Video: Sansa Connect hands-on
By Randall Bennett 
posted Jan 12th 2007 2:29AM
posted Jan 12th 2007 2:29AM
We, like everyone, had pretty high hopes for the Zune's "social" capabilities, but three plays in three days isn't really doing it for us. SanDisk's Sansa Connect isn't a Zune replacement, but more akin to the MusicGremlin, albeit with four gigs of flash memory instead of an eight gigabyte microdrive. At $250 plus PlaysForSure comaptible music service, you can get social a bit easier.
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The blue color of the dial is a Sansa staple. It shuts off automatically after a couple of minutes when not in use.
That sharing is not the same as Zunes. Both of the users of the Sansa needs a subscription otherwise I doubt I can download what my friend is listening to (if the music wasn't drm'ed.)
Only the user of the device needs to have the subscription to a music service. You can look at what a friend is listening too, and as you have the subscription service, you can download that song for yourself.
Looks like a great player: Cool, Pocketable, MUCH-less restrictive sharing, on-the-go downloading, big screen, internet radio.
Only problem....only 4 gigs and $249
More memory and lower prices por favor!!!
--i know, i know, it'll come in time.
Wow...with DRM this is actually a good implementation of music discovery.MSFT should have done something like this.
Cool stuff, just that I still don't understand why is it that Apple, Microsoft and others still don't have wireless sync with their devices using their software? technology is there and the ideas are endless... what's the problem?
When is some Chinese company going to come out with a player with unrestricted Wifi - send any file to anyone, sync via Wifi, heck you can even sync someone else's entire library if you want.
Have to say this looks pretty cool! I honestly thought this was how the Zune was going to work, but as we know... What's funny is that this also seems to have a much better form factor than the Zune as well.
But micro-SD? What's the most you can buy in that format? I'm still chugging away with regular SD in all my devices so I'm out of touch!
Forget wifi, I just want bluetooth built-in.
I'm not clear on one thing . . . this is WiFi right? So the community features are only available when you are at an access point?
I was thinking about buying one of these to replace my Nano, but after watching this vid I don't think I will. I do not like DRM in any form. It also sounds like many of this device's features are not accessible without a subscription.
but isn't itunes DRM? ;P
This Zing engine is hot—mobile, Wi-Fi, streaming!
In addition to paid subscriptions and paid downloads, here’s the breadth and depth of free Internet radio streams the Sandisk Sansa Connect could deliver—more than 10,000 stations, 10,000 shows, and 500,000 episodes—broadcasts, webcasts, and podcasts: http://www.radeo.net
So, would this work with a Rhapsody subscription?
Looks nice. Kudos for going one step further than the Zune. Still DRM hell. No way in hell I'm going the subscription route. I really liked Microsoft's (NotSureIfTomorrowItWill)PlaysForSure junk. C'mon people, and by people I mean the RIAA, let's get something that isn't hobbled!
This seems like much more like what I was expecting of the Zune. The downside is the small capacity, and the high price for said small capacity. I believe the largest MicroSD card available at present is 2GB, someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
On the DRM note, I am feeling more and more that the subscription route going to be the best middle-ground we're going to get. I mean, for the cost of 1 cd a month, we can have access to all music, and while mobile? I hate DRM as much as the next guy, but this seems more enticing every time a device manufacturer makes it easier on us.
Sandisk: if you're listening, add bluetooth and more memory, then sign me up!
The Sansa Connect is to be released by the second week of March. It will mainly support the Yahoo Music service. This includes Wireless internet Radio, Wireless Subscription Downloads and Hot spot Sync. Check it out @ http://Frowear.com
@Mike: That's my big question too. Will the wifi work with Rhapsody?