SanDisk Sansa

The SanDisk Sansa is a line of flash memory-based digital audio players and portable media players produced by SanDisk.

Current models

Sansa Fuze

The Sansa Fuze, released on March 28, 2008 [cite web|url=http://go.shopsansa.com/Cart/?ATC=13460563|title=Sansa Store|publisher=Sandisk|accessdate=2008-03-26] in capacities of 2, 4 & 8 GB, and on April 10, 2008 in 4 GB, is a portable media player with a 1.9-inch color display and a thickness of 0.3 inches. It also features a 40-preset FM radio/recorder, a voice recorder, can record from FM, and has a 24-hour battery life on continuous audio playback. Storage is expandable via a micro SDHC slot. It goes head to head with Microsoft's Zune 4, 8, 16 models, as well as Apple Inc.'s iPod Nano. The recent firmware update (1.01.15) enables FLAC and ogg, among with other improvements.

Sansa View

The redesigned Sansa View was announced on September 10, 2007, [cite web|url=http://www.trustedreviews.com/mp3/news/2007/09/10/SanDisk-re-Launches-Sansa-View-nano-Killer-v2-0/p1|title=SanDisk (re)Launches Sansa View: nano Killer v2.0|last=Kelly|first=Gordon|publisher=TrustedReviews|accessdate=2007-09-09] after the player was shelved three months earlier. On October 1, 2007, the player was released. [cite web|url=http://www.productwiki.com/sandisk-sansa-view/|title=SanDisk Sansa View|publisher=ProductWiki] The Sansa View resembles the players in the e200 series, although it is bigger (in fact, significantly taller) in dimensions. The player has a 2.4-inch QVGA screen and is available in capacities of 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB, each with a microSD card slot for storage expansion. Unlike earlier Sansa players, the View supports such video formats as H.264, MPEG-4, and unencrypted WMV.

Sansa Clip

Also known as the m300, the Sansa Clip was released on October 9, 2007. [cite web|url=http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/sandisk-sansa-clip-2GB/4505-6490_7-32588380.html?tag=prod.txt.2|title=SanDisk Sansa Clip Review|author=France, Jasmine|publisher=CNET] The player has a similar design to the second-generation iPod shuffle, but the clip is removable and a 4-line OLED screen is built-in (one line orange-ish yellow, three blue.) The Clip has an FM tuner/recorder (optional) and a built-in microphone. The flash-based player will ship in capacities of 1 GB (available only in black), 2 GB (available in black, blue, red and pink), and 4 GB (available in reflective silver).

Firmware version 01.01.29 [citeweb|url=http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?board.id=clip&thread.id=6720|title=SanDisk Sansa Clip 01.01.29 firmware |accessdate=2008-05-17] , released in May 2008, enables Ogg Vorbis compatibility for the Sansa Clip. The 01.01.30 firmeware update ( was out in October 3, 2008) improved OGG comment support, the firmware also added the clip the abilty to decode FLAC files.

Sansa Shaker

The Sansa Shaker is a screenless digital audio player and comes in colors of blue and pink with an SD card slot. One 512 MB or 1 GB card is included, and cards up to 4 GB (non-SDHC) can be used. The tubular design is intended to be kid-friendly, and the player resembles a saltshaker, as it will randomly skip one, two or three songs when shaken. The Shaker plays up to 15 hours of continuous audio player with an AAA battery, and has twin headphone jacks and a built-in speaker. The upper controller band adjusts volume and the lower controller band skips to next/previous song or fast forwards/rewinds the current song when hold. Unlike other players, the Shaker only supports audio files in MP3, and when the memory card is taken out during playback, the player will emit an "uh-oh" sound.

ansa Express

The Sansa Express is a flash-based digital audio player in capacities of 1 GB and 2 GB. It has a built-in USB connector, similar to the first-generation iPod shuffle and a 1.1-inch, duochromatic OLED display, a microSDHC slot that works with up to 4GB capacities [With the newer firmware versions, 8GB MicroSD cards are now supported] , a FM tuner and a microphone for voice recording. It is also able to record FM radio and voice on its internal memory. This player is not considered as a descendant of the c200 series, as it only plays audio. It is more similar to the m200 series and maintains much of its design and internal software structure.

c200 series

The Sansa c200 has a removable, lithium-ion rechargeable battery, FM tuner/recorder, and built-in microphone. It also features a 1.4-inch color display and a microSD card slot. The players are compatible with many accessories which were originally made for the Sansa e200 series. The Sansa c200 series is available in 1 and 2 GB capacities. Some new models being produced now have slightly different hardware inside and support for the Audible file format, and are being called c200 v2. [cite web|url=http://daniel.haxx.se/sansa/v2.html|title=SanDisk Sansa Series v2|author=Daniel Stenberg] The packaging of the new models has been updated with the line "Supports Audible audio file formats". The free software Rockbox firmware supports the Version 1 hardware and includes a number of additional features, including support for microSDHC which enables adding up to 16 GB of storage capacity.

e200 series

The Sansa e200 series is the name of four portable media players with various capacities, and was released on January 5, 2006. [cite web|url=http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/sandisk-sansa-e280-8GB/4505-6490_7-32041576.html?tag=prod.txt.2|title=SanDisk Sansa e280 (8 GB)|author=Kim, James - CNet.com] It includes video player, FM tuner/recorder, built-in microphone, and picture viewer. The flash players are available in capacities of 2 GB (e250), 4 GB (e260), 6 GB (e270), and 8 GB (e280).

e200R series

The Sansa e200R was released in October 2006. Physically identical to the regular Sansa e200, this player is sold exclusively at Best Buy, or directly through Rhapsody. The player has a feature called "Rhapsody Channels", which is the online service's brand of podcasting, and also comes with pre-loaded content.

