SanDisk Sansa Clip+ 8 GB MP3 Player (Black) Review. The Sansa Clip+ MP3 player gives you more to enjoy. Enjoy up to 2,000 songs†† with an 8GB* player, FM radio, long-life battery and voice recorder. PLUS now even more! Expand your enjoyment when you add in preloaded content cards** into the new memory card slot, including slotRadio™ and slotMusic™ cards**. Or, save your own music, podcasts, and audio books onto a microSD™/microSDHC™ memory card** to expand your play.It’s brought to you by SanDisk with awesome sound to enjoy your music. Just clip it on and enjoy more music with an incredible 15 hours† battery-fueled fun. See what you’re listening to with the bright, easy-to-read screen and intuitively searchable menus. Color your world in red, blue or sleek black undertones....
"Great upgrade to an already great budget player" 2009-09-09
By musicfan (Somerville, MA USA)
If all you are looking for is a great sounding, small, cheap mp3 player with a display and expandability options, then the clip + is your best choice. This is very similar to the old clip with the following major differences:
- two minor button placement changes (improvement)
- UI is a bit smoother (menus scroll now)
- volume normalizing/gain
- micro-SD slot for up to 16 added gigs (which is huge)
- a little thicker, probably due to SD support
- clip is no longer removable (depending on your preference, this is a good or bad thing-guess you could just rip it off and file it down if you wanted to)
As always, it sounds great and blows away the iPod Shuffle in terms of value. So light and small--great for the gym. If you need your mp3 player to play games, surf the internet or serve double purpose as a grocery list, then this isn't for you, but if you're on a budget or just need something that plays music and does so well, this is the one.
"Really nice technical improvements, but didn't need to "fix" the outside of it." 2009-09-20
By Pramod Agrawal
So recently, because I love my Sansa Clip so much for exercising, and I thought I could use one more, I picked one of these up at Bestbuy. I have used it for about a week so I can't say anything about the longetivity of the new Clip Plus, but I can tell you about everything else. First I will give you the cons since there is only one and that is also only about preference. I personally LOVED the sleek look of the original sansa clip, but that has been replaced with a sort of glittery finish on the front. That is about it and to add to this, everything else from the outside such as the plastic used has been revamped to feel better in your hands and is just overall better quality. Now on to the most important part, the features. The main thing that sets this apart from the original clip is the addition of a microSD card slot. This can take up to a 32gb microSD card, so if you were to pair one with this, you could potentially get a 36(!)gb memory for this puny little item. That is the next thing I will get into, the size. If you haven't ever heard about the original sansa clip, basically, Sandisk designed this line of Sansa for portability and mainly for exercise. It feels really good in the hand and the non removable clip on the back can clip on to virtually anything. Next is the display. The menu remains much of the same, but Sansa also added slotRadio compatibility and a nicer flow to menu if you're into that. Finally we'll go to the placement of the buttons. On the old sansa clip, there was a button the side for power and hold, but a lot of clip owners including me found that uncomfortable. To cope with this, Sandisk put the power button on the top and put the hold funtion to holding the home button for about 3 seconds. So overall, this is a fantastic MP3 player in any category, but if you are in the market for one for the gym, pass up the Ipod Shuffle for 79$ with no screen and counter-intuitiveness(in my opinion) and get this really nice compact MP3 player for only 50$ for the 4gb, 40$ for the 2gb and 70$ for the 8gb. Thank you and I hope this review helps.
"Excellently small, infinitely expandable" 2009-09-24
By Defaultluser
I've been very pleased with this small wonder, it is about 1/2 the size of your average portable mp3/video player with an LCD screen, but the OLED screen on the Clip+ is still very readable and easily navigable. I've paired my player with a 16GB MicroSDHC card, giving me enough room for my entire mp3 collection in a player the size of a matchbook.
The player itself is very lightweight, but feels very firm gripped in your hand, and the buttons have a very solid feel when pressed. The clip is non-removable, but probably not a breakage concern like the previous Clip.
Some technical observations:
The Clip+ plays back OGG Vorbis tracks completely gapless. It does not play back mp3 files encoded with LAME gapless (but the gap is extremely small).
The off-pitch playback issues of the original Clip (songs used to play at the wrong speed) are fixed in the Clip+.
Battery life is around the advertised 15 hours. It's not amazing (it trades battery life to have the screen and the slot), but it does last a week of casual listening.
