- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 45 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Excellent MP3 Player"
Pros: Very light, small, good display & controls
Cons: FM tuner is basically worthless
Summary: As a Mac user and owner of both a 30GB video IPOD and 2nd generation Nano, I was looking for something really tiny to use only for working out at the gym.
I tried my brothers latest generation Shuffle and liked it tremendously. The only thing that I wanted to add was an FM tuner so that on those days where something worth watching was showing on the TV screens at the gym, I could hear that instead.
After doing a little research, I decided that a Sansa Clip would be a good choice. While I was thinking of that, lo and behold Costco had the silver 4GB Clip for $69.99 so I bought it.
First the good. This unit is VERY small and weighs almost nothing. The display is excellent and easy to use as is the menu system. The headphone jack has a very positive connection so it will not come out accidently. Also, it has a clip like the Shuffle so it is very easy to attach to yourself.
I have not tried the included headphones, just used the V-Moda in-ear ones I normally use. The sound quality is of the Clip is excellent.
As far as getting music onto the Clip, it shows up on the desktop as a drive, like a flash drive, and I just drag the music over form my iTunes's folders. The one problem you have to be aware of is that music you purchased from iTunes is in the protected m4p format. You have to burn those protected tracks to a CD and then rip them back as mp3's in order to get them into your Clip.
Most of my music is ripped from my own CD's or I purchased in mp3 format from other sources. I only have about 45 tracks that I purchased directly from iTunes so this is not a big issue from me. If you have tons of tracks that you have purchased directly from iTunes, you may need to research a better way to get the music out of iTunes.
The only drawback for me was that the FM tuner is useless. As I stated, I bought this specifically over the Shuffle for this one feature. Regardless of where I am at the club, I cannot get the tuner to tune in any of the screens that are being shown. Oh well.....
Overall, I think this is an excellent unit and really shows that there are some great alternatives to iPods out there. Having said that, for me personally, and ipod shuffle would have been a better choice. Easier integration with iTunes and the FM tuner not being there wouldn't have mattered since the FM tuner in the clip can't pull anything in anyway. When I'm working out, I simple start the device and have it randomly play the songs. I usually don't touch it again till I'm done working out so again the shulffle would have been fine. Of course for the price of the 2GB Shuffle I have a 4GB Clip, so in that regard, it is a great value. But again, I have about 50-60 tracks on the clip at any one time, and have barely reached 3% capacity, so again even 2GB would have been fine for this application.
If you don't use iTunes to purchase music, or like to have a display to play around with, I definitely recommend the Clip. Great sound, great features, very inexpensive.
Where to buy
SanDisk Sansa Clip (2GB, candy apple red):
$29.99 - $34.64
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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$34.64 | Yes |
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$29.99 | Yes |
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$29.99 | Yes |
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