Review of the SanDisk Sansa Clip MP3 Player

I never owned an MP3 player. I never had the need...until I joined a gym a few months back and wanted to listen to my favorite DC-based radio show (Don & Mike Show) on their podcasts. I had my husband put out the feelers at work, since he works with a lot of tech-savvy people. In the meantime I did some online research to find a suitable product. I didn't need anything flashy, and the cost of most Apple iPods was a lot more than I wanted to spend for such a simple need. I stumbled upon a website called www.anythingbutipod.com to see what they thought. To my delight, one of the MP3 players recommended by the site for its value was also one recommended by one of my husband's coworkers. It was the 1G SanDisk Sansa ® Clip. This is my review.

Ordered on Amazon.com for about $38.00 (free shipping), the price was the first thing that impressed me, as it was one of the cheapest ones that I found. And I recognized the name (SanDisk) from one of my digital camera memory cards. Normally, I would shy away from the cheapest option for fear of poor quality, but it did come recommended by a trusted friend. The first impression that I had was a good one since it was incredibly easy and intuitive to use. Since I am not one to pour over an instruction manual, this was wonderful.

The next impressive feature is the size. Just a hair over 2 inches long, less than 1.5 inches wide and less than an inch thick (including the integrated clip) the Sansa Clip is very light weight. I clip it right onto the collar of the T-shirt that I am wearing and forget about it.

No doubt, the Clip is meant to compete with the iPod Shuffle. Unfortunately for Apple, there really is no competition. The Clip has a display window where you can see the name and artist of what you are playing, it has FM radio preset capability and you can record your voice onto it. My husband's Shuffle had none of these features and at the time was $100.00.

The ear buds that came with the Clip are comfortable and seemingly high quality (I'm not a tech-snob so I don't know super high quality from average). There is no static and the Clip achieves a good level of volume. It charges by plugging into the USB port with the included cable and is iTunes compatible. The main similarity to iPod is the round keypad and drag-and-drop loading. The Sansa holds up to 15 hours of music.

Overall, I have no complaints with this great little player and I am recommending one to my husband now that his Shuffle is no longer working after less than 3 years. The Clip also comes in a 2G version that has other color options like silver, red and blue. I believe that black is the only option for the 1G version. There are also kits with silicon covers if you want to change up the look of your player. If you do not need something that holds all your pictures or video, but holds hours of music and podcasts, then this is the MP3 for you.