Sound quality is outstanding, better than I ever expected from such an inexpensive player.
FLICKER WARNING: the OLED screen is crisp, but due to how the technology works, the screen must be refreshed like a CRT. Thus, if the refresh rate is too slow, flicker is visible (to those who are sensitive). The refresh rate of the Clip+ screen is very low, and people sensitive to it (including myself) can see flicker.
"Good improvements on orginal Clip" 2009-09-08
By Ross A. Seymour (La Crosse, WI United States)
The title says is all: Clip +. It is really the first generation of the Clip plus a few well thought out design and firmware changes.
The volume control is now on the opposite side, the side with the usb plug rather than the headphone. With right-angle headphone plugs, you needed to swing the headphone plug out of the way to use the volume control on the old Clip.
The on/off switch is now on the top instead of the left side (where the volume control now is). I often needed to turn off my Clip while under a shirt and not looking at it. I actually turned it off only about half the time because of slide switch. Now there's simply a button on the top. The hold button, which used to be on the on/off switch, is now activated by holding down the menu button. Since I rarely used the hold button I can't say whether this is an improvement.
The clip on the back is a big design change. The clip, for better or worse, is no longer detachable. Personally, I liked being able to detach it if I was using velcro rather the clip to attach to something, like a bag. That being said the new clip is sleeker. Closer to the back of the body and a bit wider. The clip now has a ridge at the end of the clip as opposed to the circle of the old Clip. It seems to hold on just as well.
The square controls (as opposed to the former round controls) doesn't make much of a difference. If you are using the controls by feeling rather than seeing, the square may make it a bit easier to know where you are at on the controls.
Otherwise it is the same size and all. My old Clip silicone case fits it OK, but I will get a new case when they come out.
Inside there are some firmware changes. Included now is a menu item for Slot Player chips (a soon-to-be obsolete format if I've ever seen one). The menus slide rather than jump, giving it a smoother look (I guess). In the old Clip, when you pressed the center button while a track was playing, it went to a visualization, then a listing of the current track playing. Obviously a redundancy. Now, it show info on the next track to play, instead of the current one. Other changes had already been incorporated in firmware updates for the original Clip.
One new function is the replay gain function. Very useful if you shuffle songs. This allows music to play back at about the same volume without you, the listener, having to actually change the volume. It works by adding a bit of instruction to each music file with information about how loud or soft the track is and then the volume of the player adjusts accordingly. Whether your tracks have replay gain information on them depends on how you got them. Many media players, like Media Monkey, can read the tracks and add this information.
One further note on the replay gain function. It should be set to song if you are on shuffle. Also the pregain is set a bit low. If you find yourself fiddling with the volume, increase the replay gain setting to 6 or 9.
The manual says it has gapless play. I believe you need to rip your tracks as gapless for this to work. Many standard mp3 converters don't do this, but maybe it is more prevalent for AAC (iTunes).
The best for last: a micro card slot. This allows you to add capacity to the player (currently the limit is 16gb with larger cards on the horizon), well above the 4gb that it comes with. If you have gone lossless (I use FLAC) then you know that extra file space is a big plus. With only FLAC files, the 4gb player holds about nine hours of music (probably five times more with normal MP3 files). This is fine by me but if I'm going on a trip then having the expansion capacity will be a big plus.
Sound quality wise, it sounds about the same to me, compared with the old Clip. Which means it sounds great, amped or not. Some have noted a fuller, warmer, louder sound, but my old ears can't pick that out.
Why people don't use these by the droves at the gym is beyond me. I still see very few of these players down at the Y, while I see all manner of big iPods. This little machine is perfect for the gym or any on-the-go activity.
