SanDisk Sansa
Encyclopedia
Flash memory
Flash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...
-based digital audio players and portable media player
Portable media player
A portable media player or digital audio player, is a consumer electronics device that is capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, video, documents, etc. the data is typically stored on a hard drive, microdrive, or flash memory. In contrast, analog portable audio...
s produced by SanDisk
SanDisk
SanDisk Corporation is an American multinational corporation that designs, develops and manufactures data storage solutions in a range of form factors using the flash memory, controller and firmware technologies. It was founded in 1988 by Dr. Eli Harari and Sanjay Mehrotra, non-volatile memory...
.
Sansa Fuze+
The Sansa Fuze+, announced on August 31, 2010 in capacities of 4 GB (US$79), 8 GB (US$89) & 16 GB (US$119), is a portable media player with a 2.4-inch color display (QVGA) and touch capability. It also features an FM radio with FM recording, a voice recorder, and 24 hours of audio playback from a single charge. It supports the following audio formats: MP3, WMA, Secure WMA, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, AAC, Audible, Podcasts. For video it supports MPEG-4, H.264, and WMV. Storage is expandable via a microSDHC slot, and it can be used to play slotMusic and slotRadio cards.Sansa Clip+
On August 31, 2009, SanDisk released a redesign of the Sansa Clip called the Sansa Clip+, cosmetically similar to the Clip and maintaining its basic design, audio hardware, compatibility, and 4-line OLED screen, but with a few significant differences. There are 2 GB (black), 4 GB (black, red, blue, white or indigo) and 8 GB (black) models. The case has been redesigned to look more square (including the navigation pad, which is also no longer backlit) and is constructed of higher-quality plastic, the clip is no longer removable, and the player now supports folder browsing and ReplayGain support. Transition times between tracks was reduced, but Sandisk officially declined to support gapless playback . A microSD card slot has been added, allowing the memory of the device to be expanded up to an additional 32 GB. The Clip+ also has added features when playing slotMusicSlotMusic
slotMusic is a type of microSD memory card developed by SanDisk preloaded with music in MP3 format. They were first available at Wal-Mart and Best Buy stores in the United States in October 2008. The current selection of songs comes from Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and EMI...
and slotRadio
SlotRadio
slotRadio is a music format delivered on a memory card . Preloaded on microSD cards, slotRadio gives consumers access to a large library of music but unlike individual MP3s that are purchased, the playlist is predetermined and the user has only the ability to skip songs forward much like how radio...
. To make room for the microSD slot there have been some changes from the old Clip, including moving the volume switch to the left side of the device and changing the power/hold switch to a simple power button. Hold mode is now activated by holding the "Home" button on the device. Like previous Clip and Fuze products, the Clip+ retained a directly coupled headphone amplifier, allowing for highly accurate reproduction of bass frequencies and very low distortion on difficult to drive headphones.
The Sansa Clip+ proved popular with audio enthusiasts and programmers because of its very low cost, excellent DAC, and relatively mature rockbox
Rockbox
Rockbox is a replacement for the standard firmware in various forms of digital audio players . It offers an alternative to the player's operating system, in many cases without removing the original firmware, which provides a plug-in architecture for adding various enhancements and functions...
port, which substantially improved battery life and added features such as parametric EQ, completely gapless playback and AAC audio
AAC
AAC refers to Advanced Audio Coding, an audio compression format successor to the MP3 format.AAC may also refer to:-Aviation:* AAC, IATA airport code for El Arish International Airport, Egypt...
playback .
The Clip+ replaced the discontinued Sansa Clip, with which is shared nearly identical hardware aside from the SD slot .
