16GB SanDisk Sansa View

Portable MP3 Players

It's been nearly three years since we did a review of a MP3 Player. Why so long? you might ask. Well, part of the reason is due to time constraints. We just don't publish very many reviews anymore. More importantly, though, was that the SanDisk Sansa e140 MP3 Player I was using was still going strong and meeting my needs in an MP3 Player. Still, all the memory the refurbished 16GB SanDisk Sansa View had on board makes my heart beat faster, so I was happy when Geeks our main site sponsor gave me a chance to try one on for size, kick the tires and take it for an extended test drive.

The Sansa View arrived safe and sound in a slightly unusual white OEM style packaging. The front label read in part an eye-crossing SanDisk E-70 Sansa View 16GB Video MP3 Player w/ Micro SD Expansion / Refurb. Opening up the box you find a USB cable, earbuds, and the Sansa view itself. Conspicuous in their absence are any drivers or user's manual. These items are of course available online, but is it really too much to ask to at least include a CD with the drivers and an manual in .PDF format as well? I think not, but I'm just a single lonely hardware reviewer with a tiny little site, so what do I know anyway?

     
Features/Specifications:

Music

Supports most audio formats, including MP3, WMA, WAV
Digital FM radio with 20 pre-sets
Audible audiobook support

Video

Video compatibility with MPEG4, WMV, H.264
Sansa Media Converter supports a large number of other video formats, including DivX
Smooth video playback at 30 frames per second (fps)

Photos

Photo JPEG viewing capabilities

Other Attributes

Slim, thin and lightweight design for easy portability - 8.8mm at the slimmest part
Vibrant, 2.4" TFT color screen with 320x240 resolution
Rechargeable, long-lasting lithium polymer battery for 35 hours of audio or 7 hours of video
Voice recorder with built-in microphone
MicroSD/SDHCTM expansion slot for additional memory capacity and content portability

I find myself torn on what to say about the 2.4" TFT color screen on the Sansa View. It is bright, clear, and sharp. It is also only half the size of the screen on my Dell Axim, which is itself pretty small. Of course, SanDisk could had made the Sansa View screen bigger, but then it would lose some of its portability, as well as likely impacting the already so-so battery life. So, I am going to leave things there, having laid out both sides of the problem as I see them. You, the reader, will have to weigh your own individual needs and solve the equation on the screen size issue for yourself.

The Equalizer (Music EQ as Sansa calls it) features settings for Normal, Pop, Rock, Jazz, Classical, and Custom, which is user definable as you would imagine. All well and good so far, and I was having fun experimenting with the different settings, when I discovered that the Music EQ seems to be for MP3 only. Try as I might I couldn't get the Equalizer to work when listening to FM radio. I don't know why the Music EQ would be MP3 only but I must admit to being somewhat disappointed with this lack of functionality. No mention of this limitation is in the Sansa View UM (user's manual) either.

The Sansa View uses an internal, non replaceable rechargeable battery. The standard method of recharging the battery is simply to plug it into a USB 2.0 port. The battery can also be charged with an AC adapter, or a car adapter; neither is included, though. Like my other SanDisk MP3 player SanDisk tends to vastly overstate its battery life. While Sansa View advertises up to 35 hours for audio playback, I was getting about 11 or 12 hours of mixed MP3, FM tuner usage. Plugged into the USB port the Sansa View took about 3 to 4 hours to charge.

The Sansa View includes a rather ordinary pair of earbuds. They are neither the best nor the worst set that I have used. One item of note is that the black felt driver covers are not pre-attached, and if not properly positioned have a tendency to fall off. No spares are included, either. As with most MP3 players in this price range I imagine most people looking to purchase a Sansa View already own a discrete set of earbuds, or have a pair in mind for purchase with this player. Don't get me wrong: The included set is fine to use as a backup--or just to have a spare set handy for use when you don't want to mess your good pair up--but unless you are tone deaf I wouldn't recommend the included earbuds for use as your primary pair, especially if you like heavy bass.



