Sansa Clip Zip 8GB on Sale for $40 at Costco

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by deli77

Apparently, the Clip Zip copies files to the location of the playlists, it doesn't just move them. The original files are still there, taking up space. The Clip+ seems ideal. It's also rated better than the ipod nano on Cnet. Anyone know if Costco often has the Clip+ in stock? If not, I'll go Amazon.

I haven't seen a Clip+ in Costco in ages. If the they have any Clips in stock, it'll be the latest model - the Clip Zip.

Note: the Clip Zip is AAC compatible (DRM free) and the Clip+ is not.

The Clip Zip added three major features: AAC compatibility, 1.1" color display (for album art only), and a separate menu for audiobooks. The last feature is why I upgraded my Clip+ to a Zip. In the Clip+, the audiobook sub-folder was buried inside the music menu. Now it has a separate main screen menu.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

The Clip Zip added three major features: AAC compatibility, 1.1" color display (for album art only), and a separate menu for audiobooks. The last feature is why I upgraded my Clip+ to a Zip. In the Clip+, the audiobook sub-folder was buried inside the music menu. Now it has a separate main screen menu.

You can also turn off menu items with the Clip Zip. I have mine setup to show Books only and hidden Music, SD Card, Radio...etc

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Blossom

It's hard to describe the size. It's not small but it's not big. It can fit in my purse. I know I'm no help.
It's a hard shell. I usually clip it to my purse though.

4x6.5 and a little over 1 inch tall. This is my own measurement so it's not concise.

Thanks--that's bigger than the case I use now. I may still get it for the speakers though.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by deli77

Is it possible to import playlists created in itunes (or convert them to be compatible) and will these playlists point to files located partially on internal memory and partially on SD cards?

I read somewhere that on at least some Sansa models, the audio files must reside in the same location (internal memory vs SD card) as the playlist files. If the audio files aren't in the same location, they are automatically copied to it (obviously not the best solution for organizing files or maximizing storage).

With the Clip+, I couldn't have a playlist that included files from both internal and external memory, it had to be exclusively one or the other. I don't know about the Clip Zip, though, as I don't bother with playlists anymore.

I don't remember any issue about copying files.

Why don't you ask at the Sansa forums?

[plib]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

I'm a real buckaroo, I roll my own.

Buy audio CD, rip to WAV files, label by hand, run a FLAC conversion program for all the files from a CD at once. I use Audio-Transcoder ($19.95) for bulk conversions, just drag and drop.

Work? A little, but you do it once per track and you can use it as long as you live. Seems a reasonable trade-off to me. You mileage may vary...

(The CD acts as a tertiary back up, I back up my music files and store off-site. No worries about loss...) However, since you seem to be an Apple fan, (nothing wrong with that), I believe Apple has a lossless compression format. Audio-Transcoder will read/convert back and forth from Apple lossless to FLAC. (I've never done it, I don't know how well it keeps the metadata.)

I use ExactAudioCopy to rip CDs to FLAC. EAC is completely free and is generally acknowledged as the most accurate CD ripper available. It can be set up to rip to either FLAC or mp3 format, or both. There's a very good guide to setup and usage at this EAC Setup Guide page. Properly set up EAC is close to one-click operation and should give you the most accurate rips possible.

For conversion to other formats dbPoweramp is a very good, and very capable converter. It's not free, but not expensive either and well worth the money for the capabilities and ease of use. (dbPoweramp does have a ripping capability but I'd recommend sticking with EAC for the ripping and just use dbPoweramp for format conversion).

I think the combination of the two is definitely the best, and about the easiest, way of ripping your CDs to quality files in just about any format you could want.

Edit: If you want to edit the tags produced by EAC or dbPoweramp then Mp3Tag is a very good, free tag editor which can edit FLAC, mp3, Ogg Vorbis, iTunes mp4 and other music file tags. It works well with both of the other programs.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by plib

I use ExactAudioCopy to rip CDs to FLAC. EAC is completely free and is generally acknowledged as the most accurate CD ripper available. It can be set up to rip to either FLAC or mp3 format, or both. There's a very good guide to setup and usage at this EAC Setup Guide page. Properly set up EAC is close to one-click operation and should give you the most accurate rips possible.

For conversion to other formats dbPoweramp is a very good, and very capable converter. It's not free, but not expensive either and well worth the money for the capabilities and ease of use. (dbPoweramp does have a ripping capability but I'd recommend sticking with EAC for the ripping and just use dbPoweramp for format conversion).

