The
SanDisk Sansa is a line of 2 to 16 gigabyte
flash memory-based
digital audio players and
portable media players produced by
SanDisk.
Current models
Slot Player
slotRadio Bundle
slotRadio player
slotMusic player
Sansa Fuze+
The Sansa Fuze+, announced on August 31, 2010 in capacities of 4 GB (US$79), 8 GB(US$89) & 16 GB (US$119), is a portable media player with a 2.4-inch color display (QVGA). It also features an FM radio with FM recording, a voice recorder, and 24 hours of audio playback from a single charge. It supports the following audio formats: MP3, WMA, Secure WMA, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, AAC, Audible, Podcasts. For video it supports MPEG-4, H.264, and WMV. Storage is expandable via a microSDHC slot, and it can be used to play slotMusic and slotRadio cards.
Sansa View
The redesigned Sansa View was announced on September 10, 2007, after the player was
shelved three months earlier., SanDisk released a redesign of the Sansa Clip called the Sansa 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. 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, the clip is no longer removable, and the player now supports folder browsing,
gapless playback and
Replay Gain support. A
microSD card slot has been added, allowing the memory of the card to be expanded up to an additional 32GB. The Clip+ also has added features when playing
slotMusic and
slotRadio. To make room for the microSD 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. The new power button seems to be vulnerable to a mechanical problem that causes it to fail to respond to any input. Hold mode is now activated by holding the "Home" button on the device.
There are 2GB (black), 4GB (black, red or blue) and 8GB (black) models. The Clip+ replaces the discontinued Sansa Clip.
Discontinued models
Sansa Fuze
The Sansa Fuze, released on March 28, 2008 in capacities of 2, 4 & 8 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 with FM recording, a voice recorder, and has a 24-hour battery life on continuous audio playback. Storage is expandable via a microSDHC slot. Firmware 1.01.22 enabled
FLAC and
Ogg Vorbis playback. The latest firmwares, depending on hardware version, are 01.02.31, 02.03.31 and 02.03.33
Sansa Clip
Also known as the m300, the Sansa Clip was released on October 9, 2007. The player is similar in size to the
second-generation iPod shuffle, but incorporates a removable clip and 4-line
OLED screen (one line yellow, three blue.) The Clip has an
FM tuner/recorder and a built-in microphone. The
flash-based player ships 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 8GB versions were advertised in the UK. The 8GB version has been sold in Walmart stores in the U.S.A.
Firmware version 01.01.29, 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.
The device (firmware 01.32+) has five folders: Audible (for Audible.com), Audiobooks (for files that you decide are audiobooks, allows for "bookmarking" of every file in this directory by a resume playback feature), Music, Podcasts (also allows every file in this directory to be resumed at a later time), Record (for recordings done on the device, these are in WAV file format). Bookmarks: Do not select "play previous"; this option will bring you to the beginning of a podcast or audiobook and the bookmark for that file will then be lost; if you turn the player off while it is playing then the file will automatically start playing the next time the device turns on. When the device is charged it turns on; that means that your bookmark could advance if you turn the device off while it is playing, and then you next plug it in to charge.
Sansa Shaker
The Sansa Shaker is a screenless digital audio player and comes in colors of blue, red, white, 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 10 hours of continuous audio with a
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. When the player's memory card is put back in, it makes a popping noise.
Sansa 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, an FM tuner, a microphone for voice recording and an internal Lithium-Ion battery. 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 132 x 80
pixel 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 GB (c240) and 2 GB (c250) capacities. Newer models, referred to as v. 2, have different hardware that added support for the Audible file format 2. However, v2 support is still unstable. The packaging of the new models has been updated with the line "Supports Audible audio file formats". The free software
Rockbox firmware includes a number of additional features, including support for
microSDHC even on C200 v1 which enables adding up to 32 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. It includes video player, FM tuner/recorder, voice recorder with 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). There is also a microSD slot for up to 2 GB memory expansion. (Larger capacity microSDHC cards up to 32 GB are not supported by the original version 1 firmware but can be used with alternative Rockbox firmware, or on the version 2 player.)
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.
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.
A new firmware update allows the player to support microSDHC cards up to a capacity of 8 GB and the playback of digital video.
Sansa View (shelved player)
The original Sansa 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. It has since been redesigned and launched.
c100 series
The Sansa 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 (c140) or 2 GB (c150) of capacity. They also have built in microphones for recording and settings they also have radio and music.
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. There were four different hardware revisions of this player. The first three revisions used a Telechips TCC770 SoC for a CPU and DSP, and the fourth using a chip developed by Austria Microsystems.
e100 series
The Sansa 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 2 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. The e140 series also known as Sansa SDMX2. Released date is January 12, 2006.
Sansa SDMX1
The Sansa SDMX1 (including SDMX1-1024, -512, and -256—reflecting capacity in MB) from SanDisk is a low-end solid state memory MP3 player. It can handle MP3, WMA and the protected WMA DRM files. It cannot play seamlessly, and imposes a non-configurable fade at the beginning and end of each file. There is a microphone for low-
fidelity (8
kHz) voice recording, and there is a built in FM radio. The SanDisk SDMX1 is powered by a single AAA battery that gives around 15 hours of continuous playback. The dimensions are 75.2mm x 32.8mm x 20.8mm and weighing under 40 grams. Released date is January 11, 2006.
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.
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. In June 2008, the LilMonsta.com was shut down in favor of the new website.
On September 3, 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.
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.
See also
SanDisk
Comparison of portable media players
Rockbox (alternative, open source firmware for the Sansa e200, c200, Clip, Clip+, and Fuze series)
Note
External links
SanDisk Sansa Online Store
SanDisk Sansa Micro Site
Category:Digital audio players
Category:Screenless digital audio players
Category:Portable media players
Category:Brands
Category:Consumer electronics brands
