Review: SanDisk© Sansa slotRadio™ Music Player

When I was asked to try out the Sansa slotRadio, I was a little skeptical and thought “Oh no… Not another little music device…” but I was willing to give it a shot and see what this little portable music device was all about. I had heard a little bit about it beforehand and lots of Moms I know really seem to be digging this product, so being a mom myself, I figured I had to give it a try!

For those of you that are unfamiliar with this new little invention, here’s the down low…

The slotRadio™ player is a small, stylish, portable music device that comes bundled with a slotRadio™ card preloaded with 1,000 handpicked songs featuring artists from Billboard®’s charts, and professionally arranged into a variety of genre-themed playlists.

The die-cast aluminum player also features a 1.5” OLED screen for viewing artist and song information, a FM radio and even an integrated, handy belt clip for hands-free listening.

Additional 1,000 song, genre-specific and themed slotRadio™ cards. Digital music has never been this easy – just feast your ears!

slotRadio™ cards include hundreds of artists from the Billboard® charts. Listen to 1,000 songs* pre-arranged into 7 handcrafted playlists with nothing to download, copy or manage. slotRadio™ cards work great with sansa® slotRadio™ player. Simply insert the card and switch to PLAY.

See what’s playing and what’s next, skip individual songs or change playlists as often as you want. Sansa® slotRadio™ player also includes an FM radio so you can listen to local stations as well. The biggest selling point for me was the 13 hours of battery time.

It’s so easy my 2 year old can use it. She LOVES walking around the house with the slotRadio music player, just listening to her favorite tunes. She knows how to switch songs, so when she gets one she doesn’t like, I see her stop for a moment, click the buttons, then start bopping to the next tune. It’s sooo cute.

Personally, I think my iPod nano is a little cumbersome. I can’t stand hooking it up to my computer, trying to figure out how to put new songs on it, and worst of all, even getting music to begin with. If you download it legally, you’re looking at spending $.99 per song. Ouch. Or figure out how to get it off of your CDs and onto your computer so you can transfer it to your iPod. What a production!

With the slotRadio player, you can buy new music cards, preloaded with 1,000 songs, starting at $39.99. That’s less than 5 cents per song! Way more cost effective than downloading songs on iTunes for $.99 a song, or more. And you can pick them up at your local Best Buy or Radio Shack. The slotRadio player is perfect for busy women who want to listen to music without all the fuss. It’s great for busy moms who just want to grab some tunes before going out for a jog or something to make the drive to work a little more pleasant. No commercials!

Here’s the downside: I must stress there is a reason why they call it slotRADIO. It’s not an MP3 player. You can not select which song you want to listen to, you can’t arrange them in a certain order, and you can’t go back if you accidentally skip the song you wanted to listen to. It’s a lot like online streaming audio services like Slacker or Pandora, except you can skip forward to the next song as many times as you want. Think of it like satellite radio, but cheaper and more portable. You can put your own music on a blank microSD card and use it with the player, but like I said before, no going back – only forward.

My only complaint is the headphones. The included headphones that come in the kit are a lot like iPod headphones, which I’m not crazy about to begin with. Adding insult to injury, the headphones that came with mine were defective. The left hand speaker does not work at all. I’m sure this is not a standard problem though, but just something to be aware of! May want to use your own headphones that you already are familiar with and like.

Your new music player will come with the following: SanDisk© slotRadio™ player, a slotRadio mix card with 1000 songs, AC adapter, Micro-B USB cable, slotRadio card case, a cute little silicone sleeve for player and of course, a user’s guide. All for only $99. Additional music cards can be purchased for $49 per card for another 1,000 songs. What a deal, right? Additionally, you can load your own tunes on a blank microSD card for free. I’m going to be all over that as soon as I can figure out how to do it…

To learn more about the little music player you can’t believe you ever lived without, visit slotradio.org.

slotRadio™ Music Player can be purchased Radio Shackor online at shop.sandisk.com.