I think the combination of the two is definitely the best, and about the easiest, way of ripping your CDs to quality files in just about any format you could want.

Edit: If you want to edit the tags produced by EAC or dbPoweramp then Mp3Tag is a very good, free tag editor which can edit FLAC, mp3, Ogg Vorbis, iTunes mp4 and other music file tags. It works well with both of the other programs.

I'll look into EAC. My bulk days are over, just the occasional CD. I have been using Sound Forge 6.0 (I got it free with a CD burner years ago) to rip with, and then trans-audio to convert. I also don't use the stock Sansa firmware, but Rockbox instead.

[JSWolf]

The best program for ripping CDs happens to be free and runs under Windows. Exact Audio Copy (EAC) is very good. It rips and compresses in one go.

http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

Mine you, it does have a slight learning curve and needs to be setup properly.

The links section has some good links to sites to help you get EAC configured.

http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/en/inde...related-sites/

[theducks]

Ducks has a Sansa clip+ (works well for audiobooks)
Mp3tag editor is also good to have.

VLC can save a playlist (as well as play many formats).

[camiller]

Originally Posted by cromag

My original Sansa Clip (no "+" ... no "Zip") is still plugging along. ... Not a bad lifetime for a Lithium battery.

I'm still rocking a Sansa Express 1GB (w/8GB microSDHC).

Edit: Been thinking about getting dad one of these for audiobooks.

[Fluribus]

I use a micro sd holder that is about the size of a credit card (a bit thicker). It holds 10 micro and 1 sd card (handy for carrying an adapter).

The cards click into slots around the holder. They are held securely. Nothing to unzip or open and very little added bulk.

There's a little hole on the corner so that one could hang them from hooks or chain them together. There are a few different colors.

I like these quite a bit. They're about $10.

http://www.amazon.com/micro-SD-card-...icro+sd+holder

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by Fluribus

I use a micro sd holder that is about the size of a credit card (a bit thicker). It holds 10 micro and 1 sd card (handy for carrying an adapter).

The cards click into slots around the holder. They are held securely. Nothing to unzip or open and very little added bulk.

There's a little hole on the corner so that one could hang them from hooks or chain them together. There are a few different colors.

I like these quite a bit. They're about $10.

http://www.amazon.com/micro-SD-card-...icro+sd+holder

I experimented with them. If you plan to keep a lot of chips (5-10 cards worth), I found that they took up as much space as putting the micro Sd's in an sd holders and putting the combination in a zipper case. I put the cards in question in a business card /credit card holder to keep the dust and dirt off of them. That took up extra space, and they rattled in the case as well...

What would really be cool would be a SD holder, that wasn't functional, but had a slot for a SD chip on each side, holding 4 SD chip per SD holder. They put that in a zipper case.

[koland]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

I experimented with them. If you plan to keep a lot of chips (5-10 cards worth), I found that they took up as much space as putting the micro Sd's in an sd holders and putting the combination in a zipper case. I put the cards in question in a business card /credit card holder to keep the dust and dirt off of them. That took up extra space, and they rattled in the case as well...

What would really be cool would be a SD holder, that wasn't functional, but had a slot for a SD chip on each side, holding 4 SD chip per SD holder. They put that in a zipper case.

Did you try filling the empty space with your business cards? Since I have to carry one, any way....

BTW, how was shipping from the supplier (since it seems Amazon doesn't carry those)? I noticed that each holds 10 microSD cards and they are currently buy 3, get one free, but you do have to factor in shipping (another card holds 8, no adapter, but has no shipping)

[Catlady]

How do you folks with these vast collections of microSD card label them?

[robslp]

I also love my Sansa Zip Clip. I use it to download audiobooks from my online library. I use it so much I rarely watch TV. It improves your auditory processing skills to listen to books and it is great for kids. I would not get an iPod if they were the same price as I can load both WMA and MP3 on the Sansa Clip Zip.

[Greg Anos]

I don't yet have a vast collection, but I have been planning for the future...

I label with a fine point silver paint marker. I can't do any more than a code, like R-1, J-3, ect. That means I have to keep the detail list in my e-book reader... So for my music, I currently have R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4, and J-1 for Rock 1 thru 4 and Jazz 1. Each 32 GBs. I ahve older, smaller ones that I currently don't use (I don't pitch anything that's working) Mostly 2 GBs and some 16 Gbs.

Gold color would work better but I couldn't find one at the time.