Sansa Clip Zip
On August 24, 2011, Sandisk announced the Sansa Clip Zip, an update to the Clip+. Two versions are available, a 4 GB model for US$50 and an 8 GB model for US$70. The 4 GB model comes in seven colours (red, blue, black, orange, white, grey and purple), while the 8 GB model is only available in black or grey. The Clip Zip includes all the features of the Clip+ and is based on the same processor as the Clip+ and Fuze v2 but includes a larger 1.1-inch full-colour OLED display (with support for album art), redesigned controls, a new user interface similar to that of the Fuze+, a stopwatch, possible RDS radio capability and support for DRM-free AAC audio files (such as those purchased from the iTunes StoreITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
). The Clip Zip is the first model in the Sansa Clip line to include support for AAC files. The new Clip Zip will be sold alongside the Clip+. Internally the Clip Zip is identical to the Clip+, and so retains its high quality DAC and amplifier.
Sansa Software Overview
| Player | Processor | Vorbis Vorbis Vorbis is a free software / open source project headed by the Xiph.Org Foundation . The project produces an audio format specification and software implementation for lossy audio compression... | FLAC FLAC FLAC is a codec which allows digital audio to be losslessly compressed such that file size is reduced without any information being lost... | AAC AAC AAC refers to Advanced Audio Coding, an audio compression format successor to the MP3 format.AAC may also refer to:-Aviation:* AAC, IATA airport code for El Arish International Airport, Egypt... | Replaygain | Folder Browsing | Rockbox Rockbox Rockbox is a replacement for the standard firmware in various forms of digital audio players . It offers an alternative to the player's operating system, in many cases without removing the original firmware, which provides a plug-in architecture for adding various enhancements and functions... | Firmware |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clip Zip | AS3525v2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 01.01.17 |
| Clip+ | AS3525v2 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | 01.02.16 |
| Clip v2 | AS3525v2 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | 02.01.35 |
| Clip v1 | AS3525 | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | 01.01.35 |
| Fuze+ | i.mx233 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 02.38.06 |
| Fuze v2 | AS3525v2 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | 02.03.33 |
| Fuze v1 | AS3525 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | 01.03.33 |
| e200v2 | AS3525 | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | 03.01.16 |
| e200R | PP5024 | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | 1.0.2.165 |
| e200v1 | PP5024 | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | 01.02.24 |
| c200v2 | AS3525 | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | 03.02.05 |
| c200v1 | PP5024 | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | 01.01.00 |
| m200v4 | AS3525 | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | 4.1.08 |
| m200v123 | TCC770 | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? |
| Connect | tms320 | No | No | No | No | No | Partial | 1.2.0.53385 |
| c100 | TCC770 | No | No | No | No | No | Partial | ? |
| View | PP6000 | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | 1.03.02 |
| Express | STMP 3630 | No | No | No | No | No | No | 1.01.12 |
Note: Refers to latest version of the SanDisk firmware. Earlier version may have fewer features. Vorbis, Flac, AAC, Replaygain and folder browsing are always included in Rockbox.
Source:
Sansa Fuze
The Sansa Fuze, released on March 28, 2008 in capacities of 2, 4 and 8 GB, is a portable media player with a 1.9-inch color display and a thickness of 0.3 inches. It also features a 40-preset FM radio with FM recording, a voice recorder, and has a 24-hour battery life on continuous audio playback. Storage is expandable via a microSDHC slot. Firmware 1.01.22 enabled FLACFLAC
FLAC is a codec which allows digital audio to be losslessly compressed such that file size is reduced without any information being lost...
and Ogg Vorbis
Vorbis
Vorbis is a free software / open source project headed by the Xiph.Org Foundation . The project produces an audio format specification and software implementation for lossy audio compression...
playback. The latest firmwares, depending on hardware version, are 01.02.31, 02.03.31 and 02.03.33.
Sansa Clip
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
tuner/recorder and a built-in microphone. The flash
Flash memory
Flash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...
-based player ships in capacities of 1 GB (available only in black), 2 GB (available in black, blue, red and pink), and 4 GB (silver and black). In November 2008, black and silver 8 GB versions were advertised in the UK. The 8 GB version has been sold in Walmart stores in the U.S.A.
Midway through production of the Clip, Sandisk updated to a new hardware design based on an updated Austriamicrosystems SOC
SOC
SOC or SoC may refer to:Social Networking / Entertainment* Soc.TV, an internet based, social television network* Soldier of ChristBusiness* Sirte Oil Company* South Oil CompanyScience and technology...
