Sandisk Sansa View

The View is Sandisk’s attempt at a video oriented PMP and features a slightly larger screen than their mainstream E200 series. It’s also a slightly longer device, and gives up the metal back for a Matt finished black rear that adds a touch of class to an already up-market looking device. The ribbed click wheel also goes in favor of a smooth finish with a smooth moving click wheel. The menu system remains the same, but we found Sandisk Sansa Viewexploration a little better, courtesy the new smooth action wheel. Expansion is avia MicroSD now. should for some reason 16 GB onboard insufficient, and given the fact that the 8 GB MicroSD cards are slowly making their way to the market space, is never going to be a constraint.
All the features we loved on the E200 series are present-FM radio, voice recording, video image viewing-although features like an alarm clock, calender, and the ability to store notes was absent-a pity SanDisk didn’t think of adding anything new. Navigating the menu is simple and the same ease of use has being carried over to the FM radio too. Setting up the channels took very little time. the screen is also a touch below par, especially when compared to the screen on the new Apple iPOD Nano 3G, its logical competitor. Other devices like Cowon’s D2 and Apple’s Touch are miles ahead. Music quality is the other significant parameter, and the View doesn’t disappoint here. Although we noticed good volume levels, the view isn’t as louder as either the D2 or the Nano/Touch duo, nor is it as defined in the highs. In fact, bass doesn’t extend as low as the competition, and while it does pound lightly, it’s not the thump that we’ve seen from the best of the PMPs in our tests.
At $320, the Sansa View is a anything, preferring mediocrity to anyone, with each of the competition mentioned above doing at least something better, while retaining all the same features.

Specifications:
16 GB Flash,MicroSD expandable, 2.4-inch LCD, FM radio, Voice recording, H.264 video playback.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Creative Zen Stone Plus 2GB : A Pebblefulof Music!

Creative Zen Stone Plus 2GB

With Apple launching a whole new range of iPods recently, including the iPod Touch, can Creative afford to be far behind? Not one to be caught shuffling around (pun intended), Creative has launched the Zen Stone Plus series. With a player so tiny, we’d expected the Zen Stone to felt flimsy, but surprisingly it didn’t. There’s a small circular blue OLED screen- nothing special- and a play button surrounded by a circular button that houses four controls-track shuffle and volume up / down. There’s a tiny button on the top of the player that has controls for the Menu and play / pause functions.
Available in 2GB only, the Zen Stone features FM radio and supports up to 32 presets, inbuilt audio recording, and stopwatch function-not bad for such a small device. Unlike iPods, there are no drivers required to connect it to your PC-just drag and drop, which is a huge relief. Music quality is a mixed bag with the Stone. Firstly, if you’re even remotely interested in good sound, throw away the bundled earplugs. Once we replaced them with our Creative EP630 headphones, everything was so much clearer. Then we tried the Bose Intra Ear-our reference for PMPs-and things seemed even better. Punchy, tight bass, superb vocal tones, and a decent extended high-end makes the Zen Stone very suitable for rock, pop, jazz and reggae. If you listen to lot of classical music, you’ll need much better headphones to bring out the recessed highs. Bottom-line: the Zen Stone is only limited by its default earplugs-and most PMPs are.
Don’t let this stop you buying it-if you want something tiny, sturdy, and easy to use, the Zen Stone will suit you. If you want good sound, invest in a pair of decent in-ear earplugs.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Sandisk Sansa Shaker : Salt ‘N’ pepper Cellar This Isn’t!

The shaker is a rather novel concept from sansa, (and after their audiophile-grade Sansa E2xx series), both a disappointment and a delight. One look at it will delight, but after hearing it perform we were a little disappointed despite the fact that it’s supposed to be a Sandisk Sansa Shakerfun music player and not a real music player! The shakar is dressed in funky wear-bright blue and white and looks like a salt dispenser, complete with the holes on top (loudspeaker). It features two 3.5 mm jacks. There are two white bands running around the top and bottom of the player. Both twist left and right-the top one controls the volume, the lower skips tracks. There’s a large, receded play/pause button built into the body. Build quality is top class, and a classy aluminium clasp allows it to be belted on.
Sound quality via the 3.5 mm jacks isn’t its forte. Music sounds muted across the spectrum. Highs and lows weren’t defined at all, while the vocals and midrange were barely tolerable for someone really into music. If you aren’t the discerning type, you could give it a try. The loudspeaker sounds much better though, and actually made tunes bearable. When we think shaker all we envision is the average urban kid whose mom and dad don’t want to buy something with a breakable LCD screen. At Rs 1,899, the shaker is good enough to introduce your fresh-in-their-teens kids to the world of PMPs; others might want to give it a pass.

Specifications:
512 MB Flash memory
SD expandable slot
Music formats: AAC, MP3, WAV
Dual 3.5 mm audio jacks
Lanyard with aluminum ring

Popularity: 5% [?]