SanDisk 4GB Sansa Clip+ MP3 Player (Indigo / Purple)

Why I love my Clip+

I have used the same player (Creative Zen Nano Plus) for several years and have been very happy with it. Still, this player offers SO many advantages at a low price that getting ...Read complete review

I have used the same player (Creative Zen Nano Plus) for several years and have been very happy with it. Still, this player offers SO many advantages at a low price that getting one was a no-brainer. This is not an exhaustive list of what it can do, but it is the features that I wanted that got me to buy a new Clip+. On top of all of these features, it SOUNDS GREAT!

Aside from a review, you'll also find ideas for getting more out of your player, Clip+ or other kinds.

BUILT-IN RECHARGEABLE BATTERY

This is the real reason I bought the new unit. My old player is great, but needs a new AAA battery on a regular basis. The cost of these batteries quickly adds up to the cost of a new Clip+, and dead batteries add to landfill. The Clip+ can be recharged with a computer via USB cable, or you can buy a very inexpensive USB power adapter (often under $2 with shipping).

I have seen some complaints that in practice, the player does not achieve the full 15 hours of playback said to be available on one charge. There's a reason for this. The 15 hours is the maximum, based on mp3 files created with 128k bps, probably with the display as dim as it will go, and with no keys pressed to light it up again. Many of us use higher quality bit rates, up to 320k bps. Higher quality bit rates require more processing, which in turn consumes more electricity. Since 320k is 2.5 times the rated 128k rate, it would not surprise me if the battery life with those tracks was more like 15 hours / 2.5 = 6 hours.

Even rechargeable batteries do not last forever, and I think it would be very hard to replace the battery in this device, so it won't last forever either, but it should last some years.

GAPLESS PLAYBACK

Some albums have tracks that move from one to the other without silence between - Beatles Abbey Road, Radiohead OK Computer, many others. Others are designed to have a brief silence at the end of the track (which can be removed while ripping). The Clip+ plays either one correctly: it plays music uninterrupted from one track to the next if they are set up that way. My old player had a brief silence while it loaded the next track. My mobile phone makes a loud click then fades into the next track, missing the first half second or so. I no longer have to rip contiuous albums as a single mp3 to be played correctly on my player.

AUTO VOLUME ADJUSTMENT / REPLAYGAIN SUPPORT

Music is recorded at many volume levels. You might turn up the player to listen to a quiet track, then get blasted by a loud track. A technology called Replaygain is available to help normalize track volume to avoid this problem, and this player supports it.

EXPANDABLE MEMORY

There's a slot on the side into which you can plug a MicroSD or MicroSDHC chip, which can bring between 1 GB to 32 GB of additional storage to your Clip+. As I write, the price difference between a 2GB Clip+ and a 8GB Clip+ is more than $26 for 6 GB additional built-in memory. For that much money, you can buy almost 24 GB memory via 4GB or 8GB chips, and the price of the chips is dropping. For that reason, I suggest buying a 2GB or 4GB player and spending the savings on expansion chips.

These expansion chips weigh very little and you can potentially carry a lot of music around with you without noticing the extra weight. The chips can have customized music programs to make portable playback very flexible.

With an SD adapter sleeve (that usually comes with the micro chips), the same chip can be played on my nüvi GPS, with the music and driving directions alternating as needed. Your memory chip will probably work with other music devices that have a socket, too. With the adapter you can also use these chips in your camera or other SD devices, handy if you run out of space for pictures.

PLAYLISTS

Standard M3U playlists can be used to set up lists of tracks you want to hear, in the order you want to hear them. You can set the play mode to shuffle so the order is not always the same, if you want. My old player played tracks only in alphanumeric sort order, so I had to insert numbers on tracks to get them to come out in a particular order. M3U is perhaps the most common type of playlist, and is widely supported.

UPDATEABLE, REPLACEABLE FIRMWARE

I am reasonably satisified with the Sansa firmware (see Cons below for a minor issue), and they have updated it to add new features (like the ability to play files by browsing directories, without a playlist).

