While most people have had good experiences with the Sansa Clip, my battery is a dud and stopped retaining charge within a week of my getting the unit. I can charge it up (which takes 2.5-3 hours, btw) and it shows full charge, but loses charge rapidly over time (though will play fine until time, not usage, has drained the battery). So I'm returning my unit.

This is a good product, but the install process can be a mess (check the SanDisk forums, and you'll see there are a lot of people struggling). I have an XP machine and am computer savvy, but it took me 3 hours to get my computer to recognize this player and two frustrating and very unproductive tech support calls (they tried, but they ran me around in dead-end circles that did not make much sense). I *finally* got it to work by reading a random non-SanDisk website that said to turn the player to on, slide the bar to "hold," and then press the center button while plugging the device into your USB port.

I returned the device after attempting to charge the battery a number of times. As soon as I started using it, the battery indicator dropped to half and I got maybe two hours of play before it died. Great customer service from Sandisk who recommended I return it to Amazon (within 30 days) and Amazon has always been good with this sort of thing.

The only thing that I have noticed that doesn't work quite the way I would like is that if you navigate away from the song that is playing there doesn't seem to be a way to get back to it to see the details of what's playing. This is pretty minor, though, because I do not regularly navigate away from the song that is playing. FM RADIO: This is about what you would expect from a unit with no external antenna.

He is not technologically inclined so I had to download some songs on it for him which took me a little while to figure out but now its easy. We have had some problems getting it to charge with the wall charger but I think that it may be an issue with the charger, not the mp3, because it seems to charge just fine when plugged into my computer. Overall it is a great mp3 player for just the average user, not complicated to use or too fancy, but not a cheapo either.

The only two problems I have are that I wish there was a power cord for a wall outlet, and it's not possible to copy music from my MP3 player to my hard drive. But it's nothing worth docking it a star, so I'm going to fully recommend this device as the best MP3 player I've used. Oh, also, I tried this player using Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) and it does in fact work properly.

I bought this mp3 player for my son, and it is a piece of junk. We had to replace the first one because it wouldn't boot up, and now we're taking back the second. I will never buy a SanDisk mp3 player again.

I tried to get her to return it, but she "insisted" that I "just try it". I'm FAR from being Computer Saavy, but I decided to give it a try.

Also, I noticed in a number of reviews that when people did express issues with their player that SanDisk was very helpful as far as their tech support was concerned. Most of the reviews I read had expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the features of the Sansa, notably: The sound quality, ease of use, the FM radio (which includes the ability to program 'presets' and to record from the radio), the ability to create playlists, voice recorder, and little details such as when you turn the unit off, when you turn it on again, it will return to the song that was playing or the FM station you were listening to previously. The unit itself is incredibly small but not so small that navigating the buttons becomes a chore.

I almost returned the Clip because I didn't think the battery was charging. After calling Sansa, I was told that pluggnig it in to my laptop was not sufficient.

However, it baffles me that the headphone jack is on the right side--the same side as the volume controls. The result is that, if you have an L-shaped headphone connector, the connector and the wire block the volume controls. It would have been so much better had they put the headphone jack on the other side (where the USB connector is) instead.

The player is cheap and easy to use, but comes bundled with a softwre music sales package that *you don't have to install to use the system* but which the documentation makes it sound like you must have to use it. The Rhapsody system of BestBuy is the software it installs. This wouldn't be a problem, except the software requires you to pay a monthly service charge to use any of the music, and when you download (BUY) something, you will likely not get a set of files you can actually burn to a cd.

The one thing I do wish the unit had was the ability to bookmark, but Sandisk seems to update firmware frequently so there is always hope. The build quality is OK but the plastic is a little creaky. It seems to be a bit fragile and perhaps not up to the build quality of the iPod Nano or Shuffle.

Too bad all this wonderful technology is wasted due to the software which must have been written either by a moron or someone smoking some funny stuff. It is less than worthless, it is aggravating to the nth degree. How about software where you plug the unit into your computer, click on the folder/file you want to download and click copy?

One last thing: It's not a huge deal, but I am glad I bought new ear buds along with the player (Somkin' Ear Buds). The head phones provided are junk.