Discontinued models

Sansa Connect

The Sansa Connect is a Wi-Fi-enabled player that allows the user to connect to any open network in the area. The Mono/Linux-based device has a 2.2-inch TFT LCD screen, but unlike SanDisk's previous player, the e200 series, the Sansa Connect does not have the ability to connect via USB mass storage or tune to FM radio yet. The player was developed by ZING Systems in collaboration with SanDisk and Yahoo!, which provides music streaming via LAUNCHcast radio and a subscription download service. Viewing pictures from Flickr is also possible with the device. The Sansa Connect is currently only available in the United States in capacities of 4 GB. The storage capacity is expandable with microSD cards, currently giving the player up to an extra 2 GB of storage. At the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, the Sansa Connect won the Best of Show award. [cite web|url=http://tirania.org/blog/archive/2007/Jan-17.html|title=Mono-based device wins Best-of-Show at CES|author=de Icaza, Miguel - Miguel de Icaza's web log|date=January 17th, 2007] A new firmware update allows the player to support microSDHC cards up to a capacity of 8 GB and the playback of digital video. [cite web|url=http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2007/11/sansa_connect_gets_firmware_update.html|title=Sansa Connect Gets New Firmware]

Sansa View (shelved player)

The original View was SanDisk's attempt at a portable media player, and had a 4-inch screen, built-in speaker and an expansion slot for SDHC and SD cards. It was announced on the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show. On June 1, 2007, SanDisk announced that the player had been shelved.cite web|url=http://www.trustedreviews.com/multimedia/news/2007/06/02/SanDisk-Pushes-View-Back-To-Q1-2008/p1|title=SanDisk Pushes View Back To Q1 2008|author=Kelly, Gordon - TrustedReviews|date=June 2, 2007] It has since been redesigned and launched.

c100 series

The c100 series players have color displays and are able to show cover art and small picture thumbnails. They use AAA batteries and are available in 1 GB or 2 GB of capacity.

m200 series

The Sansa m200 series are digital audio players are have been released in four models: m230 (512MB), m240 (1 GB), m250 (2 GB), and m260 (4 GB). The players have a built-in FM tuner and microphone, and supports MP3, WMA, WAV and Audible (.aa) audio file formats. It comes in different colors (one for each memory size) such as blue, black, pink, and gray, and uses a single AAA battery for power.

e100 series

The e100 series is a monochromatic player with a blue backlight, FM tuner with 20 presets SRS WOW technology, an SD expansion slot capable of using cards up to 4 GB (non-SDHC), internal memory of 512 MB (e130) or 1 GB (e140), depending on the model, and uses a single AAA battery for power. It supports MP3, WMA and Audible file formats.

Sansa TakeTV

Released October 26, 2007, the Sansa TakeTV is an easy to use plug-and-play storage device that allows the playback of DivX, Xvid, and M-PEG 4 files on an external display via the included dock and remote. Unlike other Sansa products, the TakeTV is not a digital audio player. The device comes in 4 and 8 GB. While the user is free to use his own videos, TakeTV comes with FanFare, a program similar to iTunes, allowing the user to purchase premium content. On December 11, NBC Universal signed up with SanDisk to provide content on FanFare after having left Apple Inc in a similar deal. The TakeTV along with FanFare was discontinued on May 15 [cite web| url= http://www.sandisk.com/fanfare/intro/| title= FanFare shutdown ]

Marketing campaigns

In May 2006, SanDisk launched an anti-iPod campaign labelling iPod users as "iSheep", "iChimps", etc. These campaigns featured graffiti-type posters around urban areas and a website (iDont.com), in an effort to promote the e200 series. SanDisk has since replaced the iDont campaign with LilMonsta.com, which is also the name of the creature that resembles the player. [cite web|url=http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2006/5/22/4058|title=SanDisk launches "iDont" anti-iPod marketing campaign|author=Jade, Charles - ars technica|date=May 27, 2006] In June 2008, the LilMonsta.com was shutdown in favor of the new website.

On September 3rd, 2006 SanDisk announced the "Made for Sansa" program, following the similar program by Apple inc for its iPod. With it, a number of 3rd party accessories have been released, including hardware accessories mostly for the proprietary 30-pin IO port featured on the e200, c200, Connect, View, and Fuze players.

Maki Goto, a Japanese pop artist has also endorsed the Sansa e200 series with a promotional video, featuring one of her songs. [cite web|url=http://www.veoh.com/videos/e180787Zns9bFkZ|title=SanDisk-sansa ｘ 後藤真希|author=Goto, Maki - Veoh]

In 2007, SanDisk launched a Flash microsite to promote the line of MP3 players. ShopSansa.com (available only in North America, Australia and New Zealand) was later added as the official online store for the players, as well as third-party accessories and entertainment products such as console games and DVD movies.

Ports are only available for Version 1 Sansas (running firmware 01.XX.XX).

See also

* SanDisk
* Comparison of portable media players

References

External links

* [http://www.sandisk.com/sansa/ SanDisk Sansa Micro Site]
* [http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Catalog(1010)-Music_and_Video_Players.aspx Non-flash page]
* [http://www.wikispecs.org/index.php?title=SanDisk_Sansa_Fuze SanDisk Sansa Fuze at WikiSpecs]
* [http://www.lilMonsta.com SanDisk Sansa LilMonsta/ Former iDont Ad Campaigns]