Accessorizing with Player Shells
Want to let that personality come shining through? The SanDisk Sansa slotMusic Player can also be outfitted with a series of custom player shells. This replaces that ABBA shell that came with the aforementioned bundle, just in case you’re self conscious about what team people think you play for. One package includes two such shells, one with a funky design and the other with special protected slots for three more memory cards.
The latter obviously adds some bulk to the player, but it’s quite useful when you want to have more than one album going at a time. The unfortunate downside (which is also advantageous depending on your perspective) is that none of the slotMusic microSD cards are marked. You’re left relying on your memory to determine which album has been saved onto which card. If you think about it, it’s kind of like a manual shuffle. What you’re listening to today, nobody knows.
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
The Sansa line of MP3 players from SanDisk have always been reasonably reliable and competitively priced, but they were never all that sexy or revolutionary in their approach. In trying to compete directly with the iPod, SanDisk was setting itself up for a whole lot of disappointment.
The Sansa slotMusic player is a distinctly different entity, because it appeals to the technophobes among us. There are people out there who want to get MP3 players, but they are intimidated by the software or they don’t want to trouble themselves with digital downloads. Purchasing physical media is more intuitive to them and that’s where the slotMusic line will ultimately win a few customers.
You want simple? This is simple. There is no display and there are no superfluous features. You won’t find a charging cable or any complicated software. The build quality is better than a lot of the cheap knockoffs on the market, but you are still getting a remarkably basic MP3 player. I wouldn’t get one myself, preferring to live on the bleeding edge of technology, but slotMusic could be a viable alternative for less gadget-inclined or those looking to replace an iPod shuffle.
Pros
- Good transitional product from conventional tape and CD players
- Interchangeable player shells
- slotMusic microSD albums are very reasonably priced
- Remarkably easy to use
- Simple microSD expansion
Cons
- No internal memory whatsoever
- No external display for track name, battery level, etc.
- No rechargeable battery
- Removal of player shell reveals crude interior
Overall Rating: 7.0 / 10.0
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