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Sansa View 16GB
Price: £130

Features
Performance
Ease of use
Value for money
Overall

Reviewed By: Matt Chapman

This review updated: 16/03/2008
Featured in magazine:
Issue 181
Manufacturer Contacts:
Supplier: SanDisk
Web Address: www.sandisk.co.uk


Best Price:
There are two sides to the Sansa View: it's dark and shiny on the front and matt-black on the rear, and this physical duality is reflected in the player's character. While it's loaded with useful features, there are a few omissions that hold the View back – especially when you compare it with its closest rival, the Apple iPod Nano. So, has SanDisk created the right balance of features to ensure that the benefits outweigh any niggles?


Features
The obvious downside is that the device isn't as well-styled and compact as the Apple best-seller, measuring about the length of the average mobile phone. But the Sansa View certainly packs a lot into its slim form – bagging a music and video player, FM radio, photo viewer and voice recorder for good measure. To back up those functions, the device handles MP3, WAV, WMA and unprotected AAC 2audio files; MPEG4, WMV and H.264 videos; and JPEG photos. The music player is particularly well organised, boasting playlist support and sorting tracks by artist, album, genre, rating, podcast, audiobook and recordings.

Performance
Music-wise, the sound reproduction is very good, even though the bass is lacking and the supplied headphones aren't the most comfortable you'll ever wear. FM radio reception is as good as listening to your own music files. But it's the 2.4in screen that really impresses. The picture reproduction is excellent, making it easy to watch video even in bright light. There is, occasionally, a slight pixellation of contours in the background when a number of different shades mix, but it's a minor quibble and the problem rarely crops up.

Ease of use
The device's interface, with its basic icons, may look a little toy-like but that also means it's simple to work out what everything does. The only exceptions are that the radio and voice recorder are hidden away under the More icon. Files can be dropped onto the device or synched using Windows Media Player software. Sadly, the View lacks support for DivX files, so those with videos in this popular video format will need to make use of SanDisk's conversion software. While this is a simple process involving nothing more than selecting the file and attaching the player to your computer, it takes a long time for a large video to be converted on an average PC, so it can be a bit of a chore.

Value for money
The 16GB of memory you get for your money puts the iPod Nano's maximum size of 8GB firmly in the shade. While SanDisk's player has a recommended retail price that's £25 more than Apple's, that still makes it a steal if you want the extra space, and you can cut down what you'll pay even further by shopping around online. A MicroSD slot also makes extra expansion possible, so you won't have to upgrade to a larger player if you decide you want even more storage.

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