QJ Review: SanDisk Sansa c100

The SanDisk Sansa c100 series is the other device in a pair of stylish flash-based MP3 players from SanDisk. The other one is the Sansa e200, which we reviewed last week. There are two versions of the c100: the c140 (1GB) and the c150 (2GB). The features aren’t as complex as the Sansa e200, and apart from the design of the player it’s a totally different thing. It’s obvious that I won’t compare it to the e200, but instead to the standard entry-level MP3 player that you can find in any shop these days.

It has a 1.21 inch 64,000 color LCD screen that can not only navigate through your songs but also view photos; which is a nice little feature that’s unique to MP3 players of this size. It can play MP3, WMA, DRM WMA and Audible file formats, so no problems there. The DRM stuff can be used by services like Napster to Go and Yahoo!’s subscription services.

It has everything a normal MP3 player has, but more. For example, it sports an FM tuner plus recorder, but also a voice recorder and music equalizer – and it’s customisable. That’s right, you can make your own equalizer preset, which is definitely unique to its product class. It has anything you’d want in your first or upgraded MP3 player, but it has some cosmetic issues. More about that below.

The build quality isn’t bad or anything, but the buttons and all that are a little loose. Next to the screen, when you hold it horizontally, you have a circle and in the middle of that a round button. The button is used for all kinds of stuff, and the circle is actually a group of four buttons. On top you have the pause/start button, on the right the ‘next song’, on the left the ‘previous song’ and the bottom one is used for scrolling and song options while listening to one. When pressing these buttons the circle thing just pushes up like it’s falling off the casing – really odd. And the round button in the middle is like a joystick, you can just move it around.

Luckily the battery time makes up for that, because with one AAA battery you’ll be able to listen to your beats for around 15 hours. It’s not a fixed time really, because it depends on your volume and battery type. This is especially great for travelling and long car trips, because 15 hours is more than the average length of most players. And if you don’t want to spend money on those batteries over and over again, you can just buy a battery recharger.

The dimensions of the device are 1.31 x 3.1 x 0.88″ (3.3 x 7.9 x 2.2 cm), which is about the same as most players. However, do notice the chunk on the bottom where the battery goes. It’s not very stylish, but it’s better than a brick-type design.

Transferring files and songs is fast, easy and simple. With the USB 2.0 cable, which is really fast, you can choose to just drag and drop your loot into the directories, or use the DRM services, which the player magically detects automatically. This is awesome because you won’t have to change the settings all the time.

And last but not least, the audio quality. It surprised me how good it was. I’ve had many MP3 players before and a lot of the flash-based ones out there have bad audio quality. I couldn’t hear any system noise or distortion, even at the highest volume. Of course it all depends on the headphones too, but the ones that come with the Sansa c100 are amazing anyway.

So there we go. SanDisk once again seized to amaze me. A great player, except for the build quality. It’s not bad or anything, but it’s a little… jiggly. If you haven’t had an MP3 player before, go with the SanDisk Sansa c100. The 1GB version retails for about 80 to 90 dollars while the 2GB one goes for around 110 bucks.

The SanDisk Sansa c100 series is the other device in a pair of stylish flash-based MP3 players from SanDisk. The other one is the Sansa e200, which we reviewed last week. There are two versions of the c100: the c140 (1GB) and the c150 (2GB). The features aren’t as complex as the Sansa e200, and apart from the design of the player it’s a totally different thing. It’s obvious that I won’t compare it to the e200, but instead to the standard entry-level MP3 player that you can find in any shop these days.

It has a 1.21 inch 64,000 color LCD screen that can not only navigate through your songs but also view photos; which is a nice little feature that’s unique to MP3 players of this size. It can play MP3, WMA, DRM WMA and Audible file formats, so no problems there. The DRM stuff can be used by services like Napster to Go and Yahoo!’s subscription services.

It has everything a normal MP3 player has, but more. For example, it sports an FM tuner plus recorder, but also a voice recorder and music equalizer – and it’s customisable. That’s right, you can make your own equalizer preset, which is definitely unique to its product class. It has anything you’d want in your first or upgraded MP3 player, but it has some cosmetic issues. More about that below.

The build quality isn’t bad or anything, but the buttons and all that are a little loose. Next to the screen, when you hold it horizontally, you have a circle and in the middle of that a round button. The button is used for all kinds of stuff, and the circle is actually a group of four buttons. On top you have the pause/start button, on the right the ‘next song’, on the left the ‘previous song’ and the bottom one is used for scrolling and song options while listening to one. When pressing these buttons the circle thing just pushes up like it’s falling off the casing – really odd. And the round button in the middle is like a joystick, you can just move it around.

Luckily the battery time makes up for that, because with one AAA battery you’ll be able to listen to your beats for around 15 hours. It’s not a fixed time really, because it depends on your volume and battery type. This is especially great for travelling and long car trips, because 15 hours is more than the average length of most players. And if you don’t want to spend money on those batteries over and over again, you can just buy a battery recharger.

The dimensions of the device are 1.31 x 3.1 x 0.88″ (3.3 x 7.9 x 2.2 cm), which is about the same as most players. However, do notice the chunk on the bottom where the battery goes. It’s not very stylish, but it’s better than a brick-type design.

Transferring files and songs is fast, easy and simple. With the USB 2.0 cable, which is really fast, you can choose to just drag and drop your loot into the directories, or use the DRM services, which the player magically detects automatically. This is awesome because you won’t have to change the settings all the time.

And last but not least, the audio quality. It surprised me how good it was. I’ve had many MP3 players before and a lot of the flash-based ones out there have bad audio quality. I couldn’t hear any system noise or distortion, even at the highest volume. Of course it all depends on the headphones too, but the ones that come with the Sansa c100 are amazing anyway.

So there we go. SanDisk once again seized to amaze me. A great player, except for the build quality. It’s not bad or anything, but it’s a little… jiggly. If you haven’t had an MP3 player before, go with the SanDisk Sansa c100. The 1GB version retails for about 80 to 90 dollars while the 2GB one goes for around 110 bucks.