Sandisk Sansa Clip Zip 8GB SDMX22-008G-A57KC Review

Sandisk Sansa Clip Zip 8GB SDMX22-008G-A57KC Review

Reviewed 2/11/2012
Update: 3/25/2012
Purchased at COSTCO
Cost: $54.99 prior to tax
Recommendation: We do NOT recommend this unit due to the FM radio (read review) failures.

Installation software was incredibly slow and unresponsive.  Windows software really does suck.  It took FOREVER to load this software and repeated mouse clicks to get it to respond.
The lack of Macintosh support seems a flaw at first but you really do NOT need their stupid Windows software at all except for firmware upgrades.
The firmware upgrade portion was flawed in our opinion.  We never got confirmation that it installed properly.
Promotion of Rhapsody Software, in our opinion is also flawed.  They want you to pay a monthly charge to keep listening to your music.  This may work if you are part of the one percent.  We have a better solution, revealed later.
The lack of iTunes interface is a big negative.  They obviously are pushing their monthly charges to use Rhapsody.  This reminds me of the banking industry, that relies on fees to make their business oligarchs wealthy.  The Apple solution is more elegant.  Pay for the audio you buy, allow already paid CD’s to be loaded into your device.  No monthly payments are required.

Our solution for gaining control of your music and full control of your Sansa also allows Macintosh, Linux and  Windows users to use this device.

  • Simply plug the player into your computer with the USB cable.
  • Wait to see the player mount as an external hard drive.
  • Open the SANSA CLIPZ drive to reveal the internal folders.
  • Double click, thus open, the MUSIC folder.
  • Copy any MP3 music into that folder including folders holding that music.

Your Sandisk will show the music you just installed thus avoiding the Rhapsody Software jail cell.

Sandisk web site does show you how to transfer from iTunes: http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1141/~/transferring-music-files-to-the-sansa-player-using-itunes-on-a-mac-computer

In summary, we do NOT recommend that you buy this device if you want to maintain full control of your music collection using the Rhapsody Software solution provided by Sandisk. UPDATE:  We further find this device to be flawed in that the FM radio failed in 2 out of 2 test units.

  • The FM radio is simply wonderful.  (UPDATE: The FM radio failed after about 2 weeks.  I returned the unit for another unit at COSTCO and the FM radio failed after a few weeks)
  • The audio quality is very good.
  • The operation menu system used to navigate the Sansa Clip is ok.
  • The size is fantastic,really small.

Note: To get the radio stations to properly load, I had to tell the device to scan two or three times to reveal all the stations.  The reason for this is you have to press the side arrow key to perform the scan but IF the next station is near the current station it will not be found because your finger is pressing the scan button.  Almost all the stations showed their station letters which was a real surprise.

Note: If the manufacturer can solve the FM radio going bad, we would then recommend this unit.

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