SanDisk releases a quartet of slotRadio cards with 1,000 tracks each

Posted in SanDisk by Shane McGlaun on April 30th, 2009

sandiskslotradiocards-sbI still don’t get the slotRadio format. I can see what the record companies are trying to do, but they still don’t seem to get why consumers prefer digital tracks to physical formats. With a digital track, you can port the song to multiple devices, assuming there is no DRM. SlotRadio tracks are stuck on the microSD card, which might as well be a CD.

SanDisk has announced the launch of four new slotRadio cards from Billboard that each feature 1,000 tracks. Each of the cards covers a different music genre and will sell for $39.99. The genres covered include rock, country, oldies, and Hip Hop/R&B.

Hands on: SanDisk slotRadio

Posted in Review by Conner Flynn on April 13th, 2009

Sansa slotRadio comes with 1,000 songsWe checked out Sandisk’s new slotRadio recently. As a refresher, this player comes with a microSD memory card slot so you can have your choice of pre-loaded music. The idea is that you can get it pre-loaded with Billboard hits cards that hold more than 1,000 tracks and buy other similar cards.

Did we like it? Did we hate it? Is it filled with useless songs that are all played out? You’re about to find out.

SanDisk slotRadio shipping March 31st

Posted in SanDisk by Conner Flynn on March 21st, 2009

Sansa slotRadio comes with 1,000 songsSanDisk will be shipping its slotRadio at the end of this month, so those looking for an MP3 player that doesn’t have an Apple logo can give it some love and see if it loves you back.

This player comes with a microSD memory card slot so you can have your choice of pre-loaded music. You can get it pre-loaded with Billboard hits cards that hold more than 1,000 tracks. Which means that for every song you like, there will be ten that you don’t.

Sandisk ImageMate memory card readers

Posted in SanDisk by Conner Flynn on February 24th, 2009

Sandisk ImageMate memory card readersThe Sandisk ImageMate All-In-One and ImageMate Multi-Card are now available in North America. The card readers can transfer 1-gigabyte of data in less than 35 seconds and are priced at $29.99 and $19.99.

The ImageMate All-in-One reader supports SD, SDHC, miniSDHC, microSDHC, MMC, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro Duo, xD and CompactFlash. The reader’s top speed is 34 MB/s with a SanDisk Extreme iV 45 MB/s CompactFlash card. The ImageMate Multi-Card reader supports xD, Memory Stick, SD, SDHC, and MMC and is capable of up to 30MB/s read and 27 MB/s write data transfer rates when using a SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s Edition SDHC card.

Sansa slotRadio comes with 1,000 songs

Posted in SanDisk by Conner Flynn on January 7th, 2009

Sansa slotRadio comes with 1,000 songsIf you love music, but aren’t picky about what you specifically listen to, this one may be a good bet for your ears. It comes with 1,000 “hand picked” songs. Yeah I know this could spell disaster. Hopefully the songs were handpicked by someone in your age group, so you don’t end up with Britney Spears or Hannah Montana.

It comes with 1,000 songs “handpicked from the Billboard charts” coming on a microSD card for use with the player. If you get bored with those, you can get genre-specific 1,000 song bundles for $40 more. It’s a cool idea, which brings the cost of music down to 4 cents per song and it also cuts downloading out of the equation. The problem is most of the songs will probably be garbage. There’s also an FM radio integrated in there too.

Hands On with the 8GB Sansa Clip from Sandisk

Posted in Review by Darrin Olson on December 15th, 2008

Sandisk 8GB Sansa Clip MP3 player reviewAnyone in the market for a small MP3 player should definitely take a hard look at the Sansa Clip from Sandisk before making a purchase. Comparable in size to the iPod Shuffle, the Sansa Clip packs in more features and now more storage giving some significant bang for your buck.

The most significant item for us on this particular MP3 player was the storage capacity. This little device now comes with the ability to pack as much as 8GB of music which is really a lot of songs. Connect it to your computer through the included USB cable and quickly transfer music or even use the device as mass storage to go. Also as we had mentioned when the 8GB Clip first came out, the clip provides 4x the storage of the iPod Shuffle for just a small more in price. But the storage is not all you get.

SanDisk Cruzer Enterprise fully supports Mac

Posted in SanDisk by Shane McGlaun on December 5th, 2008

SanDisk Mac Cruzer EnterpriseWhile the computer industry is feeling the hurt from the slow economy Apple is quietly gobbling up market share in America and growing its user base. With the number of Mac users growing many manufacturers are starting to release more products that are compatible with the Mac OS.

SanDisk announced today that its Cruzer Enterprise secure USB flash drive is the first flash drive to fully support the Mac. The new support for Mac OS X allows IT pros to issue Mac users secure flash drives that function correctly in the Mac environment. The Enterprise drive uses hardware-based USB encryption to put mandatory access control on all files transferred to the flash drive to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information.

SanDisk Sansa Fuze makes a great stocking stuffer

Posted in Review by Conner Flynn on November 16th, 2008

SanDisk Sansa Fuze makes a great stocking stufferIf you’re looking for an affordable MP3 player, the Sansa Fuze is a nice slim device that feels high-quality in your hands. It’s available in several color options. The device sounds good too, offers a ton of features for the price, just $80, $100, and $120 for the 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB models. The Sansa Fuze is not new by any means, but it holds it’s own thanks to the great price, easy interface, and a bunch of features. It even has an expansion slot that accepts micro SDHC cards.