"WAAAAAAY better than the shuffle, iPods inhale profusely in comparision" 2009-10-25
By Robert E. Mcalister (Jacksonville, FL, USA)
This is the perfect mp3 player. The fact that you can expand the memory to 18+ GB with an inexpensive microSD card??? holy cow. I used my wife's iPod shuffle before this, and there is no comparision, really. Except that this is 20-30% cheaper, and 1000% better. This has a built in customizable equalizer, something which the ipod did not. It has a screen similar to many expensive ipods that help you navigate the simple menus, although it does not play video ( I don't watch video when I work out, run, or mow the lawn). Battery life is great, and this isn't much larger than the shuffle. Clips on in the same fashion, weighs just as much, and the sound quality is phenomenal. It is a USB plug and play, so you can just drop and drag files to it. SOOOOO easy. No proprietary garbage software to use, like i-tunes. There is an option to sync playlists and things with Windows Media Player, but I haven't, and won't care to try. I just load all my favorite songs and randomly play the music. And now with Windows 7..hehe...Mac will dwindle back to fan-boy status and they'll have to start making cheaper, less proprietary hardware and software, or they will never survive. I'm Robert, and I'm a PC :)
By musicfan (Somerville, MA USA)
If all you are looking for is a great sounding, small, cheap mp3 player with a display and expandability options, then the clip + is your best choice. This is very similar to the old clip with the following major differences:
- two minor button placement changes (improvement)
- UI is a bit smoother (menus scroll now)
- volume normalizing/gain
- micro-SD slot for up to 16 added gigs (which is huge)
- a little thicker, probably due to SD support
- clip is no longer removable (depending on your preference, this is a good or bad thing-guess you could just rip it off and file it down if you wanted to)
As always, it sounds great and blows away the iPod Shuffle in terms of value. So light and small--great for the gym. If you need your mp3 player to play games, surf the internet or serve double purpose as a grocery list, then this isn't for you, but if you're on a budget or just need something that plays music and does so well, this is the one.
By Pramod Agrawal
So recently, because I love my Sansa Clip so much for exercising, and I thought I could use one more, I picked one of these up at Bestbuy. I have used it for about a week so I can't say anything about the longetivity of the new Clip Plus, but I can tell you about everything else. First I will give you the cons since there is only one and that is also only about preference. I personally LOVED the sleek look of the original sansa clip, but that has been replaced with a sort of glittery finish on the front. That is about it and to add to this, everything else from the outside such as the plastic used has been revamped to feel better in your hands and is just overall better quality. Now on to the most important part, the features. The main thing that sets this apart from the original clip is the addition of a microSD card slot. This can take up to a 32gb microSD card, so if you were to pair one with this, you could potentially get a 36(!)gb memory for this puny little item. That is the next thing I will get into, the size. If you haven't ever heard about the original sansa clip, basically, Sandisk designed this line of Sansa for portability and mainly for exercise. It feels really good in the hand and the non removable clip on the back can clip on to virtually anything. Next is the display. The menu remains much of the same, but Sansa also added slotRadio compatibility and a nicer flow to menu if you're into that. Finally we'll go to the placement of the buttons. On the old sansa clip, there was a button the side for power and hold, but a lot of clip owners including me found that uncomfortable. To cope with this, Sandisk put the power button on the top and put the hold funtion to holding the home button for about 3 seconds. So overall, this is a fantastic MP3 player in any category, but if you are in the market for one for the gym, pass up the Ipod Shuffle for 79$ with no screen and counter-intuitiveness(in my opinion) and get this really nice compact MP3 player for only 50$ for the 4gb, 40$ for the 2gb and 70$ for the 8gb. Thank you and I hope this review helps.
By Defaultluser
I've been very pleased with this small wonder, it is about 1/2 the size of your average portable mp3/video player with an LCD screen, but the OLED screen on the Clip+ is still very readable and easily navigable. I've paired my player with a 16GB MicroSDHC card, giving me enough room for my entire mp3 collection in a player the size of a matchbook.
The player itself is very lightweight, but feels very firm gripped in your hand, and the buttons have a very solid feel when pressed. The clip is non-removable, but probably not a breakage concern like the previous Clip.
Some technical observations:
The Clip+ plays back OGG Vorbis tracks completely gapless. It does not play back mp3 files encoded with LAME gapless (but the gap is extremely small).
The off-pitch playback issues of the original Clip (songs used to play at the wrong speed) are fixed in the Clip+.
Battery life is around the advertised 15 hours. It's not amazing (it trades battery life to have the screen and the slot), but it does last a week of casual listening.
Sound quality is outstanding, better than I ever expected from such an inexpensive player.
FLICKER WARNING: the OLED screen is crisp, but due to how the technology works, the screen must be refreshed like a CRT. Thus, if the refresh rate is too slow, flicker is visible (to those who are sensitive). The refresh rate of the Clip+ screen is very low, and people sensitive to it (including myself) can see flicker.
