Remember
slotMusic? How about
slotRadio? Don't feel bad -- no one else on the planet does either. To that end, SanDisk is apparently hoping to push some aging inventory on unsuspecting consumers with its new Sansa Clip+, which is essentially a
Sansa Clip with a microSD card slot. The device will ship in a trio of hues (red, blue or black), and you can rest assured that it won't blow any minds with sick new features. It'll play MP3 files on a relatively small screen, get great battery life and barely put a dent in your wallet -- what more could you really want? It's available starting today from Best Buy and the like for $39.99 (2GB), $49.99 (4GB) or $69.99 (8GB).
Update: Looks like
a few early
reviews have sprung up, with most folks being totally pleased given the low price.
posted Aug 31st 2009 9:49AM
The Sansa Clip is a GREAT gadget to own. I bought the 8 GB version, fresh radio, FLAC, MP3, AAC (+more) tunes rushing through my ears. Great thing for runners and alike! SlotMusic is another thing for that matter...
I love the Sansa clips. Small form factor, lots of battery life and easy to use. Some people spend hundreds of dollars per room to wire their house for sound. I buy Sansa clips, when they're on sale at Woot for $24, and add $40 PC speakers with subwoofer and viola! sound in every room including bathrooms.
I gave one to each of my daughters in college to use as a way to easily record college lectures. One, a D1 athlete, misses classes in the spring. She asked the professor to clip on on her lapel during class to record the lecture. Did it without question.
I keep one at my desk at my office. Since it plays FM I can pipe FM radio through my PC's line-in.
These are wonderful little devices. Buy them by the dozen!
I have a Sansa Clip as my main gym mp3 player. It's a great little device.
i want to like this player, but 15 hrs of battery life (less with MicroSD usage) is kind of low if you want this as your primary player. Which most people don't, so I guess it's still perfect for working out.
I love my little Clip too. Small, light, FM radio, great sound, great battery life, copy/paste (no proprietary software needed!), plays about every audio format, database driven allowing for easy tag filtering. You really cant beat this little player. It has become my go-to player for my car, traveling, and when working at my tool bench in the garage. I can imagine adding this mini-SD card just makes it better.
@blokewhosenamei'mnotevengoingtotrytotype
15 hours isn't bad considering it's main purpose is for the gym and casual use. As it's a micro-USB charger you can charge it pretty much anywhere too.
I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the sound quality yet. The Clip is one of the few players out there with a flat frequency response.
It's probably a very obvious point for people who know DAP's, but it's still worth mentioning.
Although the Clip is known for superb sound quality, slotMusic is known for the opposite. Oh well you don't have to use it.
@Darren
Darren, what is the problem with a device that accepts a standard microSD card? Can you explain why you have a problem with that? I wish we could see MORE devices like that.
My wife and I love the original clip so much we bought an extra one for both of us because we were so worried that Sandisk might discontinue it at some point and we wouldn't be able to get another. I actually think the original clip is better looking than this one also. It really is the perfect gym player. Tiny, 4G storage, great audio quality, no proprietary jacks. no special software needed, just shows up as a drive on your computer and you dump files on it, FM tuner - say you don't need that?. At a gym the TV audio is often transmitted on a radio frequency so if you see something on the TV you just switch over to radio. And in spite of the writer sniping on it the screen is bright and high contrast. And now the + has a mSD slot - great so does my phone so I could pop out the book I was listening to at the gym and stick it in my phone. The only reason you would buy anything else is... you know what I don't know.... @ the writer... honestly it sounds like you're just looking for something to whine about.
I still use my slotmusic player, granted I don't buy slotmusic cards. I did find the slotradio cards interesting, in that $40 got you 1000 songs in a particular genre (I could see myself dropping $40 for 1000 songs of classic rock or 80's music), but unfortunately the DRM on those cards is incompatible with my slotmusic player. I like the slotmusic player; it's a good size for me, runs on AAA batteries (I have a few rechargables), and I've got plenty of micro SD cards, though I'd prefer one of these new thingies with a screen and menu. Nothing more annoying than having to skip through a block of 30 cantonese language lessons to get to the music album on the other side.
