SanDisk portable media players

SanDisk has produced a number of flash memory-based portable media players from 2005. SanDisk players were marketed under the Sansa name until 2014, then SanDisk Clip.

Marketing

In May 2006, SanDisk launched an anti-iPod marketing campaign dubbed "iDon't", featuring graffiti-type posters around urban areas and a website (iDont.com), in an effort to promote the e200 series. SanDisk later replaced the campaign with LilMonsta.com, which is also the name of the creature that resembles the player.[1] In June 2008, LilMonsta.com was shut down in favor of a new website.

On September 3, 2006, SanDisk announced the "Made for Sansa" program, following the similar program by Apple Inc. for its iPod. A number of third-party accessories have been released under it, including hardware accessories mostly for the proprietary 30-pin IO port featured on the e200, c200, Connect, View, and Fuze players. Japanese pop artist Maki Goto endorsed the Sansa e200 series with a promotional video featuring one of her songs.[2]

Model history

Sansa e100

The Sansa e100 series has a monochrome display with a blue backlight, FM tuner with 20 presets, SRS WOW technology, an SD card slot supporting cards up to 2 GB, an internal memory of 512 MB (e130) or 1 GB (e140), and a single AAA battery for power. It supports MP3, WMA and Audible file formats. The e140 was also known as the SDMX2. Released on January 12, 2006, it came in blue or grey, depending on the model.

SanDisk SDMX1

The SanDisk SDMX1 series (including the SDMX1-1024, −512, and −256—reflecting capacity in MB), also known as the SanDisk Digital Audio Player, is a low-end solid state memory MP3 player. It was SanDisk's first personal media player, and the only one of its time not to be sold under the Sansa brand. It supports MP3, WMA, and DRM-protected WMA files. It cannot play seamlessly, and imposes a non-configurable fade at the beginning and end of each file. There is a built-in microphone for low-fidelity (8 kHz) voice recording and an FM radio. The SanDisk SDMX1 is powered by a single AAA battery for around 15 hours of continuous playback. It measures 75.2 mm x 32.8 mm x 20.8 mm and weighs under 40 g. Its release date was January 11, 2006.

Sansa m200

Overview and comparison

This table refers to the latest version of the SanDisk firmware as of 2019. Earlier versions may have fewer features. Vorbis, FLAC, AAC, ReplayGain, and folder browsing are always included in Rockbox.[34]

External links

References

Jade, Charles – ars technica. SanDisk launches "iDont" anti-iPod marketing campaign May 27, 2006^
Goto, Maki – Veoh. SanDisk-sansa^
Kim, James. SanDisk Sansa e280 (8 GB) CNet.com^

Sansa Clip

Also known as the m300, the Sansa Clip was released on October 9, 2007.[10] The player is similar in size to the second-generation iPod Shuffle, but incorporates a removable clip and 4-line OLED screen (with one yellow line and three blue lines). The Clip has an FM tuner/recorder and a built-in microphone. The Clip shipped in capacities of 1 GB (available only in black), 2 GB (available in black, blue, red and pink), and 4 GB (silver and black). In November 2008, black and silver 8 GB versions were advertised in the UK.

Midway through production of the Clip, SanDisk updated to a new hardware design, referred to as v2, based on an updated Austriamicrosystems SoC. The updated design moderately improved battery life[11] by introducing a more efficient ARM9E processor in place of the previous ARM9 core. Aside from requiring different firmware upgrades, there were no functional changes to the software. The updated SoC would, however, form the basis for the Clip+ and Clip Zip products. Additionally, the v2 hardware has significantly improved battery life when using the Rockbox firmware (see below) due to dynamic frequency and voltage scaling.[12]

Firmware version 01.01.29,[13] released in May 2008, enabled Ogg Vorbis compatibility for the Sansa Clip. The 01.01.30 firmware update improved OGG support and added FLAC support. The latest firmware packages for the Sansa Clip are 01.01.35 and 02.01.35, which depend on the hardware revision.[14] The official firmware cannot play Ogg Opus files, but support for the opus audio codec is available in Rockbox, a third party firmware replacement. Rockbox was first released for the Clip v1 on November 21, 2009, and then for the Clip v2 on May 14, 2010.[15]

The device (firmware 01.32+) has five folders: Audible (for Audible content), Audiobooks (for audiobooks that can be "bookmarked" with a resume playback feature), Music, Podcasts (which also support the resume playback feature), and Record (for WAV recordings using the device).

Sansa Clip+

On August 31, 2009,[18] SanDisk released a redesign of the Sansa Clip called the Clip+, cosmetically similar to the Clip and maintaining its basic design, audio hardware, compatibility, and 4-line OLED screen, but with a few significant differences.

There are 2 GB (black), 4 GB (black, red, blue, white or indigo) and 8 GB (black) models. The case has been redesigned to look more square (including the navigation pad, which is also no longer backlit) and is constructed of higher-quality plastic,[19] the clip is no longer removable, and the player now supports folder browsing and ReplayGain support. Transition times between tracks were reduced, but SanDisk officially declined to support gapless playback.[20] A microSDHC card slot has been added, allowing the storage capacity of the device to be expanded by up to an additional 32 GB. The Clip+ also has added features when playing slotMusic and slotRadio. To make room for the microSDHC slot, there have been some changes from the old Clip, including moving the volume switch to the left side of the device and changing the power/hold switch to a simple power button. Hold mode is now activated by holding the "Home" button on the device. Like previous Clip and Fuze products, the Clip+ retained a directly coupled headphone amplifier, allowing for highly accurate reproduction of bass frequencies and very low distortion on difficult-to-drive headphones.[21]

The Sansa Clip+ proved popular with audio enthusiasts and programmers because of its very low cost, excellent DAC, and relatively mature Rockbox port, the latter of which substantially improved battery life and added features such as parametric EQ, completely gapless playback and AAC audio playback.[22] The Clip+ replaced the discontinued original Clip, with which it shared nearly identical hardware aside from the microSDHC slot.[23]

The Clip+ User Manual provides instructions for copying music files and folders from a PC onto internal and external memory. It also provides instructions for creating playlists using Windows Media Player. However, varying degrees of success have motivated many users to experiment with other applications, such as MediaMonkey[24] and Winamp.[25] Almost unique among mp3 players, the Clip + is able to hide empty folders, which is advantageous to podcast listeners, a capability not present in later Sandisk models. For this, and other reasons, used Clip+ players command premium prices on online marketplaces such as eBay.

SanDisk portable media players

Marketing

Model history

Sansa e100

SanDisk SDMX1

Sansa m200

Overview and comparison

See also

External links

References

Sansa c100

Sansa e200

Sansa TakeTV

Sansa View

Sansa Connect

Sansa c200

Sansa Express

Sansa Shaker

Sansa Clip

Sansa Fuze

Sansa Clip+

Sansa Fuze+

Sansa Clip Zip

SanDisk Clip Sport

Clip Jam

Clip Sport Plus

Clip Sport Go