Has FM tuner, iPod does not Has screen to view song information and change settings, iPod does not Has 2GB, iPod will but not just yet

I sent it back and bought another one. The second Clip has been fine, working from the start. I am somewhat uncertain about its battery life; it has seemed to drain even when not in use.

The unit froze at the SanDisk graphic screen after unplugging it from a computer. I had to search online forums to find out how to use a master reset and various other procedures to unfreeze the unit. Then I had to go update the Firmware to the latest from the SanDisk website.

In general, cheap, but you are conned into paying lots and lots after you have it. In general, I say avoid. We got to sit through a lot of frustration trying to get the tech support to help.

I'd also contend that you wouldn't use video on such a small device anyway. I will say that my FM reception was good on strong stations, but only passable on weaker channels. Don't expect to get that college radio station with that weak signal.

The only two problems I have are that I wish there was a power cord for a wall outlet, and it's not possible to copy music from my MP3 player to my hard drive. But it's nothing worth docking it a star, so I'm going to fully recommend this device as the best MP3 player I've used. Oh, also, I tried this player using Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) and it does in fact work properly.

The player is cheap and easy to use, but comes bundled with a softwre music sales package that *you don't have to install to use the system* but which the documentation makes it sound like you must have to use it. The Rhapsody system of BestBuy is the software it installs. This wouldn't be a problem, except the software requires you to pay a monthly service charge to use any of the music, and when you download (BUY) something, you will likely not get a set of files you can actually burn to a cd.

The sound quality of this little unit is pretty darn good right out of the box. I may upgrade to another set of ear-plug style headphones to see how much of a difference it will make, but the ones that came with it sound pretty good. The EQ presets are a nice feature, but the only one I would ever use is the "Jazz" preset - it cuts better at full range than the others for any style of music.

I will preface this review by stating that I am no technological wizard. With that said the Sansa Clip is on close to the best $60 I have spent in quite some time. Due to some of my shortfalls in computer operating I had little strugggle getting started with the music downloads, but after a couple of tries I am pretty sure my dad could even do it.

listen to background music literally all day while working, and not exhaust the battery. The OLED display is bright and crisp, and blanks automatically (to save the battery) when you are not pressing buttons. Most of the functions are intuitive to anyone who hase used cellphones or PDA's.

I could have opened it in Windows Explorer, but I had other ideas. Each time I plugged it in I would get the same window so using the device is a snap, complete plug-and-play. Transferring music:

I am using the headphones that came with the unit, but I would image that higher quality headphones would sound even better. The player also has a series of preset equalizer settings for different music styles as well as one that you can customize.

I was able to drag and drop music to the player. The only problem is that I got copies of artists when I did this. Ubuntu didn't see the folders that I added from windows properly, so I wound up with 2 separate folders for any artists I added with both drives.

It seems the choice is up to the consumer on how to transfer music. I used MusicMatch (the version just prior to the blackhole that is Yahoo's version after buying out MusicMatch). The jukebox recognized the SansaClip right away and I had full-functionality.

By the way, my 8 Chinese language CDs with about 8 hours of lessons, took no time to transfer to the Clip. 2 GB will hold about 30 hours of tunes and other material. The 2GB is actually for convenience, since you can easily delete from the device while it is attached to the computer so 1 GB would be fine if you don't mind the slight inconvenience of deleting music now and then--I'm telling you, this is really an amazing little device.

Also, I noticed in a number of reviews that when people did express issues with their player that SanDisk was very helpful as far as their tech support was concerned. Most of the reviews I read had expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the features of the Sansa, notably: The sound quality, ease of use, the FM radio (which includes the ability to program 'presets' and to record from the radio), the ability to create playlists, voice recorder, and little details such as when you turn the unit off, when you turn it on again, it will return to the song that was playing or the FM station you were listening to previously. The unit itself is incredibly small but not so small that navigating the buttons becomes a chore.

The one thing I do wish the unit had was the ability to bookmark, but Sandisk seems to update firmware frequently so there is always hope. The build quality is OK but the plastic is a little creaky. It seems to be a bit fragile and perhaps not up to the build quality of the iPod Nano or Shuffle.