Some features include: an FM tuner, Rhapsody DNA integration, photo, video, and a voice recorder. The scroll wheel makes navigation a real joy. I really couldn’t find anything to complain about with this player. The battery life is very good whether you are watching videos or listening to tunes. If you plan on buying a music player this Christmas, the SanDisk Sansa Fuze is the way to go. Drop the small amount of dough required and drop it in a stocking.

SanDisk Cruzer gets exclusive Veoh video player

Posted in SanDisk by Shane McGlaun on November 13th, 2008

Veoh Video PlayerSanDisk is having a rough year with some of the lowest stock prices in the company’s history. That hasn’t stopped the company from introducing new products and selling existing products like its Cruzer line of USB flash drives.

SanDisk and Veoh Networks announced today that the Veoh Web Player would initially only be available on SanDisk Cruzer flash drives. The player allows users to browse video, TV, and Web series on the go. Veoh says its web player puts the power of peer-to-peer in a user’s hand.

Sansa Clip MP3 player now up to 8GB capacity

Posted in Media Players by Darrin Olson on November 12th, 2008

8GB Sandisk Sansa Clip MP3 playerSanDisk is releasing the latest upgrade the Sansa Clip MP3 player this week, doubling its capacity to 8GB. Aside from the storage change the features are staying pretty much the same, but this is an MP3 player you would definitely want to take a look at.

The Sansa Clip is small, weighing just 0.9 ounces and has a clip to hook onto clothing or whatever similar to the tiny iPod Shuffle. Even though it’s slightly larger (by less than a half an ounce), it really does has some advantages over the shuffle for not much more money. For starts the Clip of course now has an 8GB capacity and is retailing for just under $100 compared to $70 for the 2GB shuffle which is 4 times the storage for $30 more.

Hands On: SanDisk Sansa slotMusic Player

Posted in Review by Conner Flynn on October 27th, 2008

Hands On: SanDisk Sansa slotMusic PlayerAs you might have heard, SanDisk is offering players with a feature that’s a little unusual, a microSD card slot. The slot is a requirement to work with the new music format introduced last month called slotMusic.

The slotMusic format is basically just digital tracks written on a microSD card. SanDisk’s new Sansa player is made especially for the format and is pretty bare bones with no internal memory, no LCD, and no rechargeable battery. It operates on a single AAA battery. It plays slotmusic cards. Period. The device retails for $19.99. You can also get a customized player with an artist skin and a slotMusic card for $34.99. The skins on the player can be swapped if you like. Both models will be available in 2009. But how did we like it? Click through to find out.

SanDisk Cruzer Enterprise integrates McAfee protection

Posted in SanDisk by Shane McGlaun on October 22nd, 2008

SanDisk Cruzer EnterpriseOne of the biggest threats to data on an enterprise network comes from employees and flash drives. It’s easy for and employee to nefariously or accidentally introduce a virus or trojan into the network that could destroy or steal important data.

SanDisk is offering a flash drive called the Cruzer Enterprise that includes integrates anti-malware protection form McAfee. The software protects USB drive users from data leaks and features McAfee’s Scan engine offering heuristic analysis for detection of known and unknown threats.

SanDisk introduces Sansa slotMusic Player

Posted in SanDisk by Shane McGlaun on October 15th, 2008

SanDisk slotMusic PlayerApple may run away with the MP3 player market with its iPod, but there are other makers who enjoy some success in the marketplace and SanDisk is one of them. SanDisk is offering players with a feature that you are not likely to see from Apple — a microSD card slot.

This slot is naturally a requirement to work with the new music format introduced last month called slotMusic. The slotMusic format is nothing more than digital tracks installed on a microSD card. SanDisk has announced a new Sansa player specifically for the format called the Sansa slotMusic Player. The device offers no internal memory, no LCD, and no rechargeable battery.

SanDisk unveils 16GB microSD and M2 cards for mobiles

Posted in Storage by Shane McGlaun on September 30th, 2008

SanDisk 16GB microSD and M2 cardsWhen it comes to our mobile devices we all want more, more features, more performance, more speed, and especially more storage. Music phones today can hold thousands of songs, but mobile users are always on the lookout for more storage space.

SanDisk announced the largest capacity microSD and M2 format memory card you can get. Both formants are now available in 16GB capacities. The cards require mobile phones and MP3 players that support microSDHC or M2 formats.

SanDisk introduces even bigger, faster CompactFlash

Posted in Flash Memory by Darrin Olson on September 11th, 2008

SanDisk Extreme III CompactFlash 32GB memoryToday SanDisk has likely pleased at least a few more professionals in the digital photography and videography world with the introduction of the new 32GB Extreme III CF card. Not only have they doubled the capacity of the largest CompactFlash card SanDisk previously had available, but they’ve also bumped the read/write speed up from 20 MB/second to 30 MB/second with this new item.

Anyone that heavily uses memory cards for digital cameras or video cameras can appreciate how nice it is to have more storage in a single card, and upping the transfer rate by 50% makes the decision to get the larger 32GB CF card just that much easier. Sure you can generally get an SDHC card for a little less money and they are a little bit smaller, but the transfer rate is what will make a difference. The Kingston 32GB SDHC card for example can hold just as much, but moving the card’s entire capacity of data is the difference between about 18 minutes for the SanDisk CF and 2.2 hours for the Kingston SDHC.