SanDisk Digital Audio Player

Reviews: Multimedia

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Mike McCormick
Kurtis
SanDisk
Oct. 30, 2005

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Conclusion

Sandisk has put together a nice addition to their electronic line-up. This MP3 player / voice recorder / FM player is quite compact and functions like a champ. If needed, the MP3 player also functions as a USB 2.0 storage device (no drivers needed for XP/2000/ME). Sandisk MP3 players come in three colors that correspond to the storage capacity of the unit. The MP3 player functions for about 15 hours on a single AAA battery. The sound quality is phenomenal; especially since there is a built-in equalizer with factory settings and the ability to create your own custom setting. I also love having the option to change the play speed of my music. The FM capabilities are also great; this player can scan for and store 20 preset stations. You can adjust the FM sensitivity to search for the distant stations or only keep the powerhouses. For the most part, using the MP3 player is intuitive, though I did need to peruse the manual briefly. The display is recessed to prevent scratching, has a blue backlight for night use, and clearly displays a slew of track information and audio settings.

This MP3 player comes with a bunch of accessories, though you will probably want to swap out some of them. The earphones are designed for the player to be worn solely on the left side of the body, which I found to be annoying (and I am right-handed). With the left earphone wire being about 5 inches long, wearing the MP3 player anywhere other than on the left side of your body causes the earpiece to be pulled out of your ear from the slightest tug. The armband and clear plastic case work well if you like to wear your MP3 player on your arm. You will find that you may need to lock the keys while using the clear plastic case since the case is snug enough to press the MP3 player's buttons prematurely.

I did have one unexpected problem: the backlight burnt out after only one month of use. However, a quick call to SanDisk tech support and they are sending a replacement, so if you have the same problem (hopefully you won't) then it should be easy to acquire a replacement unit.

Overall, I found this to be a pretty good MP3 player and I'm quite pleased with the product. I would recommend this MP3 player to my friends since it's a quality product and a good buy for the money. I'd even recommend it to family members since it's pretty simple to operate and durable to boot. Sandisk scores again with another quality product.

Pros

Great display
Equalizer that is customizable and functional
USB 2.0 transfer
Comes with armband, earphones, battery, usb cable, ripping software
Funcitons as MP3 player, FM stereo tuner, voice record and data storage
No driver need for ME/2000/XP

Cons

Lacks a belt clip
Not rectangular
No color choice
Earbuds only work well when wearing MP3 player on left side
Backlight burnt out after 1 month

Update: 10/30/05

Sandisk Digital Audio Player Revisited...

Since I have written my review on the Sandisk MP3 player, certain events had occurred which has shed more light on my review. After some use the backlight burnt out on the MP3 player. The Sandisk hotline was most helpful in getting me a replacement MP3 player and paid shipping in full.

Upon the arrival of my new MP3 player, I noticed several differences in the packages. First off, the earbuds that used to have uneven leads have been replaced by a much nicer pair of earbuds. The new earbuds have even length wire leads and stay in your ear quite well. Kudos for this go to Sandisk.

Not all changes were good though. The MP3 had a few obvious setbacks that version one did not have. First, the ability to change the speed of song playing is no more. I thought it to be a nice touch in version one. Second, the word medium in the sensitivity of FM the signal now read "Midium". No big deal, but clearly someone was not paying attention to detail or doesn't speak English fluently. Third, the volume output was not nearly as good as with version one. Several times I found myself topping out at the end of the volume scale with MP3 player version two. And I am not one to frequently blare my music. I can only figure it being a function of the new firmware. Lastly, and most annoying, Sandisk removed the function that allows the user to delete files on the MP3 player. For version two, you have to have the MP3 player hooked up to a computer if you want to delete files. I found this most disturbing since the MP3 player functions as a voice recorder. When you need to free up space for recording a conversation, or just outright wish to delete a file or duplicated track, you are stuck having to find a computer to handle this task.

After a brief 50 minute conversation with Sandisk's helpline again, they were able to locate a version one player for me to replace my replacement, the version two player. It may not seem like a big deal to you, but these people had to open up several packages to identify which version the MP3 player was, since it's not denoted on the box. Again, Kudos go to Sandisk's helpline for fishing for the original product which I found to be superior.

Allow me to sum up for those of you too lazy to read the whole article. Version one of the MP3 player may have questionable durability of the backlight, however has the functions of MP3 play speed manipulation and the ability to directly delete unwanted files and a better volume range to listen to music. Version two has fixed the uneven earbud issue, but you now have to use a computer to delete any files. Also version two seems to be much quieter as far as volume output is concerned and has a spelling error in menu. Adjusting MP3 play speed is also out of the question. Both MP3 versions are still backed nicely by Sandisk's helpful support line.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: Styling & First Impressions
Page 3: Taking a Closer Look
Page 4: Testing
Page 5: Conclusion / Update

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1 User Comment

1 - Posted by Kurtis on November 11, 2005 - 1:31 am

The article has been updated on 10-30-05 with new information about the replacement sent to Mike by SanDisk after the backlight burnt out on the first.

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