The sound quality of this little unit is pretty darn good right out of the box. I may upgrade to another set of ear-plug style headphones to see how much of a difference it will make, but the ones that came with it sound pretty good. The EQ presets are a nice feature, but the only one I would ever use is the "Jazz" preset - it cuts better at full range than the others for any style of music.

I'm not a tech person so, when I began shopping, I just looked for overall quality and value (and a little bit, appearance). There were specific things I was looking for, but nothing too complex. I bought the sansa 2GB after looking at different products in stores and online.

The other thing that took me off guard is that given how well known the IPOD name is, I was finding a number of negative reviews. I ended up searching specifically for 'Best Buy model MP3 players' in an attempt to find reliable players that had the most quality features for a reasonable price. The SanDisk Sansa came up on a number of sites with very high customer satisfaction ratings.

I am using the headphones that came with the unit, but I would image that higher quality headphones would sound even better. The player also has a series of preset equalizer settings for different music styles as well as one that you can customize.

I can't stand Ipod anything, so I've tried some others. The Sansa E250 was ok, but a bit bulky and the sound quality wasn't stellar. After doing some research and seeing such positive reviews on the Clip, I gave it a shot.

I ve just received my 2gb sansa ...the least thing i could say that its perfect just if u replaced the the poor quality headphones that comes with it.. NO CONS

-FM tuner. I don't use it much as the quality of FM is not good enough for me. But I feel the tuner is as good as any portable player.

The only thing that I have noticed that doesn't work quite the way I would like is that if you navigate away from the song that is playing there doesn't seem to be a way to get back to it to see the details of what's playing. This is pretty minor, though, because I do not regularly navigate away from the song that is playing. FM RADIO: This is about what you would expect from a unit with no external antenna.

Also, I noticed in a number of reviews that when people did express issues with their player that SanDisk was very helpful as far as their tech support was concerned. Most of the reviews I read had expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the features of the Sansa, notably: The sound quality, ease of use, the FM radio (which includes the ability to program 'presets' and to record from the radio), the ability to create playlists, voice recorder, and little details such as when you turn the unit off, when you turn it on again, it will return to the song that was playing or the FM station you were listening to previously. The unit itself is incredibly small but not so small that navigating the buttons becomes a chore.

Has FM tuner, iPod does not Has screen to view song information and change settings, iPod does not Has 2GB, iPod will but not just yet

I wish the screen had one more line on it, but not a big deal. One problem is that the player can't read ID3v2.4 tags, so in the case of longer song or album names, the player will only show the ID3v1 tags which are limited to 30 characters.

Has on-the-go playlists, iPod does not Let's you choose song, artist, etc., iPod cannot Costs $55, iPod WAS $79 now $49 but is still only 1GB (2GB version forthcoming)

I think I am still trying to get used to the navigation; I still have not figured out how to find a particular song by a particular artist. If it can do it I don't see how. The negatives: the first one that came to me was dead on arrival.

Why would anyone assume I want that rather than listening to the music in the order I put it in? What's with all the crap which appears during play back which never appears during programming such as genre, songs, artists etc. many of which when selected only have one song in them?

Another huge plus - you can delete songs directly from the player. I always wanted to be able to do this instead of having to hook player up to my software and do it there. Now when you are jogging and you hear an anoying song you can very easily kill it forever.

The one thing I do wish the unit had was the ability to bookmark, but Sandisk seems to update firmware frequently so there is always hope. The build quality is OK but the plastic is a little creaky. It seems to be a bit fragile and perhaps not up to the build quality of the ipod Nano or Shuffle.

Has FM tuner, ipod does not Has screen to view song information and change settings, ipod does not Has 2GB, ipod will but not just yet

I haven't looked, but another thing that would be nice would be one of the rubber covers I have for my e260. My ipod has taken some hits, and not liked them. The e260 has taken much worse, and still looks new when the cover is off.

Has on-the-go playlists, ipod does not Let's you choose song, artist, etc., ipod cannot Costs $55, ipod WAS $79 now $49 but is still only 1GB (2GB version forthcoming)

The other thing that took me off guard is that given how well known the ipod name is, I was finding a number of negative reviews. I ended up searching specifically for 'Best Buy model MP3 players' in an attempt to find reliable players that had the most quality features for a reasonable price. The SanDisk Sansa came up on a number of sites with very high customer satisfaction ratings.

