Digital Trends

Sansa SlotMusic Player October 28th, 2008 | by Nick Mokey

Usage

After using MP3 players day-in-and-day-out that hold weeks worth of music and function more like miniature computers, the Sansa’s ultra-simple approach to music was actually a refreshing throwback to the days of single-disc CD players. It’s not comprehensive, or even remotely sophisticated, but it works, and we can see the potential appeal for consumers aggravated with the expense and time consumption of more complex players. 

The slotMusic offers the simplest arrangement of buttons you’ll ever find on a modern MP3 player: forward, backward, play/pause, and a volume rocker. There isn’t even a power button, since pausing the player effectively shuts it off. Only a tiny blue LED even indicates there’s anything going on inside, and you won’t even find a hold button to prevent the play button from accidentally turning it on (although having to hold it down to fire the player up effectively prevented any problems for us.)

Adding music can only be done through the microSD slot, which accepts cards up to 16GB, though slotMusic cards are currently only produced in the 1GB flavor. A lack of display, or even shuffle capability, would probably prevent most (sane) users from attempting to stuff that many songs into it though, since navigation would be a nightmare.
The slotMusic’s included headphones, while unremarkable, produced perfectly acceptable music quality for SanDisk’s audience of non-audiophiles. More importantly, their fluffy foam covers made them comfortable enough for long-term wear, which is our chief complaint with cheap earbuds, and cord length was ideal for a pocketable player. 

Conclusion

SanDisk’s slotMusic Initiative may be a questionable approach to buying music using the dying physical distribution model, but we can definitely see its appeal for no-nonsense music fans who have been waiting for a convenient successor to the CD. While we would recommend it to these types of consumers on the merits of simplicity, we would also caution that we don’t always see preloaded slotMusic cards being around, or readily accessible, so consumers should also be prepared to load their own tunes manually if need be.

On the whole, SanDisk’s Sansa slotMusic makes a fine budget MP3 player for those who don’t want to put much effort into their music. More advanced users desiring more sophistication from a player, but without the price tag, would do better to look for sales on some of SanDisk’s more advanced players, which can sometimes be had nearly as cheap, but with far more features.

Pros:
 
• Ultra cheap
• Solid feeling
• Expandable up to 16GB

Cons:
 
• Built for a questionable music distribution channel
• Lack of any but the most basic controls
• Uses alkaline batteries
• Heavy