Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

"Earlier this year SanDisk introduced a new format to deliver music called slotMusic. This is simply a 1GB microSD card with DRM-free digital files on it. This format is backed by some of the major record labels such as EMI, Sony BMG, Universal, and Warner. To go along with this new format SanDisk has introduced the slotMusic player. This memory-less and screen-less player relies solely on microSD for music playback. The idea is that non-tech savvy users will be able to swap out their purchased slot music albums. I don’t believe that slotMusic will revolutionize the music industry, but may do well in certain niche markets. Aside from the new music format, the player itself is an interesting story."

Given that there are similar flash based MP3 players with 1 GB of storage for around the same price, the market seems pretty limited. This looks more like an MP3 player designed for people without a computer. But if you are into hacking hardware, check out the article. From the hardware side, it actually looks pretty well made so there might be some interesting DIY projects based on this in the future.

Product Category: MP3/Video Player
Manufacturer: Sandisk
Where to Buy: Amazon [Affiliate]
Price: Starts at $129 USD for 8GB model
Specifications: Please refer to the Sandisk website

Pros:

• Excellent sound quality;
• Large, bright and crisp screen;
• Expandable memory;
• Works with subscription music services like Rhapsody;
• Great value.

Cons:

• Not the smallest player out there;
• Videos have a slight green cast;
• Supports only .jpg photo format.

Summary:
In the minds of many people, the name iPod is synonymous with MP3 player. But savvy consumers know that there are many excellent alternatives. One such alternative is the Sansa View by Sandisk. This flash player is designed to provide a good measure of the features of the hard drive-based iPod Classic at prices that compete with the iPod Nano. Can lots of features at an affordable price make up for the lack of the iconic iPod name? Read more...

Looks like a solid player - I sure wish the Sansa View was a wide-screen video player instead of the "bigger MP3 player with a bigger screen" approach they took.

"The device will come in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB configurations, feature playback of MP3, WAV, Audible, WMA, MPEG-4, and JPEG files, and will be compatible with subscription services like Rhapsody To Go, Napster, and eMusic. As we mentioned in the previous post, the 4GB model will be available in black, red, pink, or blue, while the 2GB version only comes in black, and the 8GB is only available in silver. The models are priced at $79.99, $99.99, and $129.99, and will be available sometime in April."


Looks to be around the size of the Nano, but at a pretty steep discount to what the Nano goes for. Plus, it comes with some very un-Nano-like features such as microSD expandability and an FM tuner.

UPDATE: The Business Wire story we were linking to has now gone behind a login barrier (don't you just hate that?), so we're linking to the Fuze product page instead.

"The Sansa View is SanDisk’s flagship flash MP3 player with the ability to playback video on its 240x320 64k color screen. What makes the Sansa View interesting is its high capacity flash memory along with memory expansion putting it in close rivalry to hard drive based players. The other thing going for the View is the “bang for the buck” factor. It may not be a high end player, but it is one of the best values on the market."



I really like the idea behind these being expandable. It is a pretty good value to start with (the 16 GB version is cheaper than the 8 GB Zune), but in a year or two, you might find the capacity too small. By that point in time you should be able to pick up a cheap microSD card and be able to double the storage for not much extra cash.