The Sansa View gets high marks in the usability department. The UI (User Interface) is by far the most intuitive I have used in any MP3 player. You can most likely figure out most anything you want to do without ever referring to the user's manual. The secret here is the thumb wheel. Turn the wheel clockwise to scroll down through menu items or to increase the volume during playback. Turn the wheel counterclockwise to scroll up through the menu items or decrease the volume during playback. When you want to go the selected menu item simply push the thumb wheel which is lit with a blue halo around its outer edge.

Moving my MP3 collection to the Sansa View was problem free. Once the USB cable was connected, and the Sansa View powered on, my Vista Ultimate SP2 PC correctly recognized and assigned a drive letter to the MP3 Player with no prodding from me. From there I dragged and dropped a few albums for listening without issue. Once your music is on the MP3 Player you can organize your collection in just about anyway you can imagine including Play All, Recently Added, Artists, Albums, Songs, Genres, Playlists, Podcasts, Audiobooks, or Recordings as well as by "My Top Rated" one I haven't seen before.

I had no problems playing any kind of MP3. These included 256 and 320 kbps mp3s as well as VBR (Variable Bit Recording) .mp3s which the majority of my collection is in. I also tried WMA which I seem to be getting more of lately and all of them worked as well. Before this review, I didn't test protected WMA because I didn't have any. One other thing worth mentioning is that unlike the SanDisk Sansa e140 with the Sansa View you can delete music files directly from the player.

     
The Sansa View also lets you load pictures, and play videos. This was all new to me with an MP3 player. I must admit I don't really have many things in QVGA resolution, pictures or videos. I decided to make some using the Sansa Media Converter software, which you have to jump through a couple hoops to get from the Sandkisk site. SanDisk require you first install and run Sansa Firmware Updater before you are given access to the Sansa Media Converter software, which then installs an annoying screen that pops up every-time you plug in your Sansa View. Mine was usually trying to sell me on slotRadio. I found it so annoying that I edited the registry to remove the key causing it to do this. I imagine most readers will do much the same. Anyway the software still works fine, and I don't have to look at a SanDisk ad every-time I plug in my player. Seems like a win-win to me. Too bad I can't do this when I am at a movie theater to stop them from playing those damn Pepsi ads after I just dropped ten bucks to see a movie. Grumble Grumble.

This review was delayed several weeks so I could have time to get and test the Sansa View with a MicroSD/SDHC (in this case a SanDisk 4GB card was used), I already had a 1GB MicroSD card from my cell phone and could have used that, I guess. The reason that I didn't is that I wanted to personally test that the Sansa View works with MicroSDHC cards. While I obviously couldn't test with a wide variety of cards, several times in the past I have written that this or that item support HC cards based solely on that information appearing on the packaging or marketing materials, and then have readers write me and say that bought a certain item based in part on my recommendation and while labeled as HC compatible it really was not. So this time I have tested the Sansa View MP3 player with a SanDisk 4GB MicroSD/SDHC and can state for the record that it worked fine.

Conclusion:

The refurbished 16GB SanDisk Sansa View seems like a real keeper, while I do have a few minor gripes with the Sansa View (so-so battery life, Media Converter annoying ad screens) the only major gripe I have with the MP3 player itself is the Music EQ doesn't work with the FM radio. If you don't listen to the radio much this isn't a problem, but I do, and for me it is. I am not sure yet what to make of the video and picture functions. They work fine, but I am not sure how practical it is watching videos on a 2.4" screen. Maybe I am just getting old and my eyesight isn't as keen as it once was, so your mileage may vary.

Pros:

XL 16GB internal memory

2.4" TFT color screen

MicroSD/SDHC card slot

UI very intuitive

Cons:

EQ doesn't work with FM tuner

Mediocre battery life

I would like to thank Geeks for providing us with the refurbished SanDisk Sansa View for review. This item can be purchased at Geeks for 79 usd.

Added: April 19th 2010
Reviewer: Jim Adkins
Score:
Hits: 723
Language: english