Someone I know who is in their 60s and not tech saavy wants an MP3 player. What is a good (preferably under $40) intuitive player for someone like that?
This would just be MP3s (no videos), so it doesn’t need to be a very large storage. 4GB is probably more than sufficient since it will just be for music. In fact, I’m guessing 1GB is probably large enough but doubt most go that small anymore.
As few bells and whistles as possible would be ideal, and something where it is hard to get lost in all the functions/settings.
Almost most/all of the music would consist of singles from various artists, not entire albums. So whatever one would make that kind of setup easier to navigate.
I like the Sansa Clip line. Small size, minimal screen, decent price, and a microSD slot for expansion if he goes cheap initially and then expands. They tend to be rated pretty well for sound quality too. Mine’s just set to shuffle play. I cram it full of music, start it, and play. If I don’t like a song I just hit next. The load and initial settings choices might be the hardest part but day to day use is simple once you get it going.
Two more thumbs up for SanDisk. Can be gotten cheap on eBay, even cheaper for your friend b/c they can do with less GB. They should catch on right away to how to operate it. Sideloading music onto it might be a bit of leap, though.
Saw the title; didn’t think I’d be fourth in line to say SanDisk.
I prefer the SanDisk Sansa over the SanDisk Clip, though the latter has a color LCD screen, which means it can show album covers or other designs, but since I’m usually listening to it as opposed to looking at it, this is a pretty useless feature for me.
Do the sansa models have an option to repeat a song? Info online is contradictory.
Also what about quality? If you go to Amazon and sort reviews by date there are a lot of recent reviews saying these models break in a few months. An mp3 player should last at least five years as that is how long all mine have lasted.
My Sansa Clips have a repeat option as well as shuffle or just play straight through the playlist/folder. As far as durability, I’ve had them both for close to four years and they’re still going just fine. Mainly I use them in the car as an input into the stereo, sometimes at work as well.
You can make playlists or use folders. I use folders. It’s just easier for my 52-year-old self to do it that way. But I had no trouble learning to use the players. They’re basic, and user-friendly, and if you show your friend the ropes they should be able to get the hang of it pretty fast.
The Clip is perfectly functional and has decent-to-good sound quality and is very easy to use. The only thing I’d say is I find the durability a little suspect. I use mine exclusively at the gym and I’m currently on my 3rd clip over the past 5 years. The first two both failed at the headphone jack, and my current one has a nasty tendency to randomly shut down.
But they’re cheap enough that it doesn’t bother me too much.
i don’t have a recent model Sansa Clip because my older model ones keep working.
it is wise to clip the unit and use the headphones so that you aren’t pulling on the plug.
i would say that Sandisk has quality products, i still have a working m240 player (old). i think like many inexpensive consumer electronics that either it will fail soon or last the warranty period. i would trust Sansa stuff to last far longer than warranty.