By Ross A. Seymour (La Crosse, WI United States)
The title says is all: Clip +. It is really the first generation of the Clip plus a few well thought out design and firmware changes.
The volume control is now on the opposite side, the side with the usb plug rather than the headphone. With right-angle headphone plugs, you needed to swing the headphone plug out of the way to use the volume control on the old Clip.
The on/off switch is now on the top instead of the left side (where the volume control now is). I often needed to turn off my Clip while under a shirt and not looking at it. I actually turned it off only about half the time because of slide switch. Now there's simply a button on the top. The hold button, which used to be on the on/off switch, is now activated by holding down the menu button. Since I rarely used the hold button I can't say whether this is an improvement.
The clip on the back is a big design change. The clip, for better or worse, is no longer detachable. Personally, I liked being able to detach it if I was using velcro rather the clip to attach to something, like a bag. That being said the new clip is sleeker. Closer to the back of the body and a bit wider. The clip now has a ridge at the end of the clip as opposed to the circle of the old Clip. It seems to hold on just as well.
The square controls (as opposed to the former round controls) doesn't make much of a difference. If you are using the controls by feeling rather than seeing, the square may make it a bit easier to know where you are at on the controls.
Otherwise it is the same size and all. My old Clip silicone case fits it OK, but I will get a new case when they come out.
Inside there are some firmware changes. Included now is a menu item for Slot Player chips (a soon-to-be obsolete format if I've ever seen one). The menus slide rather than jump, giving it a smoother look (I guess). In the old Clip, when you pressed the center button while a track was playing, it went to a visualization, then a listing of the current track playing. Obviously a redundancy. Now, it show info on the next track to play, instead of the current one. Other changes had already been incorporated in firmware updates for the original Clip.
One new function is the replay gain function. Very useful if you shuffle songs. This allows music to play back at about the same volume without you, the listener, having to actually change the volume. It works by adding a bit of instruction to each music file with information about how loud or soft the track is and then the volume of the player adjusts accordingly. Whether your tracks have replay gain information on them depends on how you got them. Many media players, like Media Monkey, can read the tracks and add this information.
One further note on the replay gain function. It should be set to song if you are on shuffle. Also the pregain is set a bit low. If you find yourself fiddling with the volume, increase the replay gain setting to 6 or 9.
The manual says it has gapless play. I believe you need to rip your tracks as gapless for this to work. Many standard mp3 converters don't do this, but maybe it is more prevalent for AAC (iTunes).
The best for last: a micro card slot. This allows you to add capacity to the player (currently the limit is 16gb with larger cards on the horizon), well above the 4gb that it comes with. If you have gone lossless (I use FLAC) then you know that extra file space is a big plus. With only FLAC files, the 4gb player holds about nine hours of music (probably five times more with normal MP3 files). This is fine by me but if I'm going on a trip then having the expansion capacity will be a big plus.
Sound quality wise, it sounds about the same to me, compared with the old Clip. Which means it sounds great, amped or not. Some have noted a fuller, warmer, louder sound, but my old ears can't pick that out.
Why people don't use these by the droves at the gym is beyond me. I still see very few of these players down at the Y, while I see all manner of big iPods. This little machine is perfect for the gym or any on-the-go activity.
By Robert E. Mcalister (Jacksonville, FL, USA)
This is the perfect mp3 player. The fact that you can expand the memory to 18+ GB with an inexpensive microSD card??? holy cow. I used my wife's iPod shuffle before this, and there is no comparision, really. Except that this is 20-30% cheaper, and 1000% better. This has a built in customizable equalizer, something which the ipod did not. It has a screen similar to many expensive ipods that help you navigate the simple menus, although it does not play video ( I don't watch video when I work out, run, or mow the lawn). Battery life is great, and this isn't much larger than the shuffle. Clips on in the same fashion, weighs just as much, and the sound quality is phenomenal. It is a USB plug and play, so you can just drop and drag files to it. SOOOOO easy. No proprietary garbage software to use, like i-tunes. There is an option to sync playlists and things with Windows Media Player, but I haven't, and won't care to try. I just load all my favorite songs and randomly play the music. And now with Windows 7..hehe...Mac will dwindle back to fan-boy status and they'll have to start making cheaper, less proprietary hardware and software, or they will never survive. I'm Robert, and I'm a PC :)
