SanDisk Sansa Connect (4 GB) MP3 Player
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- Number of Songs: 1000
- Usage: Music
- Interface: USB 2.0
- Screen Size: 2.2 inch
- Main Storage Type: Built-in Memory
- Expansion Slots: MicroSD (Transflash) Card
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Great mp3 player, buggy software supporting it
Pros
Price, wireless, snappy performance, good interface
Cons
Yahoo Jukebox software
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Great player, with the potential to make wireless the next big thing.
I Selected the Sansa Connect after looking hard over the holidays for replacement mp3 player. I wanted 2Gb+ and color screen. Paid $99 at Office Depot and got a lot more. I've used it hard for 3 weeks now and here's what I've found:
Pros: A 4Gb Mp3 player for $99 is a good price right now (expands w/ up to 2 Gb micro SD). The color screen is 240x320 pixels, good color depth, with good backlight. The interface is solid, two volume buttons on the side, a scroll wheel/4 way switch, and 2 context/specialty buttons below the screen. The performance is "snappy" without delays when you move between screens or start playing music. The unit looks good: black w/ blue glow.
The wireless is awesome and definitely this player's standout feature - connect it to a wireless network (unsecure or secure, even WPA) using the wheel to select alpha/symbol, and you have yahoo radio, their music service ($15/month 30 days free trial w/ decent collection), and flickr pick of the day. Photos (from external card), and now video plays nicely once you get it in right (see below on video). The internet radio and streaming songs sometimes stall while buffering - I didn't notice any delay when I was on a unsecure network, but did when using a 63 character key. The process of connecting to a wireless network was very easy and intuitive.
Cons: I couldn't "see" the player under XP to transfer files until I installed Yahoo Jukebox Player, and even then the software often couldn't find the player. The solution is either a "soft reset" (hold the volume up and on/off button for 5 secs), or a factory reset (not that bad to resync except for putting in wireless code and yahoo account info). The Sansa Media Converter, as the forums suggest, completely bites - after much finagling, I got it to convert h264/mp4 videos and moved them to the card manually. Video is definitely not for the non geek, and audio takes some efforts when compared to the ease of iTunes. Stalls synching and other bugs can be expected - it's not just the typical windows bugginess – all the yahoo software is pretty crummy, and I'm not sure what the alternative is - while you can directly drop your ripped mp3's into either internal or external memory, without all the tagging and indexing functions of the yahoo jukebox, you lose album art and other functionality that Apple has made us expect and that this player has the potential to give.
The sound quality is good, not excellent (slightly better than average for mp3 players), with the bass end lacking a bit (even w/ the EQ). There are more volume levels at the quiet end, but it still gets loud enough in noisy places.
I definitely recommend the Sansa Connect, just hope they continue updating the firmware so it meets its potential.
Pros: A 4Gb Mp3 player for $99 is a good price right now (expands w/ up to 2 Gb micro SD). The color screen is 240x320 pixels, good color depth, with good backlight. The interface is solid, two volume buttons on the side, a scroll wheel/4 way switch, and 2 context/specialty buttons below the screen. The performance is "snappy" without delays when you move between screens or start playing music. The unit looks good: black w/ blue glow.
The wireless is awesome and definitely this player's standout feature - connect it to a wireless network (unsecure or secure, even WPA) using the wheel to select alpha/symbol, and you have yahoo radio, their music service ($15/month 30 days free trial w/ decent collection), and flickr pick of the day. Photos (from external card), and now video plays nicely once you get it in right (see below on video). The internet radio and streaming songs sometimes stall while buffering - I didn't notice any delay when I was on a unsecure network, but did when using a 63 character key. The process of connecting to a wireless network was very easy and intuitive.
Cons: I couldn't "see" the player under XP to transfer files until I installed Yahoo Jukebox Player, and even then the software often couldn't find the player. The solution is either a "soft reset" (hold the volume up and on/off button for 5 secs), or a factory reset (not that bad to resync except for putting in wireless code and yahoo account info). The Sansa Media Converter, as the forums suggest, completely bites - after much finagling, I got it to convert h264/mp4 videos and moved them to the card manually. Video is definitely not for the non geek, and audio takes some efforts when compared to the ease of iTunes. Stalls synching and other bugs can be expected - it's not just the typical windows bugginess – all the yahoo software is pretty crummy, and I'm not sure what the alternative is - while you can directly drop your ripped mp3's into either internal or external memory, without all the tagging and indexing functions of the yahoo jukebox, you lose album art and other functionality that Apple has made us expect and that this player has the potential to give.
The sound quality is good, not excellent (slightly better than average for mp3 players), with the bass end lacking a bit (even w/ the EQ). There are more volume levels at the quiet end, but it still gets loud enough in noisy places.
I definitely recommend the Sansa Connect, just hope they continue updating the firmware so it meets its potential.