Make fun of SlotRadio all you want, but you can still put a regular MicroSDHC card in there.
The fact that you can expand memory on a device this small is fantastic.
Is it just me, or is the microSD card being put in the slot backwards?
P.S.- Before you have a chance to reply, yes, that's what she said...
Yeah, I think most people will use the slot (me included) as a microSD slot and not a slotMusic slot.
Oh, and yes.
Yes, the card is facing the wrong way. I'm sure marketing did that so that the logo on it wouldn't be upside-down.
THAT'S WHAT SHE S.....
awww, man...
I've been waiting for a Shuffle-sized player with mSD forever! I have a fat smartphone that does everything except play music (G1). I just needed a cheap and small gadget that plays music no-frills. And the reason why I needed mSD is so I can do over the air music downloads onto my card and then swap it over to the Clip.
Since when does the G1 not play music? The one I tried seemed to just fine. Or is this a "no 3.5mm" reference?
Granted, SlotMusic was a terrible idea. But isn't this a good idea? It's basically an extra SD card slot just in case You have a few extra tunes you want to throw on if you don't have a sync cable handy.
People bitch and moan if a cellphone doesn't have an extra SD slot these days, so what's wrong with this?
"It'll play MP3 files on a relatively small screen"
how do you play music on a screen? does the size of the screen effect the quality of the sound? hehe
ROFL - that was my thought too.
Fact is, the screen is a bonus and a GREAT one! No matter how small.
Ipod ....shuffle killer. I think even the most rabid apple fan can agree the clip is THE BEST clip-on player out there.
If it will also play normal files from a microSDHC card, which I assume it will, that's fantastic. You could buy the 2GB model and pair it with a 16GB card for roughly the same price as the 8GB Clip. That would be a lot of music to sort through on the 3-line OLED, but it certainly makes the new Clip and even better value for the music-only crowd.
Just think, if apple made this it'd be yours for only $199!
not before they stripped out the fm tuner though, because that's a "feature people just don't need or want".
and it wouldn't have a microSD slot because Apple wouldn't be able to make money off it.
It also wouldn't play Ogg, WMA, FLAC, nor would it support mass-storage mode. The Clip is everything that an iPod isn't. That's why I have one.
The Little White player would have a stew of addon's like different color gel-cases. The ability of playing fm radio would not be there but it would be a $40.00 add on and drain your battery time from 15hrs to 5hrs at best, and would be made as a clip on necklace with build in ear buds that suck. and speaking of that it wouldn't have the standard 3.5mm headphone outlet it would have the 2.5 and would only work with the I-buds.
Darn, I just bought a 4gb Sandisk Fuze from woot last week! My only gripe with the Clip was the lack of SDCard Expansion, now I wish I had held off and gotten this instead (had I known about it).
Wonder if the hardware had another major revision, making the in-dev rockbox unusuable.
The people on anythingbutipod say it uses the same firmware as the old ones, so rockbox will still probably work.
Amazing little device. :)
try a return, my friend. it's been done before. 'Specially if you're a regular customer.
furthermore....I missed the Fuze on Woot??!!?! Dammit!!
@thoughmonster;
If you read Enzo's review, http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2009/08/sandisk-sansa-clip-plus-review.php , you'll see that the clips stable firmware has been built onto for the clip+ so it can work with the microSD etc, but is a new firmware. So, hopefully, for all those rockbox fans out there, it will not take to long for rockbox to be ported onto the clip. :)
Holy crap Rockbox was on the Clip this whole time? Where was I?!
SOLD. I've been waiting for them to make one with an ssd slot. I never understood why a company that sells memory made so many devices without an expansion slot.
Good on ya, SANSA!
WHat are you talking about? the Sansa E200, Fuze, View and C200 series have all had MicroSD slots since 2006.
