SanDisk Sansa View

Reviewed by: robsf23

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: thin profile, very good sound, great screen color & detail, flash based storage, expandable memory (micro-SD), ipod like click-wheel control, very good FM tuner, simple menu interface

Weaknesses: Few available accessories, No output jack for video, proprietary connector plug, sometimes cannot copy files through WinXP explorer, comes with mediocre/cheap headphones

Overall Evaluation: First let me say that I never owned an ipod even though I compare this device to an ipod in this review. However, I have used my friend's ipod and evaluated one at the Apple store when I was shopping around for a media player. Since most mp3 players try to imitate the ipod design anyway, it's only appropriate to compare it as the "standard."LOOK & FEEL: The Sansa View has a thin profile - only about 1/4 inch thick. Solid & heavy feel for it's size - probably the body is made of metal. The body is all black and there is a blue light around the wheel and well as the icons (play/pause, FF, RW) are also lighted. There is a rubbery backing so it's easy to hold in your hand. The navigation is a click wheel similar to the ipod. The front has a "glass like" plastic gloss finish - so it could scratch easily. The 2" screen is nice, bright, and clear. There is a single button outside the click-wheel for "home" to bring you back to the main menu.INTERFACE: Menu is simple - icons for videos, music, photos, other, last played. In music mode, the screen shows you the current song and artist along with the album image if available.MUSIC: supports mp3, wav, wma, and audible (books) files. I play both mp3 and wma files. The sound is very good. I use my own Sony "in ear" headphones and not the ones supplied which look cheap. There is an equalizer which have presets and you can set your own setting. I just use the "rock" preset and it sounds pretty good. Transferring files I just drag and drop files. However, to create playlists you need a music manager program like windows media player 11. Volume adjustment is by moving the click-wheel left or right. When you turn off the player, it remembers where you left off when you turn it back on. The FM radio actually has good pickup and sound. It's easy to setup your favorite stations.VIDEO: supports mpeg-4, wmv, H.264 formats. Other formats can be converted using sensa media converter (free download). Videos looks good on this 2" screen. Videos are automatically rotated to landscape to fill the screen. Controls also move to correct orientation on click wheel. One issue I had was some files I drag & drop using windows explorer would not copy. It would start and show the copy progress, but about 90% through, it would give a message "file could not be copied." This happens about 1 out of every 3-4 times.PHOTOS: supports JPG only. Photos have a natural color and look sharp. Photos are NOT auto rotated to landscape or portrait. You can have slideshows with music using your mp3 files. You can also show thumbnails of all images. Looks like the images are sorted by filename and cannot be sutomozed (i.e. by date, category, or even folders).CONCLUSION: Very good mp3 and media player for the price. For me it delivers on what I need - music, video, and photo player.