SanDisk guns for iPod Nano with slim video viewer
Long player
Now that Apple's got its new, video-playing iPod Nano launched here comes SanDisk with an alternative it hopes will win over buyers with its sleeker lines and higher storage capacity.
SanDisk's Sansa View: like an iPod Nano only more capacious
The Sansa View comes in 8GB and 16GB versions, but both can be expanded with high capacity Micro SDHC memory cards.
The player's screen is a 2.4in, 320 x 240 panel, ready for MPEG 4, WMV and H.264 video content at up to 30pfs. SanDisk said the player will come packaged with conversion software that'll remake other video formats, including DivX, into View-friendly files.
The View also handles JPEG photos; music encoded in MP3, WMA, WMA DRM and WAV; and Aubible spoken books. There's an FM radio on board and the apparently obligatory voice recording facility.
SanDisk's Sansa View: long player
SanDisk claimed the player has battery power sufficient for up to seven hours' video playback and a massive 35 hours' music listening.
In the US, the 8GB and 16GB Views will retail for $150 and $200, respectively. But we know Register Hardware readers will be unimpressed with the 1:1 dollar-to-sterling SanDisk has done with the UK prices: £150 for the 8GB model and "under £200" for the higher capacity product.
Given a pound now buys you two dollars, we'd expect better UK pricing than this.
Both Sansa View models are due to go on sale in October.
COMMENTS
Riddle me this...
Why do they think we're daft enough to pay 1:1 pricing? I like the look of the View, but there's no way I'll buy it at those prices.
They're just lucky I'm even less likely to buy an iPod. X)
8.8 mm thick & Press Release Link
Here is the press release link:
http://www.sandisk.com/Corporate/PressRoom/PressReleases/PressRelease.aspx?ID=3959
Which states that it is 8.8 mm at its thinnest point.
Kind of sad that an article emphasizing the new, thin media player doesn't list the thickness.
@Martin Hill
Do you work for apple?
Or just another fanboy?
Specs comparison
Hmm, the Sansa View has a 25% bigger screen and longer battery life than the new iPod Nano (7hrs vs 5hrs of video playback could be handy though do you really need more than 24hrs audio playback?) but at the cost of being 35% thicker and 67% heavier. Considering this is a market segment particularly sensitive to size and weight, these are fairly big disadvantages.
The Sansa has an FM radio and voice recorder (both optional add-ons for the Nano) but has no games, calendar and contact synching, notes or an online store with 6 million songs, hundreds of TV shows, movies, or hundreds of thousands of free video and audio podcasts.
The Sansa with it’s proprietary 30-pin connector also lacks the huge 3rd party ecosystem of 3,000 speaker systems, clock radios, arm bands, cases and other peripherals or the dock-connector integration (often with steering wheel controls) in the majority of new cars on the market today or aircraft dock integration etc.
And it comes priced from 16% to 55% more expensive than the 8GB iPod Nano. They may be gunning for the Nano, but their attempt probably falls short in too many areas.
-Mart
Try the Sansa it is better than a nano
I bought a Sandisk Sansa earlier this year I prefer it over a nano, but I don't really see why Sandisk brought this new one out when they already had a Sansa out.
