SanDisk
Do you like music? Do you like listening to the radio? Are you a casual computer user? Perhaps you’re a Luddite? Would you rather not mess around with a computer at all? What’s up with all the questions, what am I getting at? If you answered yes to some, or all of the above questions, I may have just the product for you. It’s called the Sansa (where do they get these names?) slotRadio (at least this part of the name makes sense) and it’s from SanDisk (which used to be called SunDisk but that’s another very long story).
The concept of the slotRadio is unique. It is designed to simply provide a user with a lot of music at a very low cost. Additionally, no computer is required at all to use the device and enjoy the music. Let’s have a look see.
What is it?
A very small, lightweight, easy to use, FM radio and MP3 player.
Physical features.
The slotRadio is a mostly aluminum device. It is very attractive and feels good in the hand. It weighs a mere 1.3 ounces, it measures about 2 inches square by about .6 of an inch thick including the belt clip on the back. It has a slot for a microSD card, a USB connector, and a earphone jack. The belt clip is quite spiffy, it hinges open and is spring loaded. There is a black and white OLED 1.5” display on the front of the unit.
What are the controls?
The very basic controls consist of a volume up, volume down, and next song buttons. There is a three position switch for off, FM and play. On the front panel, on either side of the display, there are buttons for scrolling forward or backward through play lists. That’s really it, pretty minimalistic, in keeping with the whole simple to use concept.
How does it work?
Plug your ear buds (included) or headphones in (I used my Bose QuietComfort noise cancelling headphones to test it). You must press the plug very firmly into the jack. Slide the slotRadio mix card into the tiny slot on the player. Move the switch to play and listen! It’s that easy. If you prefer FM radio, move the switch to the FM position. No computer is necessary. The included slotRadio mix card has 1,000 songs from the Billboard charts preloaded. The card has seven different playlists set up by music genre: Rock, Country, R&B/Hip Hop, Contemporary, Alternative, Workout, and Chillout.
Listening to it.
It is indeed very simple to use. In some cases it may be too simple though. Please keep in mind the target market is, for the most part, the casual user/listener (I don’t qualify). You select your genre and it starts playing the first song in the playlist. The screen displays the artist and title in a scrolling display as well the artist and title of the next song. If you don’t care for the currently playing song you can use the little button on the side to skip to the next song. You can continue skipping songs forward to your heart’s content. You cannot skip backwards! You cannot go back to the beginning of a song. Want to hear that song again? You cannot without scrolling through the very large playlist all the way back to where you were. For me, this is a drawback of the product. Although, if you look at it like a more sophisticated radio where you can skip songs, it’s pretty darn cool.
At any point while listening, you can change the music genre. The device will always remember where you left off in each genre playlist, and will continue playing the last song you were listening to from the place you left off.
Listening to the FM radio is very easy, you use the same buttons on the front of the unit to search for stations. You can set preset stations using the skip button on the side just by holding it in for a second or two. By taping that same button, you can jump between preset stations.
How does it sound?
Not too bad. It isn’t the greatest sound I’ve ever heard but I believe the people who buy it will be pleased with the fidelity.There was no hiss, no hum, no static.
The music.
As I mentioned, there are 1000 songs stored on the tiny slotRadio card. These songs are in playlists that you cannot modify and you cannot transfer the songs to another device. I haven’t scrolled through all the songs yet but there are lots of big name artists and popular songs by those artists. SanDisk is pretty vague about what’s on the card but they do list some of the artists in their promotional materials. There are additional slotRadio cards available by individual genre. They cost $39.99 each for a thousand songs. That’s 4 cents per song and that’s a great value in music. If you can’t pick your own songs and order them the way you want at least they’re cheap!
Customization
I don’t think the target audience for this product is going to be very concerned with downloading songs to the device and it sort of defeats the purpose of the device (simplicity). That being said, you can easily add songs to the provided slotRadio card or you can purchase microSD cards and add lots of songs. You simply connect your slotRadio to your computer (Mac or PC) with the included USB cable. The device shows up on your desktop as a hard drive. You drag the songs you want to the device and that’s it. The songs you’ve downloaded appear in a new playlist titled “MyChannel”. There are a few things to keep in mind: Only MP3 and WMV song files are supported. What this means is that if you have a lot of iTunes songs in the protected format you cannot play them on the slotRadio. The newer iTunes Plus songs can be converted to MP3 and then will work. If you prefer, the card can be removed from the device and used with a card reader to transfer songs.
What’s in the box?
- slotRadio player
- slotRadio mix card with 1000 songs
- AC Adapter
- Earbuds
- micro-B USB cable
- slotRadio card case
- Silicone sleeve for player
- Quick Start Guide
As you can see, it’s a pretty complete package. The USB cable can be plugged into your computer to charge the device or you can attach the AC adapter to the USB cable and plug it into the wall. Battery charging took a couple of hours and SanDisk says you can expect to get about 13 hours of listening time per charge.
Cost.
The cost is $99.99 for the complete set listed above. It includes 1000 songs and is ready to go right out of the box. If you order it from SanDisk right now, through 4/22, they will throw in a mini travel case and give you free ground shipping making a good deal even better.
Conclusion
This is a great way to get some good music at very little cost with very little fuss. It might not appeal to everyone but I believe the casual user will enjoy it and will consider it a good purchase. I think SanDisk has fulfilled the goal of this product quite nicely.
Do you have one? Are you considering one? Feel free to leave your thoughts or questions in the comments.
Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ElectronicsX
Comments
It's in interesting idea but I'm dumbfounded as to why the navigation is so crude. I expect a second generation version with a few improvements within a year.
Keep up the engaging articles!
Seven-Up for your ears? The UN-iPod? It sounds like an interesting gadget, but at a price point well above a number of mp3 players, I wonder how far the idea of "1,000 songs you can't customize" will carry the slotRadio.
The target user must be someone who knows nothing about computers. Not to mention, how many people like the range of music choices that come with this device. You are better off buying a standard MP3 player and a couple of memory cards.
I hope to see single artist cards available soon or cards of all one genre like just blues or jazz etc.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!