SSD slot on a mobile device? SSDs are the same size as laptop hard drives
The Sansa Clip is already the best MP3 player at this size. Adding a Micro SD slot, just makes a good thing better. :D
Given the tone of the article, it looks like Engadget totally mistook just how a device like this would be received — the readers' comments here show just how well received a gadget like this would be. Heck, I'm sold, too. It's affordable and it does just what I want a portable MP3 player to do: play music. I even like the addition of a microSD card slot.
Agreed. The main point of the post should have been that a really good mp3 player just got better. The slotradio stuff can and should be ingnored by most. I've owned a 2GB clip for a few years now and use it almost every day commuting. It's even been through the wash and works fine after drying out (in the oven and 200degF). The clip design is great, the sound quality is outstanding, and it's very easy to use. The biggest drawback has been the cheap, creaky feel of the plastic. The reviews indicate that the build quality has been addressed in this new model.
I'll be picking up the 8GB model as soon as it's on Amazon.
They did get it, thing is that it is not Apple branded, in fact, it puts that other lackluster Apple player to shame (known as the Shuffle).
I think it's just that Engadget has decided that it's demo responds to all the hip snidery.
What we'd actually like is inciteful commentary and links to interesting tech info.
Or so I believe...
Any word if when using the SD slot, if the music gets combined into one database. Or does it show up as two different libraries? I hope they combine it into one.
I don't own a clip but do own a Sansa Express (1GB + 8GB microSDHC) that was replaced by the clip and I'm pretty sure the firmware is similar. In the express it is all loaded into one database at start up and is based on the ID3 tags and not the file names.
This looks like a decent device.
My main question though is how's the audio quality? The last Sansa device I played with didn't sound all that great on my Grado SR60 headphones. My 3rd-gen iPod Nano sounds amazing on them. The DAC and amplifier circuitry are all quite important. That's part of the reason why there are cheap MP3 players and expensive ones, even though on paper the specs everyone bothers to list are pretty much identical.
I appreciate the idea behind this device and I think it will suit a lot of people, but I'm waiting for the revised iPods, personally.
The Clips are widely reported to be one of *the* top sounding MP3 players around, no matter the price. I agree. Not sure about these new ones as I haven't heard them yet, but I suspect it will be similar.
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2007/10/sandisk-sansa-clip-review.php
Scrolling lists only by clicking buttons? With up to 24GB? I'm buying the fuze instead...
Damn, these are very good prices!
I have an original Clip, and it's an excellent MP3 to take to the gym. Syncs with Rhapsody and WMP, plenty loud, lightweight, robust (won't break if you drop it on the floor), seemingly endless battery life, apparently very sweatproof, very bright screen, intuitive menus, local playlist management, integrated clip... SanDisk got it all right.
As far as Clip+ goes, I would prefer them to go with a bigger screen by adding another line perhaps, but with it being even what it is, I still see it as a terrific value.
These are awesome devices. Didn't believe the hype until I sprung for one. Now I give them away as gifts. People love them. Easy to use, tons a great features, and sound quality is top notch. Adding a MicroSD is just icing on the cake.
Your 3rd gen ipod nano sounds amazing? Have you ever listened to a non-apple DAP? If not, please do not comment further on sound quality.
I've got 4GB and an 8GB Clips and love them. Great sound and really good functionality in a tiny package for audiobooks and podcasts. Ignoring their proprietary format, just adding an micro SD slot makes me want to buy a new 8GB model and hand my current 8GB down to my GF.
Probably my favorite MP3 player ever. You don't always need a big player with lots of other functionality. Sometimes small and specifically focused is what you want.
Hi.
Awesome! The only thing that was missing from the Clip was a microSDHC slot.
I have a Silver 4GB. I love it.
Upgrading for sure!
I've been looking for something to replace my aging Sansa Express that does have a microSDHC slot that I use. I was always disappointed that the clip did not have a microSDHC slot so I am glad to see this improvement.
