Nine Miles

My bicycle commute to work is about nine miles in each direction and between the traffic and the various hills I have to climb, it takes about 35 minutes. The Sansa Clip MP3 player makes the perfect companion.

The Sansa Clip is about the size of a typical keyless-entry remote. The visible controls include a select button, a play/pause/fast-forward/rewind/sub-menu button, a home button for quick access to the top-level menu, a rocker-switch for the volume control, and a power/hold slide-switch. All of this is topped off with a bright, clear OLED screen which squeezes the menus, track information, and various other displays into a surprisingly-readable postage-stamp space.

The included "Quick Start Guide" gives scant info on actually using the player, but the control scheme for routine operations like playing music and switching tracks is relatively straightforward. The more advanced features such as setting up playlists and recording will require a bit more explanation. Fortunately, a comprehensive manual is available via tech support on the Sansa website at www.Sansa.com. At that same site, you'll also find links to instructional videos which walk you through just about every aspect of operating the device, including using Windows Media Player to manage your music.

Seven Miles

Transferring music to the Sansa Clip is simple and straightforward. Plug it into an XP or Vista laptop and you'll be asked if you want to open it as a folder or synch it via Windows Media Player. If you treat it as a folder, you can put music directly into the music folder and you're good to go. For more advanced features -- including playlist management -- you'll need to use Windows Media Player. From there you'll be able to rip your CD to the Sansa Clip, buy music through Napster, and (with a little effort) add podcasts to the player. (With the newest firmware, the Sansa Clip actually recognizes podcasts and lists them in a separate category in the music sub-menu.)

One of the nicer features of the Sansa Clip is its flexibility with regards to formats. It supports MP3, WAV, WMA, secure WMA and Audiobook formats. Finding material to listen to won't be a problem.

Five Miles

Listening is a pleasure. Even with the included low-end earbuds, the audio is clear and natural sounding. On a more expensive headset the sound still reproduces beautifully.

If you don't like the default audio, the built-in five-band equalizer gives you the option of tweaking the frequencies to your heart's content. Alternatively, you can use one of the five presets (normal, rock, pop, jazz or classical).

While you're poking around the menus, you can also set the master volume to loud or normal, preset your favorite FM stations for use on the included receiver, choose a default USB mode so that it won't ask you every time you plug in to your PC, check the charge on your battery, or manage your on-board files.

Three Miles

If all it had were the features described so far, the Sansa Clip would beat out the iPod Shuffle hands down. Yet, SanDisk has chosen to add a couple of nifty additional features to up the ante.

The Sansa Clip includes an FM receiver and a voice/radio recorder. The simple controls for the FM radio allow you to scan for stations which you can then add as presets. Perfect for catching the latest news on the ride home from work.

The built-in audio recorder does a good job of capturing voice and storing it as WAV files. The microphone is more sensitive than I would have expected and the audio quality is acceptable. Some users have reported using the Sansa Clip to record lectures.  It's also possible to make off-air recordings from the built-in FM receiver.

Last Mile

Power for the device is supplied by an internal battery which charges when the device is connected to a USB port. The product literature rates the battery at fifteen hours, but some users have reported shorter periods between charges. As with all rechargeables, it's probably best to follow the manufacturer's instructions to the letter on the initial charge to prevent problems later on.

Finished!

For anyone wanting a small, portable MP3 player for exercise, the Sansa Clip delivers good value for the price. The current selection of models ranges from $40 (1 GB) to $80 (4GB). The modest increase in price is probably worth it for the increased capacity. With good sound, simple controls, and a broad array of additional features, the Sansa Clip is likely to become a favorite of many MP3 users. And, since it handles podcasts so well, you can load it up with back episodes of TechTalkForFamilies and get caught up on the latest reviews while you're walking, biking, or working out.