SanDisk Sansa Clip 1 GB MP3 Player (Black)

Its not the fanciest, but it does all that a MP3 player should. Its really small so you may lose it but besides that, its really nice. Very well built, aesthetic and functional.

This is a good MP3 player for the money. Very light weight and convenient, the clip is great when your walking or running. Also the songs download easily and nice that it has an built in FM radio with presets.

OLED was not functioning so I immediately returned it to Amazon. Saw the same Sansa Clip later at WalMart for $5 less than Amazon and bought it because it would be easier to return if it did not work. This one works fine.

I absolutely love everything about this product. The only thing I have had problems with is the clip that slides into a metal piece on the back of the player. Sometimes it comes off and I am afraid I am going to lose the clip, which is the biggest reason I bought the MP3 Player.

I've handled three units over the past year or so. One had to be returned because the battery drained fast and the down button wouldn't work. The latter was actually fixed by formatting a few times, but nothing helped the battery. Customer service was responsive and they quickly replaced the unit. My dad only uses it for the radio function. So far so good.

My unit's more heavily used though, and it's run the gamut of problems:

- computer won't recognize it, can't read files
- won't recognize connection to wall outlet, won't charge
- crashes on some long music tracks
- freezes upon restart
- no volume

These problems happened more frequently and with increasing severity as time went on. I haven't bothered to return it because I've been able to figure out solutions so far with help from Sandisk forums. Try:

- Menu > Settings > Format (deletes everything!)

- Get a USB wall charger. I use an OEM Motorola cell phone charger with typical male "B" type mini-USB plug, 5V 550mA. Get the guaranteed OEM unit from Amazon: Motorola Mini USB Travel Charger for Motorola Phones If you have a problem, try switching back and forth between computer USB and wall charger first--sometimes that helps "reset" the player. Try also turning off the player and plugging it into the wall outlet.

- switch USB mode from Auto Detect to MTP or MSC and try connecting again. The unit may switch back to unreadable; change USB mode to something else. Keep doing that as long as you can stand it.

- Sandisk is good about releasing firmware updates, but often they seem to introduce problems of their own. "No volume" was fixed, I think, by updating to v01.01.30A firmware. My player still crashes on problem files.

Other notes: the player won't charge if it's off. It will also refuse to charge from a computer that's off.

Build quality seems solid enough. The clip on back is hefty. Sound quality is great. I miss my old Samsung YP-U2 though--never had problems with it, but I gave it to my sister. Unfortunately, the U3 looks like Samsung was skimping on build quality.

The Sansa is simply the most unstable device I've ever owned. I've wasted a good part of my life trying to fix various problems with it. Maybe it'll be better with this latest firmware, but can't recommend the player to anyone unless they like to tinker. It's the equivalent of a vintage motorcycle--beautiful when it works, but out of commission for at least 50% of its life because something blew out.

Next go around, I think I'll try a Cowon iAudio 7.