I can't stand ipod anything, so I've tried some others. The Sansa E250 was ok, but a bit bulky and the sound quality wasn't stellar. After doing some research and seeing such positive reviews on the Clip, I gave it a shot.

The mp3 player is terrific and the radio (which you pay $50 for as an add on if you have an ipod) is not bad at all.

She can tape boring lectures with the microphone. Check. Costs 1/2 of what a replacement ipod would cost?

This is a good product, but the install process can be a mess (check the SanDisk forums, and you'll see there are a lot of people struggling). I have an XP machine and am computer savvy, but it took me 3 hours to get my computer to recognize this player and two frustrating and very unproductive tech support calls (they tried, but they ran me around in dead-end circles that did not make much sense). I *finally* got it to work by reading a random non-SanDisk website that said to turn the player to on, slide the bar to "hold," and then press the center button while plugging the device into your USB port.

He is not technologically inclined so I had to download some songs on it for him which took me a little while to figure out but now its easy. We have had some problems getting it to charge with the wall charger but I think that it may be an issue with the charger, not the mp3, because it seems to charge just fine when plugged into my computer. Overall it is a great mp3 player for just the average user, not complicated to use or too fancy, but not a cheapo either.

I tried to get her to return it, but she "insisted" that I "just try it". I'm FAR from being computer Saavy, but I decided to give it a try.

Too bad all this wonderful technology is wasted due to the software which must have been written either by a moron or someone smoking some funny stuff. It is less than worthless, it is aggravating to the nth degree. How about software where you plug the unit into your computer, click on the folder/file you want to download and click copy?

The unit froze at the SanDisk graphic screen after unplugging it from a computer. I had to search online forums to find out how to use a master reset and various other procedures to unfreeze the unit. Then I had to go update the Firmware to the latest from the SanDisk website.

Considering this MP3 player is designed to be attached to your body as you are working out, I think the plastic casing might be a little fragile in the event the Sansa Clip falls to the floor. Then again, the MP3 player is so light that the force of it dropping probably wouldn't crack it. Actually, the only reason this thought came into my head was because my Beagle was eyeballing the SansaClip as it dangled from my computer case.

I will preface this review by stating that I am no technological wizard. With that said the Sansa Clip is on close to the best $60 I have spent in quite some time. Due to some of my shortfalls in computer operating I had little strugggle getting started with the music downloads, but after a couple of tries I am pretty sure my dad could even do it.

I had been using a portable, plastic casette player with some cheap Sony headphones that had good sound if I pressed the earpads against my ears but had a problem with one of the earpad clips always coming loose. Other than that, I have been listening to a cheap pair of Logitech speakers on the computer and a cd/casette no-brand cheapo player in my living room--not the best set-up for an audiophile wannabe, right?

By the way, my 8 Chinese language CDs with about 8 hours of lessons, took no time to transfer to the Clip. 2 GB will hold about 30 hours of tunes and other material. The 2GB is actually for convenience, since you can easily delete from the device while it is attached to the computer so 1 GB would be fine if you don't mind the slight inconvenience of deleting music now and then--I'm telling you, this is really an amazing little device.

Also, I noticed in a number of reviews that when people did express issues with their player that SanDisk was very helpful as far as their tech support was concerned. Most of the reviews I read had expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the features of the Sansa, notably: The sound quality, ease of use, the FM radio (which includes the ability to program 'presets' and to record from the radio), the ability to create playlists, voice recorder, and little details such as when you turn the unit off, when you turn it on again, it will return to the song that was playing or the FM station you were listening to previously. The unit itself is incredibly small but not so small that navigating the buttons becomes a chore.

The player is cheap and easy to use, but comes bundled with a softwre music sales package that *you don't have to install to use the system* but which the documentation makes it sound like you must have to use it. The Rhapsody system of BestBuy is the software it installs. This wouldn't be a problem, except the software requires you to pay a monthly service charge to use any of the music, and when you download (BUY) something, you will likely not get a set of files you can actually burn to a cd.