. The updated design moderately improved battery life by introducing a more efficient ARM9E
ARM9E
ARM9 is an ARM architecture 32-bit RISC CPU family. With this design generation, ARM moved from a von Neumann architecture to a Harvard architecture with separate instruction and data buses , significantly increasing its potential speed...
processor in place of the previous ARM9 core. Aside from requiring different firmware upgrades, there were no functional changes to the software. The updated SOC would however form the basis for the Clip+ and Clip Zip products. Rockbox was released for the Clip v1 on Nov 21 2009, and then for the Clip v2 on May 14 2010 .
Firmware version 01.01.29, released in May 2008, enabled Ogg Vorbis compatibility for the Sansa Clip. The 01.01.30 firmware update improved OGG support and added FLAC
FLAC
FLAC is a codec which allows digital audio to be losslessly compressed such that file size is reduced without any information being lost...
support. The latest firmware packages for the Sansa Clip are 01.01.35 and 02.01.35, which depend on the hardware revision.
The device (firmware 01.32+) has five folders: Audible (for Audible.com
Audible.com
Audible.com is an Internet provider of spoken audio entertainment, information, and educational programming.Audible sells digital audiobooks, radio and TV programs, and audio versions of magazines and newspapers....
), Audiobooks (for files that you decide are audiobooks, allows for "bookmarking" of every file in this directory by a resume playback feature), Music, Podcasts (also allows every file in this directory to be resumed at a later time), Record (for recordings done on the device, these are in WAV file format). Bookmarks: Do not select "play previous"; this option will bring you to the beginning of a podcast or audiobook and the bookmark for that file will then be lost; if you turn the player off while it is playing then the file will automatically start playing the next time the device turns on. When the device is charged it turns on; that means that your bookmark could advance if you turn the device off while it is playing, and then you next plug it in to charge.
Sansa Shaker
The Sansa Shaker is a screenless digital audio player and comes in colors of blue, red, white, and pink with an SD cardSecure Digital card
Secure Digital is a non-volatile memory card format developed by the SD Card Association for use in portable devices. The SD technology is used by more than 400 brands across dozens of product categories and more than 8,000 models, and is considered the de-facto industry standard.Secure Digital...
slot. One 512 MB or 1 GB card is included, and cards up to 4 GB (non-SDHC) can be used. The tubular design is intended to be kid-friendly, and the player resembles a saltshaker, as it will randomly skip one, two or three songs when shaken. The Shaker plays up to 10 hours of continuous audio with a AAA battery
AAA battery
A triple A or AAA battery is a standard size of dry cell battery commonly used in portable electronic devices. A carbon-zinc battery in this size is designated by IEC as "R03", by ANSI C18.1 as "24", by old JIS standard as "UM 4", and by other manufacturer and national standard designations that...
, and has twin headphone jacks and a built-in speaker. The upper controller band adjusts volume and the lower controller band skips to next/previous song or fast forwards/rewinds the current song when held. Unlike other players, the Shaker only supports audio files in MP3, and when the memory card is taken out during playback, the player will emit an "uh-oh" sound. When the player's memory card is put back in, it makes a popping noise.
Sansa Express
The Sansa Express is a flash-based digital audio player in capacities of 1 GB and 2 GB. It has a built-in USB connector and a 1.1-inch, duochromatic OLEDOrganic light-emitting diode
An OLED is a light-emitting diode in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compounds which emit light in response to an electric current. This layer of organic semiconductor material is situated between two electrodes...
display, a microSD slot, an FM tuner, a microphone for voice recording and an internal Lithium-Ion battery. It is also able to record FM radio and voice on its internal memory. This player is not considered as a descendant of the c200 series, as it only plays audio. It is more similar to the m200 series and maintains much of its design and internal software structure.
