SanDisk, known for their storage cards and USB drives, last October released a line of MP3 players to the market with the unveiling of their SanDisk Digital Audio Player line. Three models, ranging in storage size from 256MB to 1GB, use flash memory to store music instead of a hard drive. Being “plug and play” via a USB cable, they can also act as a storage device for other types of files. The SanDisk is about the length of my thumb and twice as fat. I can wrap my hand around it and no one can even tell I’m holding something except for the tell-tale speaker wires dangling from my fingers. Yet even with this small size it packs a powerful punch.
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I’ll admit I eagerly ripped opened the player and didn’t bother to read instructions – how hard could it be? I found the Sandisk Mp3 player to be pretty intuitive, but it does help to review the instruction manual that comes with the accompanying disk since this little player has a punch. The disk comes with MusicMatch a program which enables you rip songs from CDs to Mp3s.. I don’t forsee myself using it since I already have a bunch of Mp3s. If you’re like me, you won’t need the CD other than to use it to review the instruction manual. Dumping Mp3s on the player is easy. You just connect it to your computer and transfer the music from your computer to the player using the your explorer window if you’re running Windows. The device mounts just like an external hard drive which gives you a familiar environment. Once you’ve done that, you disconnect, turn on your Mp3 player, and you’re off to listening to your favorite tunes. Takes all of 2 minutes or less depending on how many files you’re putting on there. Oh and by the way it has a brillant display showing you the song and the convenience of having an built-in equalizer! Sorry Apple big miss here!
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Another great feature on the Sandisk MP3 player is the FM radio. The player has a great option where you can manually force the signal to strengthen. Nice touch! I played with this feature and it works pretty well, most of the stations I listen to already deliver a strong signal but when I am traveling this will be a life saver. The FM receiver also gives the end user presets for their favorate stations! Sorry Apple another big miss again!
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Nice to have features..
There is a built in voice recorder in which enables the end user to record lectures, interviews or your children singing silly songs. Not only can the unit record but it will automatically create WAV files right on the unit! It also uses reliable flash memory which offers greater durability and ruggedness, smaller size, no noise of a rotating drive, and the ability to play hundreds of songs on a single AAA battery. In addition, it is designed to work seamlessly with a wide range of music sites that offer popular music formats such as MP3 and Windows Media as well as Windows Media-based DRM files from music subscription sites.