The Clip+ is also supported by the open-source Rockbox firmware, which improves on the Sansa firmware in many useful ways. It is fairly easy to install, and once it's there, you can switch between the original and the Rockbox firmware as you like. Because Rockbox is open source, you could customize the way your player works.

NO REMOVABLE / BREAKABLE PARTS

My old player has a plastic battery cover that broke, so it does not stay in place very well. Removable or moving parts are the first thing to break on these devices. Aside from the buttons and connectors, this player has none. And it is so light that even dropping it is unlikely to break it.

TRACK RATING

I love this feature! It means that while I do my exercise walking, I can rate a track on the player, and when I get home, transfer the ratings to my music database, so that in the future I can select tracks by my own rating.

USES STANDARD CONNECTORS

The Sansa Fuze, any Apple player, and many others tend to have proprietary connectors, especially for the computer connection, which require expensive adapters and limit your flexibility to connect to whatever you want. The Clip+ accepts a standard mini-B USB plug, which is commonly used for many small USB devices from many vendors. The headphone jack is the same as all players: the 1/8" (3.5mm) stereo plug is accepted.

WORKS WITH STANDARD SOFTWARE

The Clip+, like many other players, allows you to use iTunes or any other software you might prefer - MediaMonkey, WinAmp, Windows Media Player, drag-and-drop from your file list, or your own custom-written software. Apple requires iTunes for loading and playing tracks on its players, because there is a proprietary database on the player that is used for playing (I have heard that some people have figured out how the database works and written alternatives; also, some mp3 management software does support the Apple proprietary database).

COMPACT, AND NOT TOO SMALL

The problem with really small players is they are easy to lose. To me, this one is as small as I would want.

COLORS

I prefer brightly colored players, because they are easier to find in my bag (which is black inside), and because I like bright colors. The colors for Clip+ are a bit dark, but are otherwise pleasing, and there are a few choices.

NO VIDEO PLAYBACK / PICTURES

Players that show video and pictures require larger, more expensive displays which also shorten the battery life, are bigger and heavier, and of course are more expensive. Obviously the need to show video and pictures is a personal thing, and if you need it, don't choose the Clip+, which only plays music. With Rockbox, there are actually a few small apps and games that work on Clip+.

BOOKMARK / RESUME

If you are listening to an mp3 book, it is very convenient to have the player remember where you were when you stopped, and resume there. This player supports that.

RADIO

This player includes an FM radio, as many do. The autoscan missed some of the weaker stations, such as the college stations, when I tried it indoors, but it receives the other local stations very well. You can record from radio, too.

CONS

(Warning, geek talk follows.) The player requires that playlists use relative pathnames only, not absolute pathnames. When the mp3 file location starts with a slash, it is absolute, and the player won't find it. This defect limits the flexibility of using playlists, and causes problems for some mp3 organizers (such as MediaMonkey, though there could be a solution). But if you install Rockbox, this problem goes away.

TIPS FOR USING ANY PORTABLE AUDIO PLAYER

To keep costs down, player manufacturers provide a very cheap headphone. Don't judge the player by the quality of this headphone. You can get headphones that sound great for cheap money these days; for example, I like Koss "The Plug," which seals out noise around me; these days, there are many other good choices at all price ranges and qualities.

I recommend one accessory: a cable that has a 1/8" plug on one end (plugs into the player) and a pair of RCA plugs on the other (plugs into your home stereo or other audio players around the home). I have a few of these cables, and connected them to every device with speakers in the house. So when I'm in the kitchen, I can easily listen to the Clip+ through the radio, when the radio isn't what I want to hear.

Don't limit yourself to music. Podcasts are a great way to learn. Books on tape can be very entertaining while walking or driving. One of my favorite: learning foreign languages during my daily exercise walk. I sometimes even listen to recorded presentations for my job to expand my expertise.