c200 series
The Sansa c200 has a removable, lithium-ion rechargeable battery, FM tuner/recorder, and built-in microphone. It also features a 1.4-inch 132 x 80 pixel color display and a microSD card slot. The players are compatible with many accessories which were originally made for the Sansa e200 series. The Sansa c200 series is available in 1 GB (c240) and 2 GB (c250) capacities. Newer models, referred to as v. 2, have different hardware that added support for the Audible file format 2. The packaging of the new models has been updated with the line "Supports Audible audio file formats". The free software RockboxRockbox
Rockbox is a replacement for the standard firmware in various forms of digital audio players . It offers an alternative to the player's operating system, in many cases without removing the original firmware, which provides a plug-in architecture for adding various enhancements and functions...
firmware includes a number of additional features, including support for microSDHC even on C200 v1 which enables adding up to 32 GB of storage capacity.
e200 series
The Sansa e200 series is the name of four portable media players with various capacities, and was released on January 5, 2006. It includes video player, FM tuner/recorder, voice recorder with built-in microphone, and picture viewer. The flashFlash memory
Flash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...
players are available in capacities of 2 GB (e250), 4 GB (e260), 6 GB (e270), and 8 GB (e280). There is also a microSD slot for up to 2 GB memory expansion. (Larger capacity microSDHC cards up to 32 GB are not supported by the original version 1 firmware but can be used with alternative Rockbox firmware, or on the version 2 player.)
The Sansa e200R was released in October 2006. Physically identical to the regular Sansa e200, this player is sold exclusively at retailer Best Buy
Best Buy
Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...
or directly through Rhapsody
Rhapsody (online music service)
Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version...
. The player has a feature called Rhapsody Channels, which is the online service's brand of podcasting
Podcasting
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
, and also comes with preloaded content. The Rhapsody firmware also added support for AAC audio files. A regular e200 could be flashed into an e200R and back again.
Sansa Connect
The Sansa Connect is a Wi-FiWi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
-enabled player that allows the user to connect to any open network in the area. The Mono
Mono (software)
Mono, pronounced , is a free and open source project led by Xamarin to create an Ecma standard compliant .NET-compatible set of tools including, among others, a C# compiler and a Common Language Runtime....
/Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
-based device has a 2.2-inch TFT LCD
TFT LCD
Thin film transistor liquid crystal display is a variant of liquid crystal display which uses thin-film transistor technology to improve image quality . TFT LCD is one type of Active matrix LCD, though all LCD-screens are based on TFT active matrix addressing...
screen, but unlike SanDisk's previous player, the e200 series, the Sansa Connect does not have the ability to connect via USB mass storage or tune to FM radio yet. The player was developed by ZING Systems in collaboration with SanDisk and Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
, which provides music streaming via LAUNCHcast
LAUNCHcast
Yahoo! Music Radio is an Internet radio service offered by CBS Radio through Yahoo! Music. The service, formerly offered by LAUNCH Media, and originally developed by Todd Beaupré and Jeff Boulter, debuted on November 11, 1999, and was purchased by Yahoo! in October, 2001...
radio and a subscription download service. Viewing pictures from Flickr
Flickr
Flickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...
is also possible with the device. The Sansa Connect is currently only available in the United States in capacities of 4 GB. The storage capacity is expandable with microSD cards, currently giving the player up to an extra 2 GB of storage. At the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, the Sansa Connect won the Best of Show award. A new firmware update allows the player to support microSDHC cards up to a capacity of 8 GB and the playback of digital video.
Sansa View
The original Sansa View was SanDisk's attempt at a portable media playerPortable media player
A portable media player or digital audio player, is a consumer electronics device that is capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, video, documents, etc. the data is typically stored on a hard drive, microdrive, or flash memory. In contrast, analog portable audio...
, and had a 4-inch screen, built-in speaker and an expansion slot for SDHC and SD cards. It was announced on the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show
Consumer Electronics Show
The International Consumer Electronics Show is a major technology-related trade show held each January in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Not open to the public, the Consumer Electronics Association-sponsored show typically hosts previews of products and new...