The sound quality of this little unit is pretty darn good right out of the box. I may upgrade to another set of ear-plug style headphones to see how much of a difference it will make, but the ones that came with it sound pretty good. The EQ presets are a nice feature, but the only one I would ever use is the "Jazz" preset - it cuts better at full range than the others for any style of music.

I had been using a portable, plastic casette player with some cheap Sony headphones that had good sound if I pressed the earpads against my ears but had a problem with one of the earpad clips always coming loose. Other than that, I have been listening to a cheap pair of Logitech speakers on the computer and a cd/casette no-brand cheapo player in my living room--not the best set-up for an audiophile wannabe, right?

I am using the headphones that came with the unit, but I would image that higher quality headphones would sound even better. The player also has a series of preset equalizer settings for different music styles as well as one that you can customize.

I can't stand Ipod anything, so I've tried some others. The Sansa E250 was ok, but a bit bulky and the sound quality wasn't stellar. After doing some research and seeing such positive reviews on the Clip, I gave it a shot.

In order to get good sound out of an Apple device I have to rip at 192 kbs. I ripped a CD in WMA at 160 kbs and did a side by side comparison for over 3 hrs on three tracks.

Has FM tuner, iPod does not Has screen to view song information and change settings, iPod does not Has 2gb, iPod will but not just yet

I'm not a tech person so, when I began shopping, I just looked for overall quality and value (and a little bit, appearance). There were specific things I was looking for, but nothing too complex. I bought the sansa 2gb after looking at different products in stores and online.

Has on-the-go playlists, iPod does not Let's you choose song, artist, etc., iPod cannot Costs $55, iPod WAS $79 now $49 but is still only 1GB (2gb version forthcoming)

The battery life could be better but honestly, on a player this tiny, I can't see a reason why you'd need such a long battery life--with only 2gb space it's not designed to be brought on long trips or things like that.

By the way, my 8 Chinese language CDs with about 8 hours of lessons, took no time to transfer to the Clip. 2 GB will hold about 30 hours of tunes and other material. The 2gb is actually for convenience, since you can easily delete from the device while it is attached to the computer so 1 GB would be fine if you don't mind the slight inconvenience of deleting music now and then--I'm telling you, this is really an amazing little device.

I ve just received my 2gb sansa ...the least thing i could say that its perfect just if u replaced the the poor quality headphones that comes with it.. NO CONS

I sent it back and bought another one. The second Clip has been fine, working from the start. I am somewhat uncertain about its battery life; it has seemed to drain even when not in use.

I also compared the clip to a Sony with the same tracks at 64kbs Atrac. I still think that Atrac is a superior format but Sony has discontinued support for Atrac and Sonic Stage is a pain to use. I like the Shuffle because of the smaller size and sturdier clip but the Clip is just as small and has a better battery life.

Navigation is more cumbersome due to the smaller screen, but with playlists it is ok. battery life is less than advertised but that is most mp3 players out there.

The battery life could be better but honestly, on a player this tiny, I can't see a reason why you'd need such a long battery life--with only 2GB space it's not designed to be brought on long trips or things like that.

The battery life is pretty good too. Sometimes the menus can be a little confusing to navigate through at first but you will get the hang of it rather quickly.

Has FM tuner, iPod does not Has screen to view song information and change settings, iPod does not Has 2GB, iPod will but not just yet

The unit froze at the SanDisk graphic screen after unplugging it from a computer. I had to search online forums to find out how to use a master reset and various other procedures to unfreeze the unit. Then I had to go update the Firmware to the latest from the SanDisk website.

I wish the screen had one more line on it, but not a big deal. One problem is that the player can't read ID3v2.4 tags, so in the case of longer song or album names, the player will only show the ID3v1 tags which are limited to 30 characters.

Navigation is more cumbersome due to the smaller screen, but with playlists it is ok. Battery life is less than advertised but that is most mp3 players out there.

I prefer the UI of the Apple nano, but the nano is big and expensive, and doesn't have a clip. The main UI annoyance I have is if the screen is off, the first button you press only lights up the device. You have to press the button again to perform that action.