Digital Trends

SanDisk Sansa TakeTV 4GB December 11th, 2007 | by Jason Tomczak

Features and Design

When first looking at the Sansa TakeTV it can be unsettling to imagine how such a simple and diminutive device could work. DVD players, VCRs (people really do still use them) and cable boxes are pretty huge. Even the Apple TV is relatively large with it's 7"x 7" frame. Then we see the TakeTV. The main components - the remote and the receiver - are both narrower and thinner than the Motorola RIZR cell phone, albeit just slightly taller. Placing the TakeTV next to a DVD player is like placing a gallon of milk next to a wine barrel. There's such a difference in size, weight and portability.

Why is it so small? There's no hard drive, no internal power supply, no portly or complex innards - just a thin wafer remote, a flash drive with more housing than circuitry, a thin receiver and attached cables. The trio of parts only weighs 0.11 pounds and measures about 4.55" x 1.5" x 0.45".

The TakeTV, as of this writing, comes in two sizes - 4GB and 8GB. The 4GB version costs about $100 USD and offers up to 5 hours of video content (though smart encoders could probably squeeze more time). The 8GB costs about $150 USD and can hold up to 10 hours of content.

One of the best things about the TakeTV is that it doesn't require any software. No iTunes, no Media Player, nothing. Just drag and drop your DivX, Xvid and other MPEG-4 files (e.g. AVI files with Xvid codec) onto the TakeTV USB 2.0 flash drive, move the flash drive from your computer to the TakeTV receiver and switch your TV to the RCA or S-Video input. Instant content. 

The TakeTV has cables built into it. Granted, the TakeTV uses S-Video or RCA for video and RCA for audio, whereas the Apple TV uses higher quality component or HDMI. But the picture quality, as discussed later, stands up to critique. RCA and S-Video cables are on the lower side of the evolutionary scale when it comes to modern tech devices, but it's inexpensive, ubiquitous and reliable; maybe the next gen TakeTV will have HDMI.

So what does the TakeTV play? It supports any DivX, Xvid or other MPEG-4 based video content. The video res maxes out at 720x576 and audio tops at 128kbps. This means that it looks good for TV shows and compressed movies, but it's not HD quality. The TakeTV can play 4:3 or 16:9 videos. It's also able to play both NTSC (US) and PAL (EU) profiles.

One potentially confusing aspect of the TakeTV is the power cord and adapter. With the tiny size of the TakeTV, one wouldn't expect to need an external power source. Right next to the RCA and S-Video cables is a female power plug. Connect the wall charger to a wall outlet and the male end of the power cord into the female adapter. The blue light on the TakeTV receiver will illuminate, indicating that the device is powered up. Perhaps a AAA battery or thin rechargeable would have been a better solution. It's another design suggestion for the next gen TakeTV.

What's in the Box?

For $100 or $150 USD, you get the TakeTV player/flash drive, integrated remote control, TakeTV receiver cradle with integrated cables and an AC power adapter. On the flash drive you'll find a PDF version of the user manual and a .exe file for installing optional "Fanfare" software.

The SanDisk Sansa TakeTV is small, and features a remote control