. On June 1, 2007, SanDisk announced that the player had been shelved. It has since been redesigned and launched.
c100 series
The Sansa c100 series players have color displays and are able to show cover art and small picture thumbnails. They use AAA batteries and are available in 1 GB (c140) or 2 GB (c150) of capacity. They also have built in microphones for recording and settings they also have radio and music.m200 series
e100 series
SanDisk SDMX1
The SanDisk SDMX1 (including SDMX1-1024, -512, and -256—reflecting capacity in MB), also known as the SanDisk Digital Audio Player, is a low-end solid state memory MP3 player. It was SanDisk's first personal media player, and the only one not to carry the Sansa brand. It can handle MP3, WMA and the protected WMA DRM files. It cannot play seamlessly, and imposes a non-configurable fade at the beginning and end of each file. There is a microphone for low-fidelity (8 kHzSampling rate
The sampling rate, sample rate, or sampling frequency defines the number of samples per unit of time taken from a continuous signal to make a discrete signal. For time-domain signals, the unit for sampling rate is hertz , sometimes noted as Sa/s...
) voice recording, and there is a built in FM radio. The SanDisk SDMX1 is powered by a single AAA battery that gives around 15 hours of continuous playback. The dimensions are 75.2mm x 32.8mm x 20.8mm and weighing under 40 g (1.4 oz). Its release date was January 11, 2006.
Sansa TakeTV
Released October 26, 2007, the Sansa TakeTV is an easy to use plug-and-play storage device that allows the playback of DivX, Xvid, and M-PEG 4 files on an external display via the included dock and remote. Unlike other Sansa products, the TakeTV is not a digital audio player. The device comes in 4 and 8 GB. While the user is free to use his own videos, TakeTV comes with FanFare, a program similar to iTunesITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
, allowing the user to purchase premium content. On December 11, NBC Universal
NBC Universal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is a media and entertainment company engaged in the production and marketing of entertainment, news, and information products and services to a global customer base...
signed up with SanDisk to provide content on FanFare after having left Apple Inc in a similar deal. The TakeTV along with FanFare was discontinued on May 15.
Marketing campaigns
ISheep
iSheep is a term used in tech sites and forums to describe a person who is an Apple Inc. products fan.-History:The term was introduced in May 2006 when SanDisk launched the "iDon’t" campaign to advertise the SanDisk Sansa...
", "iChimps", etc. These campaigns featured graffiti-type posters around urban areas and a website (iDont.com), in an effort to promote the e200 series. SanDisk has since replaced the iDont campaign with LilMonsta.com, which is also the name of the creature that resembles the player. In June 2008, the LilMonsta.com was shut down in favor of the new website.
On September 3, 2006 SanDisk announced the "Made for Sansa" program, following the similar program by Apple inc for its iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
. With it, a number of 3rd party accessories have been released, including hardware accessories mostly for the proprietary 30-pin IO port featured on the e200, c200, Connect, View, and Fuze players.
Maki Goto
Maki Goto
is a Japanese singer, lyricist and former actress. Born and raised in Edogawa, Tokyo, Goto began her musical career in 1999 when she joined Morning Musume as the only third generation member. Her first single with the group, "Love Machine", topped the Oricon singles charts and sold over a million...
, a Japanese pop artist has also endorsed the Sansa e200 series with a promotional video, featuring one of her songs.
In 2007, SanDisk launched a Flash microsite to promote the line of MP3 players. ShopSansa.com (available only in North America, Australia and New Zealand) was later added as the official online store for the players, as well as third-party accessories and entertainment products such as console games and DVD movies.
See also
- SanDiskSanDiskSanDisk Corporation is an American multinational corporation that designs, develops and manufactures data storage solutions in a range of form factors using the flash memory, controller and firmware technologies. It was founded in 1988 by Dr. Eli Harari and Sanjay Mehrotra, non-volatile memory...
- Comparison of portable media playersComparison of portable media playersThe following comparison of portable media players compares general and technical information for notable digital playback devices.- General :- Technical specifications :- Syncing and transfer :- Wifi Connectivity :- Audio formats :...
- RockboxRockboxRockbox is a replacement for the standard firmware in various forms of digital audio players . It offers an alternative to the player's operating system, in many cases without removing the original firmware, which provides a plug-in architecture for adding various enhancements and functions...
(alternative, open source firmware)