ivplay's Full Review: SanDisk Sansa View (16 GB) Digital Media Player
iPod, Sansa; iPod, Sansa; Sansa it is yet again. While most consumers are driven by the flashy looks and hardcore marketing campaign sponsored by Apple, many cost-conscious tech users have switched to Sansa in recent years. I recently wanted to upgrade my mp3 player due to an increasingly larger media collection, and after comparison chose the Sansa View 16GB. The View is large enough to hold all of my music and pictures with room to spare for the occasional video file, yet light enough on the pocketbook to justify the purchase. Coupled with the Altec Lansing IM413 the View 16GB makes for a great media player for the office as well as the road. With up to 15 hours of playback on audio alone and 5-6 hours rendering video, this media player keeps on playin'.
Out of the box
The Sansa View 16GB arrives with the proprietary USB charging/transfer cable, earbuds, installation cd, and quickstart guide. The use of a proprietary charging cable seems to be behind the times a bit, as many of today’s electronics are coming with the USB to USB-mini cable for charging. That being said, if it weren’t for the proprietary connection Sandisk couldn’t charge you for an additional cable when you undoubtedly lose this one! Also, this allows licensing agreements with Altec Lansing for the IM413 mentioned above, specifically ‘designed’ for the Sansa View.
Physical appearance
The Sansa View resembles a black cell phone more than an iPod due to the dimensions, about 4” high by 2” wide. The View has a 2.4” screen for videos and user interface, and it accomplishes this by orienting the screen in the vertical plane as opposed to the iPod which is horizontal. The new interaction method with the View uses a scroll wheel very similar to that found on an iPod, so those jumping camps will feel closer to home than with some of the older Sandisk players. The power button is on the left side while an expandable Micro-SD card slot resides on the right. Interestingly the headphones jack resides on the bottom of the unit with the power/data transfer connection. While this doesn’t inhibit use at all, it just seems backward to me as all other Sandisk mp3 players I have owned place the headphone jack on the top of the unit. The microphone finishes out the visible options on the surface of the View.
Transferring files
Plug the View 16GB unit into any USB port on a Microsoft-OS driven computer and with simple drag and drop techniques you are ready to load your media onto the player. Checking the properties of the player out of the box, you will find that the usable space on the player is only 15.1GB, lower than what is on the box primarily due to the OS for the player and the pre-loaded files that come with the View.
An alternative method for transferring files to the Sansa View is to use Microsoft’s Windows Media Player. While I personally try to avoid using Microsoft apps if I don’t have the need to, I have found a reason to do so that you might find useful as well. You see, while the View can use playlists to group music in categories other than typical groups such as Album, Artist and the like, the only way I have found to create and store these playlists longterm is to create them using Windows Media Player. Open Media Player and ensure that the player is recognized, then create a playlist from your media library. Sync this playlist with the View and it will be saved and stored. I have found this useful while at work, when I want to be able to select personal playlists such as a grouping of Celtic music. I simply create a playlist with The Dubliners, The Chieftains, Christy Moore, Arcady, etc. and transfer it over; viola, instant playlist that will keep going, and going, and going… While I don’t like the fact that I need to use Media Player, it is preferable to me when compared to being tied to one proprietary app such as iTunes.
Music file playback
At it’s core, the View is an mp3 player built to challenge the new offerings from iPod for a piece of the market. While there is a screen for playback of video content and photo viewing, this is really a secondary use for a powerful mp3 player. After all, while it is neat that you can watch a full-length movie on the 2.4” screen, is anyone really going to do that frequently? But more on that later…
For music playback the Sansa View 16GB is top notch. The included earbuds (while slightly better than the $5 version you can buy at any electronics store) aren’t the best for your listening experience and I would recommend moving on up for better quality. That being said, they are sufficient for use out of the box. The player can crank the volume for those hard of hearing (or wanting to be) but sound quality will suffer. Overall I would put the sound quality on par with the Creative line and previous Sandisk offerings, as there is no noticeable feedback or hissing that I have heard with lower quality mp3 players.
Navigating through the menus is intuitive and easy once you discover that the scroll wheel turns to change the selection. This wheel is also used for volume control, tint, bass, etc. in the other user-changeable settings. Very intuitive, much more so than previous Sandisk offerings I have owned. The menus are not entirely easy to find the first few times through, but after a few cracks at it you will be swapping between artists and genres as you please.
FM reception
The View 16GB has an onboard FM tuner with 20 station presets. When I first opened up the View I told it to find the presets, and it filled up the first 11 slots with local stations. All of the stations were actual music channels, which is a first for an mp3 player in my possession. They usually preset at least one station which is just static, for some reason. Way to go, Sandisk.
The FM quality is fairly good with a mild amount of background noise as is typical from FM stations. I use the FM tuner primarily while riding a bike or running a treadmill at the gym over lunch break, but have also tried it around the house and on trips. The tuner in the View is obviously not going to beat that of a car radio, for instance, but the reception and clarity is quite good considering that there is no visible external antenna.
The View has an option that I haven’t yet found the need to use, and that is the ability to record FM transmissions. Perhaps this will come in handy for you, but for me it is one of those nice-to-know-but-never-use options, I suppose.
Photos
The View can store and render photos on its’ 2.4” screen. I was mildly surprised by the quality of the rendering, as I wasn’t truly expecting much from that small of a screen. I have several of the more recent pictures of my family on the view and use this in much the same way others use their wallet photos. Most people I show the photos to have commented on the quality of the pictures on such a small screen, as well. Again, this is a handy way to move pictures and show them to others, but this isn’t going to be the primary reason you buy the View. You may find as I have that once the newness of the pictures wears off, you tend to forget that they are even on the View.
Video playback
For those of you who religiously load the most recent episode of American Idol onto your mp3 player and watch it while on break at work, etc. you will be happy to hear that playback of recorded video is quite good on the View. The View comes loaded with a BBC documentary with a hummingbird flying around, and I didn’t notice any ghosting of the image, etc. The playback is really more than I expected from a unit this small, proving yet again that the form factor is getting smaller and smaller. That being said, who wants to watch anything on a 2.4” screen? While I did play with this a few times and I am happy to have the option should I be stranded in a long flight with a dead computer, PDA and cell phone, I think that this will remain just a nice-to-have for me…
Voice Recording
For those of you looking for an mp3 player that you can write off directly to the company, here it is. With a built-in microphone for voice recording the View can be written off as a dictation machine for use during meetings! The operation of the unit in this mode is simple. Start a recording of whatever you would like to save and the built-in microphone will pick up and record all sound, with closer being louder. I wouldn’t recommend using this for espionage purposes, as anything remotely close to the microphone drowns out any other sound within a few feet. Again, a nice-to-have for me, but something I probably won’t use much.
Conclusion
I have been looking for a flash player to upgrade my existing mp3 player, and the Sansa View with 16GB of storage was it. I would recommend this for anyone looking for a price-competitive unit to compare to the iPod. The fact that you don’t need to use proprietary software and downloads for the View elevates it above the iPod in my opinion, and the lower price definitely helps. While this may sound like you are sacrificing quality to purchase the View, this isn’t the case. Audio playback is great through a good set of earphones, and the video and picture rendering are superb if not superfluous. I would not hesitate to buy this again at the price I paid, and I highly recommend it for your flash memory player needs. I see that Sandisk is poised to release a 32GB version as well, so if you need the additional memory you might want to hold on just a bit, but for my needs the 16GB version of the Sansa View is exactly what I needed.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199 Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
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