Tested: Sandisk Sansa Clip MP3 Player

Do you ever get bored when you work out? Perhaps you’re riding an indoor trainer, running on a treadmill, or just running laps on the track, around and around and around…

When I do that, I get bored out of my mind! But the simple fix is to carry an MP3 player. Then my workouts go from “monotonous exercise” to “listening to some good music.”

You can’t get just any MP3 player, though. You need one that’s easy to use, easy to carry, and tough enough to withstand a workout. I have found that MP3 player, and it’s called the Sandisk Sansa Clip.

Here’s why I chose the Sansa Clip:

The Price. I would be very hesitant to carry a $300 iPod during a trail run due to the risk of damage. So the $50 price tag on the 2 GB Sansa Clip was perfect. If it would ever break, replacing it won’t drain my bank account.

Size and Weight. The Sansa Clip is tiny! This player is very small and light, and the built-in belt clip allows it to attach to your waistband. You don’t even notice you’re wearing it.

The Clip. Like I said, this thing just clips right onto your waistband. That’s awesome because even if you have pockets on your running shorts (unlikely,) it sucks having an MP3 player in one. Arm bands are even worse – they are uncomfortable and don’t stay in place if you’re moving your arms.

So the clip is awesome! (But if you don’t like the clip, you can actually slide it off to make the unit even smaller.)

Built-in Battery. The Sansa Clip has a built-in rechargeable battery. There is no need to buy a bunch of AAA batteries or special chargers – you simply plug this into your computer’s USB port and it charges automatically.

Easy to Use. First, the buttons are self-explanatory. Play, pause, skip, etc. And it has a “hold” function so your body movements don’t accidentally switch songs or pause it inadvertently.

Second, you don’t need any special software like iTunes. I load music on this player by dragging and dropping it from my computer, just like this is a USB thumb drive. Fast and easy!

Durability. The key to a good MP3 player for our purposes is flash-based memory. Hard drives are fragile and might skip or break while running normally, but the flash memory in the Sansa Clip is rock solid.

I had one problem though…

The battery life sucked!

Let me start by saying that I set up three of these Sansa Clips. First I set up the players for my mom and dad, loaded music, tested them, etc., and they were perfect.

But when I set one up for myself, the battery would die in no time! The claimed battery life is 15 hours, and I’ve heard of people getting as high as 17-18 hours if they use low bitrate files. But I was lucky to get 10 hours of battery life from a four hour charge!

That’s not the worst part though. I’m lucky to get the claimed 15 hour battery life even when this thing is turned off! Typically the charge is drained in one day, even if I don’t turn the thing on!

So if I’m going to run 3-4 times a week for an hour each time, that’s a mere 3-4 hours of required playback. But the player still needs charged each and every night!

If I don’t have access to a computer each night, I’m sh*t out of luck! (My other MP3 player with rechargeable AAA batteries was less hassle than this.)

My final verdict is…

The Sansa Clip is definitely a good MP3 player for athletes. It’s great for running and good for working out – I don’t think there’s a better choice available.

So despite my bad luck, I’d be willing to buy another one of these – maybe the Sansa Clip, or perhaps the fancy Sansa Fuze. But I’ll have my fingers crossed that the new one works properly!

Official website: www.Sansa.com

Buy online: www.Amazon.com