Sandisk SDMX1

I know I've mentioned MP3 players here before, and I recently had a reader email me asking about what MP3 player I use. They wanted to know if I have an iPod or if I use some other brand.

Honestly, I can't stand iPods. I've had experience with them, but I've never owned one. A friend of mine purchased a 30 gig iPod last year, and he was always bringing it to me wanting music. He's got an extensive collection of mp3s, but his laptop is old and just couldn't handle the iTunes software. Anytime he wanted to add new music to it, he would have to bring it over and transfer the mp3s to my computer so I could use iTunes for him. Yes there are other programs out there that will work with iPods, but I don't like most of them. I also don't like the fact that the iPod has a hard drive. I wanted something that can also double as a flash drive, and I actually LIKE mp3 players that run off batteries. I just use rechargeable batteries, and I can always keep a spare with me.

When we were looking for mp3 players we could use on the bike, my main concerns were price and size. I purchased a 256mb Sandisk mp3 player for hubby. He doesn't need anything big, just something to listen to on the bike rides to work. I chose the Sandisk SDMX1 because I had heard good things about the product and Woot.com was offering a refurbished one for $9.99. The price was right for me. If the mp3 player was horrible, I didn't have to worry about spending a ton of cash on something I didn't like. The size of the mp3 player is great because we both have limited pocket space in our jackets when we're on the bike. I normally stick mine in my jeans pocket, and we all know how small pockets can be on women's jeans.

Sandisk was offering what we needed at the time, and their small mp3 player delivered. We had a couple glitches when we first received the product, but after a firmware upgrade (which was very easy to do), we had the thing running in no time. Because the mp3 player works like a flash drive, I only had to show hubby how to drag and drop his files. We purchased it in March, and this mp3 player is still going strong. Hubby has dropped it many times, but thanks to the clear protective case that comes with it, there isn't as much as a scratch.

As for the features, the smallest version, the 256mb holds about 4 hours of mp3s. The player will play mp3, wma, and wav files. Unlike the expensive iPods, this little Sandisk even has a built in radio tuner and voice recorder. Hubby loves the voice recorder feature because if he's got something important that needs to be done, I can record him a reminder. The mp3 player is only 2.6" long, 1.3" wide, and 0.75" thick, but the lcd screen is rather large. The only con I see so far is the joystick controls. I have small fingers, but I still find myself having a hard time navigating the menus sometimes. For the price though, this little guy was definitely worth it.

In April I decided to purchase a 512mb version of the SDMX1 when I saw it on Woot for $14.99. I couldn't pass that up because I already love the little mp3 player, and like I said, it doubles as a flash drive. I don't use my mp3 player unless I'm on the bike, so the 512mb version is plenty big enough for me. I actually find myself using it more and more as a flash drive when I'm working on clients computers. I've still got all my mp3s that I want to listen to at the time stored, but I can add any files I need to carry with me. Often when I work on a specific client in NC's pc we take the bike, and it comes in handy not having to carry an extra flash drive.

Just last week I thought I had finally killed my little Sandisk. I was riding as a passenger on a friend's bike. I was messing with the controls riding down the road (I know, no lectures please), and it slipped out of my hand and ripped away from my headphones (which are built into my helmet). We immediately stopped and went back to look for it, but I figured I'd find it broken into a million pieces scattered across the road. I was shocked to find it laying in the middle of the road in one piece, and it didn't have a single scratch! To my amazement there was no damage at all. It even worked! I hooked my headphones back up and away we went with our music pumping and heads bopping.

It's a great player for the casual user who doesn't need to store a huge amount of mp3s at a time, and it's durable enough to hold up while offering you a low price. There's also a 1 gig version for those of you who need a little extra storage. I'll be upgrading in the future, but I will definitely be sticking with a Sandisk. Because the SDMX1 is an older model, you'll have a hard time finding it unless you shop around online, but I do highly recommend Sandisk mp3 players after my experiences. I think I'll be upgrading to the Sandisk Sansa next.