL I put in this review will get killed, but go to the reviews section on cnet.com or Google the article entitled "Audiophile MP3 players, by the numbers."
Let me summarize the article: they found out that Sandisk *did* put an expensive sound processor in this one (apparently unlike the other Sandisks) and used actual scientific hardware measuring frequency response deviation, and signal to noise ratios, etc. the SanDisk Clip beat out everything that Creative, Apple (iPod), Insignia, Sony, Microsoft (Zune) makes.
reviews.cnet.com/8301-12519_7-9968448-49.html
I know it's an odd thing to talk about lossy (Mp3s) quality, but for the sound quality peeps, you will have zero complaints here.
2. Flash based: Meaning no HDD spinning around thousands of times a minute, movable parts=easily breakable or they wear down. Meaning you can also jog with it. I'm from the computer world, and us cats know that all HDD's fail, period. *Especially* if you're moving it all the time. We, who want something that lasts, universally stick to solid state; ie FLASH based mp3 players.
3. Connectivity: No stupid proprietary cable.Standard Mini-USB cable, I'm sure most people have at least a half dozen from various cameras, etc.
4. Physical Size: This thing is small, there are various pictures here, but this one is about the height of an AA Battery and about 3/4 as thick, one inch wide. This is great for jogging, it's weightless. Clip it anywhere without any huge bulge or weight. It weighs less than an ounce.
5. Compatibility. You DO NOT have to use some weird 3rd party DRM CRAP software like iTunes or Windows Media crap (like you do with Ipod's or IRivers) just drag, drop & GO! If you want some of your friends' songs, you don't have to load up itunes, then some hack, or your mp3 player's proprietary software cluttering up your friends computer to get his or her songs. I recall a conversation I had with a friend trying to get the songs of another mp3 player, "FREAK, it took me 40 minutes to find the right software that world work to get the songs off" -- and that's not some newbie. All the software to use this mp3 player is on every computer (with a USB port) and operating system on earth.Also, I didn't install any of the included software.No need.
6. Non music Storage: You plug it in you not only drop any of your mp3s/FLACs on it, you can throw some pictures, some huge files, documents, anything, and use it just like a thumb drive. And still listen to your music, it just skips the non-audio files, etc.
7. Mic. The mic is great for recording class, or conversations; just throw it on your desk or shirt pocket and there you go.
8. Fast listen mode - KILLER AWESOME if you listen to books, you can turn it to fast mode which speeds up the audio a bit.This means you can listen to books a good bit faster without it sounding like chipmunks. There is only one mode though, (also a slower mode too) but it's so cool if you want to listen to books faster.Your brain can easily understand, so why not save yourself 1/3 of the time -eh?Awesomeness.
9. Radio: And you can record the radio. Built-in FM tuner with 40 presets - Awesome.
10. USB 2.0, it transfers mp3s at a rate of 5.67MB/second per my own rough stopwatch method.Mathematically, this would take about 23 minutes to fill up the thing full.
Have you noticed all of creative labs MP3 players also claim to have USB 2.0 but really transfer at speeds at 1.1 speeds.The Creative flash based stuff transfers at less than 500K/sec, usually 120K-400K averaging at 230K.230K!!!Do you realize this is slower than download speeds at broadband? 4.83 hours to fill up a 4GB Creative Labs mp3 player? forget that.
11. Memory Size, 8GB (They make a 1/2/4GB version too) this holds:
Books at 64Kbit/sec/mono equals about 266 (~11 days non stop) hours of books.
MP3's @ 128kbits/44.1/Stereo about 128 hours (5.33 days non stop) of music (maybe +/- 1,900 4 min songs).
Flac's (Lossless) ~21 hours (non-stop) ~315 songs or 20-25 Full CD Albums.
That's quite a lot of listening before you need to get to a computer again.8GB is plenty for music on the go.
12. Screen, the screen is great, mono color, has some graphics, I don't need nor want some huge stupid color screen sucking down my battery.Which is cool because this MP3 Player does go blank after a minute of inactivity, which is PERFECT! Just what one wants.Touch a button again, it comes back up.
13. Yeah it has other features I don't use much, WMA playback, Audible playback support, graphic equalizer, nifty navigation scroll, blah, blah, blah.
14. Updating firmware is super easy, (and you may have to to get FLAC support) just load the Sandisk auto updater, it figures out which mp3 player you have plugged in, checks for firmware, any updates, then updates them and then restarts.Super easy.
Up in the Air: (Pro or Con depending on how you look at it)
-Comes in cool colors, silver & black, but it is a fingerprint magnet as most electronics with a shiny screen are now-a-days. Finally an mp3 that isn't in "I'm-a-lemming" stupid trendy "ipod white".Other colors are probably coming.
-Proprietary battery. It'll do 15-20 hours of books, take in mind books are less "demanding" on a a battery.But you really can't have anything this small and use any standard battery for any usable time.But it may be a con or a pro.I just don't like the fact I can never easily replace this one and we all know how integrated batteries after a few years start to slowly lose their charge.The Pro is that you can use any old mini-USB wall/car charger that if you have bought a few cell phones in the past few years, you'll have one kicking around your junk drawer somewhere.
Con:
-No Bookmark feature. I listen to books for 20 hours a week. This would be nice, as I could have used it a few times. This is just a software item, Sandisk - program it up!
I have no comment on the included earbuds.I'm 6'6" and figure that's why no earbuds bundled in mp3 players did anything but hurt my ears and/or seemed to fall out randomly due to poor fit and rotation of the earth.I have my own headphones as most people who are serious listeners do. Earphones are a matter of personal physiology and audio-snob preference. :)
I don't hate ipods, they are really sessy, but they are just not for me. I could list reasons why I can't like ipods but they are just too freaking expensive for too few bells and whistles. I mean, if you look at my "pro" list, the ipod shuffle is small and flash based, but that's it. I don't want to use some crap software, crap dock/cable, expensive battery, short battery life span, can't store anything else, why should I pay twice as much more for an ipod, when it doesn't even get close to HALF the features?
So, I will give it a 9.5/10. But in reality, nothing else touches it.Nothing has the sound quality, space, battery life, size, & FLAC support on the market for any price.
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Sandisk Sansa Clip 8GB MP3 Player (Black)Product Description: The Sansa Clip MP3 player may be small enough to clip on your jeans or your shirt, but that doesn-t mean it isn-t loaded with all things awesome.It comes with a searchable screen, as well as an FM radio, voice recorder, and an insanely long battery life that will let you instantly enjoy more music and more play.
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