Wonderful little $40 player. The ogg support and ability to drag & drop files much like a mounted flash drive in linux and windows has made the Clip my primary player. Curious to see how the new media slot does with sweat during long runs though.
Darn it! I just bought a Sansa Fuze cuz the clip didn't have a micro sd slot! HATE!!!
Well, tell you what my hombres. It appears Best Buy down the block (23rd and 6th Ave here in NYC) has Blue and Black 4GB versions in stock RIGHT NOW. Will pick one up for the missus tonight. I didn't mention it in my first post -- she had a refurb Silver 2GB from Woot.com, but the clip got torn off one day when she jumped off a scaffold. She does faux wallpainting techniques, works on remodelling projects, and always wears the player to her projects and jobsites. That damage to the clip assembly was the only type of effect on her Clip -- even after being dropped, sat on, and splattered with paint and cleaned with an evil smelling solvent.
If Dewalt or Bosch ever decide to make portable MP3 players for jobsites, they need get SanDisk involved. And oh year, my wife had/has a Bosch CD/MP3 jobsite boombox. It DIED.
This is a great device with great size and excellent value, in a super form factor. And humorously, if that fruit company had issued it, Engadget would be wetting itself right now over it, rather than being somewhat cynical and snarky (how many new Shuffle entries did Engadget post?). The Clip is one of the best-selling ultra-small players, bar none, which only will increase with the Clip+ and its microSD capability.
I have a 2gb clip and a huge collection of flac encoded music. Having a portable flac jukebox this small would be heaven. 24gb of flac would be just enough for me.
Wow not sure why the negative title...I see that lots of people actually like this device from reading the comments. I really like it too! It's small, reasonably priced, and now it has a slot for more storage. It also plays slotRadio and slotMusic cards. Perfect for me to work out and don't have to worry about it!
well, good bye sandisk...you played so crystal clear, where so simple and cheap-- needed no special software... ahh.... and now I think i can forecast the death of sandisk in the pmp arena...
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090831005197&newsLang=en
"Based on continuous playback at 128kbps MP3; actual life and performance may vary depending upon usage and settings; battery not replaceable."
--------------------------
If they came with a removable battery in addition to the slot, I'd buy one as a show of support for their good work.
My guess is Mr Murph doesn't like removable media and good codec support (like FLAC http://flac.sourceforge.net and Ogg Vorbis http://www.vorbis.com .
Nobody may care about buying slotmusic cards (1GB microSD cards preloaded with crappe), but I kinda like the ability to stick 16GB MicroSD card in a portable player, and if the storage goes bad, just replacing it. Especially if the murmurs of their hardware sounding half-decent are true.
I had one, someone stole it. Very good MP3 player. I love how you could customize EQ, record FM or from the mic, and sync to Rhapsody. I might buy a new one for the bike riding since it was small enough to stay on my brake cable
it doesn't worth that much,
disagree - it didn't values that much.
are you sure you're not a LOLCat by any chance?
Also, Engadget, people like the Clip players because of all the features they offer for a tiny player, including full-sized, great sound, better than anything else out there in their class. The lower and realistic price (rather than price-gouging with some other fruit-company players) only makes it even better--but the price is not the motivating factor. If that's what you want, buy a Chinese generic player.
I bought a Fuze about a half year ago, same sound chip as the original Clip.
Was completely underwhelmed by the sound. Sure, it was flat, nothing was accented, but the thing muffled detail like crazy. Either I received a dud, or people have lower standards than me I guess. To my ears at least, both my old iriver H320, and a 5G iPod sounded considerably better.
For the price of these Clips though, I can't really fault them. Just going around saying that they have the best sound quality is misleading. They have good sound quality for the price. You can do better, considerably better. I've read comparisons and reviews on head-fi that confirm that especially the new series of flash player, ie the Cowon S9, Sony X1000, even the 3GS all sound better, and I would not be the least bit surprised if that were true.